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Poetic Edda

Hard is it on earth,  with mighty whoredom; Axe-time, sword-time,  shields are sundered,Wind-time, wolf-time,  ere the world falls;Nor ever shall men  each other spare.
46.[1] Fast move the sons  of Mim, and fateIs heard in the note  of the Gjallarhorn;Loud blows Heimdall,  the horn is aloft,In fear quake all  who on Hel-roads are.
47.[2] Yggdrasil shakes,  and shiver on highThe ancient limbs,  and the giant is loose;To the head of Mim  does Othin give heed.But the kinsman of Surt  shall slay him soon.
  1. ↑ Regius combines the first three lines of this stanza with lines 3, 2, and 1 of stanza 47 as a single stanza. Line 4, not found in Regius, is introduced from the Hauksbok version, where it follows line 2 of stanza 47. The sons of Mim: the spirits of the water. On Mim (or Mimir) cf. stanza 27 and note. Gjallarhorn: the "Shrieking Horn" with which Heimdall, the watchman of the gods, calls them to the last battle.
  2. ↑ In Regius lines 3, 2, and 1, in that order, follow stanza 46 without separation. Line 4 is not found in Regius, but is introduced from the Hauksbok version. Yggdrasil: cf. stanza 19 and note, and Grimnismol, 29-35. The giant: Fenrir. The head of Mim: various myths were current about Mimir. This stanza refers to the story that he was sent by the gods with Hönir as a hostage to the Wanes after their war (cf. stanza 21 and note), and that the Wanes cut off his head and returned it to the gods. Othin embalmed the head, and by magic gave it the power of speech, thus making Mimir's noted wisdom always available. Of course this story does not fit with that underlying the references to Mimir in stanzas 27 and 29. The kinsman of Surt: the wolf

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