The perseverance of the saints is positive willedness, not mere passive willingness.

… misluck would have it, however, that this emperor reigned no longer than half a year.

Enjoy the preſent whatſoever it be, and be not ſollicitous for the future : for if you take your foot from the preſent ſtanding, and thruſt it forward toward to morrow’s even, you are in a reſtleſs condition, it is like refuſing to quench your preſent thirſt by fearing you ſhall want to drink the next day.

The ultimate symbol of evil, the Midgard Serpent or Jörmungandr, was the offspring of the trickster Loki and the sorceress Angur-boda, who also gave birth to Hel (the queen of the dead) and the Fenris Wolf (see page 239).