Second Half. notes follow when needed in this color. 1201 lines in all on two web pages.

Then Nerthus became pregnant

By Njorth with a daughter.

She was born bright and powerful

600 And quickly matured

Into a mighty Goddess

With golden brown hair

And youthful flushed skin.

Her name was Ostara,

605 The life bringer.

Her blessed touch

Upon the barren land

Caused dormant seeds to sprout

Beneath her feet grass began to grow

610 And the dying trees found life

And bent their boughs down

To brush her hair

And plant kisses upon her cheeks.

The wights came to her

615 And were given heart by her shining presence

Because she carried the sword of rebirth

In her radiant hand

And her golden voice rang out

To them that they should

620 Release all the seeds they harboured

And the beasts they warded

To cover the earth again.

Then she lead their warriors

To where the jotuns were gathered

625 And they attacked with her at

Their head

And she assumed a menacing

Face as of a wicked hag

And the jotuns fled mostly

630 From the sight of her

And were cut down.

Those who escaped were

Driven to the furthest reaches

Of the poles of the earth

635 Where they live to this day

Then the wights set about

Repairing the damage that had

Been caused by the war

They created new plants

640 And new animals from

What could be saved from

The age of dragons.

They were mostly of the

Furry type that was not

645 Dependant on eggs and more

Like the Gods themselves

Possessed wombs within their bodies

And cared for their young

Also their were the birds

650 Descendants of the dragons

Who had survived

And a few reptiles also.

The insects quickly replenished their numbers

And seemed almost unaffected.

655 Into the seas plankton became

Plentiful and fish grew in numbers, also

The spring of life returned to the earth.

Nerthus became pregnate again

By the lord of the wind and sea

660 And she gave birth to twins.

First a beautiful girl

With brown hair and eyes

She was called Freyja.

Second was born a boy

665 Of beauty and gentleness

With brown hair and eyes

He was called Freyr

And they were given dominion

Over the earth.

670 Gefjon came to the children

And took only Freyja away

For the virgin Goddess

Disliked men and even boys

and she took Freyja into

675 The pine woods

And taught her the ways of women.

The girl Freyja was adorned

With amber and lived

As a huntress with her

680 Teacher Gefjon

Who showed her the ways

Of Wyrd and how to work it

And of battle and victory.

Freyja learned to journey

685 To the nine worlds

And she excelled in the

Mysteries of womanhood

It's veils fell from before her eyes.

And she ruled oner the mammalian beasts

690 And formed them into herds

Of females ruled by a matriarch

And these herds chased the males away.

Then came the night that Freyja

Asked Gefjon to take her

695 Before the Great Dark Grandmother Holde.

But Gefjon refused because she

Feared the old Goddess

But Freyja had no fear

And she went in search

700 Of the mysterious one

Journeying down Yggdrasil

Into the darkness

Into the void

For nine days and nine nights

705 Until she came to the end of

The roots of Yggdrasil

The blessed Tree of Life.

There she saw nothing

And she believed that there was

710 No Dark Grandmother

Freyja turned to leave

With the words

"There is nothing here"

On her beautiful lips.

715 Then before her appeared

The Dark One saying

"In Nothing is All-There-Is

And in everything there is nothing!"

With that Holde siezed Freyja

720 By the neck and flung

Her into a cave

And sealed the entrance.

There Freyja waited for nine years.

When Holde released her from the cave

725 She was the most beautiful of all Goddesses

And she seethed with power.

Holde too assumed the form

Of a beautiful woman

Who's skin was like marble

730 And who's hair was as jet black

As the darkness of her realm

Though from behind she was as a tree.

Holde blessed Freyja

And showed her the mystery of womanhood.

735 They embraced lovingly.

Then Holde set her free to return to

The world of the living

From which she came.

Just as Freyja was taken by Gefjon

740 Freyr was taken by Njorth

To the sea-side

Where his gentle father raised him

In peace and complete tranquility.

When his first tooth came in

745 He was given as his home

The cloud-land above the middle realm.

But it was empty and lonely there

For the boy as he grew

He was taught the ways of the world

750 By both his mother and father

And by the wights.

When he was still very young

He bacame aware of himself

And soon found it overpowering

755 To resists his urges.

He became very aware of himself

And shining bits of light came forth

Filling his shadow with brilliant light

And his shadow glowed brightly

760 In the form of another boy.

A shining boy with blond hair

And sky blue eyes that looked

Lovingly upon Freyr

His name was Skirnir.

765 They embraced lovingly

And Freyr to him was as a brother

Forever inseperable

And the Gods called them Alcis

The blessed twins.

770 And like them the estranged

Male beasts grouped together

In small groups away from

The hostile females

Dominated by either a matriarch

775 Or a dominant male who would

Kill them if they came near the herd.

Then came the holy day

When the Alcis embraced lovingly

And shining bits of light came forth.

780 They flew around with

Life of their own

These beings of light

Then gathered around Freyr and Skirnir

And illuminated the two

785 With their beauty.

These beings showed that they

Could assume a form like the Gods

And were beatiful to behold

Then others showed themselves

790 That had not been seen

But had been born

From Freyr at the same moment

But were the shadows of the bright ones.

The other Vans came

795 To this holy spring

Where the beings were created

These beings they called

Light Alfs or fairies

And they went to live in

800 Light-Alf-Home where Freyr rules to this day.

The plants began to loose their leaves

And the wind became as a chill

And Winter covered the Earth.

The day came that life had passed through

805 The winter following the war

The first of the flowers appeared

As the Goddess Ostara gave her annual blessing.

Freyr walked alone in the woods

And in a clearing he

810 Found his beautiful sister Freyja

And she was startled by him

But did not run

Because she was fearless.

Instead she pounced on him

815 And threw him to the ground but did not

Hurt him as she found him

To be beautiful in his gentle ways

And he too found her beautiful

820 And they embraced innocently

Afterwhich Freyja chased Freyr away

Theatening his life.

Yet from that day forward

He became weaker and more apathetic

825 And as he did the leaves

Slowly turned colors

And began to fall to the ground.

Months passed and Freyr deteriorated

Until there were no more leaves

830 Left on the trees

And the first snows began to fall.

Freyr had Skirnir carry him

To the edge of a sacred bog

There Freyja awaited him

835 And Nerthus who was pregnant.

He stood alone

And waded into the inky water

Followed by Freyja

In a trance he raised his

840 Sacred dagger into the night sky

Where Mani sat full in observance

Then in a single motion

He castrated himself

And held up his fertility

845 And the earth began to hum

In expection.

The lord of fertility

Then cast his blessedness

Into the waters

850 And Freyja strangled him until

His body fell lifeless

Into the black water

And is pulled into the mud

By the Earth

855 Replenishing it's fertility.

Six days later he is

Reborn from the womb of Nerthus

To live again and die again.

While sitting alone by a still pool

860 Freyja was suddenly visited by a strange God

Who was tall

Strong and beautiful.

She rose and prepared for a fight

And attacked the intruder

865 But he over-came her

Though the battle was fierce.

She submitted to him

But rather than harm her

He spoke words of love

870 To the beautiful warrioress

And her heart was captured as well.

There could be none other than

This God for her

His beauty was beyond comparison

875 And his strength enough to overcome

Even the great Freyja

And they embraced lovingly.

After their embrace

She laid beside

880 Her great beautiful lover

She asked him his name.

With a frown he told her

That his name was Odh

And with that he changed

885 Into a swan

And flew away.

In desparation she saught him

But none of the Vans or wights

Neither saw him come nor noticed him leave

890 And Freyja having found love

And lost it

Fell into despair.

Nine months later she gave birth

To the child of the lost Odh

895 It was a beautiful girl

With hair as fair as her fathers

And his deep green eyes

Freya named her daughter Hnoss

The docile young Van was

900 Silent and graceful

She is the embodiment of

The delicate love of her parents.

When she matured

Freyja leaves her to live in the company

905 Of Freyr and his servants

With whom the sweet love Goddess

Felt very comfortable.

Then Freyja set off

In her chariot pulled by

910 Two great cats

In search of Odh

Across the surface of the Earth

And among the worlds of Yggdrasil

But he was nowhere to be found

915 That beautful warrior God

Of no origin and no location.

Her sorrow was intensified

And she shed divine

And blessed tears

920 That run down her cheeks

Those tears that fall upon the ground

Turn to pure gold

Those tears that fall upon the trees

Fall to the ground as pure amber.

925 In this great era of life

Njorth and Nerthus embrassed lovingly

And from their holy union

Was born twins.

The first a girl with brown hair

930 And brown eyes her skin was dark

The second a boy with dark brown

Hair and eyes and dark skin

Their names were Ulla and Ullr.

The female was the cow-Goddess

935 She ruled the female beasts

And moved with the herds

She was calm and collected

The Goddess of animals

She was the she-wolf

940 The huntress.

He was the hunter-God

The wild one who ran free

Furious and indomitable

He soared through the sky as an eagle

945 And ran through the forest

With his antlered head held high

As she hunts him down

And kills him and eats his flesh.

He is the wolf-cub that sucks

950 At her hairy breast

And the bull that comes to the cow

The ram to the ewe

They are the king and queen of beasts

Following mother Nerthus' ways

955 Their loving and stern mother

Who ruled over the green world

With her servants the wights.

Many times the jotuns of the North

Rallied their forces and invaded

960 Gripping the land in ice

But these ages of ice

Were not long to last

Though many times the living

Things had to change to adapt.

965 Then Great Ostara world

Do battle with the jotuns

And drive them back to the poles.

This happened many times in the

Time of mammals.

970 Then came the day that

The wights noticed that strange

Beings like Gods themselves

But different in manner from

The Vanir their lords.

the Aesir discover Midgard/Earth

975 These Gods came to Earth

And gave power to an animal kind

By taking it from the trees

And giving it awareness and thought.

These beasts began hunting like wolves

980 But soon wielded stones like weapons

Against the animals.

Then after a great number of years

These beasts began to resemble

The Gods themselves

985 And spoke languages and developed

More complicated tools.

Then they became aware

Of the wights and prayed to them

And then became aware of the Vanir

990 And sacrificed beasts to them

And praised them as great and powerful.

The Vanir were pleased with this

And began to help them in

Their efforts as they asked

995 And the wights were there

When they hunted.

But Nerthus and Njorth

Were really disinterested in

These new Gods

1000 Then as the beasts that walked

On two legs and talked

Like the Gods

Became more populated

They began encountering

1005 Other groups of their kind

And the strange Gods

Moved them to fight.

As soon as the fighting became

More frequent and more violent

1010 And the beasts that came

To be called men

Began praying more and more

To the foriegn Gods

For help in their wars

1015 When the men

Began to neglect the Vanir

That the Vans became curious.

A Van followed one of the foriegn Gods

Up away from earth

1020 Toward their home.

She found them in a great hall

And boldly stepped in amongst them.

They were startled by her

And taken with her beauty

1025 And by the gold which

She wore as adornments.

They asked her for her name

And she said she was called Gullvieg

And they told her they were

1030 The children of Odhinn

The Aesir and Asynjur.

They desired her very much

And they wanted her gold

But she would give neither

1035 So the sons of Odhinn

Became angry and

They burned her with fire.

But she rose from her ashes

Like a tree is reborn in the spring

1040 So they tried again

And she rose again

And a third time they

Set fire to her

But a third time she rose.

1045 This time Loki came forward

And cut her heart

From her Vanic bosom

And consumed it as a fire

Her salfr returned to Vanaheim

1050 To rest for all eternity

And to tell the Vans of her

Reception in the hall of the Aesir.

this started the war between the Aesir and Vanir

Njorth's peaceful heart was

Set to boil and he

1055 Stated that all the Vans

And all the wights and light alfs

And all the fairies both light and dark

Should gather forces and prepare

To march on the Ase-home.

1060 Before the walls of Asgard

The Vanic host gathered in it's number

And the sky grew black

With clouds over the Aesir

And it rumbled with thunder.

1065 The Vanir demanded an answer

And Odhinn gave it to them

By throwing his spear over their heads.

With this began the War between

The Vanir and the Aesir.

1070 The War lasted for many years

And stones of Asgards walls

Grew weaker so that what remained of

That great fortress fell

Like sand to the ground

1075 And the Aesir would fight no more.

Njorth and Nerthus came to Asgard

And all the Vans also

To discuss the terms of peace

With the proud and haughty Aesir.

1080 Freyr came forward who had

Not taken part in the battle

And entreated that the two

Families of Gods

Should not make war amongst themselves

1085 And that the offerings of men

And their praises could be shared

And not taken up greedily

By only one side.

Then Farseti the son of Baldr

1090 Came forward for the Aesir

And supported the Van

But that they must decide

What portions of man's praise

They would each receive.

1095 This was argued over for a long

While though both sides actually agreed

That the Vanir should control

The subconscious side.

But both sides wanted to control man

1100 To dominate him until

Their arguement became heated

And it seemed that conflict

Would again erupt.

Again Freyr stepped between them

1105 And offered this compromise

He spoke:

"Let the sons of Odhinn

And the daughters of Holde

Hear this compromise

1110 To the Vanir shall

Fall those parts of

Man that are still animal

Still part of his link

To us, to nature

1115 And let the Aesir

Take those parts that

Are not from the world

Of nature

Let the Aesir rule

1120 Mans mind

The souls of man

Will be divided between us

By which way they lean

Towards their nature

1125 Or towards their minds".

They all agreed to this compromise.

Forseti then came forward

And said that Asgard lay in ruins

He asked why the Aesir should

1130 Believe that the Vanir would keep

Their word in the compromise.

To this Freyr offered to stay

As a hostage himself in Asgard

Freyja seeing the courage of her

1135 Weak and gentle brother

Was moved by love for him

And mistrust for the Aesir

So she offered to stay

As a hostage also

1140 That she might protect him.

When Njorth saw the bravery

Of his two children

He was moved to join them

But also he was interested

1145 In these strange Gods

Who were his cousins

And wanted to learn more about them

So much that he could not

Go back to Vanaheim.

1150 And so to the dismay of the Vanir

And of Nerthus especially

He also offered himself as a hostage.

From the Aesir came Mimir

The wise one so much like

1155 A Van himself his reasons for

Volunteering were not unlike Njorths

Also came came Hoenir the brother

Of Odhinn and Holde who was

Neither Ase nor Van

1160 And had no home anyway

So change was for him

Pleasant as he had grown

Weary of the Aesir

And their warlike ways.

1165 The Gods together created the God Kvasir

By mingling their spittle

As a way of sealing their oath.

In Asgard the Vanir were

Well recieved and made welcome.

1170 The Aesir held a deep respect

For Njorth as it was well

Known that he was a great warrior

But Njorth sat quietly

Among them calmly and with

1175 Complete serenity and composure.

They all generally liked Freyr

because he could speak to

Any one of them with perfect ease.

Freyja however was there favorite

1180 Her stunning beauty captured them

In all of it's variance and complexity.

Freyja was a furious warrioress

And her anger was to be feared

Also feared was her cunning art

1185 A gift she would later teach.

Hoenir and Mimir however

Were not as well recieved.

Often the Vanir would hold council

And Hoenir would only repeat

1190 What Mimir would advise him to say

With this the Vanir grew angry

And since Hoenir was the brother of Holde

They could do him no harm.

Knowing this they seized Mimir

1195 And cut off his head

That it should be sent to Odhinn

That he should forever know

The wrath of the Vanir

Hoenir soon after became aware

1200 Of the part he plays in Wyrd

And fell silent.