Prose Edda — Old Norse facing a living language
Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hver er leið til himins af jörðu?" Þá svarar Hárr ok hló við: "Eigi er nú fróðliga spurt. Er þér eigi sagt þat, er goðin gerðu brú af jörðu til himins, er heitir Bifröst? Hana muntu sét hafa. Kann vera, at þat kallir þú regnboga. Hon er með þrimr litum ok mjök sterk ok ger með list ok kunnáttu meiri en aðrar smíðir.
Then Gangleri asked: "What road leads from earth to the sky?" High answered, laughing: "Now that's not a wise question. Hasn't anyone told you that the gods built a bridge from earth to heaven, called Bifrost? You must have seen it — perhaps you call it a rainbow. It has three colors, and is very strong, made with more skill and craft than any other work.
En svá sterk sem hon er, þá mun hon brotna, þá er Múspellsmegir fara ok ríða hana, ok svima hestar þeira yfir stórar ár. Svá koma þeir fram." Þá mælti Gangleri: "Eigi þótti mér goðin gera af trúnaði brúna, ef hon skal brotna mega, er þau megu þó gera sem þau vilja." Þá mælti Hárr: "Eigi eru goðin hallmælis verð af þessi smíð.
But strong as it is, it will still break, when the sons of Muspell ride out to war and cross it, swimming their horses over the great rivers — that's how they'll make their way through." Then Gangleri said: "It doesn't sound to me like the gods built the bridge in good faith, if it's bound to break, when they could have built it however they liked." High replied: "The gods deserve no blame for this piece of craft.
Góð brú er Bifröst, en enginn hlutr er sá í þessum heimi er sér megi treystast, þá er Múspellssynir herja."
Bifrost is a good bridge, but nothing in this world can be trusted to hold when the sons of Muspell go to war."