{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37488/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37488","id":"gutenberg_37488","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37488","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Eddas -- Translations into English","Mythology, Norse"],"text":"</pre>\n\nE-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, eagkw, and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 37488-h.htm or 37488-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37488/pg37488-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37488/37488-h.zip)\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).\n\n      An Index of Names and a Key to Pronunciation can be found\n      at the end of the book.\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: ODIN, THE ALLFATHER.]\n\n\nASGARD STORIES\n\nTales From Norse Mythology\n\nby\n\nMARY H. FOSTER and MABEL H. CUMMINGS, A.B.\n\nIllustrated\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSilver, Burdett and Company\nNew York      Boston      Chicago\n\nCopyright, 1901,\nBy Silver, Burdett and Company.\n\n\n\n\n                     =To all our Children\n             who have loved the hearing of these\n                        Asgard Stories=\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThis little volume is the outcome of several years' experience in\ntelling to classes of children the classic myths, both southern and\nnorthern. The insight and interest displayed by the children encourage\nthe authors to hope that other teachers and pupils may enjoy the myths\nhere reproduced.\n\nThe interest shown at present in the teaching of myths to children seems\nto call for some such simple volume, giving the Norse myths in suitable\nform for use with pupils as well as for the children's home reading.\nThere are various collections of the Greek tales, but the books dealing\nwith the Norse myths seem to be more or less cumbered with detail, and,\ntherefore, not adapted to very young readers.\n\nThe experience of the authors satisfies them that the teaching of myths\nshould begin with those of the North, and that the Greek tales should\nbe given later, with comparisons and references to the Norse myths.\nThe stories which were dear to our own northern forefathers stir our\nchildren more deeply and are more congenial to them than those which\ncome down to us from the Greeks. This is perfectly reasonable. The\ngraphic descriptions in the Norse tales of the hard struggle with rugged\nnature and the severe climate of the North naturally come home more\nclosely to us than the less rigorous and sturdy conditions of the\nsouthern nations. Then, too, the moral tone of the Norse myths is\nhigher, purer, and more steadfast than that of the Greek tales, and is\nmore congenial to our Teutonic point of view.\n\nMuch depends, of course, upon the teacher's careful study of the myths\nand insight into their significance. They should be presented in such\nmanner as to awaken the interest of the children and lead them to make\nuse of their own imagination.\n\nThe value of the Norse myths has been urged by Carlyle, Dasent,\nAnderson, and others. \"To me there is in the Norse system something very\ngenuine, very great, and manlike,\" wrote Carlyle. \"A broad simplicity,\nso very different from the light gracefulness of the old Greek paganism,\ndistinguishes this Norse system. It is thought, the genuine thought of\ndeep, rude, earnest minds, fairly opened to the things about them,--a\nface-to-face and heart-to-heart inspection of things,--the first\ncharacteristic of all good thought in all times.\"\n\nAnderson, the author of \"Norse Mythology,\" wrote: \"In the Norse\nmythology the centralizing idea is its peculiar feature; in it\nlies its strength and beauty. The one myth and the one divinity is\ninextricably in communion with the other; and thus also the idea of\nunity, centralization, is a prominent feature and one of the chief\ncharacteristics of the Teutonic nations.\n\n\"While the Greek mythology foreshadowed the petty states of Greece and\nsouthern Europe, the Norse mythology foreshadowed the political and\nsocial destinies of _United_ Scandinavia, _United_ Great Britain, and\nthe _United_ States of North America....\n\n\"The poetic period of the child's own race should be melted and moulded\ninto poetry, touched by a spark of Christian refinement and love, and\nthen poured, so to speak, into his soul. The child's mind should feed\nupon the mythological stories and the primitive folklore of his race.\"\n\nWhile many works have been consulted in the preparation of this volume,\nthe authors are especially indebted to the following: Thorpe's\ntranslation of S\u00e6mund's \"Edda\"; \"The Younger Edda,\" in translations;\nAnderson's \"Norse Mythology\"; Guerber's \"Myths of Northern Lands\";\nWilliam and Mary Howitt's \"Literature and Romance of Northern Europe\";\nand Mallet's \"Northern Antiquities.\"\n\n  BROOKLINE, MASS.,\n      September, 1901.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                 PAGE\n\n  THE STORY OF THE BEGINNING        1\n\n  ODIN'S REWARD                     9\n\n  TYR AND THE WOLF                 15\n\n  FREYJA'S NECKLACE                25\n\n  THE HAMMER OF THOR               33\n\n  THOR'S WONDERFUL JOURNEY         38\n\n  HOW THOR LOST HIS HAMMER         50\n\n  A GIFT FROM FRIGGA               58\n\n  THE STEALING OF IDUNA            62\n\n  SKADI                            76\n\n  BALDUR                           82\n\n  \u00c6GIR'S FEAST                     89\n\n  THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI           97\n\n  THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS        103\n\n\n\n\nFULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n                                                PAGE\n\n  ODIN, THE ALLFATHER             _Frontispiece_\n\n  THE NORNS                                        5\n\n  THOR CHAINING FENRIR                            19\n\n  FREYJA IN THE CAVE OF THE DWARFS                27\n\n  THOR AND LOKI IN THE CHARIOT                    41\n\n  THOR'S BATTLE WITH THE FROST GIANTS             53\n\n  IDUNA GIVING LOKI THE APPLE                     69\n\n  SKADI HUNTING IN THE MOUNTAINS                  79\n\n  THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI                          99\n\n  THOR FIGHTING THE SERPENT                      105\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE STORY OF THE BEGINNING.\n\n\nThe people who lived long ago, in the far-off lands of the north,\nwatched the wonderful things that happened out of doors every day, just\nas we do; but they did not know about the one loving God, who is the\nFather of all, who made them and the world, and rules it by his wise\nlaws; so they thought there must be a great many unseen powers, living\nin the clouds, in the wind, in the storms, and the sunshine, and doing\nall those wonders that no man could do.\n\nAnd so those northern people, who were our own forefathers, came to\nbelieve in many gods--one for the sun, another for the thunder, another\nfor the flowers, and so on.\n\nIn the long, dark winters, when the bright sun had gone away from them,\nthese northmen had time to think many thoughts about the powers of\nfrost, and wind, and storms, which they called giants, and they used to\ntell stories and sing songs about the short, bright summer, the thawing\nout of the streams and lakes, the coming of the birds and flowers.\n\nWith great joy the people saw the bright sun-god, Baldur, come back to\nthem in the spring, after the long darkness, and knew that they owed\ntheir lives to his friendly warmth and light.\n\nAs we read the stories, or myths, told by those people long ago, we can\nsee that they were meant to tell about the world around us. At first the\nstories were told and sung from father to son--that is, from one\ngeneration to another; but later, when people learned how to write,\nthese myths were written down, and kept with great love and care.\n\nThis is the story they told of the Beginning. At first, before living\ncreatures were in the world, it was all rough and without order. Far to\nthe north it was very cold, for ice and snow were everywhere. Toward the\nsouth there was fire, and from the meeting of the fire and the cold a\nthick vapor was formed, from which sprang a huge giant. On looking about\nfor some food, he saw a cow, who was also searching for something to\neat. The ice tasted salt, and when the cow began to lick it, a head\nappeared, and at last the whole figure of a god stood before her.\n\nFrom these two, the giant and the god, came the two great races of\ngiants and gods, who were always enemies to each other. The giants were\nconstantly trying to break into Asgard, the home of the gods, in the\nsky; the gods, on the other hand, watched and planned to keep out the\ngiants, and to drive them back to their own stronghold, Utgard. Our\nworld, where men and women lived, was between Utgard and Asgard; it was\ncalled Midgard, and around this Midgard world, under the ocean, was\ncoiled a monstrous serpent, who grew so long that his tail grew down his\nthroat. He was called the Midgard serpent.\n\nA wonderful tree, named \"Yggdrasil,\" connected all the worlds. This\ngreat ash tree had its roots in Utgard, and the tops of its branches\nreached up so high as to overshadow Asgard. Its three main roots were\nwatered by three fountains, and near one of them sat the wise giant\nMimir, of whom we shall hear later. The Norns, three sisters, also lived\nat the roots of Yggdrasil, and were careful to see that it was watered\nevery day.\n\nA little gray squirrel was always running up and down the tree, jerking\nhis tail and hurrying to tell the news to every one along the way. He\nwas so anxious to be the first one to carry the news, that many times he\nbrought trouble to himself and to others, because he was not always\ncareful to tell a story just as he had heard it, and often every one\nwould have been happier if the squirrel had kept the story quite to\nhimself.\n\nThe gods and goddesses, all together, were called the \u00c6sir, and the\nchief and father of them all was Odin. His lofty throne rose high in the\nmidst of Asgard, the sacred city, which the gods had built for their\nbeautiful home.\n\nFrom Asgard, arching over and down to the lower world, was a rainbow\nbridge, called Bifr\u00f6st--\"the trembling bridge\"; upon this the dwellers\nin Asgard could travel every day, all except the mighty Thor. His\nthunder chariot was too heavy for \"the trembling bridge,\" so he had to\ngo around a longer way.\n\nAfter the gods had made men and women, and had taught them to dwell on\nthe earth, in the world of Midgard, Odin looked forth one morning from\nhis heavenly seat, to see what further work was waiting for his helping\nhand.\n\nHe noticed, far away below him, a race of small beings, some of them\nbusy, doing mischievous deeds, while others sat idle, doing nothing.\nOdin sent for all these little people to come to him, and when they had\nreached Asgard, and were admitted to his palace of Gladsheim, they\nentered the great judgment hall, where they found all the \u00c6sir sitting,\nwith Father Odin at their head.\n\n  [Illustration: After the painting by Ehrenberg,\n  THE NORNS.]\n\nThe little people waited in a crowd near the door, wondering what was\ngoing to happen to them, while Hermod, the messenger of the gods, ran to\nhis master to say that they had come.\n\nThen the Allfather spoke to the little dwarfs about their evil deeds\namong men, and he told the naughtiest ones that they must go and live\ndown underground, and look after the great furnace fire in the middle of\nthe earth, to keep it always burning. Some must get coal to feed the\nfire, and others still were to have charge of the gold, and silver, and\nprecious stones, under the rocks. Not one of these busy dwarfs must ever\nappear during the day; only by night might they venture to leave their\ntasks.\n\n\"And now,\" said Odin, turning to the idle ones, \"what have you been\ndoing?\"\n\n\"We were doing nothing at all, so we could not have harmed any one, and\nwe pray you to spare us!\" cried they.\n\n\"Do you not know that those who sit idle when they should be doing good\ndeserve punishment, too?\" said Odin. \"I shall put you in charge of all\nthe trees and flowers, and shall send one of the \u00c6sir to teach you, so\nthat you may be doing some good in the world.\"\n\nThen the little elves went to work among the flowers, and Frey, the\nbright god of summer and sunshine, was a kind master to them. He taught\nthem how to open the folded buds in the sunshine, to fill the honey\ncups, and lead the bees along the flower passages to find their food, to\nhatch the birds' eggs, and teach the little ones their songs, and then\neach night to fetch the water for dewdrops, to be hung on every leaf and\nblade of grass.\n\nWhen their work was finished, and the moon had risen, these busy elves\nand fairies enjoyed many a happy evening, dancing and frisking on the\ngreen by moonlight. And so our world of Midgard was filled with busy\nwork and play.\n\nEven now, in our time, the people in the lands of the north, and in\nGermany, have many old sayings and stories that have come down to them\nfrom the days long ago. There is a beautiful white flower in the north,\nwhich is called Baldur's Brow, because it is so pure and bright, like\nthe face of the dear sun-god, Baldur; and in some places, when the\nfarmers gather in their harvest of grain, they leave a little bunch of\nit standing in the field, for Father Odin's horse.\n\nWe have some English names to remind us of those old tales of our\nforefathers, for we have Tuesday named for Tyr, or Tiu, the brave god\nwho gave his right hand to save his friends; Wednesday, or Wodensday,\nnamed for Odin; Thursday, for Thor, the thunder-god; and Friday, for\neither the goddess Frigga, or Freyja, or for Frey, the god of summer,\nwho ruled the fairies.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nODIN'S REWARD\n\n\nOne night when all was quiet in Asgard and the \u00c6sir had gone to rest,\nOdin, the Allfather, sat awake on his high throne, troubled with many\nthoughts. At his feet crouched his two faithful wolves, and upon his\nshoulders perched the two ravens of thought and memory, who flew far\nabroad every day, through the nine worlds, as Odin's messengers.\n\nThe Allfather had need of great wisdom in ruling the worlds; after\nthinking a long time on the matters which needed his care, he suddenly\nstarted up, and went forth with long strides from his palace of\nGladsheim into the night. He soon returned, leading his beautiful,\neight-footed steed, Sleipnir, and it was plain that Odin was going on\na journey. He quickly mounted Sleipnir, and rode swiftly away toward\nBifr\u00f6st, the rainbow bridge, which reached from Asgard, the city of the\ngods, down through the air to the lower worlds.\n\nWhen Sleipnir stepped upon the bridge it trembled, and seemed hardly\nstrong enough to bear the horse and his rider; but they had no fear of\nits giving way, and Sleipnir galloped swiftly onward.\n\nSoon Odin saw Heimdall, the watchman of the bridge, riding toward him on\na fine horse, with a golden mane that reflected light upon the noble\nface of his rider.\n\n\"You must be bound on some important errand, Father Odin, to be riding\nforth from Asgard so late at night,\" said Heimdall.\n\n\"It is indeed a most important errand, and I must hasten on,\" replied\nOdin. \"It is well for us that we have such a faithful guardian of the\n'trembling bridge'; if it were not for you, Heimdall, our enemies might\nlong ago have taken Asgard by storm. You are so watchful, you can hear\nthe grass grow in the fields, and the wool gather on the backs of the\nsheep, and you need less sleep than a bird. I myself stand in great need\nof wisdom, in order to take care of such faithful servants, and to drive\nback such wicked enemies!\"\n\nThey hurried over the bridge until they came to Heimdall's far-shining\ncastle, at the farther end of it. This was a lofty tower which was\nplaced so as to guard the bridge, and it sent forth into the land of\nthe giant enemies such a wonderful, clear light, that Heimdall could\nsee, even in the darkest night, any one who came toward the bridge. Here\nOdin stopped a few moments to drink the mead which the good Heimdall\noffered him.\n\nThen said Odin, \"As I am journeying into the land of our enemies, I\nshall leave my good horse with you; there are not many with whom I would\ntrust him, but I know that you, my faithful Heimdall, will take good\ncare of him. I can best hide myself from the giants by going on as a\nwanderer.\"\n\nWith these words the Allfather quitted Heimdall's castle, and started\noff toward the north, through the land of the fierce giants.\n\nDuring all the first day there was nothing to be seen but ice and snow;\nseveral times Odin was nearly crushed as the frost giants hurled huge\nblocks of ice after him.\n\nThe second day he came to mountains and broad rivers. Often when he had\njust crossed over a stream, the mountain giants would come after him to\nthe other bank, and when they found that Odin had escaped them, they\nwould send forth such a fierce yell, that the echoes sounded from hill\nto hill.\n\nAt the end of the third day, Odin came to a land where trees were green\nand flowers blooming. Here was one of the three fountains which watered\nthe world tree, Yggdrasil, and near by sat the wise giant, Mimir,\nguarding the waters of this wonderful fountain, for whoever drank of it\nwould have the gift of great wisdom.\n\nMimir was a giant in size, but he was not one of the fierce giant\nenemies of the gods, for he was kind, and wiser than the wisest.\n\nMimir's well of wisdom was in the midst of a wonderful valley, filled\nwith rare plants and bright flowers, and among the groves of beautiful\ntrees were strange creatures, sleeping dragons, harmless serpents, and\nlizards, while birds with gay plumage flew and sang among the branches.\nOver all this quiet valley shone a lovely soft light, different from\nsunlight, and in the center grew one of the roots of the great world\ntree. Here the wise giant Mimir sat gazing down into his well.\n\nOdin greeted the kind old giant, and said, \"Oh, Mimir, I have come from\nfar-away Asgard to ask a great boon!\"\n\n\"Gladly will I help you if it is in my power,\" said Mimir.\n\n\"You know,\" replied Odin, \"that as father of gods and men I need great\nwisdom, and I have come to beg for one drink of your precious water of\nknowledge. Trouble threatens us, even from one of the \u00c6sir, for Loki,\nthe fire-god, has lately been visiting the giants, and I fear he has\nbeen learning evil ways from them. The frost giants and the storm giants\nare always at work, trying to overthrow both gods and men; great is my\nneed of wisdom, and even though no one ever before has dared ask so\ngreat a gift, I hope that since you know how deep is my trouble, you\nwill grant my request.\"\n\nMimir sat silently, thinking for several moments, and then said, \"You\nask a great thing, indeed, Father Odin; are you ready to pay the price\nwhich I must demand?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Odin, cheerfully, \"I will give you all the gold and silver\nof Asgard, and all the jeweled shields and swords of the \u00c6sir. More than\nall, I will give up my eight-footed horse Sleipnir, if that is needed to\nwin the reward.\"\n\n\"And do you suppose that these things will buy wisdom?\" said Mimir.\n\"That can be gained only by bearing bravely, and giving up to others.\nAre you willing to give me a part of yourself? Will you give up one of\nyour own eyes?\"\n\nAt this Odin looked very sad; but after a few moments of deep thought,\nhe looked up with a bright smile, and answered, \"Yes, I will even give\nyou one of my eyes, and I will suffer whatever else is asked, in order\nto gain the wisdom that I need!\"\n\nWe cannot know all that Odin bravely suffered in that strange, bright\nvalley, before he was rewarded with a drink from that wonderful\nfountain; but we may be quite sure that never once was the good\nAllfather sorry for anything he had given up, or any suffering he had\nborne, for the sake of others.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTYR AND THE WOLF.\n\n\nI.\n\nOdin, the Allfather, sat one day on his high air-throne, and looking\naround him, far and wide, saw three fierce monsters. They were the\nchildren of the mischievous fire-god Loki, and Odin began to feel\nanxious, for they had grown so fast and were getting so strong that he\nfeared they might do harm to the sacred city of Asgard. The wise father\nknew Loki had given strength to these dreadful creatures, and he saw\nthat all this danger had come upon the \u00c6sir from Loki's wickedness.\n\nOne of these monsters was a huge serpent, that Odin sent down into the\nocean, where he grew so fast that his body was coiled around the whole\nworld, and his tail grew into his own mouth. He was called the Midgard\nserpent.\n\nThe second monster was sent to Niflheim, the home of darkness, and shut\nup there.\n\nThe third, a fierce wolf, named Fenrir, was brought to Asgard, where\nOdin hoped he might be tamed by living among the \u00c6sir, and seeing their\ngood deeds, and hearing their kind words; but he grew more and more\nfierce, until only one of all the gods dared to feed him. This was the\nbrave god, Tyr. He was a war-god, like Thor, and is sometimes called the\nSword-god. Tyr was loved by all because he was so true and faithful.\n\nEach day the dreadful wolf grew larger and stronger, till all at once,\nbefore the \u00c6sir thought about it, he had become a very dangerous beast.\n\nFather Odin always looked troubled when he saw Fenrir, the wolf, come to\nget his evening meal of meat from Tyr's hand, and at last one night,\nafter the wolf had gone growling away to his lair, Odin called a meeting\nof the \u00c6sir. He told them of his fears, saying they must find some plan\nfor guarding themselves and their home against this monster. They could\nnot slay him, for no one must ever be killed, and no blood must be shed,\nwithin the walls of the sacred city.\n\nThor was the first to speak: \"Do not fear, Father Odin, for by to-morrow\nnight we shall have Fenrir so safely bound that he cannot do us any\nharm. I will make a mighty chain, with the help of my hammer, Mi\u00f6lnir,\nand with it we will bind him fast!\"\n\nWhen the \u00c6sir heard these words of Thor, they were glad, and all went\nhome rejoicing--all save the Allfather, who was still troubled, for he\nwell knew the danger, and feared that even the mighty Thor would find\nthis task too much for him. But Thor seized his hammer, and strode off\nto his forge. There he worked the whole night long, and all through\nAsgard were heard the blows of Mi\u00f6lnir and the roaring of the bellows.\n\nThe next night, when the \u00c6sir were gathered together, Thor brought forth\nhis new-made chain, to test it. In came Fenrir, the wolf, and every one\nwas surprised to see how willingly he let himself be bound with the\nchain. When Thor had riveted the last links together, the gods smiled,\nand began to praise him for his wonderful work; but all at once the wolf\ngave one bound forward, broke the great chain, and walked off to his\nlair as if nothing had happened.\n\nThor was much disappointed, still he did not lose courage. He said to\nthe \u00c6sir that he would make another chain, yet stronger. Again he set to\nwork, and for three nights and three days the great Thor worked at his\nforge without resting.\n\nWhile he worked his friends did not forget him. They came and looked on\nwhile he was busy, and, as they watched the mighty hammer falling with\nquick blows upon the metal, they talked to Thor or sang noble songs to\ncheer him; sometimes they brought him food and drink. One visitor, who\nwas no friend, fierce Fenrir, the wolf, sometimes put his nose in at the\ndoor for a moment, and watched Thor at work; then, as he went away, Thor\nheard a strange sound like a wicked laugh.\n\nAt last the chain was finished, and Thor dragged it to the place of\nmeeting. It was so heavy that even the mighty Thor could hardly lift it,\nor drag it as far as Odin's palace of Gladsheim. This time Fenrir was\nnot so willing to be bound; but the gods coaxed him, and talked of his\ngreat strength, and told him they were sure he would easily break this\nchain also. After a while he agreed to let them put it around his neck.\n\nThis time Thor was sure the chain would hold firm, for never before had\nsuch a strong one been made. But soon, with a great shake and a fierce\nbound, the wolf broke away, and went off to his lair, snarling and\nshowing his wicked teeth, while the broken chain lay on the ground.\n\nSadly the \u00c6sir came together that night in Odin's palace, and this time\nThor was not the first to speak; he sat apart and was silent.\n\n[Illustration: THOR CHAINING FENRIR.]\n\nFirst spoke Frey, the god of summer and king of the fairies. \"Hearken\nto me, O lords of Asgard!\" he said. \"I have not won a brave name in\nbattle, like the noble Tyr, neither have I done such mighty deeds as\nthe great Thor and others of our heroes. Instead of fighting giants\nand monsters, I have spent most of my life in the woods, among the\nflowers, listening for hours to the birds. Many things have I watched,\nsome perhaps that my brothers thought too small to be worthy of\nnotice. I have learned many lessons, and the greatest of them all is\nto know how much power there is in little things, and to see how often\nthe work, done quietly, and hidden from the eyes of men, is the finest\nand the most wonderful. Since we cannot make a chain strong enough to\nbind Fenrir, let us go to the little dwarfs, who work in silence and\nin darkness, and ask them to make us a chain!\"\n\nThe Allfather's troubled face grew brighter as he heard Frey speak, and\nhe bade him send a messenger quickly to the dwarfs, to order a chain\nmade as soon as possible.\n\n\nII.\n\nSo Frey went out, leaving the \u00c6sir in their trouble, and came to his own\nlovely home, Alfheim. There everything was bright and peaceful, and the\nlittle elves were busy and happy. Frey found a trusty messenger, and\nsent him with all speed to the dwarfs underground, to order the new\nchain, and to return as soon as he could bring it. The faithful servant\nfound the funny little dwarf workmen all busy in their dark rock\nchambers, far down inside the earth, while at one side, in a lighter\nplace, sat their king. The messenger bowed before him, and told him his\nerrand.\n\nThe dwarfs were a wicked race, but they were afraid of Odin, for they\nhad not forgotten the talk he once had with them, when he sent them down\nto work in darkness underground, and since that time they never had\ndared disobey him. The dwarf king said it would take two days and two\nnights to make the chain, but it would be so strong that no one could\nbreak it.\n\nWhile the busy dwarfs were at work, the messenger looked about at the\nmany wonderful things: the great central fire which burns always in the\nmiddle of the earth, watched and fed with coal by the dwarfs; above\nthis, the beds of coal, and bright precious diamonds, which the dwarfs\ntook from the ashes of the fire. In another place he watched them\nputting gold and silver, tin and copper, into the cracks in the rocks,\nand he drank of the pure, underground water, which gives the Midgard\npeople fresh springs.\n\nAfter two days this messenger returned to the dwarf king. The king,\nholding out in his hand a fine, small chain, said to the messenger:\n\"This may seem to you to be small and weak; but it is a most wonderful\npiece of work, for we have used in it all the strongest stuff we could\nfind. It is made of six kinds of things: the noise made by the footfall\nof cats, the roots of stones, the beards of women, the voice of fishes,\nthe spittle of birds, the sinews of bears. This chain can never be\nbroken; and if you can once put it on Fenrir, he will never be able to\nthrow it off.\"\n\nOdin's messenger was glad to hear this, so he thanked the dwarf king,\nand promising him a large reward, he went on his way back to Asgard,\nwhere the \u00c6sir were longing for his return, and were all rejoiced to see\nhim with the magic chain.\n\nNow Father Odin feared that Fenrir would not let them bind him a third\ntime, so he proposed they should all take a holiday, and go out to a\nbeautiful lake to the north of Asgard, where they would have games and\ntrials of strength. The other gods were pleased with this plan, and all\nset out in Frey's wonderful ship, which was large enough to hold all the\n\u00c6sir with their horses, and yet could be folded up small enough to go in\none's pocket.\n\nThey landed on a lovely island in the lake, and after the races and\ngames were over, Frey brought out the little chain, and asked them all\nto try to break it. Thor and Tyr tried in vain; then Thor said, \"I do\nnot believe any one but Fenrir can break it.\"\n\nNow the wolf did not want to be bound again; but he was very proud of\nhis strength, and, for fear of being called a coward, said at last he\nwould let them do it, if he might hold the right hand of one of the \u00c6sir\nin his mouth while they bound him, as a sign that the gods did not mean\nto play any tricks.\n\nWhen the gods heard this, they looked at each other, and all but one of\nthem drew back. Only the brave, good Tyr stepping forward, quietly put\nhis hand into Fenrir's mouth. The other gods then put the chain around\nthe beast, and fastened it to a great rock. The fierce creature gave a\nleap to free himself, but the more he struggled the tighter grew the\nchain. The \u00c6sir gathered about him in joy to see this, but their hearts\nwere filled with sorrow when they saw that their noble Tyr had lost his\nright hand; the dreadful wolf had shut his teeth together in his rage,\nwhen he found he could not get free.\n\nThus the brave Tyr dared to risk danger for the sake of saving others,\nand gave up even his right hand to gain peace and happiness for Asgard.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFREYJA'S NECKLACE.\n\n\n\"Yes, I really must have some flowers to wear to the feast to-night,\"\nsaid Freyja to her husband, Odur.\n\nFreyja was the goddess of love and beauty; she was the most beautiful of\nall the \u00c6sir, and every one loved to look at her charming face, and to\nhear her sweet voice.\n\n\"I think you look quite beautiful enough as you are, without flowers,\"\nOdur replied, but Freyja was not satisfied; she thought she would go and\nfind her brother Frey, the god of summer, for he would give her a\ngarland of flowers. So she wandered forth from Asgard on her way to\nFrey's bright home in Alfheim, where he lived among his happy, busy\nlittle elves. As Freyja walked along she was thinking of the feast to\nbe given that night in Asgard, and knowing that all the gods and\ngoddesses would be there, she wished to look her very best.\n\nOn and on she wandered, not thinking how far she was getting away from\nhome. Finally the light began to grow fainter and fainter, and Freyja\nfound herself in a strange place. The sunlight had faded away, but there\nwas still a little light that came from lanterns carried by funny little\ndwarfs, who were busily working. Some were digging gold and gems, others\nwere cleaning off the dirt from the precious stones, and polishing them\nto make them bright, while four little fellows were seated in one\ncorner, putting the sparkling stones together into a wonderful necklace.\n\n\"What can that beautiful thing be?\" thought Freyja. \"If only I had that,\nit would surely make me look more beautiful than any one else at the\nfeast to-night!\" And the more she thought about it, the more she longed\nto get it. \"Oh, I really must have it!\" she said to herself, and with\nthese words she stepped nearer to the four little men. \"For what price\nwill you sell me your necklace?\" she asked.\n\nThe dwarfs looked up from their work, and when they saw Freyja's lovely\nface and heard her sweet voice, said, \"Oh, if you will only look kindly\nupon us, and be our friend, you may have the necklace!\"\n\n[Illustration: FREYJA IN THE CAVE OF THE DWARFS.]\n\nThen a mocking laugh echoed again and again through the dark cavern,\nseeming to say, \"How foolish you are to wish for these bright diamonds;\nthey will not make you happy!\" But Freyja snatched the necklace and ran\nout of the cavern. It did not please her to hear the teasing laugh of\nthe dwarfs, and she wanted to get away from them as soon as possible.\n\nAt last she was once more out in the open air; she tried to be free\nand happy again, but a strange feeling of dread came over her, as if\nsomething were going to happen. Soon she came to a still pool of water,\nand, putting on the necklace, she bent over to look at her picture in\nthe clear water. How beautiful the diamonds were! and how they sparkled\nin the sunshine! She must hasten home to show them to Odur.\n\nThe fair goddess soon reached Asgard, and hurried to the palace to find\nher husband. But Odur was not there. Over and over again she searched\nthrough all the rooms in vain; he had gone, and although Freyja had her\nbeautiful necklace, she cared little for it without her dear husband.\n\nSoon it was time to go to the feast, but Freyja would not go without\nOdur. She sat down and wept bitter tears; she felt no joy now for having\nthe necklace, and no sorrow because she could not feast with the \u00c6sir.\n\nIf only Odur would come back, all would be well again. \"I will go to the\nend of the world to find him!\" said Freyja, and she began to make ready\nfor her journey. Her chariot, drawn by two cats, was soon ready; but\nbefore she could start, she must first ask Father Odin to allow her to\ngo.\n\n\"Allfather, I beg you give me leave to go to look for my Odur in every\ncorner of the world!\"\n\nThe wise father replied, \"Go, fair Freyja, and may you find whom you\nseek.\"\n\nThen she started forth. First to the Midgard world the goddess of beauty\nwent, but no one in all the world had seen or heard of Odur. Down under\nthe earth, to Niflheim, and even to Utgard, the land of giants, she\nwandered, but still no one had seen or even heard of her husband. Poor\nFreyja wept many tears, and wherever the teardrops fell, and sank into\nthe ground, they turned into glistening gold.\n\nAt last the sad goddess returned to her own palace alone. She still wore\nthe wonderful necklace, which was called Brisingamen.\n\nOne night, when the hour was late, all the \u00c6sir were asleep, except the\never watchful Heimdall, who heard soft footsteps, like those of a cat,\nnear Freyja's palace. He listened, and thought, \"That is surely some one\nbent on mischief; I must follow him.\"\n\nWhen Heimdall reached the palace, he found it was Loki, changed into\nanother form, creeping softly about. Heimdall quietly watched him, and\nsaw him glide in to Freyja's bedside, where the fair goddess lay asleep,\nwearing her beautiful necklace. Loki had come to steal the necklace, but\nwhen he saw that she was lying on the clasp of the chain, so that he\ncould not undo it without waking her, he changed himself into a gnat,\nand, crawling along on the pillow, stung her just enough to make her\nturn over, but not enough to wake her. Then he unclasped the chain and\nran off with it as fast as he could.\n\nBut Heimdall was not going to let the thief get away. As soon as Loki\nfound that he was followed, he took his other form, a little flame of\nfire; Heimdall then took _his_ other shape, and became a shower of rain,\nto put out the fire; but Loki, quick and watchful, changed himself into\na bear, to catch the rain. Then Heimdall too became a bear, and a fierce\nfight began. At last the rain-god conquered, and forced wicked Loki to\ngive back the necklace to Freyja.\n\nThe whole land seemed to feel sorry for poor, lonely Freyja; the leaves\nfell from the trees, the bright flowers faded, and the singing birds\nflew away.\n\nOnce more the fair goddess went forth from Asgard to seek Odur. Away,\naway to the far-off sunny south she wandered, and there, where the\nmyrtle trees and the oranges grow, at last she found her long-lost\nhusband.\n\nThen hand in hand the two turned northward again, to their home, and so\nhappy were they together, that they spread joy and happiness around them\nas they passed along. Everywhere the ice and snow thawed before them,\ngreen grass and sweet flowers sprang up behind their footsteps, the\nbirds sang their sweetest songs, the warm summer came back to the north\nlands, and every one was glad and joyful, for lovely, smiling Freyja was\nat home again.\n\n      \"White were the moorlands\n      And frozen, before her;\n      Green were the moorlands\n      And blooming, behind her.\n      Out of her gold locks\n      Shaking the spring flowers,\n      Out of her garments\n      Shaking the south wind,\n      Around in the birches\n      Awaking the throstles,\n      Beautiful Freyja came.\"\n                              --KINGSLEY.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE HAMMER OF THOR.\n\n\nSif was the wife of mighty Thor, the thunder-god, and she was very proud\nof her beautiful golden hair, which she combed and braided with great\ncare. One morning when she awoke she was filled with grief and dismay\nto find that her lovely hair had been cut off in the night, while she\nslept. Her husband happened to be away that day, but when he came home\nlate at night, Sif was careful to keep out of his sight, she felt so\nashamed of her shorn head.\n\nThor, however, soon called for Sif, and when he saw what had been done\nto her, he was very angry. Now Thor had a quick temper; every one feared\nhis fierce anger. \"Who could have done this wicked deed?\" thought he.\n\"There is only one among all the \u00c6sir who would think of doing such a\nthing!\"\n\nThor lost no time in finding Loki, and that mischief-god had to admit\nthat he was the guilty one, but he begged Thor to give him just a few\ndays, and he promised to get something for Sif that would make her look\nmore beautiful than ever. So Thor decided to give him a chance to try,\nand commanded him to give back to Sif her golden hair.\n\nNow Loki knew a place where some wonderful workmen lived, so he went\noff, as fast as he could go, to Niflheim, the home of the dwarfs, under\nthe earth, and asked one of them to make quickly some golden hair for\nSif. Besides this, he asked for two gifts to carry to the gods Odin and\nFrey, so that they might be on his side if Thor should bring his\ncomplaint before the \u00c6sir.\n\nLoki did not have to wait long before the dwarf brought him a quantity\nof beautiful hair, spun from the finest golden thread. It had the\nwonderful power of growing just like real hair, as soon as it touched\nany one's head. Besides this, there was a spear for Odin, which never\nmissed its aim, no matter how far it was thrown, and for Frey, a ship\nthat could sail through the air as well as the sea. Although it was\nlarge enough to hold all the gods and their horses, yet it could be\nfolded so that it was small enough to put in one's pocket.\n\nLoki was greatly pleased with these wonderful presents, and declared\nthat this dwarf must be the most skillful workman of them all. Now it\nhappened that another dwarf, named Brock, heard him say this, and he\ntold Loki that he was sure he and his brother could make more wonderful\nthings than these.\n\nLoki did not believe that could be done, but he told Brock to try his\nskill; the \u00c6sir should judge between them and the one who should fail in\nthe trial must lose his head.\n\nThen Brock called his brother, Sindri, and they set to work at once.\nThey first built a great fire, and Sindri threw into it a lump of gold;\nthen he told Brock to blow the bellows while he went out, and be sure\nnot to stop blowing until he should come back.\n\nBrock thought this an easy task, but his brother had not long been gone\nwhen a huge fly came in and buzzed about his face, and bothered him so\nthat he could hardly keep on blowing; still he was able to finish his\nwork, so that when Sindri came back, they took out of the fire an\nenormous wild boar, which gave out light, and could travel through the\nair with wonderful speed.\n\nOn the second day Sindri threw another lump of gold into the fire, and\nleft his brother to blow the bellows. Again the buzzing, stinging fly\ncame, and was even more troublesome than before; but Brock tried very\nhard to be patient, and was able to bear it without stopping his work\nuntil Sindri returned. Then they took from the fire a magic ring of\ngold, from which eight new rings fell off every week.\n\nThe third day a lump of iron was put into the fire, and Brock was again\nleft alone. In came the cruel fly,--have you guessed that it was really\nthat mischief-maker Loki? He bit the poor little dwarf so hard on the\nforehead that the blood ran down into his eyes, and blinded him so that\nhe could no longer see to do his work.\n\nPoor Brock had to stop just before Sindri came home, but not before the\nhammer which they were making in the fire was nearly finished, only the\nhandle came out rather too short. This magic hammer was named Mi\u00f6lnir.\nIt had the power of never missing its mark, and would always return to\nthe hand which threw it.\n\nWhen Loki appeared at last before the \u00c6sir, with the two dwarf brothers\nand their gifts, it was declared that they had made the finest things,\nfor the hammer, which was given to Thor, would surely be most useful in\nkeeping the giants out of Asgard.\n\nWhen Loki found that the judgment was against him, he started to run\naway; but Thor soon made him turn back by threatening to throw his\nhammer after him.\n\nThen Loki had to collect his wits, and think of some way to escape\nlosing his head, instead of making the dwarfs pay the forfeit, as he had\nexpected. At last he told Brock and Sindri that they could have his\nhead, according to the agreement, but as nothing had been said about his\nneck, they could not, of course, touch that.\n\nThus the wily Loki, by his wit, saved his life.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHOR'S WONDERFUL JOURNEY.\n\n\nI.\n\nOne morning Thor asked Loki, the fire-god, if he would like to go forth\nwith him to Utgard, the stronghold of the giants, where he was going to\ntry, with his mighty hammer, to conquer those fierce enemies of Asgard.\nLoki was glad to go with him, and the two gods started forth in Thor's\nchariot, drawn by two goats.\n\nThor often went on a journey, so the dwellers in Asgard did not wonder\nto see him getting ready for a long drive. As Thor and Loki drove along,\nthe heavy chariot rattled, and made the thunder echo among the hills.\nPeople in our world, down below in Midgard, heard the rumbling, and\nsaid: \"What a heavy thunderstorm! How the thunder crashes and rumbles!\"\n\nToward evening the travelers stopped at a peasant's hut, and Thor,\nalighting from his chariot, went to the door of the house, to ask\nshelter for the night.\n\n\"I will gladly give you a room, but I have no food in the house,\" said\nthe man who opened the door.\n\n\"Oh, never mind that,\" said Thor; \"I will provide the food.\" So Thor and\nLoki stopped for the night at the peasant's hut. They found the family\nwithin, the man, his wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. All\nlooked on in great surprise to see Thor kill his two goats and cook them\nfor the evening meal. \"Eat all you wish of the meat,\" said Thor, \"but be\ncareful not to break any of the bones; throw them all into the two skins\nwhich I have spread upon the floor.\"\n\nNow the boy, whose name was Thialfe, wondered why Thor should say this,\nand as he happened to have a piece of the leg-bone, he thought there\ncould be no harm in breaking it open, to get out the soft marrow to eat.\nThor was just then talking to Loki, and did not notice what had been\ndone; but next morning the boy learned a lesson that he never forgot.\n\nWhen Thor was ready to start off again, next day, he held his magic\nhammer over the skins in which lay the bones. All at once the goats\nbecame whole again, and stood there just the same as before, except that\none of them limped with his hind leg.\n\nThen the young Thialfe knew why Thor had told them not to break the\nbones. At first, when he saw Thor's angry face, and how he grasped his\nhammer, the boy was frightened, and wanted to run away; but soon he\nremembered it would be cowardly to do that, so he went to Thor, and\nasked his forgiveness. Now the mighty thunder-god, though often angry,\nwas always just and kind. After scolding the boy as he deserved, he\nfreely forgave him, and said that he and his sister might go along with\nLoki and himself on their journey.\n\n\nII.\n\nThe four started off, after saying good-by to the peasant and his wife,\nleaving in their charge the chariot and goats, for it seemed best to\nfinish the journey on foot.\n\nAt nightfall they entered a thick forest, through which they wandered\non for miles, when all at once they came upon a house, and a\nstrange-looking house it was. The wide front door opened into a big\nroom; at the left was a small room, and just opposite the front door\nwere four long, narrow rooms.\n\n[Illustration: THOR AND LOKI IN THE CHARIOT.]\n\nThe travelers wondered to find a house in the depths of a forest, but\nthey were glad to have shelter for the night, and all lay down for a\ngood rest. Soon after midnight they were awakened by groans and strange\nsounds, and the earth began to tremble. Thor sent his companions into\nthe farthest room, grasped his hammer, and stood on guard by the door.\nAt daybreak he started forth to find out what had caused the noise. He\nhad not gone far when he came upon a huge giant, lying on the ground\nasleep, and Thor found that he was making the earth tremble with his\nsnoring, which must have been the sound they had heard in the night.\n\nWhile Thor was looking at the giant, he awoke, and spoke to the god.\n\"Ho, ho! I think you little fellow must be Thor, of whom I have often\nheard, but really, I did not think you were quite so small! Now the sun\nis up, and I must be off; but where is my other glove? Oh, here it is,\non the ground!\" And the giant stooped and picked up his glove, which was\nthe very house in which our four travelers had spent the night, with the\nbig front door where the hand went in, the thumb for the one side-room,\nand the four narrow finger-rooms opposite the door.\n\n\"If you are going my way, you may come along with me,\" said the giant.\nSo they journeyed together for one day, but even mighty Thor could\nhardly keep up with the giant's long strides.\n\nWhen night came, the giant stopped under a large oak tree, and said, \"I\nam going to sleep; you may eat your supper, if you wish; here is a bag\nfull of things.\" Saying this, he fell asleep, and was soon snoring. But\nwhen Thor tried to open the bag of food, he could not untie the cord.\nThis made him angry, for the giant had tied up their food with his own.\nHe looked at the huge figure lying before him asleep, and when he\nthought what a mean trick the giant had played upon them, Thor seized\nthe magic hammer, and threw it at him.\n\n\"Did a leaf fall on me?\" said the giant, sleepily. \"Haven't you eaten\nyour supper yet? Well, I am going to sleep again.\" And soon he was\nsnoring louder than before. Thor grasped his hammer tighter than ever,\nand threw it with such strength that it seemed as though it must surely\nhave killed the giant; but again he rubbed his eyes, and said, \"I\nthought an acorn fell on my head!\" He had hardly spoken when he was\nasleep again.\n\nThen a third time Thor hurled his hammer with all his strength, and it\nseemed to hit his enemy in the forehead, and was buried out of sight,\nbut the giant only said: \"I think there must be birds overhead in this\ntree; I thought a feather dropped down on me. Are you awake, Thor? I\nthink we'd better be going on with our journey, and if you are bound to\ngo to Utgard, I will show you the way, but I advise you to go home\ninstead; you will find bigger fellows than I in Utgard!\"\n\nBut Thor had made up his mind to go on, and nothing could make him\nchange. At noontime the four friends left their giant guide, whose path\nled another way. They had not traveled far when Thor spied a large city\nlooming up before them, and soon they came to Utgard, the home of the\nfierce giants.\n\nAlthough it was surrounded by high walls, Thor and his friends were able\nto creep through the bars of the great gate. When they came to the\npalace and found its door open, they went in, and there sat all the\ngiants with their king, Utgard-Loki, at their head. A quite different\nLoki was this giant king from the mischievous fire-god, the Loki from\nAsgard, who now stood before him.\n\n\nIII.\n\nUpon seeing the four strangers, the king of the giants said: \"Why, this\nmust be the god Thor. I really did not suppose that you were such a\nlittle fellow, Thor! but probably you are stronger than you look. Now,\nbefore you sit down at our table, you must each show some proof of your\nstrength!\"\n\nThen Loki, who was very hungry, said he was sure he could eat more than\nany one else; so the king called one of the giants to come forth, saying\nto Loki, \"If you can indeed eat more than one of my men, you will\nperform a great feat.\"\n\nA huge trough, full of meat, was brought in, and Loki began eating at\none end, while the giant began at the other. They reached the center\ntogether; but Loki had eaten only the meat, while the giant had devoured\nmeat, bones, trough, and all.\n\nThialfe, the peasant boy, took his turn next, and boasted that he was\nthe fastest runner of them all. \"Oh,\" said the king, \"it will be a most\nwonderful feat if you can win a race against one of my men!\" The first\ntime Thialfe ran the course he kept ahead until near the end, and was\nbeaten by only a few yards. The second time he came off worse, and the\nthird time he was only halfway around when the giant had reached the\ngoal.\n\nThor, however, was not at all cast down by the failure of the others,\nand he proposed to try a drinking match. So the king brought forth a\nlong drinking horn, saying, \"My men usually empty this in one draught,\nif they are very thirsty, though sometimes they have to take it in two\nswallows, or even three.\"\n\nThen Thor put his lips to the drinking horn, and took one long, deep\npull, thinking he had surely emptied it, but to his surprise, the water\nhad lowered only a few inches. Again he lifted the horn, feeling sure he\nshould empty it this time, yet he did no better than before. The king\nsaid, \"You have left a great deal for your last drink!\"\n\nThis made Thor try his very best; but it was of no use, he could not\nempty the horn.\n\n\"So you are not as strong as you seemed, after all! Do you care to try\nanything else?\" said the king of the giants, in a mocking tone.\n\n\"Oh, certainly, anything you like!\" replied Thor.\n\n\"Well,\" said the king, \"I will give you something easy this time, since\nI see you are not as strong as I expected. You may try to lift this cat\nfrom the floor; it would be mere child's play for one of my men.\"\n\nThor put out his hand to lift the cat, but he could raise only one paw,\nthough he used all his strength.\n\n\"Well, it is no more than I expected!\" said the king; \"you boast of your\nstrength, but you do not show it to us.\"\n\nBy this time Thor was getting very angry, and he spoke fiercely, \"I will\nchallenge any one of you to fight with me!\"\n\nThe king looked about the hall to find some one small enough to wrestle\nwith Thor. Then he said, \"All my men are too large, I shall have to send\nfor one of the women!\" Soon a bent old woman came hobbling in, and Thor\nthought it would be nothing to overcome her; but the longer they\nwrestled, the stronger the old woman became, and at last, when it was\nplain that she was going to win, and Thor had been thrown down upon the\nfloor, the king called to them to stop.\n\nThor and his friends were then invited to sit down at the feast, and the\nnext morning, after a good breakfast, they started on their journey\nhomeward. Utgard-Loki, the giant king, went with them to the city gate,\nand when he was about to leave them, said, \"Do you find it as easy as\nyou expected to overthrow the giants?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Thor, who was too honest to hide his shame, \"I am vexed that\nI have done so little, and I know that after this failure, you will all\nlaugh at my weakness.\"\n\n\"No, indeed,\" replied the king; \"since you are now well outside our\nstronghold I will tell you the truth about what you saw there, and I\nwill take good care not to let you get in again. You have greatly\nsurprised us all, for we did not dream that you were so strong, and I\nhave had to use magic to hold out against you.\n\n\"When you met the first giant in the forest you would have killed him\nwith your hammer, if he had not put a mountain between himself and you.\nLoki was a wonderful eater, but we matched him against fire, and who can\ndevour more than fire? The boy was a swift runner, and I had to make him\nrace against thought, in order to beat him; what can be swifter than\nthought? The horn, from which you drank, was the ocean, and you took\nsuch a mighty draught, that the people in Midgard saw the tide ebb. It\nwas really not a cat you tried to lift, but the Midgard Serpent, and you\npulled him so far that we feared he would let go his hold. Then you\nwrestled with Old Age, and who is there that can overcome Old Age?\"\n\nWith these words the giant king vanished, and Thor, upon looking around,\nsaw the city of Utgard was also gone.\n\nThen silently, but with many thoughts of these strange things, Thor and\nLoki, with the boy and the girl, made their way back to Asgard.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHOW THOR LOST HIS HAMMER.\n\n\n\"Come, Loki, are you ready? My goats are eager to be off!\" cried Thor,\nas he sprang into his chariot, and away they went, thundering over the\nhills. All day long they journeyed, and at night they lay down to rest\nby the side of a brook.\n\nWhen Baldur, the bright sun-god, awoke them in the morning, the first\nthing Thor did was to reach out for Mi\u00f6lnir, his magic hammer, which he\nhad carefully laid by his side the night before.\n\n\"Why, Loki!\" cried he. \"Alas, my hammer is gone! Those evil frost giants\nmust have stolen it from me while I slept. How shall we hold Asgard\nagainst them without my hammer? They will surely take our stronghold!\"\n\n\"We must go quickly and find it!\" replied Loki. \"Let us ask Freyja to\nlend us her falcon garment.\"\n\nNow the goddess, Freyja, had a wonderful garment made of falcon\nfeathers, and whoever wore it looked just like a bird. As you may\nsuppose, this was sometimes a very useful thing. So Thor and Loki went\nquickly back to Asgard, and drove with all speed to Freyja's palace,\nwhere they found her sitting among her maidens. \"Asgard is in great\ndanger!\" said Thor, \"and we have come to you, fair goddess, to ask if\nyou will lend us your falcon garment, for my hammer has been carried\noff, and we must go in search of it.\"\n\n\"Surely,\" answered Freyja, \"I would lend you my falcon cloak, even if it\nwere made of gold and silver!\"\n\nThen Loki quickly dressed himself in Freyja's garment and flew away to\nthe land of the frost giants, where he found their king making collars\nof gold for his dogs, and combing his horses. As Loki came near, he\nlooked up and said, \"Ah, Loki, how fare the mighty gods in Asgard?\"\n\n\"The \u00c6sir are in great trouble,\" replied Loki, \"and I am sent to fetch\nthe hammer of Thor.\"\n\n\"And do you think I am going to be foolish enough to give it back to\nyou, after I have had all the trouble of getting it into my power?\" said\nthe king. \"I have buried it deep, deep, down in the earth, and there is\nonly one way by which you can get it again. You must bring me the\ngoddess Freyja to be my wife!\"\n\nLoki did not know what to say to this, for he felt sure that Freyja\nwould never be willing to go away from Asgard to live among the fierce\ngiants; but as he saw no chance of getting the hammer, he flew back to\nAsgard, to see what could be done.\n\nThor was anxiously looking out for him. \"What news do you bring, Loki?\"\ncried he. \"Have you brought me my hammer again?\"\n\n\"Alas, no!\" said Loki. \"I bring only a message from the giant king. He\nwill not give up your hammer until you persuade Freyja to marry him!\"\n\nThen Thor and Loki went together to Freyja's palace, and the fair\ngoddess greeted them kindly, but when she heard their errand, and found\nthey wished her to marry the cruel giant, she was very angry, and said\nto Thor, \"You should not have been so careless as to lose your hammer;\nit is all your own fault that it is gone, and I will never marry the\ngiant to help you get it again.\"\n\nThor then went to tell Father Odin, who called a meeting of all the\n\u00c6sir, for it was a very serious matter they were to consider. If the\nking of the giants only knew the power of the mighty hammer, he might\nstorm Asgard, and carry off the fair Freyja to be his bride.\n\n[Illustration: THOR'S BATTLE WITH THE FROST GIANTS.]\n\nSo the \u00c6sir met together in their great judgment hall, in the palace of\nGladsheim; long and anxiously they talked over their peril, trying to\nfind some plan for saving Asgard from these enemies. At last Heimdall,\nthe faithful watchman of the rainbow bridge, proposed a plan.\n\n\"Let us dress Thor,\" said he, \"in Freyja's robes, braid his hair, and\nlet him wear Freyja's wonderful necklace, and a bridal veil!\"\n\n\"No, indeed!\" cried Thor, angrily, \"you would all laugh at me in a\nwoman's dress; I will do no such thing! We must find some other way.\"\nBut when no other way could be found, at last Thor was persuaded to try\nHeimdall's plan, and the \u00c6sir went to work to dress the mighty\nthunder-god like a bride. He was the tallest of them all, and, of\ncourse, he looked very queer to them in his woman's clothes, but he\nwould be small enough beside a giant. Then they dressed Loki to look\nlike the bride's waiting-maid, and the two set off for Utgard, the\nstronghold of the giants.\n\nWhen the giant king saw them coming he bade his servants make ready the\nwedding feast, and invited all his giant subjects to come and celebrate\nhis marriage with the lovely goddess Freyja.\n\nSo the wedding party sat down to the feast, and Thor, who was always a\ngood eater, ate one ox and eight salmon, and drank three casks of mead.\nThe king watched him, greatly surprised to see a woman eat so much, and\nsaid:--\n\n      \"Where hast thou seen\n      Such a hungry bride!\"\n\nBut the watchful Loki, who stood near by, as the bride's waiting-maid,\nwhispered in the king's ear, \"Eight nights has Freyja fasted and would\ntake no food, so anxious was she to be your bride!\"\n\nThis pleased the giant, and he went toward Thor, saying he must kiss his\nfair bride. But when he lifted the bridal veil, such a gleam of light\nshot from Thor's eyes that the king started back, and asked why Freyja's\neyes were so sharp.\n\nAgain Loki replied, \"For eight nights the fair Freyja has not slept, so\ngreatly did she long to reach here!\" This again pleased the king, and he\nsaid, \"Now let the hammer be brought and given to the bride, for the\nhour has come for our marriage!\"\n\nAll this time Thor was so eager to get his treasure back that he could\nhardly keep still, and if it had not been for what the wily Loki said,\nhe might have been found out too soon. But at last the precious hammer\nwas brought and handed to the bride, as was always the custom at\nweddings; as soon as Thor grasped it in his hand, he threw off his\nwoman's robes and stood out before the astonished giants.\n\nThen did the mighty Thunderer sweep down his foes, and many of the cruel\nfrost giants were slain. Once more the sacred city of Asgard was saved\nfrom danger, for Thor was its defender, and he was careful never again\nto let his magic hammer be taken from him.\n\nBesides the hammer, Thor had two other precious things, his belt of\nstrength, which doubled his power when he tightened it, and his iron\nglove, which he put on when he was going to throw the hammer.\n\n      \"I am the God Thor,\n      I am the War God,\n      I am the Thunderer!\n      Here in my Northland,\n      My fastness and fortress,\n      Reign I forever!\n\n      \"Here amid icebergs\n      Rule I the nations;\n      This is my hammer,\n      Mi\u00f6lnir the mighty;\n      Giants and sorcerers\n      Cannot withstand it!\n\n      \"These are the gauntlets\n      Wherewith I wield it,\n      And hurl it afar off;\n      This is my girdle,\n      Whenever I brace it\n      Strength is redoubled!\"\n                              --LONGFELLOW\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nA GIFT FROM FRIGGA.\n\n\nLong years ago there lived a peasant and his wife, who led a quiet, busy\nlife on their little farm at the foot of a mountain. While the wife was\nbusy indoors with her housework, her husband watched his flocks in the\nfields, or sometimes wandered up the mountain-side to hunt for game,\nwhich he would carry home for dinner.\n\nOne day he had strayed farther than usual, and found himself on the top\nof the mountain, where the ground was covered with ice and snow. All at\nonce he came upon a high arched doorway opening into a great glacier,\nand he passed through to see whither it might lead.\n\nThe passageway widened out into a wonderful cavern, like a broad hall,\nsparkling with precious stones, and long, shining stalactites, that\nlooked like icicles of marble. In the midst stood a beautiful goddess,\nsurrounded by fair maidens, all dressed in silvery robes, and crowned\nwith flowers.\n\nThe shepherd was so overcome by the wonder of this sight that he sank\nupon his knees. Then the goddess stretched forth her hands and gave him\nher blessing, telling him to choose whatever he wished, to carry home\nfrom the cavern. The man was no longer afraid when he heard her kind\nvoice speaking to him, so he looked about, and at last humbly asked to\nhave the pretty blue flowers which the fair one held in her hand.\n\nThe lovely goddess Frigga, or Holda, as the German people called her,\nsmiled kindly, and told the poor shepherd he had made a wise choice. She\ngave him her bunch of blue flowers, with a measure of seed, saying to\nhim, \"You will live and be prosperous so long as the flowers do not\nfade.\"\n\nThe peasant bowed thankfully before the goddess, and when he rose she\nhad vanished, and he was alone on the mountain-side, just as usual, with\nno cavern, no sparkling stones, and no fair maidens to be seen. If it\nhad not been for the pretty blue flowers and the measure of seed in his\nhand, he would have thought it all a dream.\n\nHe hurried homeward to tell his wife, who was angry when she heard the\nstory, for she thought he had made such a foolish choice. \"How much\nbetter it would have been,\" said she, \"if you had brought home some of\nthose precious stones you tell about, which are worth money, instead of\nthese good-for-nothing flowers!\"\n\nThe poor man bore her angry words quietly, and made the best of what he\nhad. He went to work at once to sow his seeds, which he found, to his\nsurprise, were enough to plant several fields.\n\nEvery morning before he led his flock to pasture, and on his way home at\nnight, he watched the little green shoots growing in his fields. Even\nhis wife was pleased when she saw the lovely blue blossoms of the flax\nopening; then, after they had withered and fallen, the seeds formed.\nSometimes it seemed to the good man, as he stood in the twilight looking\nover his field, that he saw a misty form, like the beautiful goddess,\nstretching out her hands over the field of flax, to give it her\nblessing.\n\nWhen at length the seeds had ripened, Frigga came again to show the\npeasant how to gather his harvest of flax, and to teach his wife to spin\nand weave it into fine linen, which she bleached in the sun. The people\ncame from far and near to buy the linen, and the peasant and his wife\nfound themselves busy and happy, with money enough and to spare.\n\nWhen they had lived many years, and were growing old among their\nchildren and grandchildren, the peasant noticed one day that the bunch\nof blue flowers, given to him so many years before, and which had always\nkept bright, were beginning to fade; then he knew he had not much longer\nto stay.\n\nHe climbed slowly up the mountain-side, and found the door of the cavern\nopen. A second time he went in, and the kind goddess Frigga took the\npeasant by the hand, and led him away to stay with her, where she always\ntook care of him.\n\nFrigga was the queen of the gods, and she helped her husband, Odin,\ngovern the world. It was her part to look after the children, and help\nthe mothers take care of their families.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE STEALING OF IDUNA\n\n\nI.\n\nOdin, the wise father of the gods, started off one day on a journey\nthrough Midgard, the world of men, to see how his people were getting\non, and to give them help. He took with him his brother H\u00f6nir, the\nlight-giver, and Loki, the fire-god. Loki, you know, was always ready to\ngo wherever he could have any fun or do any mischief.\n\nAll the morning they went about among the homes of Midgard, and whenever\nOdin found busy, faithful workers, he was sure to leave behind some\nlittle thing which would hardly be noticed, a straw in the farmer's\nbarn, or a kernel of grain in the furrow by the plow, or a bit of iron\nat the blacksmith's forge; but always happiness and plenty followed his\nlittle gift.\n\nAt noontime Loki was so hungry that he begged Odin to stop for dinner;\nso when they came to a shady spot by the bank of a river, the three gods\nchose it for their resting-place.\n\nOdin threw himself down under a tree and began to read his little book\nof runes, or wise sayings, but Loki began to make a fire and get ready\nfor the feast. Then he started off to a farmhouse near by, leaving H\u00f6nir\nto cook the meat which they had brought.\n\nAs Loki came near the farmhouse, he thought to himself, \"I will change\nmyself into a cat, and then I can have a better chance to spy about.\" So\nhe changed himself into a black cat, and jumping upon the kitchen\nwindow-sill, he saw the farmer's wife taking some cakes out of the oven.\nThey smelled so good and looked so tempting that Loki said to himself,\n\"What a prize those cakes would be for our dinner!\"\n\nJust then the woman turned back to the oven to get more cakes, and Loki\nsnatched those which she had laid on the table. The good housewife soon\nmissed her cakes; she looked all about, and could not think what had\nbecome of them, but just as she was taking the last lot from the oven,\nshe turned quickly around, and saw the tail of a cat whisking out of the\nwindow.\n\n\"There!\" cried she, \"that wicked black cat has stolen my nice cakes. I\nwill go after him with my broom!\" But by the time she reached the door\nall she could see was a cow walking in her garden, and when she came\nthere to drive her away, nothing was to be seen except a big raven and\nsix little ones flying overhead.\n\nThen the mischievous Loki went back to the river bank, where he had left\nhis two friends, and showed them the six cakes, boasting of the good\njoke he had played upon the poor woman. But Odin did not think it was a\njoke. He scolded Loki for stealing, and said, \"It is a shame for one of\nthe \u00c6sir to be a thief! Go back to the farmhouse, and put these three\nblack stones on the kitchen table.\"\n\nLoki knew that the stones meant something good for the poor woman, and\nhe did not wish to go back to the house; but he had to do as the\nAllfather told him. As he went along he heard his friends the foxes, who\nput their heads out of their holes and laughed at his tricks, for the\nfoxes thought Loki was the biggest thief of them all.\n\nChanging himself into an owl, Loki flew in at the kitchen window, and\ndropped from his beak the three stones, which, when they fell upon the\nwhite table, seemed to be three black stains.\n\nThe next time the good woman came into her kitchen, she was surprised\nto find that the dinner was all cooked. And so the wonderful stones that\nOdin had sent brought good luck; the housewife always found her food\nready cooked, and all her jars and boxes filled with good things to eat,\nand never again was in need.\n\nThe other women all said she was the best housekeeper in the village,\nbut one thing always troubled her, and that was the table with the three\nblack stains. She scrubbed, and scrubbed, but could never make it white\nagain.\n\nAnd now we must go back to Loki. He was very hungry by this time, and\nhoped that H\u00f6nir would have the meat nicely cooked when he came back to\nthe river bank, but when they took it out of the kettle, they found it\nwas not cooked at all. So Odin went on reading his book of runes, not\nthinking about food, while H\u00f6nir and Loki watched the fire, and at the\nend of an hour they looked again at the meat.\n\n\"Now, it will surely be done this time!\" said Loki, but again they were\ndisappointed, for the meat in the kettle was still raw. Then they began\nto look about to see what magic might be at work, and at last spied a\nbig eagle sitting on a tree near the fire. All at once the bird spoke,\nand said, \"If you will promise to give me all the meat I can eat, it\nshall be cooked in a few minutes.\"\n\nThe three friends agreed to this, and in a short time, as the bird had\npromised, the meat was well done, Loki was so hungry he could hardly\nwait to get it out of the kettle, but suddenly the eagle pounced down\nupon it, and seized more than half, which made Loki so angry that he\ntook up a stick to beat the bird, and what do you think happened? Why,\nthe stick, as soon as it touched the bird's back, stuck fast there, and\nLoki found he could not let go his end of it. Then away flew the eagle,\ncarrying Loki with him, over the fields and over the tree-tops, until it\nseemed as though his arms would be torn from his body. He begged for\nmercy, but the bird flew on and on. At last Loki said, \"I will give you\nanything you ask, if you will only let me go!\"\n\nNow the eagle was really the cruel storm giant Thiassi, and he said, \"I\nwill never let you go until you promise to get for me, from Asgard, the\nlovely goddess Iduna, and her precious apples!\"\n\nWhen Odin and H\u00f6nir saw Loki whisked off through the air, they knew that\nthe eagle must be one of their giant enemies, so they hurried home to\nAsgard to defend their sacred city. Just as they came to Bifr\u00f6st, the\nrainbow bridge, Loki joined them; but he took care not to tell them how\nthe eagle came to let him go.\n\nOdin felt sure that Loki had been doing something wrong, but knowing\nvery well that Loki would not tell him the truth, he made up his mind\nnot to ask any questions.\n\n\nII.\n\nThe goddess Iduna, whom Loki was to tempt away out of Asgard, was the\ndearest of them all. She was the fair goddess of spring and of youth,\nand all the \u00c6sir loved her. Her garden was the loveliest spot, with all\nsorts of bright, sweet flowers, birds singing by day and night, little\nchattering brooks under the great trees, and everything happy and fresh.\nThe gods loved to go and sit with Iduna, and rest in her beautiful\ngarden, within the walls of Asgard.\n\nThere was another delightful thing in the garden, and that was Iduna's\ncasket. This was a magic box filled with big, golden-red apples, which\nshe always gave her friends to taste. These wonderful apples were not\nonly delicious to eat, but whoever tasted them, no matter how tired or\nfeeble he might be, would feel young and strong again. So the dwellers\nin Asgard ate often of this wonderful fruit, which kept them fresh and\nyoung, fit to help the people in the world of Midgard. The casket in\nwhich Iduna kept her apples was always filled, for whenever she took out\none, another came in its place; but no one knew where it came from, and\nonly the goddess of youth, herself, could take the apples from the box,\nfor if any one else tried, the fruit grew smaller and smaller, as the\nhand came nearer, until at last it vanished away.\n\nA few days after Loki's bargain with the giant Thiassi, Iduna was in her\nbright garden one morning, watering the flowers, when her husband,\nBragi, came to say good-by to her, because he must go on a journey.\n\nLoki watched him start off, and thought, \"Now, here is my chance to\ntempt Iduna away from Asgard.\" After a while he went to the garden, and\nfound the lovely goddess sitting among her flowers and birds. She looked\nup at Loki with such a sweet smile, as he came near, that he felt almost\nashamed of his cruel plan; but he sat down on a grassy bank, and asked\nIduna for one of her magic apples.\n\nAfter tasting it, he smacked his lips, saying, \"Do you know, fair Iduna,\nas I was coming home toward Asgard one day, I saw a tree full of apples\nwhich were really larger and more beautiful than yours; I do wish you\nwould go with me and see them.\"\n\n\"Why, how can that be?\" said Iduna, \"for Father Odin has often told me\nthat my apples were the largest and finest he ever saw. I should so like\nto see those others, and I think I will go with you now, to compare them\nwith mine.\"\n\n\"Come on, then!\" said Loki; \"and you'd better take along your own\napples, so that we can try them with the others.\"\n\n[Illustration: IDUNA GIVING LOKI THE APPLE.]\n\nNow Bragi had often told Iduna that she must never wander away from\nhome, but, thinking it would do no harm to go such a little way, just\nthis once, she took the casket of apples in her hand and went with Loki.\nThey had hardly passed through the garden gate, when she began to wish\nherself back again, but Loki, taking her by the hand, hurried along to\nthe rainbow bridge.\n\nThey had no sooner crossed over Bifr\u00f6st than Iduna saw a big eagle\nflying toward them. Nearer and nearer he came, until at last he swooped\ndown and seized poor Iduna with his sharp talons, and flew away with her\nto his cold, barren home. There she stayed shut up for many long dreary\nmonths, always longing to get back to Asgard, to see Bragi and her\nlovely garden.\n\nThe giant Thiassi had long been planning that if he could only once get\nthe fair goddess of youth in his power, he would eat her magic apples,\nand so get strength enough to conquer the \u00c6sir; but now, after all, she\nwould not give him even one of them, and when he put his hand into the\ncasket, the apples grew smaller and smaller, until at last they\nvanished, so that he could not get even a taste.\n\nThis cruel storm giant kept poor Iduna closely shut up in a little rock\nchamber, hoping that some day he could force her to give him what he\nwanted. All day long she heard the sea beating on the rocks below her\ngloomy cell, but she could not look out, for the only window was a\nnarrow opening in the rock, high up above her head. She saw no one but\nthe giant, and his serving-women, who waited upon her.\n\nWhen these women first came to her, Iduna was surprised to see that they\nwere not ugly or stern-looking, and, when she looked at their fair,\nsmiling faces, she hoped they would be friendly and pitiful to her in\nher trouble. She begged them to help her, and, with many tears, told\nthem her sad story; but still they kept on smiling, and when they turned\ntheir backs, Iduna saw that they were hollow. These were the Ellewomen,\nwho had no hearts, and so could never be sorry for any one. When one is\nin trouble, it is very hard to be with Ellewomen.\n\nEvery day the giant came to ask Iduna, in his terrible voice, if she\nhad made up her mind to give him the apples. Iduna was frightened, but\nshe always had courage enough to say \"No,\" for she knew it would be\nfalse and cowardly to give to a wicked giant these precious gifts which\nwere meant for the high gods. Although it was hard to be a prisoner, and\nto see no one but the cold, fair Ellewomen who kept on smiling at her\ntears, she knew it was far better to belong to the bright \u00c6sir, even in\nprison, than to be a giant, or an Ellewoman, no matter how free or\nsmiling they might be.\n\n\nIII.\n\nAll this while the dwellers in Asgard were sad and lonely without their\ndear Iduna. At first they went to her garden, as before, but they missed\nthe bright goddess, and soon the garden itself grew dreary. The fresh\ngreen leaves turned brown and fell, the flowers faded, no new buds\nopened. No bird-songs were heard, and the saddest thing of all was that\nnow the gods had no more of the wonderful apples to keep them fresh and\nstrong, while two strangers, named Age and Pain, walked about the city\nof Asgard, and the \u00c6sir felt themselves growing tired and feeble.\n\nEvery day they watched for Iduna's return; at last, when day after day\nhad passed, and still she did not come, a meeting of all the gods and\ngoddesses was called to talk over what they should do, and where they\nshould search for their lost sister.\n\nLoki, you may be sure, took care not to show himself at the meeting; but\nwhen it was found out that Iduna had last been seen walking with him,\nBragi went after him, and brought him in before all the \u00c6sir.\n\nThen Father Odin, who sat on his high throne, looking very tired and\nsad, said: \"Oh, Loki, what is this that you have done? You have broken\nyour promise of brotherhood, and brought sorrow upon Asgard! Fail not to\nbring home again our sister, or else come not yourself within our\ngates!\"\n\nLoki knew well that this command must be obeyed, and besides, even he\nwas beginning to wish for Iduna again; so, borrowing the cloak of falcon\nfeathers which belonged to the goddess Freyja, he put it on and set out\nfor Utgard and the castle of the giant Thiassi, which was a gloomy cave\nin a high rock by the sea, and there he found poor Iduna shut up in\nprison.\n\nBy good luck, the giant was away fishing when Loki arrived, so he was\nable to fly in, without being seen, through the narrow opening in\nIduna's rock cell. You would have taken him to be just a falcon bird,\nbut Iduna knew it was really Loki, and was filled with joy to see him.\nWithout stopping to talk, Loki quickly changed her into a nut, which he\nheld fast in his falcon claws, and flew swiftly northward, over the sea,\ntoward Asgard. He had not gone far when he heard a rushing noise behind\nthem, and he knew it must be the eagle. Faster and faster flew the\nfalcon with his precious nut; but the fierce eagle flew still faster\nafter them.\n\nMeanwhile, for five days, the dwellers in Asgard gathered together on\nthe city walls, gazing southward, to watch for the coming of the birds,\nwhile Loki and Iduna, chased by Thiassi, the eagle, flew over the wide\nsea separating Utgard, the land of the giants, from Asgard. Each night\nthe eagle was nearer his prey, and the watchers in the city were filled\nwith fear lest he should overtake their friends.\n\nAt last they thought of a plan to help Iduna: gathering a great pile of\nwood by the city walls, they set fire to it. When Loki reached the place\nhe flew safely through the thick smoke and flame, for you know he was\nthe god of fire, and dropped down into the city with his little nut held\nfast in his falcon claws. But when the heavy eagle came rushing on after\nthem, he could not rise above the heat of the fire, and, smothered by\nthe smoke, fell down and was burned to death.\n\nThere was great joy in Asgard at having the dear Iduna back again; her\nfriends gathered around her, and she invited them all into her garden,\nwhere the withered trees and flowers began to sprout and blossom; the\ngay birds came back, singing and building their nests, and the happy\nlittle brooks went dancing under the trees.\n\nIduna sat with Bragi among her friends, and they all feasted upon her\ngolden apples; she was so thankful to be free, and at home in her garden\nagain. Once more the \u00c6sir became young and strong, and the two dark\nstrangers went away, for happiness and peace had come back to Asgard.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSKADI.\n\n\nWhile Iduna's friends were still crowding about her, all joyful and glad\nat getting her home again, they spied some one afar off, coming toward\nAsgard.\n\nAs the figure drew nearer, they saw it was Skadi, the tall daughter of\nthe frost giant Thiassi, who had chased Iduna; she was dressed all in\nwhite fur, and carried a shining hunting-spear and arrows. Slung over\nher shoulder were snowshoes and skates, for Skadi had come from her\nmountain home in the icy north. Very angry about the loss of her father,\nshe had come to ask the \u00c6sir why they had been so cruel to him.\n\nFather Odin spoke kindly to her, saying, \"We will do honor to your\nfather by putting his eyes in the sky, where they will always shine as\ntwo bright stars, and the people in Midgard will remember Thiassi\nwhenever they look up at night and see the two twinkling lights. Besides\nthis, we will also give you gold and silver.\" But Skadi, thinking money\ncould never repay her for the loss of her father, was still angry.\n\nLoki looked at her stern face, and he said to himself, \"If we can only\nmake Skadi laugh, she will be more ready to agree to the plan,\" and he\nbegan to think of some way to amuse her. Taking a long cord he tied it\nto a goat; it was an invisible cord, which no one could see, and Loki\nhimself held the other end of it. Then he began to dance and caper\nabout, and the goat had to do just what Loki did. It really was such a\nfunny sight, that all the gods shouted with laughter, and even poor,\nsorrowful Skadi had to smile.\n\nWhen the \u00c6sir saw this, they proposed another plan: Skadi might choose\none of the gods for her husband, but she must choose, from seeing only\nhis bare feet. The giantess looked at them all, as they stood before\nher, and when she saw the bright face of Baldur, more beautiful than all\nthe rest, she agreed to their plan, saying to herself, \"It might be that\nI should choose him, and then I should surely be happy.\"\n\nThe gods then stood in a row behind a curtain, so that Skadi could see\nnothing but their bare feet. She looked carefully at them all, and at\nlast chose the pair of feet which seemed to her the whitest, and of the\nfinest shape, thinking those must be Baldur's; but when the curtain was\ntaken away, she was surprised and sorry to find she had chosen Ni\u00f6rd,\nthe god of the seashore.\n\nThe wedding took place at Asgard, and when the feasting was over, Skadi\nand Ni\u00f6rd went to dwell in his home by the sea. At first they were very\nhappy, for Ni\u00f6rd was kind to his giant bride; but how could you expect\none of the \u00c6sir to live happily very long with a frost giantess for his\nwife?\n\nSkadi did not like the roar of the waves, and hated the cries of the\nsea-gulls and the murmur of gentle summer winds. She longed for her\nfrozen home, far away in the north, amid ice and snow.\n\nAnd so they finally agreed that, for nine months of the year, Ni\u00f6rd\nshould live with Skadi among her snowy mountains, where she found\nhappiness in hunting over the white hills and valleys on her snowshoes,\nwith her hunting dogs at her side, or skating on the ice-bound rivers\nand lakes. Then for the three short months of summer Skadi must live\nwith Ni\u00f6rd in his palace by the sea, while he calmed the stormy ocean\nwaves, and helped the busy fishermen to have good sailing for their\nboats.\n\n[Illustration: SKADI HUNTING IN THE MOUNTAINS.]\n\nNi\u00f6rd loved to wander along the shore, his jacket trimmed with a\nfringe of lovely seaweeds and his belt made of the prettiest shells on\nthe beach, with the friendly little sandpipers running before him, and\nbeautiful gulls and other sea birds sailing in the air above his head.\nSometimes he loved to sit on the rocks by the shore, watching the seals\nplay in the sunshine, or feeding the beautiful swans, his favorite\nbirds.\n\nThere is a kind of sponge, which the people in the north still call\nNi\u00f6rd's glove, in memory of this old Norse god.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBALDUR.\n\n\nI.\n\nBaldur was the best beloved of all the gods. Odin was their father and\nking; to him they turned for help and wise advice, but it was to Baldur\nthey went for loving words and bright smiles. The sight of his kind face\nwas a joy to the \u00c6sir, and to all the people of Midgard. They sometimes\ncalled him the god of light, a good name for him, because he truly gave\nto the world light and strength.\n\nBaldur was the son of Odin and Frigga; he was the most gentle and lovely\nof all the gods. His beautiful palace in Asgard was bright and spotless;\nno evil creature could enter there; no one who had wrong thoughts could\nstay in that palace of love and truth.\n\nAt last, after the bright summer was over, for many days Baldur had\nlooked sad and troubled. Some of the \u00c6sir saw it, but most of all, his\nloving, watchful mother, Frigga. Baldur could not bear to worry his\nmother, so he kept his sorrow to himself, saying nothing about it; but\nat last Frigga drew his secret from him, and then his friends knew that\nBaldur had had dreams which told of coming trouble, dreams of his\nleaving all his friends and going away from Asgard, to dwell in another\nland.\n\nOdin and Frigga, fearing the dreams might come true and they must lose\ntheir beloved son, began to think what they could do to prevent it.\n\nThen the loving mother said, \"I will make all things in the world\npromise not to hurt our son.\" And so Queen Frigga sent out for\neverything in the whole world, and everything came trooping to Asgard,\nto her palace. All living creatures came from the land, from the water,\nand from the air. All plants and trees came; all rocks, stones, and even\nthe metals under the earth, where the busy dwarfs worked. Fire came, and\nwater, as well as all poisons, and sickness. Everything promised not to\nharm the good Baldur, except one little plant called mistletoe, which\nwas so small that Frigga did not send for it, feeling sure it could not\ndo any harm.\n\n\"Now I am happy once more,\" said the queen, \"for our Baldur is safe!\"\nAnd she sat at peace in her beautiful palace, rejoicing that her dear\nson was free from all danger.\n\nBut Odin, the wise Allfather, still felt uneasy, even after all these\npromises, fearing what might happen. So he took his eight-footed steed,\nSleipnir, and rode forth from Asgard to the underworld to find Hela, the\nwise woman who ruled over that far-off land. She could tell everything\nthat was going to happen, and she knew the names of all those who were\ncoming to dwell with her. Odin was the only one wise enough to speak\nwith Hela, for no one else knew the words that would call her forth from\nher dwelling; but when Odin called, she came to answer.\n\n\"Tell me,\" said he, \"for whom are you making ready this costly room?\"\n\n\"We make ready for Baldur, the god of light,\" replied Hela.\n\n\"Who, then, will slay Baldur, and bring such darkness and sorrow to\nAsgard?\"\n\nAgain said the wise woman, \"It is Hodur, Baldur's twin brother, who will\nslay the sun-god.\" And with these words she vanished.\n\nSadly Father Odin returned to Asgard, and told his wife the words of\nHela; but Frigga was not troubled in her heart, for she felt sure that\nnothing would hurt her dear son.\n\n\nII.\n\nOne beautiful sunny day at the end of summer the gods had all gone out\nto an open field beyond Asgard to have some sports. As they all knew\nthat nothing could hurt Baldur, they placed him at the end of the field\nfor a target, and then took turns throwing their darts at him, just for\nthe fun of seeing them fall off without hurting him. They thought this\nwas showing great honor to Baldur, and he was pleased to join in the\nsport.\n\nLoki happened to be away when they began to play, and when he came was\nangry in his heart that nothing could hurt Baldur.\n\n\"Why should he be so favored? I hate him!\" said Loki to himself, and\nbegan at once to plan some evil.\n\nAll this while Queen Frigga sat in her palace, thinking of all her dear\nsons, and of how much good they did to men. As she sat thus, thinking,\nand spinning with her hands, there came a knock at the door. The queen\ncalled, \"Come in!\" and an old woman stood before her.\n\nFrigga spoke kindly to her, and soon the old woman said she had passed\nby the field where the gods were playing, and throwing sharp weapons at\nBaldur.\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" said Frigga; \"neither metal nor wood can hurt him, for all\nthings in the world have given me their promise.\"\n\n\"What!\" said the old woman; \"do you mean that all things have really\nvowed to spare Baldur?\"\n\n\"All,\" replied the queen, \"except one little plant that grows on the\neastern side of Asgard; it is called mistletoe, and I thought it too\nsmall and soft to do any harm.\"\n\nBefore long the old woman went away, and when she was quite out of sight\nof Frigga's palace, threw off her woman's clothes, and who do you\nsuppose it was? Why, no woman at all, but that wicked Loki, of course,\nwho hurried away out of Asgard, to find the poor little plant that did\nnot know about Baldur's danger. When he came to the place where the\nplant grew, Loki cutting off a branch, quickly made a sharp arrow, which\nhe carried back to the playground, where the \u00c6sir were still at their\ngame, all but one, Hodur, the god of darkness, Baldur's blind twin\nbrother.\n\nThen Loki went up to Hodur, and said to him in a low voice, \"Why do you\nnot join with the others in doing honor to Baldur?\"\n\n\"I cannot see to take aim, you know, and besides, I have no weapon,\"\nsaid Hodur.\n\n\"Come, then, here is a fine new dart for you, and I will guide your\nhand,\" whispered wicked Loki; then he slipped the arrow of mistletoe\nwood into Hodur's hand and aimed it himself at Baldur, who stood there\nso bright and smiling.\n\nThen poor blind Hodur heard a dreadful cry from all the gods: Baldur\nthe Beautiful had fallen, struck by the arrow; he would now be taken\naway from them, to live with Hela in the underworld.\n\nEvery heart was filled with sorrow for this dreadful loss; but no one\ntried to punish him who had done the wicked deed, for they stood upon\nsacred ground, and the field was named the Peace-stead, or Place of\nPeace, where no one might hurt another. Besides, the gods did not know\nit was the false Loki who hated Baldur, that had struck him down.\n\nWhen Frigga heard the sad news, she asked who would win her love by\ngoing to the underworld and begging Hela to let Baldur come back to\nthem.\n\nHermod, the swift messenger-god, ready to do his mother's bidding, set\nforth at once on the long journey. Nine days and nights he traveled\nwithout resting, until he came to Hela's underworld. There he found\nBaldur, who was glad to see him, and sent messages to his friends in\nAsgard. Hela said Baldur might return to them on one condition: that\nevery living creature, and everything in the world must weep for him.\n\nSo Hermod hastened back to Asgard, and when the \u00c6sir heard Hela's\nanswer, they sent out messengers over the world to bid all things weep\nfor Baldur, their bright sun-god. Then did the beasts, the birds, the\nfishes, the flowers and trees, even stones and metals weep; as indeed we\ncan see the teardrops come to all things when they are changed from heat\nto cold.\n\nAs the messengers were coming back to Asgard they met an old woman, whom\nthey bade weep, but she replied, \"Let Hela keep Baldur down below; why\nshould I care?\" When the \u00c6sir heard of this, they thought it must have\nbeen the same old woman who went before to Frigga's palace, and we know\nwho that was.\n\nAnd so Baldur the beautiful, Baldur the bright, did not come back, and\nall the dwellers in Asgard were sad and sorrowful without him.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u00c6GIR'S FEAST\n\n\nI.\n\n\u00c6gir was the ruler of the ocean, and his home was deep down below the\ntossing waves, where the water is calm and still. There was his\nbeautiful palace, in the wonderful coral caves; its walls all hung with\nbright-colored seaweeds, and the floor of white, sparkling coral sand.\nSuch wonderful sea-plants grew all about, and still more wonderful\ncreatures, some, which you could not tell from flowers, waving their\npretty fringes in the water; some sitting fastened to the rocks and\ncatching their food without moving, like the sponges; others darting\nabout and chasing each other.\n\n      \"Deep in the wave is a coral grove,\n      Where the purple mullet and goldfish rove;\n      Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue,\n      That never are wet with falling dew,\n      But in bright and changeful beauty shine\n      Far down in the green and glassy brine.\n      The floor is of sand, like the mountain drift,\n      And the pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow;\n      From coral rocks the sea-plants lift\n      Their boughs where the tides and billows flow.\n      The water is calm and still below,\n      For the winds and waves are absent there,\n      And the sands are bright as the stars that glow\n      In the motionless fields of upper air.\"\n                                                --PERCIVAL.\n\nIn that ocean home lived the lovely mermaids, who sometimes came up\nabove the waves to sit on the rocks and comb their long golden hair in\nthe sunshine. They had heads and bodies like beautiful maidens, with\nfish-tails instead of feet.\n\nOne day the gods in Asgard gave a feast, and \u00c6gir was invited. He could\nnot often leave home to visit Asgard, for he was always very busy with\nthe ocean winds and tides and storms; but calling his daughters, the\nwaves, he bade them keep the ocean quiet while he was away, and look\nafter the ships at sea.\n\nThen \u00c6gir went over Bifr\u00f6st, the rainbow bridge, to Asgard, where they\nhad such a gay party and such feasting that he was sorry when the time\ncame to go home; but at last he said good-by to Father Odin and the rest\nof the \u00c6sir. He thanked them all for the pleasure they had given him,\nsaying, \"If only I had a kettle that held enough mead for us all to\ndrink, I would invite you to visit me.\"\n\nThor, who was always glad to hear about eating and drinking, said, \"I\nknow of a kettle a mile wide and a mile deep; I will fetch it for you!\"\n\nThen \u00c6gir was pleased, and set a day for them all to come to his great\nfeast.\n\nSo Thor took with him his brother, the brave Tyr, who knew best how to\nfind the kettle; and together they started off in Thor's thunder\nchariot, drawn by goats, on their way to Utgard, the home of the giants.\n\nWhen they reached that land of ice and snow, they soon found the house\nof Hymir, the giant who owned \"Mile-deep,\" as the big kettle was called.\nThe gods were glad to find that the giant was not at home, and his wife,\nwho was more gentle than most of her people, asked them to come in and\nrest, advising them to be ready to run when they should hear the giant\ncoming, and to hide behind a row of kettles which hung from a beam at\nthe back end of the hall. \"For,\" said she, \"my husband may be very angry\nwhen he finds strangers here, and often the glance of his eye is so\nfierce that it kills!\"\n\nAt first the mighty Thor and brave Tyr were not willing to hide like\ncowards; but at last they agreed to the plan, upon the good wife\npromising to call them out as soon as she had told her husband about\nthem.\n\nIt was not long before they heard the heavy steps of Hymir, as he came\nstriding into his icy home; and very lucky it was for Thor and Tyr that\nthe giantess had told them to hide, for when the giant heard that two of\nthe \u00c6sir from Asgard were in his home, so fierce a flash shot from his\neyes that it broke the beam from which the kettles hung, and they all\nfell broken on the floor except Mile-deep.\n\nAfter a while the giant grew quiet, and at last even began to be polite\nto his guests. He had been unlucky at his fishing that day, so he had\nto kill three of his oxen for supper. Thor being hungry, as usual, made\nHymir quite angry by eating two whole oxen, so that, when they rose from\nthe table the giant said, \"If you keep on eating as much at every meal,\nas you have to-night, Thor, you will have to find your own food.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Thor; \"I will go fishing with you in the morning!\"\n\n\nII.\n\nNext morning Thor set forth with the giant, and as they walked over the\nfields toward the sea, Thor cut off the head of one of the finest oxen,\nfor bait. Of course you may know that Hymir was not pleased at this, but\nThor said he should need the very best kind of bait, for he was hoping\nto catch the Midgard serpent, that dangerous monster who lived at the\nbottom of the ocean, coiled around the world, with his tail in his\nmouth.\n\nWhen they came to the shore where the boat was ready, each one took an\noar, and they rowed out to deep water. Hymir was tired first, and called\nto Thor to stop. \"We are far enough out!\" he cried \"This is my usual\nfishing-place, where I find the best whales. If we go farther the sea\nwill be rougher, and we may run into the Midgard serpent.\"\n\nAs this was just what Thor wanted, he rowed all the harder, and did not\nstop until they were far out on the ocean; then he baited his hook with\nthe ox's head, and threw it overboard. Soon there came a fierce jerk on\nthe line; it grew heavier and heavier, but Thor pulled with all his\nmight. He tugged so hard that he broke through the bottom of the boat,\nand had to stand on the slippery rocks beneath.\n\nAll this time the giant was looking on, wondering what was the matter,\nbut when he saw the horrid head of the Midgard serpent rising above the\nwaves, he was so frightened that he cut the line; and Thor, after trying\nso hard to rid the world of that dangerous monster, saw him fall back\nagain under the water; even Mi\u00f6lnir, the magic hammer, which Thor hurled\nat the creature, was too late to hit him. And so the two fishermen had\nto turn back, and wade to the shore, carrying the broken boat and oars\nwith them.\n\nThe giant was proud to think he had been too quick for Thor, and after\nthey reached the house he said to the thunder-god, \"Since you think you\nare so strong, let us see you break this goblet; if you succeed, I will\ngive you the big kettle.\"\n\nThis was just what Thor wanted; so he tightened his belt of strength,\nand threw the goblet with all his might against the wall; but instead of\nbreaking the goblet he broke the wall.\n\nA second time he tried, but did no better. Then the giant's wife\nwhispered to Thor, \"Throw it at his head!\" And she sang in a low voice,\nas she turned her spinning-wheel,--\n\n      \"Hard the pillar, hard the stone,\n      Harder yet the giant's bone!\n      Stones shall break and pillars fall,\n      Hymir's forehead breaks them all!\"\n\nYet again Thor threw the goblet, this time against the giant's head, and\nit fell, broken in pieces.\n\nThen Tyr tried to lift the Mile-deep kettle, for he was in a hurry to\nleave this land of ice and snow; but he could not stir it from its\nplace, and Thor had to help him, before they could get it out of the\ngiant's house.\n\nWhen Hymir saw the gods, whom he hated, carrying off his kettle, he\ncalled all his giant friends, and they started out in chase of the \u00c6sir;\nbut when Thor heard them coming he turned and saw their fierce, grinning\nfaces glaring down at him from every rocky peak and iceberg.\n\nThen the mighty Thunderer raised Mi\u00f6lnir, the hammer, above his head,\nand hurled it among the giants, who became stiff and cold, all turned\ninto giant rocks, that still stand by the shore.\n\n\nIII.\n\n\u00c6gir was very glad to get Mile-deep; so he set to work to make the mead\nin it, to get ready for the great feast, at the time of the flax\nharvest, when all the \u00c6sir were coming from Asgard to visit him.\n\nBefore the day came, all light and joy had gone from the sacred city,\nbecause the bright Baldur had been slain, and the homes of the gods were\ndark and lonely without him. So they were all glad to visit \u00c6gir, to\nfind cheer for their sadness.\n\nThere was Father Odin, with his golden helmet, and Queen Frigga,\nwearing her crown of stars, golden-haired Sif, Freyja, with Brisingamen,\nthe wonderful necklace, and all the noble company of the \u00c6sir, all\nexcept mighty Thor, who had gone far away to the giant-land.\n\nAs they all sat in \u00c6gir's beautiful ocean hall, drinking the sweet mead,\nand talking together, Loki came in and stood before them; but, finding\nhe was not welcome, and no seat saved for him, he began saying ugly\nthings to make them all angry, and at last he grew angry himself, and\nslew \u00c6gir's servant because they praised him. The \u00c6sir drove him out\nfrom the hall, but once more he came in, and said such dreadful things\nthat at last Frigga said, \"Oh, if my son Baldur were only here, he would\nsilence thy wicked tongue!\"\n\nThen Loki turned to Frigga, and told her that he himself was the very\none who had slain Baldur. He had no sooner spoken than a heavy peal of\nthunder shook the hall, and angry Thor strode in, waving his magic\nhammer. Seeing this, the coward Loki turned and fled, and Asgard was rid\nof him forever.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI.\n\n\nWhen Loki was driven out by the mighty Thor from \u00c6gir's palace-hall he\nknew that he could never again be allowed to come among the gods in\nAsgard. Many times had this mischievous fire-god brought trouble and\nsorrow to the \u00c6sir, but now he had done the most cruel deed of all, he\nhad slain Baldur the Good, and had driven all light and joy from Asgard.\n\nFar away he fled, among the mountains, hoping that no one would find him\nthere; and near a lovely mountain stream he built for himself a hut with\nfour doors looking north, east, south, and west, so that if the wise\nAllfather, on his high air throne in Asgard, should see him, and send\nmessengers to punish him, the watchful Loki could see them coming and\nescape by the opposite door.\n\nHe spent most of the days and nights thinking how he could get away\nfrom the \u00c6sir. \"If I ran to the stream and turned myself into a fish,\"\nhe thought, \"I wonder if they could catch me. I could keep out of the\nway of a hook; but then there are nets; \u00c6gir's wife has a wonderful\nthing like a net, for catching fish, and that would be far worse than a\nhook!\"\n\nWhen Loki thought of the net, he began to wonder how it was made, and\nthe more he thought, the more he wished he could make one so as to see\nhow a fish could keep from getting caught in it. He sat down by the fire\nin his little hut, took a piece of cord and began to make a fish-net. He\nhad nearly finished it when, looking up through the open door, he saw\nthree of the \u00c6sir in the distance, coming toward his hut. Loki well knew\nthat they were coming to catch him, and, quickly throwing his net into\nthe fire, he ran to the stream, changed himself into a beautiful spotted\nsalmon, and leaped into the water.\n\nA moment later the three gods entered the hut, and one of them spied the\nfish-net burning in the fire. \"See!\" cried he, \"Loki must have been\nmaking this net to catch fish; he always was a good fisherman, and now\nthis is just what we want for catching him!\"\n\n[Illustration: THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI.]\n\nSo they snatched the last bit of the net from the fire, and by\nlooking at it found out how to make another, which they took with them\nto the bank of the stream.\n\nThe first time the net was put into the water, Loki hid between two\nrocks, and the net was so light that it floated past him; but the next\ntime it had a heavy stone weight, which made it sink down, till Loki saw\nhe could not get away unless he could leap over the net. He did this,\nbut Thor, seeing him, waded out into the stream, where he threw the net\nagain, so that Loki must jump a second time, or else go on out into the\ndeep sea.\n\nAs he leaped, Thor stooped and caught him in his hand, but the fish was\nso slippery that Thor could hardly hold it. In the struggle the salmon's\ntail was pinched so tightly by the thunder-god's strong fingers that it\nwas drawn out to a point, and the old stories say that is why salmon\ntails are so pointed ever since.\n\nThus was Loki caught in his own trap, and dreadful was his punishment.\nThe \u00c6sir chained him to a high rock, and placed a great, poisonous\nserpent, hanging over the cliff above his head.\n\nIf it had not been for Loki's good, faithful wife, he would have died\nof the poison that dropped from the snake's mouth. She watched by her\nhusband, holding a cup above him to catch the poison. Only when she had\nto turn aside to empty the cup did the drops fall upon Loki; then they\ngave him such terrible pain that he shook the earth with his struggles,\nand the people in Midgard fled from the dreadful earthquake, in Iceland\nthe great geysers, springs of hot water, burst through the earth, and in\nthe south-lands burning ashes and lava poured down the mountain-sides.\n\nThere, chained to the cliff, the cruel, mischievous Loki was to lie\nuntil the Twilight of the gods, the dark day of Ragnar\u00f6k, when all the\nmighty evil monsters and beasts would get free, and the terrible battle\nbe fought between them and the gods of Asgard.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS.\n\n\nLoki and Fenrir, the wolf, were safely bound, each to his separate\ncliff, but still happiness and peace did not return to Asgard, for\nBaldur was no longer there, and light and joy had gone from the home of\nthe gods. The \u00c6sir felt that the Twilight of the gods, which Odin knew\nwas to come, must be near.\n\nSoon began a long cold winter; surely it must be the beginning of the\nFimbulwinter, which was to come before the last great battle. From the\nnorth came cold blasts of freezing wind; snow and ice covered the earth;\nmen could not see the face of the sun or the moon. Everywhere there was\ndarkness; the people grew fierce and unhappy and wicked, for they seemed\nno longer to love each other. So the evil deeds of men kept on, and the\nfierce frost giants grew stronger and stronger. They killed the trees\nand flowers, and bound the lakes and rivers with icy bands.\n\nEven when summer time came, the cold still held on, and no one could see\nthe green grass or the beautiful golden sunlight. The frost giants were\npleased to see the trouble they had brought upon men, and hoped they\nsoon could destroy Asgard and the gods.\n\nThree long winters passed, with no light to warm and brighten the world;\nafter that still three other dreary winters, and then the eagle who sat\non the top of the great world tree, Yggdrasil, gave a loud, shrill cry;\nat that the earth shook, the rocks crumbled and fell, so that Loki and\nthe wolf were freed from their chains.\n\nThe waters of the deep ocean rose and rolled high over the land, and up\nabove the waves writhing out of the deep, came the monster Midgard\nserpent to join in the last battle. Now the enemies of the gods were\ngathering from all sides,--the frost giants, the mountain giants, with\nLoki, Fenrir, and the Midgard serpent.\n\nHeimdall, the faithful watchman, looked from his watch-tower by the\nrainbow bridge, and when he saw the host of monsters appearing and\nraging toward Asgard, he blew his magic horn, Giallar, which was the\nsignal of warning to the gods.\n\n[Illustration: THOR FIGHTING THE SERPENT.]\n\nWhen Father Odin heard the blast of Heimdall's horn, he hastened to arm\nhimself for the battle; once again it is said the Allfather sought\nwisdom at Mimir's fountain, asking to know how best to lead the \u00c6sir\nagainst their enemies. But what Mimir said to him no one ever knew, for\na second call sounded from the Giallar horn, and the gods, with Odin at\ntheir head, rode forth from Asgard to meet their foes.\n\nThor took his place beside Odin, but they were soon parted in the\nstruggle. The thunder-god fell upon his old enemy, the serpent, whom\ntwice before he had tried to slay, and after a fierce fight, he at last\nconquered and slew the monster; but the poisonous breath from the\nserpent's mouth overcame the mighty Thor, and he also fell.\n\nHeimdall and Loki came face to face, and each slew the other. Thus every\none of the gods battled each with his foe, till at last the darkness\ngrew deeper, and all, both gods and giants lay dead. Then fire burst\nforth, raging from Utgard to Asgard--and all the worlds were destroyed\nin that dreadful day of Ragnar\u00f6k.\n\nBut this was not the end of all: after many months, and years, and even\ncenturies had passed, a new world began to appear, with the fair ocean,\nand the beautiful land, with a bright, shining sun by day, and the moon\nand stars by night. Then once more the light and heat from the sun made\nthe grass and trees grow, and the flowers bloom.\n\nBaldur and Hodur came to this beautiful new world, and walked and talked\ntogether. Thor's sons were there, too, and with them, the hammer,\nMi\u00f6lnir, no longer for use against giants, but for helping men build\nhomes.\n\nTwo people, a man and a woman, who were kept safe through the raging\nfire, now came to dwell on the earth, and all their children and\ngrandchildren lived at peace with each other in this beautiful new\nworld.\n\nBaldur and Hodur talked often of the old days when the \u00c6sir dwelt in\nAsgard, before Loki, the wicked one, brought darkness and trouble to\nthem. With loving words they spoke of Odin and Frigga; and the brave\nTyr, who gave his right hand to save the \u00c6sir; of mighty Thor; and\nfaithful Heimdall; of lovely Freyja, with her beautiful necklace; and of\nfair Iduna's garden, where they used to sit and eat her magic apples.\n\"But still,\" they said, \"we know now that this new world is fairer than\nthe old, and here, also, the loving Allfather watches over his\nchildren.\"\n\n\n\n\nINDEX OF NAMES.\n\n\n=\u00c6gir= ([=a]'jir). God of the deep sea.\n\n=\u00c6sir= ([=a]'sir). The twelve gods of Asgard.\n\n=Alfheim= ([)a]lf'h[=i]m). Home of the elves and of Frey.\n\n=Asgard= (as'g\u00e4rd). The home of the \u00c6sir.\n\n=Baldur= (b[a:]l'der). The sun-god.\n\n=Bifr\u00f6st= (b[=e]'fr[~e]st). The rainbow bridge.\n\n=Bragi= (br\u00e4'g[=e]). The god of poetry. Husband of Iduna.\n\n=Brisingamen= (br[)i] sing'\u00e4 men). Freyja's necklace.\n\n=Brock=. One of the dwarfs.\n\n=Fenrir=. The monster wolf.\n\n=Fimbulwinter= (fim'bul). The last stormy winter.\n\n=Frey= (fr[=i]). The god of summer and of the elves.\n\n=Freyja= (fr[=i]'y[)a]). The goddess of love and beauty.\n\n=Frigga= (fr[)i]g'\u00e4). The queen of the gods. Wife of Odin.\n\n=Giallar-horn= (Gy\u00e4l'lar). Heimdall's trumpet.\n\n=Gladsheim= (gl[)a]dz'h[=i]m). Odin's palace.\n\n=Heimdall= (h[=i]m'd\u00e4l). Guardian of the rainbow bridge.\n\n=Hela= (h[=e]'l\u00e4). Queen of the underworld.\n\n=Hermod= (h[~e]r'mod). The messenger-god.\n\n=Hodur= (ho'der). God of darkness. Baldur's brother.\n\n=H\u00f6nir= (h[~e]'nir). God of mind or thought.\n\n=Hymir= (h[=e]'mir). The frost giant who owned the great kettle called\nMile-deep.\n\n=Iduna= ([=e] doon'\u00e4). Goddess of spring.\n\n=J\u00f6tunheim= (y[~e]'toon h[=i]m). Home of the giants.\n\n=Loki= (l[=o]'k[=e]). God of fire.\n\n=Midgard=. The earth.\n\n=Mimir= (m[=e]'mir). Guardian of the well of wisdom.\n\n=Mi\u00f6lnir= (my[~e]l'nir). Thor's magic hammer.\n\n=Niflheim= (n[)i]fl'h[=i]m). The underground world.\n\n=Ni\u00f6rd= (ny[~e]rd). God of the seashore.\n\n=Norns=. The three Fates.\n\n=Odin= ([=o]'din). The father, or chief, of the gods.\n\n=Odur= ([=o]'d\u00fbr). Freyja's husband.\n\n=Ragnar\u00f6k= (r\u00e5g'n\u00e5 r\u00fbk). The Twilight of the gods.\n\n=Sif=. Wife of Thor.\n\n=Sindri=. One of the dwarfs.\n\n=Skadi= (sk\u00e4'd[=e]). Thiassi's daughter.\n\n=Sleipnir= (sl[=i]p'nir). Odin's eight-footed steed.\n\n=Thiassi= (t[=e] \u00e4s's[=e]). A frost giant. Skadi's father.\n\n=Thor= (thor or tor). God of thunder.\n\n=Tyr= (t[=e]r) or Tiu (t[=u]). God of war.\n\n=Utgard= ([)oo]t'g\u00e4rd). City of the giants, in J\u00f6tunheim.\n\n=Yggdrasil= (ig'dr\u00e5 sil). The world tree.\n\n\nKEY TO PRONUNCIATION.\n\n  [=a] as in ale.           [a:] as in all.            [~e] as in fern.\n  [)a] as in am.            \u00e5 as in ask.               [=i] as in ice.\n  \u00e4 as in arm.              [=e] as in eve.            [)i] as in ill.\n\n              [=o] as in old.             \u00fb as in urn.\n              [)oo] as in foot.           [=u] as in use.\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nOn page 29 a period was added (feast with the \u00c6sir.). Otherwise\nthe original text was preserved.\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":20326}