Ragnarok : the age of fire and gravel

THE BRIDGE. 383

And in Plato’s description of Atlantis, as received by Solon from the Egyptian priests, we read :

“There was an island” (Atlantis) “situated in front of the straits which you call the Columns of Hercules ; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from the islands you might pass through the whole of the opposite continent,” (America,) “ which surrounds the true ocean.”

Now this is not very clear, but it may signify that there was continuous land communication between Atlantis and the islands of the half-submerged ridge, and from the islands to the continent of America. It would seem to mean more than a passage-way by boats over the water, for that existed everywhere, and could be traversed in any direction.

I have quoted on p. 372, ante, in the last chapter, part of the Sanskrit legend of Adima and Héva, as preserved in the Bagayeda-Gita, and other sacred books of the Hindoos. It refers very distinctly to the bridge which united the island-home of primeval humanity with the rest of the earth. But there is more of it:

When, under the inspiration of the prince of demons, Adima and Héva begin to wander, and desire to leave fheir island, we read :

“ Arriving at last at the extremity of the island ”—

We have seen that the bridge Bifrost was connected with the extremity of Asgard—

“they beheld a smooth and narrow arm of the sea, and beyond it a vast and apparently boundless country,” (Europe ?) “ connected with their island by a narrow and rocky pathway, arising from the bosom of the waters.”

This is probably a precise description of the connecting ridge ; it united the boundless continent, Europe, with