Eschatology

===Norse mythology===
{{Main|Ragnarök}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | header = 1905 Paintings by [[Emil Doepler]]
 | image1 = Odin und Fenriswolf Freyr und Surt.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Odin]] fighting his old nemesis [[Fenrir]]
 | image2 = Ragnarök by Doepler.jpg
 | caption2 = [[Ragnarök]] after [[Surtr]] has engulfed the world with fire
}}
[[Norse mythology]] depicts the end of days as ''[[Ragnarök]]'', an [[Old Norse]] term translatable as "twilight of the gods". It will be heralded by a devastation known as [[Fimbulvetr]] which will seize [[Midgard]] in cold and darkness. The sun and moon will disappear from the sky, and poison will fill the air. The dead will rise from the ground and there will be widespread despair.

There follows a battle between—on the one hand—the Gods with the [[Æsir]], [[Vanir]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dan |title=The Aesir-Vanir War |url=https://norse-mythology.org/tales/the-aesir-vanir-war/ |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=Norse Mythology for Smart People |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Einherjar]], led by [[Odin]], and—on the other hand—forces of Chaos, including the fire giants and [[jötunn]], led by [[Loki]]. In the fighting Odin will be swallowed whole by his old nemesis [[Fenrir]].<ref name=LARRINGTON266>Larrington (1996:266).</ref> The god [[Freyr]] fights [[Surtr]] but loses. [[Víðarr]], son of Odin, will then avenge his father by ripping Fenrir's jaws apart and stabbing the wolf in the heart with his spear. The serpent [[Jörmungandr]] will open its gaping maw and be met in combat by [[Thor]]. Thor, also a son of Odin, will defeat the serpent, only to take nine steps afterwards before collapsing in his own death.<ref>{{cite book |last = Larrington |first = Carolyne| title= The Poetic Edda| publisher = [[Oxford World's Classics]] | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-19-283946-2 }}</ref>

After this people will flee their homes as the sun blackens and the earth sinks into the sea. The stars will vanish, steam will rise, and flames will touch the heavens. This conflict will result in the deaths of most of the major Gods and forces of Chaos. Finally, Surtr will fling fire across the nine worlds. The ocean will then completely submerge [[Midgard]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Bellows| first = Henry Adams| title= The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems| publisher = [[Dover Publications]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-486-43710-8 }}</ref>

After the [[wikt:cataclysm|cataclysm]], the world will resurface new and fertile, and the surviving Gods will meet. [[Baldr]], another son of Odin, will be reborn in the new world, according to [[Völuspá]]. The two human survivors, [[Líf and Lífþrasir]], will then repopulate this new earth.<ref name="Odin">{{cite book |last = Byock | first = Jesse | title = The Prose Edda| publisher = [[Penguin Classics]] | year = 2005 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bAAOiMl1BIcC| isbn = 0-14-044755-5
}}</ref>