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Alvissmol

'Eel-Home' the giants,  'Drink-Stuff' the elves,
For the dwarfs its name is 'The Deep.'"

  Thor spake:
25. "Answer me, Alvis!  thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the fire,  that flames for men,
In each of all the worlds?"

  Alvis spake:
26.[1] "'Fire' men call it,  and 'Flame' the gods,
By the Wanes is it 'Wildfire' called;
'The Biter' by giants,  'The Burner' by dwarfs,
'The Swift' in the house of hell."

  Thor spake:
27. "Answer me, Alvis!  thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the wood,  that grows for man-kind,
In each and every world?"

  Alvis spake:
28.[2] "Men call it 'The Wood,'  gods 'The Mane of the Field,'


  1. Wildfire: the word may mean any one of various things, including "Wave," which is not unlikely.
  2. In hell: the word simply means "men," and it is only a guess, though a generally accepted one, that here it refers to the dead.

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