the Sun shines from
the fallen/chosen god's sword;
stone mountains (-heaps) crumble,
malevolent spirits (trolls) fare to and from,
tread freely on the road to Hel,
the sky is cloven.
This verse is connected to Raiþo and Þórr. The darkness takes over the world when the Sun sets, but the initiated gods wield torches (like swords). Elves and trolls (i. e. benevolent and malevolent spirits), summer and winter spirits, ascend freely from the underworld. The gods cast sparks into the air; flaming arrows and spears are cast through the air, burning wheels travel down hillsides and sparks spray from fires when the gods strike them with sticks and torches.
53
Then comes the maple's (Frigg's)
second grief;
when Óðinn charges
to fight the wolf,
and the bane of the baler (Freyr),
light against black;
then will Frigg's
joy (Óðinn) fall.
This verse is connected to Kauna and Svartr. Fenrir (Höðr) kills Óðinn and sends him or one of his eyes back to the grave, when the Sun goes down on Ragnarök and darkness overcomes the light.
54
The swallower is barking loudly,
in front of the cave leaning over the hillside,
the ties/mounts are torn,
hardship is growing,
she knows that the flocks sing,
I look forward, even further,
to the end of the powers,
the destiny of the victorious god.
This verse is connected to Kauna and Svartr. This winter spirits and Hel's shadows flow unimpeded from the underworld.
55
Then comes the mighty
son of the victorious father
the forest (Víðarr) walks
against the fallen animals.
He let the storm's (Loki's) powers
answer
sword to the heart,
then the father is avenged.
This verse is connected to Gebo and Heimdallr. Out there in the forest the winter spirits meet the gods, and with the help of the gifts from the dead, the weapons of the ancestors, which Heimdallr came with on the Winter Solstice. The gods kill Fenrir in the forest, and thus Víðarr (the forest) avenges his father's death and restores balance in nature.
4.9 Hagall's third Group of eight
56
Then came the honoured
the sound's (Jörð's) son (i. e. þórr)
the mind's (Óðinn's) son went
to fight the worm
killed him with courage
the sacred rain of the world in the middle
he clears all halls
in the inhabited world;
walks nine feet
carries to the mountain
the degradation of the worm
infamous refrain.
This verse is connected to Hagalaz and Ægir. The king, who represented Þórr, struck the mistletoe down with a hammer, from where it had been hung in the Yule. He did the same in all houses (halls) where the mistletoe had been hung. The nine feet he walked were the journey from the living room to the burial mound, and Þórr didn't really die, he just had to carry the mistletoe to and put it back in the burial mound, the underworld.
57
The Sun turns black
the Earth sinks into the sea
thrown from the sky
bright stars;
sparks sprays
and the fire is
playing tall and hot
by the sky itself.
This verse is connected to Nauþi and Norns. When the mistletoe was back in the burial mound, the battle continued. The gods charged through the night armed with torches, threw sticks into the fires and let the sparks spurt in the woods. They defeated and chased away the winter spirits.
58
The swallower is barking loudly,
in front of the cave leaning over the hillside,
the ties/mounts are torn,
hardship is growing,
she knows that the flocks sing,
I look forward, even further,
to the end of the powers,
the destiny of the victorious god.
This verse is connected to Isaz and Hel. This winter spirits and Hel shadows are defeated, and can be sent back to Hel, the same way as they had come, through the burial mound.
59
She sees rising
on the other side
land from the sea
green again
waterfalls
eagle flying above
the one who on the mountains
catches fish.
This verse is connected to Jera and Íwaz, Freyja and Skaði. Because of this victory at Ragnarök, one could see that the spring and summer were coming back. Life and strength returned to the world.
60
The spirits find
on the ground on the backwater field
and talks about the old Earth
the destiny of the powers,
and remember there
great things
and the great god's
old secrets.
This verse is connected to Perþi and Váli. The gods rode to the burial mound and sacrificed a horse, on Hel's Horse, the 11th day of Søkkvabekkr, the month of the goddess of wisdom, Saga, and held a feast. They talked about what had happened and told stories about their deeds in the past.
61
There they will later
strange
golden tablets
find in the grass,
which in the old days
were possessions of their kin.
This verse is connected to Perþi and Váli. It appears that the gifts Heimdallr brought with him from the underworld, were not all delivered at the Winter Solstice, but that some were hidden away until after Ragnarök. Perhaps the gold artefacts were placed in the snow, so that they would not be found until after the snow had melted, in the grass on the burial mound. It was gold after all, and gold would not suffer from such treatment.
62
With no sowing
the fields will grow
bad luck will be better
Baldr will come;
live there Höðr and Baldr
Hrofts (Óðinn's) victory fields
selected by the fallen/chosen gods.
Do you still know enough, or what?
This verse is connected to Algiz and Víðarr. The meadow and the forest got their power back. The flowers peeked up from the Earth, the leaves grew on trees and grass on the ground. Summer had returned.
63
Then the tempter (Freyr) chose
blood wood
and started to build
the double's brothers
wide wind world.
Do you still know enough or what?
This verse is linked to Sowili and the Sun. The light returned to the sky.