by Padraic Colum
Hnossa, the daughter of Freya and the lost Odur, was the youngest of all the Dwellers in Asgard. Because it had been prophesied that the child would bring her father and her mother together, little Hnossa was often taken without the city to stand by Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge, so that she might greet Odur if his steps turned toward Asgard.
She loved to go outside the great gate and stay beside Heimdall, the Warder of the Rainbow Bridge. There, when there was no one crossing that she might watch, she would sit beside Heimdall and listen to the wonders that he spoke of.
Heimdall held in his hands the horn that was called the Gjallarhorn; he would sound it to let the Dwellers in Asgard know that one was crossing the Rainbow Bridge. Heimdall told Hnossa how he had trained himself to hear the grasses grow and how he could see all around him for a hundred miles. He could see in the night as well as the day; he never slept, and he fed on the strength of the earth and the cold sea. Day after day, Heimdall would tell little Hnossa how all things began. He had lived from the beginning of time and he knew all things. "Before Asgard was built," he said, "earth and sea and sky were all mixed together: what was then was the Chasm of Chasms. In the North there was the Place of Deadly Cold, and in the South there was Muspelheim, the Land of Fire."
"Ginnungagap, the Chasm of Chasms, filled up with ice, for the waters of the rivers froze as they poured into it. From Muspelheim came clouds of fire that turned the ice into thick mists. The mists fell in drops of dew, and from these drops were formed Ymir, the Ancient Giant."
"Ymir traveled along by the twelve rivers until he came to where another living form was standing in the mists. Other beings were formed out of the dew that fell to the ground, who were the Daughters of the Frost, and Ymir married one, and their children were the Giants."
5
This painting by Briton Rivière is called Heimdall at the Rainbow Bridge Bifröst (1905).
A painting of a man blowing his trumpet on the peak of mountains and a rainbow.
Which detail do both the painting and the passage emphasize?
A.
The Rainbow Bridge is the path into Asgard.
B.
Heimdall uses his Gjallarhorn to announce traffic on the Rainbow Bridge.
C.
Hnossa spends a lot of time with Heimdall waiting by the Rainbow Bridge.
D.
It is always daylight by the Rainbow Bridge.
1 answer
The detail that both the painting and the passage emphasize is:
A. The Rainbow Bridge is the path into Asgard.
While the other options provide relevant information, the central theme of the Rainbow Bridge as a crucial connection to Asgard is clearly highlighted in both the text description of Heimdall and the visual depiction in the painting.
