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RAGNAROK:

THE AGE OF FIRE AND GRAVEL.

BY

IGNATIUS DONNELLY,

AUTHOR OF "ATLANTIS: THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD."

_"I am not inclined to conclude that man had no existence at all before the epoch of the great revolutions of the earth. He might have inhabited certain districts of no great extent, whence, after these terrible events, he repeopled the world. Perhaps, also, the spots where he abode were swallowed up, and the bones lie buried under the beds of the present seas."--CUVIER._

[1883]

{scanned at sacred-texts.com, December, 2001}

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE DRIFT.

{p. iii}

CONTENTS.

PART I. THE DRIFT.

I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIFT 1

II. THE ORIGIN OF THE DRIFT NOT KNOWN 8

III. THE ACTION OF WAVES 10

IV. WAS IT CAUSED BY ICEBERGS? 13

V. WAS IT CAUSED By GLACIERS? 17

VI. WAS IT CAUSED BY A CONTINENTAL ICE-SHEET? 23

VII. THE DRIFT A GIGANTIC CATASTROPHE 43

VIII. GREAT HEAT A PREREQUISITE 58

PART II. THE COMET.

I. A COMET CAUSED THE DRIFT 63

II. WHAT IS A COMET? 65

III. COULD A COMET STRIKE THE EARTH? 82

IV. THE CONSEQUENCES TO THE EARTH 91

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PART III. THE LEGENDS.

I. THE NATURE OF MYTHS 113

II. DID MAN EXIST BEFORE THE DRIFT? 121

III. LEGENDS OF THE COMING OF THE COMET 132

IV. RAGNAROK 141

V. THE CONFLAGRATION OF PHAËTON 154

VI. OTHER LEGENDS OF THE CONFLAGRATION 166

VII. LEGENDS OF THE CAVE-LIFE 195

VIII. LEGENDS OF THE AGE OF DARKNESS 208

IX. THE TRIUMPH OF THE SUN 233

X. THE FALL OF THE CLAY AND GRAVEL 251

XI. THE ARABIAN MYTHS 268

XII. THE BOOK OF JOB 276

XIII. GENESIS READ BY THE LIGHT OF THE COMET 316

PART IV. CONCLUSIONS.

I. WAS PRE-GLACIAL MAN CIVILIZED? 341

II. THE SCENE OF MAN'S SURVIVAL 366

III. THE BRIDGE 376

IV. OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED 389

V. BIELA'S COMET 408

VI. THE UNIVERSAL BELIEF OF MANKIND 424

VII. THE EARTH STRUCK BY COMETS MANY TIMES 431

VIII. THE AFTER-WORD 437

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE DRIFT Frontispiece.

TILL OVERLAID WITH BOWLDER-CLAY 5

SCRATCHED STONE, FROM THE TILL 6

RIVER ISSUING FROM A SWISS GLACIER 19

TERMINAL MORAINE 20

GLACIER-FURROWS AND SCRATCHES AT STONY POINT, 26 LAKE ERIE

DRIFT-DEPOSITS IN THE TROPICS 38

STRATIFIED BEDS IN TILL, LEITHEN WATER, 54 PEEBLESSHIRE, SCOTLAND

SECTION AT JOINVILLE 54

ORBITS OF THE PERIODIC COMETS 83

ORBIT OF EARTH AND COMET 88

THE EARTH'S ORBIT 89

THE COMET SWEEPING PAST THE EARTH 92

THE SIDE OF THE EARTH STRUCK BY THE COMET 93

THE SIDE NOT STRUCK BY THE COMET 93

THE GREAT COMET OF 1811 95

CRAG AND TAIL 98

SOLAR SPECTRUM 105

SECTION AT ST. ACHEUL 122

THE ENGIS SKULL 124

THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL 125

PLUMMET FROM SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 180

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COMET OF 1862 137

COURSE OF DONATI'S COMET 157

THE PRIMEVAL STORM 220

THE AFRITE IN THE PILLAR 270

DAHISH OVERTAKEN BY DIMIRIAT 272

EARTHEN VASE, FOUND IN THE CAVE OF FURFOOZ, 347 BELGIUM

PRE-GLACIAL MAN'S PICTURE OF THE MAMMOTH 349

PRE-GLACIAL MAN'S PICTURE OF REINDEER 350

PRE-GLACIAL MAN'S PICTURE OF THE HORSE 351

SPECIMEN OF PRE-GLACIAL CARVING 352

STONE IMAGE FOUND IN OHIO 353

COPPER COIN, FOUND ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN FEET 356 UNDER GROUND, IN ILLINOIS {front}

COPPER COIN, FOUND ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN FEET 356 UNDER GROUND, IN ILLINOIS {back}

BIELA'S COMET, SPLIT IN TWO 409

SECTION ON THE SCHUYLKILL 432

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