grieving his dead son used the same verse form, , as in the Poetic Edda in the following engraving: Jansson (1987) notes that at the time of the inscription, everyone who read the lines would have thought of and the allusion that the father found fitting as an expression of his grief. Theories and interpretations Cyclic time and Hoddmímis holt Rudolf Simek theorizes that the survival of Líf and Lífþrasir at the end of is "a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology." Simek says that Hoddmímis holt "should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill. Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks (Askr, Embla) is repeated after the as well." Simek says that in Germanic regions, the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient, and additionally points out legendary parallels in a Bavarian legend of a shepherd who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in the figure of Örvar-Oddr, "who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man (Ǫrvar-Odds saga 24–27)." , , and Christianity Theories have been proposed about the relation between and the 9th-century Old High German epic poem Muspilli about the Christian Last Judgment, where the word appears, and the 9th-century Old Saxon epic poem about the life of Christ, where various other forms of the word appear. In both sources, the word is used to signify the end of the world through fire. Old Norse forms of the term also appear throughout accounts of , where the world is also consumed in flames, and, though various theories exist about the meaning and origins of the term, its etymology has not been solved. Proto-Indo-European basis Parallels have been pointed out between the of Norse religion and the beliefs of other related Indo-European peoples. Subsequently, theories have been put forth that represents a later evolution of a Proto-Indo-European belief along with other cultures descending from the Proto-Indo-Europeans. These parallels include comparisons of a cosmic winter motif between the Norse , the Iranian and . Víðarr's stride has been compared to the Vedic god Vishnu in that both have a