Brewer's: Muspelheim

(3 syl.). The abode of fire which at the beginning of time existed in the south. It was light, warm, and radiant; but was guarded by Surt with a flaming sword. Sparks were collected therefrom to make the stars. (Scandinavian mythology.) (See Manheim.)

“The Muspelheim is a noted Scandinavian poem of the 4th century. Muspelheim is the Scandinavian hell, and the subject of the poem is the Last Judgment. The great Surt or Surtur is Antichrist who at the end of the world will set fire to all creation. The poem is in alternate verse, and shows both imagination and poetic talent.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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