"
"It is also said that the Norns who dwell by the Urdar-fount draw
every day water from the spring, and with it and the clay that lies
around the fount sprinkle the ash, in order that its branches may not
rot and wither away. This water is so holy that everything placed in
the spring becomes as white as the film, within an eggshell. As it is
said in the Voluspa--
"'An Ash know I standing,
Named Yggdrasill,
A stately tree sprinkled
With water the purest;
Thence come the dewdrops
That fall in the dales;
Ever blooming, it stands
O'er the Urdar-fountain."'
"The dew that falls thence on the earth men call honey-dew, and it is
the food of the bees. Two fowls are fed in the Urdar-fount; they are
called swans, and from them are descended all the birds of this
species."
OF THE VARIOUS CELESTIAL REGIONS.
18. "Thou tellest me many wonderful things of heaven," said Gangler,
"but what other homesteads are to be seen there?"
"There are many other fair homesteads there," replied Har; "one of
them is named Elf-home (Alfheim), wherein dwell the beings called the
Elves of Light; but the Elves of Darkness live under the earth, and
differ from the others still more in their actions than in their
appearance. The Elves of Light are fairer than the sun, but the Elves
of Darkness blacker than pitch.
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