Ambrosia in Homer's poems nectar is usually the drink and ambrosia the food of the gods; it was with ambrosia Hera "cleansed all defilement from her lovely flesh", and with ambrosia Athena prepared Penelope in her sleep, so that when she appeared for the final time before her suitors, the effects of years had been stripped away, and they were inflamed with passion at the sight of her. On the other hand, in Alcman, nectar is the food, and in Sappho and Anaxandrides, ambrosia is the drink. A character in Aristophanes' "Knights" says, "I dreamed the goddess poured ambrosia over your
Game of the Gods not known. At this point a long period of struggle and conflict begins with the arrival of three powerful giant maidens from Jötunheim, possibly the three great Norns. What follows in the "Völuspá" is a synopsis of the entire mythology until the gods and the universe are destroyed during the final conflict of Ragnarök. However, a new earth is reborn from the sea, green and beautiful, and those gods who have survived the battle and conflagration gather to share their memories of the past. The "Völuspá" describes how Baldr and his brother Hödr return together once again and are reconciled,