{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_41283/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_41283","id":"gutenberg_41283","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41283","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mythology, Norse -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"THE\n          HEROES OF ASGARD\n\n _TALES FROM SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY_\n\n\n BY A. & E. KEARY\n\n WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HUARD\n\n New York\n\n THE MACMILLAN COMPANY\n\n LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.\n\n 1909\n\n _All rights reserved_\n\n\n New edition September, 1906. Reprinted July, 1909.\n\n Norwood Press:\n\n Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn preparing the Second Edition of this little volume of tales from\nthe Northern Mythology for the press, the Authors have thought it\nadvisable to omit the conversations at the beginning and end of the\nchapters, which had been objected to as breaking the course of the\nnarrative. They have carefully revised the whole, corrected many\ninaccuracies and added fresh information drawn from sources they had\nnot had an opportunity of consulting when the volume first appeared.\nThe writers to whose works the Authors have been most indebted, are\nSimrock, Mallet, Laing, Thorpe, Howitt and Dasent.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n\n INTRODUCTION,                                                 9\n\n\n CHAPTER I. THE \u00c6SIR.\n\n PART I.--A GIANT--A COW--AND A HERO,                         41\n     II.--AIR THRONE, THE DWARFS, AND THE LIGHT ELVES,        51\n    III.--NIFLHEIM,                                           59\n     IV.--THE CHILDREN OF LOKI,                               67\n      V.--BIFR\u00d6ST, URDA, AND THE NORNS,                       72\n     VI.--ODH\u00c6RIR,                                            81\n\n\n CHAPTER II. HOW THOR WENT TO J\u00d6TUNHEIM.\n\n PART I.--FROM ASGARD TO UTGARD,                             109\n     II.--THE SERPENT AND THE KETTLE,                        130\n\n\n CHAPTER III. FREY.\n\n PART I.--ON TIPTOE IN AIR THRONE,                           147\n     II.--THE GIFT,                                          152\n    III.--FAIREST GERD,                                      157\n     IV.--THE WOOD BARRI,                                    163\n\n\n CHAPTER IV. THE WANDERINGS OF FREYJA.\n\n PART I.--THE NECKLACE BRISINGAMEN,                          169\n     II.--LOKI--THE IRON WOOD--A BOUNDLESS WASTE,            177\n    III.--THE KING OF THE SEA AND HIS DAUGHTERS,             185\n\n\n CHAPTER V. ID\u016aNA'S APPLES.\n\n PART I.--REFLECTIONS IN THE WATER,                          191\n     II.--THE WINGED-GIANT,                                  198\n    III.--HELA,                                              212\n     IV.--THROUGH FLOOD AND FIRE,                            218\n\n\n CHAPTER VI. BALDUR.\n\n PART I.--THE DREAM,                                         231\n     II.--THE PEACESTEAD,                                    240\n    III.--BALDUR DEAD,                                       247\n     IV.--HELHEIM,                                           250\n      V.--WEEPING,                                           256\n\n\n CHAPTER VII. THE BINDING OF FENRIR.\n\n PART I.--THE MIGHT OF ASGARD,                               263\n     II.--THE SECRET OF SVARTHEIM,                           272\n    III.--HONOUR,                                            279\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII. THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI,                       285\n\n\n CHAPTER IX. RAGNAR\u00d6K.\n\n OR, THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS,                               295\n\n\n INDEX OF NAMES, WITH MEANINGS,                              315\n\n\n\n\nList of Illustrations.\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n\n GIANT SUTTUNG AND THE DWARFS,                                86\n\n GIANT SKRYMIR AND THOR,                                     115\n\n FREYJA IN THE DWARFS' CAVE,                                 172\n\n IDUNA GIVING THE MAGIC APPLES,                              195\n\n SKADI CHOOSING HER HUSBAND,                                 227\n\n TYR FEEDING FENRIR,                                         265\n\n THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI,                                     292\n\n\n\n\nTHE HEROES OF ASGARD.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nIf we would understand the religion of the ancient Scandinavians, we\nought to study at the same time the myths of all Teutonic nations. A\ndrawing together of these, and a comparison of one with another, has\nbeen most beautifully effected by Simrock, in his _Handbuch der\nDeutschen Mythologie_, where he tells us that whilst the Scandinavian\nrecords are richer and more definite, they are also younger than\nthose of Germany, which latter may be compared to ancient half\nchoked-up streams from which the fuller river flows, but which, it is\nto be remarked, that river has mingled in its flowing. Grimm says\nthat both religions--the German and the Northern--were in the main\nidentical, though in details they varied; and as heathenism lingered\nlonger in Scandinavia than in any other part of Europe, it is not\nsurprising that there, rather than anywhere else, we should find the\nold world wants and hopes and fears, dark guesses, crude imaginings,\nchildlike poetic expressions, crystallised into a pretty definite\nsystem of belief and worship. Yes, we can walk through the glittering\nice halls of the old frozen faith, and count its gems and wonder at\nits fearful images; but the warm heart-reachings from which they\nalike once flowed, we can only darkly feel, at best but narrowly pry\ninto here and there. Ah! if we could but break up the poem again into\nthe syllables of the far off years.\n\nThe little tales which follow, drawn from the most striking and\npicturesque of the Northern myths, are put together in the simplest\npossible form, and were written only with a design to make the\nsubject interesting to children. By-and-bye, however, as we through\ntheir means become in a slight degree acquainted with the characters\nbelonging to, and the parts played by, the various deities of this\nmythology, it will not be uninteresting to consider what their\nmeaning may be, and to try if we can trace the connection of one with\nanother. At present it seems best, as an introduction to them--and\nwithout it they would be scarcely intelligible--to give a very slight\nsketch of the Northern mythology, as it is gathered from the earliest\nScandinavian sources, as well as a short account of the sources from\nwhich it is gathered.\n\nLaing, in the introduction to his Translation of the Heimskringla\nSaga, says,--\"A nation's literature is its breath of life, without\nwhich a nation has no existence, is but a congregation of\nindividuals. During the five centuries in which the Northmen were\nriding over the seas, and conquering wheresoever they landed, the\nliterature of the people they overcame was locked up in a dead\nlanguage, and within the walls of monasteries. But the Northmen had a\nliterature of their own, rude as it was.\" Songs and sagas, mythical\nand heroic, were the staple of this literature of the north; and\nthese appear to have been handed down by word of mouth from skald to\nskald until about the beginning of the twelfth century. Then S\u00e6mund\nthe Learned, and others, began to commit them to writing. S\u00e6mund the\nLearned was born in Iceland about the year 1057, fifty years after\nChristianity had been positively established in that island. He\npassed his youth in Germany, France, and Italy, studying at one time\nwith a famous master, \"by whom he was instructed in every kind of\nlore.\" So full, indeed, did S\u00e6mund's head become of all that he had\nlearnt, that he frequently \"forgot the commonest things,\" even his\nown name and identity, so that when asked who he was, he would give\nthe name of any one he had been reading about. He was also said to be\nan astrologer, and a charming little anecdote is related of him in\nthis capacity, which, however, would be out of place here. When he\nwent back to Iceland, he became priest of Oddi, instructed the people\nabout him, studied the old religion, and, besides writing a history\nof Norway and Iceland, which has been lost, transcribed several of\nthe mythic and heroic songs of the North, which together form a\ncollection known by the name of the _Poetic_, _Elder_, or _S\u00e6mund's\nEdda_. The songs themselves are supposed to date from about the\neighth century; S\u00e6mund wrote them down in the twelfth. The oldest\ncopy of his original MS. is of the fourteenth century, and this copy\nis now in the Royal Library of Copenhagen. A few years ago they were\ntranslated into English by B. Thorpe. So much for the history of the\n_Elder Edda_--great-grandmother the name is said to mean, but after\nall she scarcely seems old enough to be called a great-grandmother.\nWe have traced her growing up, and seen how she has dressed herself,\nand we begin to think of her almost as a modern young lady. When we\nlisten to the odd jumble of tales she tells us, too, we are more than\nhalf inclined to quarrel with her, though without exactly knowing\nwhether it is with her youth or her age that we find fault. You are\ntoo young to know what you are talking about, great-grandmother, we\ncomplain; but, oh dear! you mumble so and make use of such odd\nold-fashioned words we can scarcely understand you. S\u00e6mund was not\nthe only man who wrote down songs and sagas; he had some\ncontemporaries, many successors; and, about fifty years after his\ndeath, we hear of Snorro Sturleson, a rich man, twice Supreme\nMagistrate of the Icelandic Republic, who also lived for some time at\nOddi, and who has left many valuable additions to the stock of\nIcelandic written lore. Laing says of him--\"Snorro Sturleson has done\nfor the history of the Northmen, what Livy did for the history of the\nRomans.\" Amongst other things, he wrote a sort of commentary or\nenlargement of S\u00e6mund's _Edda_, probably drawn from MSS. of S\u00e6mund\nand of others, which were preserved at Oddi. This is called the\n_Prose_, _Younger_, or _Snorro's Edda_, and was translated many years\nago by M. Mallet into French. Added to these two sources of\ninformation respecting the Scandinavian mythology, there are many\nallusions to the myths scattered through the heroic lays with which\nNorthern literature abounds.\n\nThe _Poetic Edda_ consists of two parts--the mythological and the\nheroic. The mythological songs contain an account of the formation\nand destruction of the world, of the origin, genealogies, adventures,\njourneys, conversations of the gods, magic incantations, and one lay\nwhich may be called ethical. This portion of the _Edda_ concludes\nwith a song called \"The Song of the Sun,\" of which it is supposed\nS\u00e6mund himself was the author. Thorpe, the English translator, says,\n\"It exhibits a strange mixture of Christianity and heathenism, whence\nit would seem that the poet's own religion was in a transition state.\nWe may as well remark here that the only allusion to Christianity in\nthe _Elder Edda_, with the exception of this last song, which stands\nquite alone, is a single strophe in an incantation:--\n\n    \"An eighth I will sing to thee,\n    If night overtake thee,\n    When out on the misty way,\n    That the dead Christian woman\n    No power may have to do thee harm.\"\n\nWhich savours curiously of the horror which these heathens then\nevidently felt of the new faith.\n\nThe _Younger Edda_ is a very queer old lady indeed. She begins by\ntelling a sort of story. She says \"there was once a King called\nGylfi, renowned for his wisdom and skill in magic;\" he being seized\nwith a desire to know all about the gods, and wishing also to get his\ninformation first-hand, sets off on a journey to Asgard itself, the\ngods' own abode. When he gets there he finds a mysterious Three\nseated upon three thrones--the High, the Equally High, and the Third.\nThe story-teller is supposed to have taken this picture from a temple\nat Upsal, where the thrones of Odin, Thor, and Frey were placed in\nthe same manner, one above another. Gylfi introduces himself as\nGangler, a name for traveller (connected with the present Scotch word\ngang), and proceeded to question the Three upon the origin of the\nworld, the nature and adventures of the gods, &c., &c. Gangler's\nquestions, and the answers which he receives, will, with reference to\nthe _Elder Edda_ tales, help us to get just the short summary we want\nof the Scandinavian mythology--the mythology grown up and old, and\nfrozen tight, as we find it in the _Eddas_.\n\n\"What was the beginning of things?\" asks Gangler; and Har (the\nhighest of the Three), replying in the words of an ancient poem,\nsays,--\n\n    \"Once was the age\n    When all was not--\n    No sand, nor sea,\n    No salt waves,\n    No earth was found,\n    Nor over-skies,\n    But yawning precipice\n    And nowhere grass.\"\n\nThis nothingness was called Ginnungagap, the gap of gaps, the gaping\nof the chasms: and Har goes on to relate what took place in it. On\nthe north side of Ginnungagap, he says, lay Niflheim, the shadowy\nnebulous home of freezing cold and gathering gloom; but on the south\nlay the glowing region of Muspellheim. There was besides a roaring\ncauldron called Hvergelmir, which seethed in the middle of Niflheim,\nand sent forth twelve rivers called the strange waves; these flowed\ninto the gap and froze there, and so filled the gap with ice: but\nsparks and flakes of fire from Muspellheim fell upon the ice.\nGinnungagap on the north side was now filled with ice and vapour and\nfleeting mists and whirlwinds, but southwards with glowing radiancy,\nwith calm and light and wind--still air; and so, continues Har, the\nheat met the frost, the frost melted into drops, the drops quickened\ninto life, and there was a human form called Ymir, a giant. \"Was he a\ngod?\" asks Gangler. \"Oh! dear no,\" answers Har; \"we are very far\nindeed from believing him to have been a god; he was wicked and the\nfather of all the Frost Giants.\" \"I wonder what he ate?\" said\nGangler. \"There was a cow,\" Har went on to explain; \"she was made out\nof the drops, too, and the giant fed upon her milk.\" \"Good,\" answered\nGangler; \"but what fed the cow?\" \"She licked the stones of\nGinnungagap, which were covered with salt hoar frost;\" and then Har\ngoes on to relate how by degrees a man, Bur, grew up out of the\nstones as the cow licked them, good, not like Ymir, but the father of\nthe gods; and here we may remark that the giant and the god equally\nwere the sole progenitors of their immediate descendants. Ymir was\nthe father of the first giant, Bur had a son called B\u00f6r. But after\nthat the races mix to a certain extent, for B\u00f6r married a giantess\nand became the father of three sons, Odin, Vili and Ve.\n\n\"Was there any degree of good understanding between these two races?\"\nasks Gangler. \"Far from it,\" replies Har; and then he tells how the\nsons of the god slew all the frost giants but one, dragged the body\nof old Ymir into the middle of Ginnungagap, made the earth out of\nit,--\"from his blood the seas, from his flesh the land, from his\nbones the mountains, of his hair the trees, of his skull the heavens\nand of his brains the clouds. Then they took wandering flakes from\nMuspellheim, and placed them in the heavens.\" Until this time, says\nthe _V\u00f6lusp\u00e1_.\n\n    \"The sun knew not\n    Where she a dwelling had,\n    The moon knew not\n    What power he possessed,\n    The stars knew not\n    Where they had a station.\"\n\nAbout this time it happened that the sons of the god took a walk\nalong the sea-beach, and there found two stems of wood which they\nfashioned into the first man and woman:--\n\n    \"Spirit gave them Odin\n    Sense gave H\u0153nir\n    Blood gave Lodin (Loki)\n    And goodly colour.\"\n\nAfter this it is said that the all-holy gods, the \u00c6sir, the Lords,\nwent to their judgment seats, held council, and gave names to the\n\"night and to the waning moon, morn, midday, afternoon, and eve\nwhereby to reckon years.\" Then they built a city called Asgard in the\nmiddle of the earth, altars and temples, \"made furnaces, forged tongs\nand fabricated tools and precious things;\" after which they stayed at\nhome and played joyously with tables. This was the golden age of the\ngods; they were happy. \"To them,\" says the old song, \"was naught the\nwant of gold, until there came three maids all powerful from the\ngiants.\"\n\nIn some mysterious way it appears that a desire for gold seized upon\nthe gods in the midst of their innocent golden play. Then they formed\nthe dwarfs, in order that these might get gold for them out of the\nearth. The dwarfs till then had been just like maggots in Ymir's dead\nflesh, but now received human likeness. A shadow begins to creep over\nthe earth, the golden age is past. At the same time three things\nhappen. The gods discover the use or want of gold; the first war\nbreaks out, as it is said, \"Odin hurled his spear amid the people,\nand then was the first war;\" and the three all-powerful giant maids\nappear. \"Gold,\" says the old song (and calls her by a name as if she\nwere a person), \"they pierced with lances,--\n\n    \"And in the High one's Hall\n    Burnt her once,\n    Burnt her thrice,\n    Oft not seldom,\n    Yet she still lives.\n    Wolves she tamed,\n    Magic arts she knew, she practised,\n    Ever was she the joy\n    Of evil people.\"\n\nThe three giant maidens are the three Fates--the sisters,--Past,\nPresent and Future. They came from giant land, which in this place\ntypifies the first mixed cause of all things; they came at the moment\nwhen the golden age was disappearing; they stand upon the very edge\nof its existence, at once the bringers and the avengers of evil. \"The\ngolden age ceased when gold was invented,\" is an old saying. \"After\nthe golden age, time begins,\" is another, or, in the words of a\nGerman proverb, \"To the happy no hour strikes.\" And now let us see\nwhat sort of looking world these giants, gods, men, dwarfs and\nfateful maids whom Har has been talking about were living in.\n\n\"Round without,\" Har says so; but a _flat_ round. The outmost circle\na frozen region full of frost giants; inside that circle, the sea; in\nthe middle of the sea, the earth in which men live, called Midgard,\nand made out of Ymir's eyebrows; in the midst of the earth Asgard,\nthe city of the gods. It seems to be rather a disputed point whether\nor not Asgard was on the top of a hill. Heavenly mountains are\nmentioned in the _Edda_, but they are placed at the edge of heaven\nunder one end of the rainbow, not at all near Asgard, if Asgard was\nin the middle of the earth. However, to make the city more\nconspicuous we have placed it on the summit of a hill in the picture\nof the Scandinavian World which stands at the beginning of this\nchapter, and here remark that this picture must not be looked at\nexactly in a geographical light even from a Scandinavian point of\nview. It is rather an expression of ideas than of places, for we have\ntried to figure by it what is said about the great World Tree\nYggdrassil and its three roots. \"That ash,\" says Har, which was\nindeed the earth-bearer, \"is the greatest and best of all trees.\" Its\nbranches spread over the whole world and even reach above heaven. It\nhas three roots, very wide asunder. One of them goes down to\nGinnungagap. The frost giants live over it, and over this root is a\ndeep well which we shall hear more of by-and-bye. In the picture this\nroot could not be shown, but the branches which encircle the ice\nregion are supposed to spring from it. Another root extends to\nNiflheim, the old roaring cauldron lies under it, a great snake\ncalled Nidh\u00f6gg gnaws it night and day as the old lay says.\n\"Yggdrasil's ash suffers greater hardship than men know of. Nidh\u00f6gg\ntears it.\" Under this root also lies Helheim, a home of the dead. The\nthird root is in heaven: gods and men live under it, in Asgard and\nMidgard; the giant fate-sisters also live under it, at the top of the\nRainbow's arch in their palace very beauteous, which stands by the\nHoly Urda Fount. They water the tree every day with the holy water,\nso that ever \"it stands green over Urda's Fount.\"\n\nThese maidens are called Norns;--they fix the destinies of men, Har\nsays; \"but besides them,\" he adds, \"there are a great many other\nnorns--indeed, for each man that is born there is a norn to decide\nhis fate.\"\n\n\"Methinks, then,\" says Gangler, \"that these Norns were born far\nasunder; they are not of the same race.\" \"Some belong to the \u00c6sir,\nsome come from the Elves, and some are dwarfs' daughters.\" Besides\nthese wonders, we are told that an eagle perched amongst the highest\nbranches of Yggdrasil with a hawk between his eyes, four harts ran\namongst the branches and bit off the buds, and a squirrel called\nRatat\u00f6sk or branch borer ran up and down, carrying messages between\nthe Eagle and Nidh\u00f6gg, as one account says, causing strife between\nthem--a kind of typical busybody, in fact.\n\nSuch is the myth of Yggdrasil, of which Jacob Grimm remarks \"it bears\nthe stamp of a very high antiquity, but does not appear to be fully\nunfolded.\" Of course, it was only the symbol of a thought, the\nScandinavians could not have believed that there was such a tree. But\nof what thought was it the symbol? The editor of Mallet's _Northern\nAntiquities_ says, \"We are inclined to regard this mythic Tree as the\nsymbol of ever-enduring time, or rather of universal nature, ever\nvarying in its aspects but subsisting throughout eternity.\" It is\ncalled somewhere \"Time's hoary nurse,\" and we see the principles of\ndestruction and of renovation acting upon it. One root in the\nformless elemental abyss, one in the formed ice-frozen-over\ngiant land, its branches spreading over the whole world; one\nreaching up to the unseen. Its name means \"Ygg\"--terror, horror,\nfear--\"drasil\"--horse or bearer--and the first syllable is one of the\nnames of Odin the chief god. We must not omit to mention that our\nMaypoles and the German Christmas trees are offshoots of Yggdrasil,\n\"that ash, the greatest and best of trees.\"\n\n\"But who is the first and eldest of the gods?\" Gangler asks. \"We call\nhim Allfather,\" says Har, \"but besides this he has twelve names.\"\n\nAllfather, Odin or Woden, the eldest son of B\u00f6r by a giantess, is the\nchief god of the _Eddas_, and it is quite true, as Har says, that he\nhas many names. He was called Allfather--the father of gods and men,\nand Valfather or the chooser, because he chose which of the slain in\nbattle should come and live with him in heaven; he called himself by\nmany names when he travelled, he was known as Ygg, but generally,\nchiefly, he was Odin. The meaning of the first syllable of this last\nname is terror (like Ygg), or violent emotion. Simrock says that air\nin calm or storm lies at the root of Odin's being; from this he grew\nup to be a god of the spirit, a king of gods, \"as in the simple ideas\nof the people,\" he says, \"nature and spirit are inseparable; he\nbecame as much a commander of the spirits of men as of the forces of\nnature.\" Air, widespread and most spiritual of the elements, how\nnaturally akin it seems to that wind, blowing where it listeth, which\nmoves in hidden ways the spirits of men. Inspiration, madness,\npoetry, warrior-rage, the storm of wind, the storm of mind--we find\nOdin in them all. Thor the thunder-god stood next in importance to\nOdin. Odin was his father, and he had a giantess mother, J\u00f6rd (the\nearth). Besides these Har enumerates Baldur, Tyr, Vidar, Vali, H\u00f6dur,\nBragi, all called sons of Odin;--we shall hear the stories that\nbelong to them by-and-bye.\n\nAll these were of the race of the \u00c6sir or Asgard gods; there were\nother deities counted amongst them, and yet kept a little\ndistinct--the Vanir gods and goddesses. These were of a different\nrace, and it is not clear how and when they became mixed with the\n\u00c6sir. What the _Eddas_ say about it is simply this, that the \u00c6sir\nmade peace with the Vanir and exchanged hostages with them. Amongst\nthese we find Ni\u00f6rd a kind of sea-coast god, the original of Nipen\nstill known in Norway, his son and daughter Frey and Freyja,\n\"beauteous and mighty,\"--Frey presiding over rain, sunshine, and the\nfruits of the earth; Freyja goddess of the beautiful year and of\nlove, and Heimdall, a god who lived upon the heavenly hills at one\nend of the rainbow. A sea-king called \u00c6gir, whose nature is not\nquite defined whether he belonged to the god or the giant is\noccasionally mentioned in the _Edda_ tales, and also a wise giant\nMimer. But there is besides a mysterious being whom we name last\nbecause he requires a little explanation. This is Loki. He was one of\nthe \u00c6sir; we read of his being with Odin when that god took his\nfateful walk along the seashore and made man, he helped Odin in the\nwork; we come upon him frequently travelling with the gods, sometimes\nat least as a friend, and yet it is evident that Loki was looked upon\nas an evil being. \"Some call him the calumniator of the gods,\" says\nHar, \"the contriver of all fraud and mischief, the disgrace of gods\nand men. Loki is handsome,\" he adds, \"and well made, but of a very\nfickle mood and most evil disposition. He surpasses all beings in\nthose arts called cunning and perfidy.\" Simrock says that fire lies\nat the root of Loki's being as air lies in that of Odin,--fire which\nhas good and evil in it, but most outwardly _destructive_ power;\nhence the beginning of the idea of his evil-heartedness. From simple\nnature myths, it is quite easy to conceive that the moral principle,\nas it grew up in a people, would develop spiritual ones, and the\ncharacter of the gods would materially alter with the growth of the\nreligion. Good and evil are scarcely conceptions which the wars of\nthe elements give birth to. By the law is the knowledge of sin. The\nname of Loki, it is said, may mean the bright element.\n\nAmongst the goddesses who were called Asyniur, Frigga stands out\nchief in the _Eddas_ as Odin's wife, but several others are named,\nand also the Valkyrior, swayers of the battle and heavenly serving\nmaidens. The peace between the \u00c6sir and the Vanir, and the\nperceptible difference between these races of gods, points to an\namalgamation of the religions of two tribes of Teutons in very early\ntimes: their faiths would be similar, drawn indeed from one source,\nbut would have been modified by the circumstances and requirements of\nthe divergent tribes. Simrock supposes that the Vanir worshippers may\nhave been dwellers by the sea, and have had a special reverence for\nwind and water deities--mild, wide, beneficent airs. Their gods are a\nlittle milder in nature than those of Asgard, they are also more\npurely nature deities, with less of the moral element in their\ncharacters, which looks as if the two faiths had joined at different\nstages of development, at different levels one may say, so that the\nline between them is still discernible. We have seen how Har explains\nto Gangler the formation of the universe in Ginnungagap out of the\nstrange ice waves; primeval giant; beneficent might of the gods; its\nendurance, rooted in the mighty Tree, that reached from depth to\nheight,--\n\n    \"Laved with limpid water,\n    Gnawed by more serpents\n    Than any one would think\n    Of witless mortals.\"\n\nHe had also something to say concerning the future of the world.\n\"What hast thou to tell me about it?\" said Gangler; and Har\nreplied,--\"In the first place there will come a winter;\" and then he\ndescribed the destruction of the world--flood and storm, and ice and\nfire, and warfare, a supreme conflict; all the powers of evil, the\nchaotic powers--primeval chaos surging again out of Niflheim and\nMuspellheim--on one side, the gods, the forming orderly principle of\nthe course of the universe, on the other--all rage within, and\nthrough the mighty ash, which itself trembles, \"Groans that aged\ntree.\" Monsters and gods alike fall, killing each other, and one\ncannot say with whom the victory lies; for though the sun, moon, and\nstars are made away with, and the earth sinks into the flood, it soon\nemerges again, \"beauteously green,\" destined, as it would seem, to\nrun a second course. Brighter, purer? The account is so mixed that\none cannot say, and why should we puzzle over it; perhaps they knew\nas little what they thought and hoped as we know about them--those\nold song-singers and myth-spinners of days gone by, as one of them\nsays,--\n\n    \"Few may see\n    Further forth\n    Than when Odin\n    Meets the wolf.\"\n\nNotwithstanding, we cannot help feeling, as we contemplate this myth,\nthat there was something noble, very grimly courageous in its\nfatalism. Simrock says, \"the course of Northern mythology is like a\ndrama.\" The world's beginning, the golden years, the first shadow of\nevil, evil that came with times, evil fated to come, the troubles of\nvarious kinds, all death shadows which fell upon the gods (we shall\ntrace them in the following tales); and above all, hanging over all,\ncrowning all, the twilight, the struggle, the end, the renewing; for\nit is not, be it observed, the end of the world, of time, of\nsuccession of events that is recorded in this myth (called the\nRagnar\u00f6k Myth), but rather of the struggling powers that had been\nbrought by these, that had formed these. Looking through this drama\ntwo things chiefly strike us, fatalism and combat. The two do not\ncontradict one another. The gods fight the giants from the earliest\ntimes; they go on fighting them in a thousand ways, even though they\nknow that their own final defeat and destruction are fixed--they ward\noff the evil day as far as possible, hoping through its shadow again\nand again, dauntless to the end. It is impossible to help admiring\nthe impulses which led to the building up, and dictated the worship\nof this idea,--the worship of the gods who were to die, who were, in\nspite of most courageous defiance of it, after all but the servants\nof the inevitable. Of course it was perfectly simple and natural that\nthis conception of unceasing strife, of the alternate victory and\ndefeat of light and darkness, cold and heat, should arise in the\nminds of any worshippers of the natural world, but it must, one would\nthink, have acquired some moral significance to these heathen\nNorthmen by the time that Odin had come to be Allfather, even\nValfather, and Frigga, through the nourishing earth, the lady of\nmarried love and of the hearth. A good deal of this courageous spirit\nof conflict and self-surrender comes into the Scandinavian myths and\nheroic tales. We read of one of the gods' messengers, who, when\nimplored to desist from an undertaking because danger threatened,\nreplied, \"For one day was my age decreed and my whole life\ndetermined.\" In a lay of Odin, it says, \"We ourselves die, but the\nfair fame never dies of him who has earned it;\" and this reminds us\nof the Scandinavian custom of engraving the records of their warlike\ndeeds upon their shields. \"When a young warrior was at first\nenlisted,\" it is said, \"they gave him a white and smooth buckler,\nwhich was called the 'shield of expectation,' which he carried until\nhe had earned its record.\" It is related of one of the celebrated\nJomsburg sea-rovers called Bui, that finding himself defeated in an\nengagement, and seeing that all further resistance was fruitless, he\ntook his treasure--two chests full of gold--and, calling out\n\"Overboard all Bui's men,\" plunged into the sea and perished. But\nbetter far is the following:--\"A warrior having been thrown upon his\nback in wrestling with his enemy, and the latter finding himself\nwithout arms, the vanquished person promised to wait without changing\nhis posture while the other fetched a sword to kill him, and he\nfaithfully kept his word.\"\n\nSuch traits as these lie on the light side of the Northern character,\npity that the other side is such a dark one. Craft, avarice,\ncruelty--we cannot shut our eyes to them--cropping up everywhere, in\nthe stories of the gods, and still more frequently in the sagas whose\ndetails are sometimes most revolting. Amongst other stories, we have\none of a young sea-rover, called Sigurd, by-the-bye, a son of that\nvery Bui mentioned above. Sigurd and his companions had been taken\nprisoners, and were condemned to be beheaded. They were all seated on\na log of wood, and one after another had his head struck off, whilst\nking Hakon their capturer looked on; the account says, that he came\nout after breakfast to watch the execution. The sea-rovers all met\ntheir fate with unflinching courage, and as the executioner asked\neach one, before he struck the blow, what he thought of death, each\ngave some fierce mocking answer; but when it came to Sigurd's turn,\nand he was asked what he thought of death, he answered, \"I fear not\ndeath, since I have fulfilled the greatest duty of life, but I must\npray thee not to let my hair be touched by a slave, or stained with\nmy blood.\" The story tells us he had long fair hair, as fine as silk,\nflowing in ringlets over his shoulders. One of the cruel king Hakon's\nfollowers, being moved, it seems, either with pity for Sigurd's hair\nor admiration of his courage, stept forward and held the ringlets\nwhilst the executioner struck, upon which Sigurd twitched his head\nforward so strongly that the warrior who was holding his hair had\nboth his hands cut off, \"and this practical joke so pleased the\nking's son,\" continues the tale, \"that he gave Sigurd his life.\"\n\n\"Thou tellest me many wonderful things,\" said Gangler; \"what are the\nnames of the Homesteads in heaven?\" In answer, Har tells him about\nOdin's halls, and Thor's, and Baldur's, and Frigga's, and many\nanother bounteous, wide-spreading, golden-roofed mansion; amongst\nthem of Valhalla, which Odin had prepared especially for warriors who\nfell in battle and who were thenceforth to be his sons, called\nEinherjar, heroes, champions. \"Methinks,\" said Gangler, \"there must\nbe a great crowd in Valhalla, and often a great press at the door\namong such a number of people constantly thronging in and out.\" \"Why\nnot ask,\" says Har, \"how many doors there are?--\n\n    \"Five hundred doors\n    And forty eke\n    I think are in Valhall.\n\n\"But what does Odin give the warriors to eat?\" asked Gangler. \"The\nflesh of the good boar S\u00e6hrimnir, and this is more than enough\n(though few know how much is required for heroes), for in spite of\nits being eaten every day it becomes whole again every night; truly\nit is the best of flesh.\" \"And what have the heroes to drink?\" asked\nGangler \"for they must require a plentiful supply; do they drink only\nwater?\" \"A silly question that,\" replied Har; \"dost thou imagine that\nAllfather would invite kings and jarls and other great men and give\nthem nothing to drink but water? In that case the heroes would think\nthey had paid dearly to get to Valhall, enduring great hardships and\nreceiving deadly wounds; they would find they had paid too great a\nprice for water drink. No, no, the case is quite otherwise, in\nValhall there is a famous goat that supplies mead enough for all the\nheroes and to spare.\" \"Mighty things these,\" said Gangler; \"but how\ndo the heroes amuse themselves when they are not drinking?\" \"Every\nday they ride into the court and fight till they cut each other in\npieces, this is their pastime; but when meal-tide approaches they\nreturn to drink in Valhall.\" \"Odin is great and mighty,\" answered\nGangler, \"as it is said in one of the \u00c6sir's own poems,--\n\n    \"The ash Yggdrasill\n    Is the first of Trees,\n    As Skidbladnir of ships,\n    Odin of \u00c6sir\n    Sleipnir of steeds,\n    Bifrost of bridges,\n    Bragi of Bards,\n    Habrok of hawks\n    And Garm of hounds is.\"\n\n\"But do all the dead go to Valhalla?\" No; down below in Niflheim\nthere was another home of the dead which was ruled over by the\nunderworld goddess Hela, and called after her Helheim. Coldness and\ndiscomfort, according to one account, were rather its characteristics\nthan actual suffering; and as all the dead were said to go there who\ndied of sickness or old age, it was probably at one time regarded\nmore as a place of misfortune than of punishment. The cold,\nhidden-away condition of the dead, separated from the bright, warm\nlife of the upper world, would naturally suggest their being\nconsigned to the keeping of some under-world deity, unless, indeed,\nthey could lay claim to a second higher life by virtue of any great\nwarlike deed done up here. By degrees misfortune must have deepened\ninto suffering; and, as the moral sense quickened, the idea would\narise of there being a retribution for misdeeds done on earth as well\nas an emptiness of its missed glories. There is a description given\nof some place of punishment--it is not quite clear what place it\nrefers to--in these words,--\n\n    \"A hall standing\n    Far from the sun\n    In Nastrond,\n    Its doors turn northward,\n    Venom drops fall\n    Through its apertures;\n    The Hall is twined\n    With serpents' backs.\n\n    There she saw wading,\n    Through sluggish streams,\n    Bloodthirsty men\n    And perjurers;\n    There Nidh\u00f6g sucks\n    The corpse of the dead\n    The wolf tears men--\n    Understand ye yet, or what?\"\n\n\"Now,\" says Har; that was when he had finished his description of\nRagnar\u00f6k, \"If thou, Gangler, hast any more questions to ask, I know\nnot who can answer thee, for I never heard tell of any one who could\nrelate what will happen in the other ages of the world.\" \"Upon\nwhich,\" the story says, \"Gangler heard a terrible noise all round\nhim; he looked everywhere, but could see neither palace, nor city,\nnor any thing save a vast plain. He therefore set out on his return\nhome.\" And so disappears king Gylfi.\n\nBut we, who are not so presumptuous as to enquire into the future of\nthe ages, and are neither learned nor over inquisitive like king\nGylfi, will go on listening to the great-grandmothers' stories, giant\nstories and god stories--a little bit that one remembers, and a\nlittle bit that another remembers, and so on; and all the time we\nwill try to make the story tellers clear to one another and to\nourselves as they go on, translating their old fashioned words into\nour own common every day words and modes of speech, so that we may\nhave at least a chance of understanding them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE \u00c6SIR.\n\n\nPART I. A GIANT--A COW--AND A HERO.\n\nIn the beginning of ages there lived a cow, whose breath was sweet,\nand whose milk was bitter. This cow was called Audhumla, and she\nlived all by herself on a frosty, misty plain, where there was\nnothing to be seen but heaps of snow and ice piled strangely over one\nanother. Far away to the north it was night, far away to the south it\nwas day; but all around where Audhumla lay a cold, grey twilight\nreigned. By-and-by a giant came out of the dark north, and lay down\nupon the ice near Audhumla. \"You must let me drink of your milk,\"\nsaid the giant to the cow; and though her milk was bitter, he liked\nit well, and for him it was certainly good enough.\n\nAfter a little while the cow looked all round her for something to\neat, and she saw a very few grains of salt sprinkled over the ice; so\nshe licked the salt, and breathed with her sweet breath, and then\nlong golden locks rose out of the ice, and the southern day shone\nupon them, which made them look bright and glittering.\n\nThe giant frowned when he saw the glitter of the golden hair; but\nAudhumla licked the pure salt again, and a head of a man rose out of\nthe ice. The head was more handsome than could be described, and a\nwonderful light beamed out of its clear blue eyes. The giant frowned\nstill more when he saw the head; but Audhumla licked the salt a third\ntime, and then an entire man arose--a hero majestic in strength and\nmarvellous in beauty.\n\nNow, it happened that when the giant looked full in the face of that\nbeautiful man, he hated him with his whole heart, and, what was still\nworse, he took a terrible oath, by all the snows of Ginnungagap,\nthat he would never cease fighting until either he or Bur, the hero,\nshould lie dead upon the ground. And he kept his vow; he did not\ncease fighting until Bur had fallen beneath his cruel blows. I cannot\ntell how it could be that one so wicked should be able to conquer one\nso majestic and so beautiful; but so it was, and afterwards, when the\nsons of the hero began to grow up, the giant and his sons fought\nagainst them, too, and were very near conquering them many times.\n\nBut there was of the sons of the heroes one of very great strength\nand wisdom, called Odin, who, after many combats, did at last slay\nthe great old giant, and pierced his body through with his keen\nspear, so that the blood swelled forth in a mighty torrent, broad and\ndeep, and all the hideous giant brood were drowned in it excepting\none, who ran away panting and afraid.\n\nAfter this Odin called round him his sons, brothers, and cousins, and\nspoke to them thus: \"Heroes, we have won a great victory; our enemies\nare dead, or have run away from us. We cannot stay any longer here,\nwhere there is nothing evil for us to fight against.\"\n\nThe heroes looked round them at the words of Odin. North, south,\neast, and west there was no one to fight against them anywhere, and\nthey called out with one voice, \"It is well spoken, Odin; we follow\nyou.\"\n\n\"Southward,\" answered Odin, \"heat lies, and northward night. From the\ndim east the sun begins his journey westward home.\"\n\n\"Westward home!\" shouted they all; and westward they went.\n\nOdin rode in the midst of them, and they all paid to him reverence\nand homage as to a king and father. On his right hand rode Thor,\nOdin's strong, warlike, eldest son. On his left hand rode Baldur, the\nmost beautiful and exalted of his children; for the very light of the\nsun itself shone forth from his pure and noble brow. After him came\nTyr the Brave; the Silent Vidar; H\u00f6dur, who, alas! was born blind;\nHermod, the Flying Word; Bragi, H\u0153nir, and many more mighty lords\nand heroes; and then came a shell chariot, in which sat Frigga, the\nwife of Odin, with all her daughters, friends, and tirewomen.\n\nEleven months they journeyed westward, enlivening the way with\ncheerful songs and conversation, and at the twelfth new moon they\npitched their tents upon a range of hills which stood near the\nborders of an inland sea. The greater part of one night they were\ndisturbed by mysterious whisperings, which appeared to proceed from\nthe sea-coast, and creep up the mountain side; but as Tyr, who got up\nhalf a dozen times, and ran furiously about among the gorse and\nbushes, always returned saying that he could see no one, Frigga and\nher maidens at length resigned themselves to sleep, though they\ncertainly trembled and started a good deal at intervals. Odin lay\nawake all night, however; for he felt certain that something unusual\nwas going to happen. And such proved to be the case; for in the\nmorning, before the tents were struck, a most terrific hurricane\nlevelled the poles, and tore in pieces the damask coverings, swept\nfrom over the water furiously up the mountain gorges, round the base\nof the hills, and up again all along their steep sides right in the\nfaces of the heroes.\n\nThor swung himself backwards and forwards, and threw stones in every\npossible direction. Tyr sat down on the top of a precipice, and\ndefied the winds to displace him; whilst Baldur vainly endeavoured to\ncomfort his poor mother, Frigga. But Odin stepped forth calm and\nunruffled, spread his arms towards the sky, and called out to the\nspirits of the wind, \"Cease, strange Vanir (for that was the name by\nwhich they were called), cease your rough play, and tell us in what\nmanner we have offended you that you serve us thus.\"\n\nThe winds laughed in a whispered chorus at the words of the brave\nking, and, after a few low titterings, sank into silence. But each\nsound in dying grew into a shape: one by one the strange,\nloose-limbed, uncertain forms stepped forth from caves, from gorges,\ndropped from the tree tops, or rose out of the grass--each wind-gust\na separate Van.\n\nThen Ni\u00f6rd, their leader, stood forward from the rest of them, and\nsaid, \"We know, O mighty Odin how you and your company are truly the\n\u00c6sir--that is to say, the lords of the whole earth--since you slew\nthe huge, wicked giant. We, too, are lords, not of the earth, but of\nthe sea and air, and we thought to have had glorious sport in\nfighting one against another; but if such be not your pleasure, let\nus, instead of that, shake hands.\" And, as he spoke, Ni\u00f6rd held out\nhis long, cold hand, which was like a windbag to the touch. Odin\ngrasped it heartily, as did all the \u00c6sir; for they liked the\nappearance of the good-natured, gusty chief, whom they begged to\nbecome one of their company, and live henceforth with them.\n\nTo this Ni\u00f6rd consented, whistled good-bye to his kinsfolk, and\nstrode cheerfully along amongst his new friends. After this they\njourneyed on and on steadily westward until they reached the summit\nof a lofty mountain, called the Meeting Hill. There they all sat\nround in a circle, and took a general survey of the surrounding\nneighbourhood.\n\nAs they sat talking together Baldur looked up suddenly, and said, \"Is\nit not strange, Father Odin, that we do not find any traces of that\ngiant who fled from us, and who escaped drowning in his father's\nblood?\"\n\n\"Perhaps he has fallen into Niflheim, and so perished,\" remarked\nThor.\n\nBut Ni\u00f6rd pointed northward, where the troubled ocean rolled, and\nsaid, \"Yonder, beyond that sea, lies the snowy region of J\u00f6tunheim.\nIt is there the giant lives, and builds cities and castles, and\nbrings up his children--a more hideous brood even than the old one.\"\n\n\"How do you know that, Ni\u00f6rd?\" asked Odin.\n\n\"I have seen him many times,\" answered Ni\u00f6rd, \"both before I came to\nlive with you, and also since then, at night, when I have not been\nable to sleep, and have made little journeys to J\u00f6tunheim, to pass\nthe time away.\"\n\n\"This is indeed terrible news,\" said Frigga; \"for the giants will\ncome again out of J\u00f6tunheim and devastate the earth.\"\n\n\"Not so,\" answered Odin, \"not so, my dear Frigga; for here, upon this\nvery hill, we will build for ourselves a city, from which we will\nkeep guard over the poor earth, with its weak men and women, and\nfrom whence we will go forth to make war upon J\u00f6tunheim.\"\n\n\"That is remarkably well said, Father Odin,\" observed Thor, laughing\namidst his red beard.\n\nTyr shouted, and Vidar smiled, but said nothing; and then all the\n\u00c6sir set to work with their whole strength and industry to build for\nthemselves a glorious city on the summit of the mountain. For days,\nand weeks, and months, and years they worked, and never wearied; so\nstrong a purpose was in them, so determined and powerful were they to\nfulfil it. Even Frigga and her ladies did not disdain to fetch stones\nin their marble wheelbarrows, or to draw water from the well in\ngolden buckets, and then, with delicate hands, to mix the mortar upon\nsilver plates. And so that city rose by beautiful degrees, stone\nabove stone, tower above tower, height above height, until it crowned\nthe hill.\n\nThen all the \u00c6sir stood at a little distance, and looked at it, and\nsighed from their great happiness. Towering at a giddy height in the\ncentre of the city rose Odin's seat, called Air Throne, from whence\nhe could see over the whole earth. On one side of Air Throne stood\nthe Palace of Friends, where Frigga was to live; on the other rose\nthe glittering Gladsheim, a palace roofed entirely with golden\nshields, and whose great hall, Valhalla, had a ceiling covered with\nspears, benches spread with coats of mail, and five hundred and forty\nentrance-gates, through each of which eight hundred men might ride\nabreast. There was also a large iron smithy, situated on the eastern\nside of the city, where the \u00c6sir might forge their arms and shape\ntheir armour. That night they all supped in Valhalla, and drank to\nthe health of their strong, new home, \"The City of Asgard,\" as Bragi,\ntheir chief orator, said it ought to be called.\n\n\nPART II. AIR THRONE, THE DWARFS, AND THE LIGHT ELVES.\n\nIn the morning Odin mounted Air Throne, and looked over the whole\nearth, whilst the \u00c6sir stood all round waiting to hear what he\nthought about it.\n\n\"The earth is very beautiful,\" said Odin, from the top of his throne,\n\"very beautiful in every part, even to the shores of the dark North\nSea; but, alas! the men of the earth are puny and fearful. At this\nmoment I see a three-headed giant striding out of J\u00f6tunheim. He\nthrows a shepherd-boy into the sea, and puts the whole of the flock\ninto his pocket. Now he takes them out again one by one, and cracks\ntheir bones as if they were hazel-nuts, whilst, all the time, men\nlook on, and do nothing.\"\n\n\"Father,\" cried Thor in a rage, \"last night I forged for myself a\nbelt, a glove, and a hammer, with which three things I will go forth\nalone to J\u00f6tunheim.\"\n\nThor went, and Odin looked again.\n\n\"The men of the earth are idle and stupid,\" said Odin. \"There are\ndwarfs and elves, who live amongst them, and play tricks which they\ncannot understand, and do not know how to prevent. At this moment I\nsee a husbandman sowing grains of wheat in the furrows, whilst a\ndwarf runs after him, and changes them into stones. Again, I see two\nhideous little beings, who are holding under water the head of one,\nthe wisest of men, until he dies; they mix his blood with honey; they\nhave put it into three stone jars, and hidden it away.\"\n\nThen Odin was very angry with the dwarfs, for he saw that they were\nbent on mischief; so he called to him Hermod, his Flying Word, and\ndespatched him with a message to the dwarfs and light elves, to say\nthat Odin sent his compliments, and would be glad to speak with them,\nin his palace of Gladsheim, upon a matter of some importance.\n\nWhen they received Hermod's summons the dwarfs and light elves were\nvery much surprised, not quite knowing whether to feel honoured or\nafraid. However, they put on their pertest manners, and went\nclustering after Hermod like a swarm of ladybirds.\n\nWhen they were arrived in the great city they found Odin descended\nfrom his throne, and sitting with the rest of the \u00c6sir in the\nJudgment Hall of Gladsheim. Hermod flew in, saluted his master, and\npointed to the dwarfs and elves hanging like a cloud in the doorway\nto show that he had fulfilled his mission. Then Odin beckoned the\nlittle people to come forward. Cowering and whispering they peeped\nover one another's shoulders; now running on a little way into the\nhall, now back again, half curious, half afraid; and it was not until\nOdin had beckoned three times that they finally reached his\nfootstool. Then Odin spoke to them in calm, low, serious tones about\nthe wickedness of their mischievous propensities. Some, the very\nworst of them, only laughed in a forward, hardened manner; but a\ngreat many looked up surprised and a little pleased at the novelty of\nserious words; whilst the light elves all wept, for they were\ntender-hearted little things. At length Odin spoke to the two dwarfs\nby name whom he had seen drowning the wise man. \"Whose blood was it,\"\nhe asked, \"that you mixed with honey and put into jars?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the dwarfs, jumping up into the air, and clapping their\nhands, \"that was Kvasir's blood. Don't you know who Kvasir was? He\nsprang up out of the peace made between the Vanir and yourselves, and\nhas been wandering about these seven years or more; so wise he was\nthat men thought he must be a god. Well, just now we found him lying\nin a meadow drowned in his own wisdom; so we mixed his blood with\nhoney, and put it into three great jars to keep. Was not that well\ndone, Odin?\"\n\n\"Well done!\" answered Odin. \"Well done! You cruel, cowardly, lying\ndwarfs! I myself saw you kill him. For shame! for shame!\" and then\nOdin proceeded to pass sentence upon them all. Those who had been the\nmost wicked, he said, were to live, henceforth, a long way\nunderground, and were to spend their time in throwing fuel upon the\ngreat earth's central fire; whilst those who had only been\nmischievous were to work in the gold and diamond mines, fashioning\nprecious stones and metals. They might all come up at night, Odin\nsaid; but must vanish at the dawn. Then he waved his hand, and the\ndwarfs turned round, shrilly chattering, scampered down the\npalace-steps, out of the city, over the green fields, to their\nunknown, deep-buried earth-homes. But the light elves still lingered,\nwith upturned, tearful, smiling faces, like sunshiny morning dew.\n\n\"And you,\" said Odin, looking them through and through with his\nserious eyes, \"and you----\"\n\n\"Oh! indeed, Odin,\" interrupted they, speaking all together in quick,\nuncertain tones; \"Oh! indeed, Odin, we are not so very wicked. We\nhave never done anybody any harm.\"\n\n\"Have you ever done anybody any good?\" asked Odin.\n\n\"Oh! no, indeed,\" answered the light elves, \"we have never done\nanything at all.\"\n\n\"You may go, then,\" said Odin, \"to live amongst the flowers, and play\nwith the wild bees and summer insects. You must, however, find\nsomething to do, or you will get to be mischievous like the dwarfs.\"\n\n\"If only we had any one to teach us,\" said the light elves, \"for we\nare such foolish little people.\"\n\nOdin looked round inquiringly upon the \u00c6sir; but amongst them there\nwas no teacher found for the silly little elves. Then he turned to\nNi\u00f6rd, who nodded his head good-naturedly, and said, \"Yes, yes, I\nwill see about it;\" and then he strode out of the Judgment Hall,\nright away through the city gates, and sat down upon the mountain's\nedge.\n\nAfter awhile he began to whistle in a most alarming manner, louder\nand louder, in strong wild gusts, now advancing, now retreating; then\nhe dropped his voice a little, lower and lower, until it became a\nbird-like whistle--low, soft, enticing music, like a spirit's call;\nand far away from the south a little fluttering answer came, sweet\nas the invitation itself, nearer and nearer until the two sounds\ndropped into one another. Then through the clear sky two forms came\nfloating, wonderfully fair--a brother and sister--their beautiful\narms twined round one another, their golden hair bathed in sunlight,\nand supported by the wind.\n\n\"My son and daughter,\" said Ni\u00f6rd, proudly, to the surrounding \u00c6sir,\n\"Frey and Freyja, Summer and Beauty, hand in hand.\"\n\nWhen Frey and Freyja dropped upon the hill Ni\u00f6rd took his son by the\nhand, led him gracefully to the foot of the throne, and said, \"Look\nhere, dear brother Lord, what a fair young instructor I have brought\nfor your pretty little elves.\"\n\nOdin was very much pleased with the appearance of Frey; but, before\nconstituting him king and schoolmaster of the light elves, he desired\nto know what his accomplishments were, and what he considered himself\ncompetent to teach.\n\n\"I am the genius of clouds and sunshine,\" answered Frey; and as he\nspoke, the essences of a hundred perfumes were exhaled from his\nbreath. \"I am the genius of clouds and sunshine, and if the light\nelves will have me for their king I can teach them how to burst the\nfolded buds, to set the blossoms, to pour sweetness into the swelling\nfruit, to lead the bees through the honey-passages of the flowers, to\nmake the single ear a stalk of wheat, to hatch birds' eggs, and teach\nthe little ones to sing--all this, and much more,\" said Frey, \"I\nknow, and will teach them.\"\n\nThen answered Odin, \"It is well;\" and Frey took his scholars away\nwith him to Alfheim, which is in every beautiful place under the\nsun.\n\n\nPART III. NIFLHEIM.\n\nNow, in the city of Asgard dwelt one called Loki, who, though amongst\nthe \u00c6sir, was not of the \u00c6sir, but utterly unlike to them; for to do\nthe wrong, and leave the right undone, was, night and day, this\nwicked Loki's one unwearied aim. How he came amongst the \u00c6sir no one\nknew, nor even whence he came. Once, when Odin questioned him on the\nsubject, Loki stoutly declared that there had been a time when he was\ninnocent and noble-purposed like the \u00c6sir themselves; but that, after\nmany wanderings up and down the earth, it had been his misfortune,\nLoki said, to discover the half-burnt heart of a woman; \"since when,\"\ncontinued he, \"I became what you now see me, Odin.\" As this was too\nfearful a story for any one to wish to hear twice over Odin never\nquestioned him again.\n\nWhilst the \u00c6sir were building their city, Loki, instead of helping\nthem, had been continually running over to J\u00f6tunheim to make friends\namongst the giants and wicked witches of the place. Now, amongst the\nwitches there was one so fearful to behold in her sin and her\ncruelty, that one would have thought it impossible even for such an\none as Loki to find any pleasure in her companionship: nevertheless,\nso it was that he married her, and they lived together a long time,\nmaking each other worse and worse out of the abundance of their own\nwicked hearts, and bringing up their three children to be the plague,\ndread, and misery of mankind. These three children were just what\nthey might have been expected to be from their parentage and\neducation. The eldest was J\u00f6rmungand, a monstrous serpent; the second\nFenrir, most ferocious of wolves; the third was Hela, half corpse,\nhalf queen. When Loki and his witch-wife looked at their fearful\nprogeny they thought within themselves, \"What would the \u00c6sir say if\nthey could see?\" \"But they cannot see,\" said Loki; \"and, lest they\nshould suspect Witch-wife, I will go back to Asgard for a little\nwhile, and salute old Father Odin bravely, as if I had no secret\nhere.\" So saying, Loki wished his wife good-morning, bade her hide\nthe children securely in-doors, and set forth on the road to Asgard.\n\nBut all the time he was travelling Loki's children went on growing,\nand long before he had reached the lofty city J\u00f6rmungand had become\nso large, that his mother was obliged to open the door to let his\ntail out. At first it hung only a little way across the road; but he\ngrew, Oh, how fearfully J\u00f6rmungand grew! Whether it was from sudden\nexposure to the air, I do not know; but, in a single day he grew from\none end of J\u00f6tunheim to the other, and early next morning began to\nshoot out in the direction of Asgard. Luckily, however, just at that\nmoment Odin caught sight of him, when, from the top of Air Throne,\nthe eyes of this vigilant ruler were taking their morning walk.\n\"Now,\" said Odin, \"it is quite clear, Frigga, that I must remain in\nidleness no longer at Asgard, for monsters are bred up in J\u00f6tunheim,\nand the earth has need of me.\" So saying, descending instantly from\nAir Throne, Odin went forth of Asgard's golden gates to tread the\nearth of common men, fighting to pierce through J\u00f6tunheim, and slay\nits monstrous sins.\n\nIn his journeyings Odin mixed freely with the people of the countries\nthrough which he passed; shared with them toil and pleasure, war and\ngrief; taught them out of his own large experience, inspired them\nwith his noble thoughts, and exalted them by his example. Even to the\noldest he could teach much; and in the evening, when the labours of\nthe day were ended, and the sun cast slanting rays upon the village\ngreen, it was pleasant to see the sturdy village youths grouped round\nthat noble chief, hanging open mouthed upon his words, as he told\nthem of his great fight with the giant of long ago, and then pointing\ntowards J\u00f6tunheim, explained to them how that fight was not yet over,\nfor that giants and monsters grew round them on every side, and they,\ntoo, might do battle bravely, and be heroes and \u00c6sir of the earth.\n\nOne evening, after thus drinking in his burning words they all\ntrooped together to the village smithy, and Odin forged for them all\nnight arms and armour, instructing them, at the same time, in their\nuse. In the morning he said, \"Farewell, children; I have further to\ngo than you can come; but do not forget me when I am gone, nor how to\nfight as I have taught you. Never cease to be true and brave; never\nturn your arms against one another; and never turn them away from the\ngiant and the oppressor.\"\n\nThen the villagers returned to their homes and their field-labour,\nand Odin pressed on, through trackless uninhabited woods, up silent\nmountains, over the lonely ocean, until he reached that strange,\nmysterious meeting-place of sea and sky. There, brooding over the\nwaters like a grey sea fog, sat Mimer, guardian of the well where wit\nand wisdom lie hidden.\n\n\"Mimer,\" said Odin, going up to him boldly, \"let me drink of the\nwaters of wisdom.\"\n\n\"Truly, Odin,\" answered Mimer, \"it is a great treasure that you seek,\nand one which many have sought before, but who, when they knew the\nprice of it, turned back.\"\n\nThen replied Odin, \"I would give my right hand for wisdom willingly.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" rejoined the remorseless Mimer, \"it is not your right hand,\nbut your right eye you must give.\"\n\nOdin was very sorry when he heard the words of Mimer, and yet he did\nnot deem the price too great; for plucking out his right eye, and\ncasting it from him, he received in return a draught of the\nfathomless deep. As Odin gave back the horn into Mimer's hand he felt\nas if there were a fountain of wisdom springing up within him--an\ninward light; for which you may be sure he never grudged having given\nhis perishable eye. Now, also, he knew what it was necessary for him\nto do in order to become a really noble Asa,[1] and that was to push\non to the extreme edge of the earth itself, and peep over into\nNiflheim. Odin knew it was precisely that he must do; and precisely\nthat he did. Onward and northward he went over ice-bound seas,\nthrough twilight, fog, and snow, right onward in the face of winds\nthat were like swords until he came into the unknown land, where\nsobs, and sighs, and sad, unfinished shapes were drifting up and\ndown. \"Then,\" said Odin, thoughtfully, \"I have come to the end of all\ncreation, and a little further on Niflheim must lie.\"\n\n [1] Asa--the singular of \u00c6sir.\n\nAccordingly he pushed on further and further until he reached the\nearth's extremest edge, where, lying down and leaning over from its\nlast cold peak, he looked into the gulf below. It was Niflheim. At\nfirst Odin imagined that it was only empty darkness; but, after\nhanging there three nights and days, his eye fell on one of\nYggdrasil's mighty stems. Yggdrasil was the old earth-tree, whose\nroots sprang far and wide, from J\u00f6tunheim, from above, and this, the\noldest of the three, out of Niflheim. Odin looked long upon its\ntime-worn, knotted fibres, and watched how they were for ever gnawed\nby Nidh\u00f6gg the envious serpent, and his brood of poisonous diseases.\nThen he wondered what he should see next; and one by one spectres\narose from Nastr\u00f6nd, the Shore of Corpses--arose and wandered pale,\nnaked, nameless, and without a home. Then Odin looked down deeper\ninto the abyss of abysses, and saw all its shapeless, nameless ills;\nwhilst far below him, deeper than Nastr\u00f6nd, Yggdrasil, and Nidh\u00f6gg,\nroared Hvergelmir, the boiling cauldron of evil. Nine nights and days\nthis brave wise Asa hung over Niflheim pondering. More brave and more\nwise he turned away from it than when he came. It is true that he\nsighed often on his road thence to J\u00f6tunheim; but is it not always\nthus that wisdom and strength come to us weeping.\n\n\nPART IV. THE CHILDREN OF LOKI.\n\nWhen, at length, Odin found himself in the land of giants--frost\ngiants, mountain giants, three-headed and wolf-headed giants,\nmonsters and iron witches of every kind--he walked straight on,\nwithout stopping to fight with any one of them, until he came to the\nmiddle of J\u00f6rmungand's body. Then he seized the monster, growing\nfearfully as he was all the time, and threw him headlong into the\ndeep ocean. There J\u00f6rmungand still grew, until, encircling the whole\nearth, he found that his tail was growing down his throat, after\nwhich he lay quite still, binding himself together; and neither Odin\nnor any one else has been able to move him thence. When Odin had\nthus disposed of J\u00f6rmungand, henceforth called the Midgard Serpent,\nhe went on to the house of Loki's wife. The door was thrown open, and\nthe wicked Witch-mother sat in the entrance, whilst on one side\ncrouched Fenrir, her ferocious wolf-son, and on the other stood Hela,\nmost terrible of monsters and women. A crowd of giants strode after\nOdin, curious to obtain a glance of Loki's strange children before\nthey should be sent away. At Fenrir and the Witch-mother they stared\nwith great eyes, joyfully and savagely glittering; but when he looked\nat Hela each giant became as pale as new snow, and cold with terror\nas a mountain of ice. Pale, cold, frozen, they never moved again; but\na rugged chain of rocks stood behind Odin, and he looked on fearless\nand unchilled.\n\n\"Strange daughter of Loki,\" he said, speaking to Hela, \"you have the\nhead of a queen, proud forehead, and large, imperial eyes; but your\nheart is pulseless, and your cruel arms kill what they embrace.\nWithout doubt you have somewhere a kingdom; not where the sun shines,\nand men breathe the free air, but down below in infinite depths,\nwhere bodiless spirits wander, and the cast-off corpses are cold.\"\n\nThen Odin pointed downwards towards Niflheim, and Hela sank right\nthrough the earth, downward, downward, to that abyss of abysses,\nwhere she ruled over spectres, and made for herself a home called\nHelheim, nine lengthy kingdoms wide and deep.\n\nAfter this, Odin desired Fenrir to follow him, promising that if he\nbecame tractable and obedient, and exchanged his ferocity for\ncourage, he should not be banished as his brother and sister had\nbeen. So Fenrir followed, and Odin led the way out of J\u00f6tunheim,\nacross the ocean, over the earth, until he came to the heavenly\nhills, which held up the southern sky tenderly in their glittering\narms. There, half on the mountain-top and half in air, sat Heimdall,\nguardian of the tremulous bridge Bifr\u00f6st, that arches from earth to\nheaven.\n\nHeimdall was a tall, white Van, with golden teeth, and a wonderful\nhorn, called the Giallar Horn, which he generally kept hidden under\nthe tree Yggdrasil; but when he blew it the sound went out into all\nworlds.\n\nNow, Odin had never been introduced to Heimdall--had never even seen\nhim before; but he did not pass him by without speaking on that\naccount. On the contrary, being altogether much struck by his\nappearance, he could not refrain from asking him a few questions.\nFirst, he requested to know whom he had the pleasure of addressing;\nsecondly, who his parents were, and what his education had been; and\nthirdly, how he explained his present circumstances and occupation.\n\n\"My name is Heimdall,\" answered the guardian of Bifr\u00f6st, \"and the son\nof nine sisters am I. Born in the beginning of time, at the\nboundaries of the earth, I was fed on the strength of the earth and\nthe cold sea. My training, moreover, was so perfect, that I now need\nno more sleep than a bird. I can see for a hundred miles around me as\nwell by night as by day; I can hear the grass growing and the wool on\nthe backs of sheep. I can blow mightily my horn Giallar, and I for\never guard the tremulous bridge-head against monsters, giants, iron\nwitches, and dwarfs.\"\n\nThen asked Odin, gravely, \"Is it also forbidden to the \u00c6sir to pass\nthis way, Heimdall? Must you guard Bifr\u00f6st, also, against them?\"\n\n\"Assuredly not,\" answered Heimdall. \"All \u00c6sir and heroes are free to\ntread its trembling, many-coloured pavement, and they will do well to\ntread it, for above the arch's summit I know that the Urda fountain\nsprings; rises, and falls, in a perpetual glitter, and by its sacred\nwaters the Nornir dwell--those three mysterious, mighty maidens,\nthrough whose cold fingers run the golden threads of Time.\"\n\n\"Enough, Heimdall,\" answered Odin. \"Tomorrow we will come.\"\n\n\nPART V. BIFR\u00d6ST, URDA, AND THE NORNS.\n\nOdin departed from Heimdall, and went on his way, Fenrir obediently\nfollowing, though not now much noticed by his captor, who pondered\nover the new wonders of which he had heard. \"Bifr\u00f6st, Urda, and the\nNorns--what can they mean?\"\n\nThus pondering and wondering he went, ascended Asgard's Hill, walked\nthrough the golden gates of the City into the palace of Gladsheim,\nand into the hall Valhalla, where, just then, the \u00c6sir and Asyniur[2]\nwere assembled at their evening meal. Odin sat down to the table\nwithout speaking, and, still absent and meditative, proceeded to\ncarve the great boar, S\u00e6hrimnir, which every evening eaten, was\nevery morning whole again. No one thought of disturbing him by asking\nany questions, for they saw that something was on his mind, and the\n\u00c6sir were well-bred. It is probable, therefore, that the supper would\nhave been concluded in perfect silence if Fenrir had not poked his\nnose in at the doorway, just opposite to the seat of the lovely\nFreyja. She, genius of beauty as she was, and who had never in her\nwhole life seen even the shadow of a wolf, covered her face with her\nhands, and screamed a little, which caused all the \u00c6sir to start and\nturn round, in order to see what was the matter. But Odin directed a\nreproving glance at the ill-mannered Fenrir, and then gave orders\nthat the wolf should be fed; \"after which,\" concluded he, \"I will\nrelate my adventures to the assembled \u00c6sir.\"\n\n [2] Asyniur--Goddesses.\n\n\"That is all very well, Asa Odin,\" answered Frey; \"but who, let me\nask, is to undertake the office of feeding yon hideous and unmannerly\nanimal?\"\n\n\"That will I, joyfully,\" cried Tyr, who liked nothing better than an\nadventure; and then, seizing a plate of meat from the table, he ran\nout of the hall, followed by Fenrir, who howled, and sniffed, and\njumped up at him in a most impatient, un-\u00c6sir-like manner.\n\nAfter the wolf was gone Freyja looked up again, and when Tyr was\nseated once more, Odin began. He told them of everything that he had\nseen, and done, and suffered; and, at last, of Heimdall, that strange\nwhite Van, who sat upon the heavenly hills, and spoke of Bifr\u00f6st, and\nUrda, and the Norns. The \u00c6sir were very silent whilst Odin spoke to\nthem, and were deeply and strangely moved by this conclusion to his\ndiscourse.\n\n\"The Norns,\" repeated Frigga, \"the Fountain of Urd, the golden\nthreads of time! Let us go, my children,\" she said, rising from the\ntable, \"let us go and look at these things.\"\n\nBut Odin advised that they should wait until the next day, as the\njourney to Bifr\u00f6st and back again could easily be accomplished in a\nsingle morning.\n\nAccordingly, the next day the \u00c6sir and Asyniur all rose with the\nsun, and prepared to set forth. Ni\u00f6rd came from Noatun, the mild\nsea-coast, which he had made his home, and with continual gentle\npuffings out of his wide, breezy mouth, he made their journey to\nBifr\u00f6st so easy and pleasant, that they all felt a little sorry when\nthey caught the first glitter of Heimdall's golden teeth. But\nHeimdall was glad to see them; glad, at least, for their sakes. He\nthought it would be so good for them to go and see the Norns. As far\nas he himself was concerned he never felt dull alone. On the top of\nthose bright hills how many meditations he had! Looking far and wide\nover the earth how much he saw and heard!\n\n\"Come already!\" said Heimdall to the \u00c6sir, stretching out his long,\nwhite hands to welcome them; \"come already! Ah! this is Ni\u00f6rd's\ndoing. How do you do, cousin,\" said he; for Ni\u00f6rd and Heimdall were\nrelated.\n\n\"How sweet and fresh it is up here!\" remarked Frigga, looking all\nround, and feeling that it would be polite to say something. \"You are\nvery happy, Sir,\" continued she, \"in having always such fine scenery\nabout you, and in being the guardian of such a bridge.\"\n\nAnd in truth Frigga might well say \"such a bridge;\" for the like of\nit was never seen on the ground. Trembling and glittering it swung\nacross the sky, up from the top of the mountain to the clouds, and\ndown again into the distant sea.\n\n\"Bifr\u00f6st! Bifr\u00f6st!\" exclaimed the \u00c6sir, wonderingly; and Heimdall was\npleased at their surprise.\n\n\"At the arch's highest point,\" said he, pointing upward, \"rises that\nfountain of which I spoke. Do you wish to see it to-day?\"\n\n\"That do we, indeed,\" cried all the \u00c6sir in a breath. \"Quick,\nHeimdall, and unlock the bridge's golden gate.\"\n\nThen Heimdall took all his keys out, and fitted them into the diamond\nlock till he found the right one, and the gate flew open with a sound\nat the same time sad and cheerful, like the dripping of leaves after\na thunder-shower.\n\nThe \u00c6sir pressed in; but, as they passed him, Heimdall laid his hand\nupon Thor's shoulder, and said \"I am very sorry, Thor; but it cannot\nbe helped. You must go to the fountain alone by another way; for you\nare so strong and heavy, that if you were to put your foot on\nBifr\u00f6st, either it would tremble in pieces beneath your weight, or\ntake fire from the friction of your iron heels. Yonder, however, are\ntwo river-clouds, called K\u00f6rmt and Ermt, through which you can wade\nto the Sacred Urd, and you will assuredly reach it in time, though\nthe waters of the clouds are strong and deep.\"\n\nAt the words of Heimdall Thor fell back from the bridge's head, vexed\nand sorrowful. \"Am I to be sent away, then, and have to do\ndisagreeable things,\" said he, \"just because I am so strong? After\nall, what are Urda and the Norns to me, and K\u00f6rmt and Ermt? I will go\nback to Asgard again.\"\n\n\"Nay, Thor,\" said Odin, \"I pray you, do not anything so foolish.\nThink again, I beseech you, what it is that we are going to see and\nhear. K\u00f6rmt and Ermt lie before you, as Bifr\u00f6st before us. It is\nyonder, above both, that we go. Neither can it much matter, Thor,\nwhether we reach the Fountain of Urd over Bifr\u00f6st or through the\ncloud.\"\n\nThen Thor blushed with shame at his own weakness, which had made him\nregret his strength; and, without any more grumbling or hanging back,\nhe plunged into the dreadful river-clouds, whose dark vapours closed\naround him and covered him. He was hidden from sight, and the \u00c6sir\nwent on their way over the glittering bridge.\n\nDaintily and airily they trod over it; they swung themselves up the\nswinging arch; they reached its summit on a pale, bright cloud. Thor\nwas there already waiting for them, drenched and weary, but cheerful\nand bold. Then, all together, they knocked at the door of the pale,\nbright cloud; it blew open, and they passed in. Oh! then what did\nthey see! Looking up to an infinite height through the purple air,\nthey saw towering above them Yggdrasil's fairest branches, leafy and\nof a tender green, which also stretched far and wide; but, though\nthey looked long, the \u00c6sir could distinguish no topmost bough, and it\nalmost seemed to them that, from somewhere up above, this mighty\nearth-tree must draw another root, so firmly and so tall it grew. On\none side stood the Palace of the Norns, which was so bright that it\nalmost blinded them to look at it, and on the other the Urda fountain\nplashed its cool waters--rising, falling, glittering, as nothing ever\nglitters on this side the clouds. Two ancient swans swam under the\nfount, and around it sat Three. Ah! how shall I describe them--Urd,\nVerdandi, Skuld. They were mighty, they were wilful, and one was\nveiled. Sitting upon the Doomstead, they watched the water as it rose\nand fell, and passed golden threads from one to another. Verdandi\nplucked them with busy fingers from Skuld's reluctant hand, and wove\nthem in and out quickly, almost carelessly; for some she tore and\nblemished, and some she cruelly spoiled. Then Urd took the woof away\nfrom her, smoothed its rough places, and covered up some of the torn,\ngaping holes; but she hid away many of the bright parts, too, and\nthen rolled it all round her great roller, Oblivion, which grew\nthicker and heavier every moment. And so they went on, Verdandi\ndrawing from Skuld, and Urd from Verdandi; but whence Skuld drew her\nseparate bright threads no one could see. She never seemed to reach\nthe end of them, and neither of the sisters ever stopped or grew\nweary of her work.\n\nThe \u00c6sir stood apart watching, and it was a great sight. They looked\nin the face of Urd, and fed on wisdom; they studied the countenance\nof Verdandi, and drank bitter strength; they glanced through the veil\nof Skuld, and tasted hope. At length, with full hearts, they stole\naway silently, one by one, out by the pale, open door, re-crossed the\nbridge, and stood once more by the side of Heimdall on the heavenly\nhills; then they went home again. Nobody spoke as they went; but ever\nafterwards it was an understood thing that the \u00c6sir should fare to\nthe Doomstead of the Nornir once in every day.\n\n\nPART VI. ODH\u00c6RIR.\n\nNow upon a day it happened that Odin sat silent by the Well of Urd,\nand in the evening he mounted Air Throne with a troubled mind.\nAllfather could see into Dwarf Home from his high place, as well as\nover man's world; his keen eye pierced, also, the mountains and\ndarkness of J\u00f6tunheim.\n\nOn this evening, a tear, the fate-sisters' gift, swam across his\nvision, and--behold, is that an answering tear which he sees down\nthere in Dwarf Home, large, luminous, golden, in the dark heart of\nthe earth? \"Can dwarfs weep?\" exclaimed Allfather, surprised as he\nlooked a second and a third time, and went on looking. Fialar and\nGalar, the cunning dwarfs who had killed Kvasir, were kneeling\nbeside the tear. \"Is it theirs?\" said Allfather again, \"and do they\nrepent?\" No; it was not a tear; Odin knew it at last. More precious\nstill, it was Kvasir's blood--golden mead now, because of the\nhoney-drops from Earth's thousand bees and flowers which these\nthoughtless mischief-schemers, but wonder workers, had poured into\nit. \"It is three,\" said Odin, \"three precious draughts!--Odh\u00e6rir is\nits name--and now the dwarfs will drink it, and the life and the\nlight, and the sweetness of the world will be spilt, and the heart of\nthe world will die!\" But the dwarfs did not drink it; they could only\nsip it a little, just a drop or two at a time. The Father of Hosts\nwatched how they were amusing themselves.\n\nFialar and Galar, and a whole army of the little blackfaced,\ncrooked-limbed creatures, were tilting the big jars over to one side,\nwhilst first one, and then another, sucked the skim of their golden\nsweetness, smacking their lips after it, grinning horribly, leaping\nup into the air with strange gestures; falling backwards with shut\neyes some of them, as if asleep; tearing at the earth and the stones\nof their cavern homes others, like wild beasts; rolling forth\nbeautiful, senseless, terrible words.\n\nIt was Fialar and Galar who did that; and behold, in a little while,\none after another, the dwarfs gathered round them as they spoke, and\nlistened, open-mouthed, with clenched fists, stamping, and roaring\napplause until at last they seized the weapons that lay near, cocked\ntheir earth caps, each alit with a coloured star, and marched in\nwarlike fashion, led on by Fialar and Galar, straight up through\ntheir cavernous ways, to Manheim, and across it into the Frozen Land.\n\nGiant Vafthr\u00fbdnir, that \"Ancient Talker,\" he who sits ever in his\nHall weaving new and intricate questions for the gods, saw them; and\nlooking up towards the brooding heavens, he exchanged glances with\nthe Father of Hosts. But the dwarfs did not come near Vafthr\u00fcdnir's\nHalls; they never looked aside at him, nor up to the Air Throne of\nthe Asa; only rushed heedlessly on till they stumbled over the Giant\nGilling, who was taking a nap upon the green bank of Ifing. Ifing\nlooks a lazy stream; one can hardly see at first sight that it flows\nat all; but it flows, and flows quietly, unceasingly, and is so deep\nthat neither god nor giant has ever yet been able to fathom it. It\nis, in fact, that stream which divides for ever the J\u00f6tuns from the\nGods, and of it Odin himself once said:--\n\n    \"Open shall it run\n    Throughout all time,\n    On that stream no ice shall be.\"\n\nSo the dwarfs found Gilling asleep; they knew how deep Ifing was,\nthey knew that if they could once roll the giant Gilling in there he\nwould never get out again, and then they should have done something\nworth speaking about.\n\n\"I have killed a giant,\" each dwarf might say, and, who knows, even\nthe \u00c6sir might begin to feel a little afraid of them.\n\n\"It all comes from drinking Kvasir's blood,\" they said, and then with\ntheir thousand little swords and spears, and sticks and stones, they\nworked away until they had plunged the sleeping giant into the\nstream. Allfather's piercing eye saw it all, and how the silly dwarfs\njumped and danced about afterwards, and praised themselves, and\ndefied the whole world, gods, giants and men.\n\n\"It is not for us,\" they said, \"any more to run away before Skinfaxi\nthe shining horse that draws day over humankind, whose mane sheds\nlight instead of dew; we will dance before him and crown ourselves\nwith gold, as the gods and as men do every morning.\"\n\nBut, in the midst of all their gleeful folly, the ground they stood\nupon began to shake under them, and an enormous darkness grew between\nthem and the sky. Then the dwarfs stopped their rejoicing as if a\nspell had fallen upon them, dropping their weapons, huddling close to\none another, cowering, whispering. Giant Suttung, son of that Gilling\nwhom they had just slain, was coming upon them in great fury to\navenge his father's death. They were dreadfully frightened; Giant\nGilling asleep had been easy to manage, but a giant awake, a giant\nangry--they were not the same dwarfs that they had seemed half an\nhour ago--and so it happened that they quite easily let Suttung carry\nthem all off to a low rock in the sea which was dry just then, but\nwould be washed over by the morning tide. \"There you are,\" said\nSuttung as he threw them all down upon the rock, \"and there you shall\nstay until the hungry grey wave comes.\" \"But then we shall be\ndrowned,\" they all screeched at once, and the seamews started from\ntheir nests ashore and swooped round the lonely rock, and screeched\nas well. Suttung strode back to the shore and sat on the high rocks\nover the seamews' nests, and poked his fingers into the nests and\nplayed with the grey-winged birds, and paddled his feet in the\nbreakers, and laughed and echoed the dwarfs and the seamews.\n\"Drowned, drowned, yes, then you will be drowned.\" Then the dwarfs\nwhispered together and consulted, they all talked at once, and every\none of them said a different thing, for they were in fact a little\nintoxicated still by the sips they had taken of Odh\u00e6rir. At last\nFialar and Galar said the same same thing over so often that the\nothers began to listen to them. \"The sky is getting quite grey,\" they\nsaid, \"and the stars are going out, and Skinfaxi is coming, and the\nwaves are gathering and gathering and gathering; hoarse are the\nvoices of the Seaking's daughters; but why do we all sit chattering\nhere instead of getting away as we might easily do if we did but\nbribe the giant Suttung with a gift.\" \"Yes, yes, yes,\" shouted the\nsilly little people, \"shall we give him our cap jewels, or our\nswords, or our pick-axes, or our lanterns, or shall we promise to\nmake him a necklace out of the fire of the sun and the flowers of the\nearth, or shall we build him a ship of ships?\"\n\n[Illustration: GIANT SUTTUNG AND THE DWARFS.]\n\n\"Nonsense,\" said Fialar and Galar; \"How should a giant care for such\nthings as these? Our swords could not help him; he does not want\npick-axes nor lanterns who lives amongst the mountain snows, nor\nships who can stride across the sea, nor necklaces--Bah! A giant\nloves life, he drinks blood, he is greedy besides and longs to taste\nthe gold mead of the gods.\"\n\nThen all the dwarfs shouted together, \"Let us give him our gold mead,\nour wondrous drink, Odh\u00e6rir, our Kvasir's blood in the three stone\njars.\"\n\nOdin heard from Air Throne's blue deep. He brooded over the scene.\n\"The sweetness, and the life, and the light of the world, then,\" he\nsaid, \"are to satiate a giant's greediness of food and blood\"--and\nit was for mankind that he became Terror in the trembling Height.\nAllfather feared nothing for the gods at that time: could he not\npierce into J\u00f6tunheim, and Svartheim, and Manheim alike? Suttung\nheard also from the Rock.--\"And what may this Odh\u00e6rir be worth that\nyou boast of so much?\" he shouted to the dwarfs. \"Wisdom, and labour,\nand fire, and life, and love,\" said the dwarfs. \"Tut, tut, tut!\"\nanswered Suttung. \"Does it taste well?\" \"Honey and wine; like the\nblood of a God and the milk of the Earth.\" Then Suttung got up slowly\nfrom the rock, pressing it down with his hands into two little dells\nas he rose, and strode to the island, from which he took up all the\ndwarfs at a grasp--they clinging to his fists and wrists like needles\nto a magnet; and, with one swoop, threw them ashore just as the\nhungry waves began to lap and wash about the dwarf's-peril. So the\ndwarfs jumped, and leaped, and laughed, and sang, and chattered\nagain, and ran on before Suttung, to fetch him the golden mead,\nOdh\u00e6rir. Three big stone jars, all full. The Spirit-mover, the\nPeace-offer, the Peace-kiss. Suttung lifted the lids, and looked into\nthe jars. \"It doesn't look much,\" he said; \"and, after all, I don't\nknow that I shall care to taste it; but I'll take the jars home to my\ndaughter Gunnl\u00f6d, and they will make a pretty treasure for her to\nkeep.\"\n\nOdin brooded over the scene. It was a grey winter's morning in\nJ\u00f6tunheim--ice over all the rivers, snow upon the mountains,\nrime-writing across the woods, weird hoar letters straggling over the\nbare branches of the trees, writing such as giants and gods can read,\nbut men see it only as pearl-drops of the cold. Suttung could read it\nwell enough as he trudged along to his Mountain Home--better than he\nhad ever read it before; for was he not bearing upon his shoulders\nthe wondrous Kvasir's life-giving blood, Odh\u00e6rir. Odin read it, \"This\nis ominous, Odin; this is dark. Shall the gold mead be made captive\nin frozen halls?\" For behold, the life-tear becomes dark in the dark\nland, as Suttung's huge door opened to let him in, him and his\ntreasure, and then closed upon them both, Suttung gave the mead to\nhis daughter Gunnl\u00f6d to keep, to guard it well, and--the heart of\nManheim trembled, it was empty and cold. Then Odin looked north and\nsouth and east and west, over the whole world. \"Come to me,\" he said,\nand two swift-winged ravens flew towards him. It seemed as if they\ncame out of nothing; for in a moment they were not there and they\nwere there. Their names were Hugin and Munin, and they came from the\nends of the earth, where Odin sent them every morning. Every evening\nhe was wont to say of them,--\n\n    \"I fear me for Hugin,\n    Lest he come not back,\n    But much more for Munin.\"\n\nYet they never failed to come back, both of them, at the dim hour in\nwhich they recounted to the Father of Hosts the history of the day\nthat was past, and the hope of the day that was to come. On this\nevening, Munin's song was so terrible that only the strength of a god\ncould possibly have endured to its end. Hugin struck another note,\nprofounder and sweet. Then said Odin, when cadence after cadence had\nfilled his ears, and he had descended from Air Throne, \"Night is the\ntime for new counsels; let each one reflect until the morrow who is\nable to give advice helpful to the \u00c6sir.\"\n\nBut when the jewelled horse ran up along the sky, from whence his\nmane shed light over the whole world, when giants and giantesses, and\nghosts and dwarfs crouched beneath Yggdrasil's outer Root, when\nHeimdall ran up Bifrost and blew mightily his horn in Heaven's\nheight, there was only one found who gave counsel to Odin, and that\nwas Odin himself. \"Odh\u00e6rir,\" he said, \"which is a god-gift, must come\nup to men's earthly dwellings. Go forth, Hugin, go forth, Munin,\"\nsaid the Asa, and he also went forth alone, none knowing where he\nwent, nor how.\n\nSo Odin journeyed for a long, long while towards Suttung's Hall,\nacross the windy, wintry ways of J\u00f6tunheim, seeing well before him\nthe yellow mead as he went, through rocks, and woods, and rivers, and\nthrough night itself, until at last it happened that Odin came into a\nmeadow upon a summer morning in Giant Land. Nine slaves were mowing\nin the meadow, whetting some old rusty scythes which they had,\nworking heavily, for they were senseless fellows, and the summer day\ngrew faster upon them than their labour grew to completion. \"You seem\nheavy-hearted,\" said Odin to the thralls; and they began to explain\nto him how rusty and old their scythes were, and that they had no\nwhetstone to sharpen them with. Upon this Odin offered to whet their\nscythes for them with his whetstone: and no sooner had he done so\nthan the scythes became so sharp that they could have cut stones as\neasily as grass. Instead of mowing, however, the thralls began to\nclamour round Odin, beseeching him to give his whetstone to them.\n\"Give it to me! give it to me: give it to me!\" cried one and another;\nand all the time Odin stood quietly amongst them, throwing his\nwhetstone up in the air, and catching it as it fell. Then the thralls\ntried if they could catch it, leaning stupidly across one another,\nwith their scythes in their hands. Was Allfather surprised at what\nhappened next? He could hardly have been that; but he was sorry when,\nlooking down as the whetstone fell, he saw all the thralls lying dead\nat his feet, killed by each other's sharpened weapons. \"This is an\nEvil Land,\" said Odin, as he looked down on the dead thralls, \"and I\nam a bringer of evil into it.\"\n\nSo he journeyed on till he came to the house of Suttung's brother,\nBaugi. Odin asked Baugi to give him a night's lodging, and Baugi,\nwho knew no more than the thralls had done who this traveller was,\nconsented, and began to talk to Odin of the trouble he was in. \"This\nis hay harvest,\" he said, \"as you must have seen, walking here\nthrough the meadows; and I have a mighty field to gather in, but how\nto do it puzzles me, because my nine slaves whom I sent out sound and\nwell this morning, all fell dead about the middle of the day. How\nthey managed it, I can't imagine, and it puts me out sadly, for\nsummer days don't last long in J\u00f6tunheim.\" \"Well,\" said Odin, \"I'm\nnot a bad hand at mowing, and I don't mind undertaking to do the work\nof nine thralls for you, Baugi, for a certain reward you may give me,\nif you will.\" \"What is that?\" inquired Baugi, eagerly. \"A draught of\nthat golden mead, Odh\u00e6rir, which Suttung obtained from the dwarfs,\nand which his daughter Gunnl\u00f6d keeps for him.\" \"Oh! that,\" said\nBaugi, \"isn't so good as my homebrewed for a thirsty mower; but you\nshall have it. It is a bargain between us.\" So Odin worked for Baugi\nthe whole summer through with the labour of nine instead of with the\nlabour of one; and when the last field was reaped, and wintry mists\nwere gathering, the god and the giant began to talk over their\nbargain again. \"We will come together to Suttung's house,\" said\nBaugi, \"and my brother shall give you the draught which you desire so\nmuch.\" But when the two came to Suttung's house, and asked him for\nthe mead, Suttung was exceedingly angry, and would not hear a word\nabout it from either of them. \"You don't drink it yourself, brother,\"\npleaded Baugi, \"although you might do so every day if you liked,\nwithout asking anybody's leave, or doing one stroke of work for it,\nwhilst this man has toiled night and day for nine months that he\nmight taste it only once.\" \"Odh\u00e6rir is for us giants, nevertheless,\"\nanswered Suttung, \"and well does my daughter Gunnl\u00f6d guard it from\ndwarfs and from men, from spectres, from Asyniur, and from \u00c6sir. Have\nI not sworn that so it shall be guarded by all the snows of\nJ\u00f6tunheim, and by the stormy waves, and by the yawning chasm of the\nabyss.\" Then Baugi knew that nothing more was to be said, and he\nadvised Odin to go back with him at once, and drink beer. But Odin\nwas not to be turned from his purpose so easily. \"You promised me a\ndraught of the gold mead, Baugi,\" he said, \"and I can see it through\nthe rock in its three treasure jars; sit down by me and look through\nthe rock till you can see it too.\" So Odin and Baugi sat down\ntogether, and pierced the rock with their glances all that day until\nthey had made a small hole in it; and at night, when Suttung was\nasleep, and when Gunnl\u00f6d was asleep, and whilst the gold mead shone\nsteadily in the heart of the cave, Odin looked up towards Asgard, and\nsaid,--\n\n    \"Little get I here by silence:\n    Of a well-assumed form I will make good use;\n    For few things fail the wise.\"\n\nAnd then this strong wise Asa picked up from the ground the little,\nmean, wriggling form of a worm and put it on and crept noiselessly\ninto the hole which he and Baugi had made,--\n\n    \"The giant's ways are under me,\n    The giant's ways are over me,\"\n\nsaid Odin as he wriggled through the stone, but when he had got quite\nthrough to the inner side, to Gunnl\u00f6d's room, Odin took his proper\nform again.\n\n\"I see her upon her golden seat,\" he said as he looked upon the\nsleeping Gunnl\u00f6d where she lay, and Odin was surprised to see a\ngiant-maid so beautiful. Surprised and sorry. \"For I must leave her\nweeping,\" he mused. \"How shall she not weep, defrauded of her\ntreasure in an Evil Land.\" And Odin loved and pitied the beautiful\nmaiden so much, that he would have returned to Asgard without the\nmead had that been possible. Alas for Gunnl\u00f6d, it was less possible\nthan ever since Allfather had seen her. For Gunnl\u00f6d awoke in the\nlight of Odin's glance and trembled, she did not know why, she did\nnot know at first that he was an Asa, but, when he asked her for her\ntreasure she could not keep it from him, she could not have kept\nanything from him. She rose from her golden couch, her blue eyes\nmelted into the tenderness of a summer sky, she undid the bars and\nbolts and coverings of Odh\u00e6rir, which she had guarded so faithfully\ntill then, and knelt before Odin and stretched her hands towards him\nand said, \"Drink, for I think you are a god.\"\n\nA draught, a draught, a long, deep draught, and the spirit of the Asa\nwas shaken through its height and through its depth, and again a\ndraught of love flowing forth to the outermost, to the abysses, and\none draught again--peace--in rushing, still.\n\nWhy are you weeping so, Gunnl\u00f6d? Oh! Why do you weep? Did you not\ngive him your whole treasure, \"your fervent love, your whole soul;\"\nyou kept nothing back, and Odh\u00e6rir is for ever the inheritance of the\ngods. The dwarfs sold it for their lives, the giantess lost it of her\nlove, gods win it for the world.\n\n\"It is for the \u00c6sir, it is for men,\" said Odin. \"It is Odin's booty,\nit is Odin's gift;\" and immediately, in haste to share it, the Asa\nspread eagle's wings, and flew far up, away from the barren rock, and\nthe black, cold halls of Suttung, towards his heavenly home. Alas for\nGunnl\u00f6d! she has lost her treasure and her Asa too. How cold the\ncavern is now in which she sits! her light is gone out; she is left\nalone; she is left weeping upon her golden throne. But Odin soared\nupwards--flew on toward Asgard, and the \u00c6sir came crowding upon the\ncity's jewelled walls to watch his approach. And soon they perceived\nthat two eagles were flying towards the city, the second pursuing the\nfirst. The pursuing eagle was Suttung, who, as soon as he found that\nhis mead was gone, and that Odin eagle-wise had escaped his\nvengeance, spread also _his_ eagle's wings, very strong and very\nswift, in pursuit. Suttung appeared to gain upon Odin. Frigga feared\nfor her beloved. The Asyniur and the \u00c6sir watched breathlessly. Frost\ngiants and Storm giants came crowding up from the deeps to see. \"Does\nOdin return amongst the gods?\" they asked, \"or will Suttung destroy\nhim?\" It was not possible, however, that the struggle should end in\nany way but one. The Divine bird dropped from the height upon his\nHall--the High One's Hall--and then there burst from him such a flood\nof song that the widest limits of \u00c6sir Land were overflowed--some\nsounds even spilt themselves upon the common earth. \"It is Poetry\nherself, it is Odin's booty, it is Odin's gift. It is for the \u00c6sir,\nit is for the \u00c6sir,\" said a thousand and a thousand songs. \"And for\nmen,\" answered Allfather, with his million ringing, changing voices;\n\"it is for men.\" \"Such as have sufficient wit to make a right use of\nit,\" said Loki. And this was the first discordant note that troubled\nAsgard after Odin's return.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn this tale, or rather in this arrangement of tales, most of the\nchief gods are named, and one or two of the myths concerning them are\nhinted at. The sweet mixture made out of Kvasir's blood, and given to\nthe giant Suttung to keep, was called, as we have seen, Odh\u00e6rir. It\nwas kept in three jars, and though the name of it as a whole was\nOdh\u00e6rir, the portion in the second jar was also called \"Sohn,\" and\nthat in the third jar \"Bohn.\" Odh\u00e6rir is mentioned in two of the\n_Elder Edda_ Songs, and in the _Younger Edda_ an account is given of\nOdin bringing it up to Asgard. Neither of the _Eddas_, it must be\nremarked, mentions the banishment of the dwarfs and elves in\nconnection with Kvasir's death. The golden mead, Odh\u00e6rir, is supposed\nto signify poetry. The first syllable of the name means mind and\nfeeling. Odh\u00e6rir, spirit mover. \"Sohn\" means reconciliation, or the\n_offer_ of peace. \"Bohn\" means the _acceptance_ of peace,--these two\nlatter names referring to the origin of Kvasir, who was created out\nof the peace made between the \u00c6sir and the Vanir.\n\nSimrock thinks that \"Kvasir,\" meaning fermentation, implies the\nexcitement necessary to poetry; that Odin, labouring for a draught of\nthe precious mead, suggests that poetry can only be possessed through\nlabour, and that his receiving it from the beautiful Gunnl\u00f6d,\nexpresses it as the gift and crown of love. Odin drinking it three\ntimes signifies the _intensity_ through which poetry lives,--it is\nintoxication. Odin appears to have felt very wise after his three\ndraughts; for he is made to say--\n\n    \"Potent songs I learned,\n    And a draught obtained\n    Of the precious mead,\n    Then I began to bear fruit\n    And to know many things.\n          Word by word\n          I sought out words,\n          Fact by fact\n          I sought out facts.\n    Runes I graved,\n    Very large characters,\n    Very potent characters.\"\n\nOne of the _Edda_ songs is called the \"High One's Lay.\" So we may\nconclude it was inspired by Suttung's mead. One or two of the\nstrophes are worth quoting, just to show what the lay is like. The\nfollowing are selected from different places and have no connection\nwith one another.\n\n    \"At eve the day is to be praised,\n    A sword after it is proved;\n    Ice after it has passed away,\n    Beer after it is drunk.\"\n\n    \"Cattle die,\n    Kindred die,\n    We ourselves also die;\n    But I know one thing\n    That never dies--\n    Judgment on each one dead.\"\n\n    \"I was once young,\n    I was journeying alone,\n    And lost my way;\n    Rich I thought myself\n    When I met another.\n    Man is the joy of man.\"\n\nHere is a contrast--\n\n    \"Two are adversaries;\n    The tongue is the bane of the head;\n    Under every cloak\n    I expect a hand.\"\n\n    \"A firmer friend\n    No man ever gets\n    Than great sagacity.\"\n\n    \"Givers and requiters\n    Are longest friends.\"\n\n    \"A worse provision\n    No man can carry\n    Than too much beer-bibbing;\n    So, good is not, as it is said,\n    Beer for the sons of men.\"\n\n    \"My garments in a field\n    I gave away\n    To two wooden men;\n    Heroes they seemed to be\n    When they got cloaks.\"\n\n    \"Much too early\n    I came to many places\n    But too late to others;\n    The beer was drunk,\n    Or not ready\n    The disliked seldom hits the moment.\"\n\nWe often read of Odin disguising himself, sometimes in animal, more\nfrequently in human form. He wanders about the world, and very\ncurious stories are told about his adventures. Sometimes he asks his\nwife's leave before setting off,--\n\n    \"Counsel thou me now, Frigg!\n    As I long to go\n    An all-wise giant to visit.\"\n\nAnd Frigg answers,--\n\n    \"In safety mayest thou go,\n    In safety return;\n    In safety on thy journeyings be;\n    May thy wit avail thee\n    When thou, father of men! shalt\n    Hold converse with the giant.\"\n\nBut Odin was not obliged to take long journeys himself when he wanted\nto know what was going on in the world,--he had, as we have seen, two\nmessengers whom he sent out daily,--the Ravens Hugin and Munin,\nthought and memory,--\n\n    \"Hugin and Munin\n    Each dawn take their flight\n    Earth fields over;\n    I fear me for Hugin\n    Lest he come not back,\n    But much more for Munin.\"\n\nPerhaps because of Munin being memory he was expected to fail first.\n\nOdin looking over into Niflheim, is thus alluded to in an old song.\nThe god is made to say,--\n\n    \"I know that I hung\n    On a wind-rocked tree\n    Nine whole nights.\n    Downward I peered,\n    To runes applied myself,\n    Wailing learnt them,\n    Then fell down thence.\"\n\nThe next strophe tells how he got the draught of the precious mead.\nIn this myth, it seems as if Odin hung upon Yggdrassil. Simrock\nmentions a singular little German tale which may possibly have some\nconnection with it, and has evidently an Eastern origin. \"A man,\" it\nsays, \"in danger of falling into a brook, held fast with one hand to\na shrub whilst his feet rested on a small piece of grass. In this\npredicament, he saw two mice (day and night) gnawing at the root of\nthe shrub, and the grass undermined by four worm heads. Then a\ndragon appeared and opened his mouth to swallow him up, whilst an\nelephant reached his trunk towards him. At the same time he seized\nwith eager mouth some honey which dropt from the tree.\" Simrock says\nthat the eating of the honey is like people being occupied with\nfrivolity whilst the world-battle goes on, but may not the story\npossibly have a little to do with Odin and Yggdrassil and Odh\u00e6rir.\n\nWe heard before that Odin was connected with Air. We see him here\non his High Throne looking over all worlds, wandering over the\nearth, piercing even to the deep, giving his eye to Mimer for\nwisdom--consequently having only one eye, one Sun in Heaven--some\nsuppose that the pledged eye means the setting of the Sun nightly.\nMimer, who guards the well, means the remembrance of the origin of\nthings which was water--the strange waves that flowed into\nGinnungagap. An odd story is told of Mimer, who was originally a\ngiant though received by the \u00c6sir, viz., that he was sent as a\nhostage to the Vanir, who cut off his head and sent it back to Odin.\nThe head remained so wise that the father of the gods used to\nconsult it on all important occasions; as the lay says--\n\n    \"Odin speaks\n    With Mim's head.\"\n\nHeimdall, guardian of the Bridge (whose exact name was \"trembling\nrest\") was perhaps the most important of the Vanir. He is represented\nin one old lay as travelling about the world by himself, which is a\nsure sign that he was originally a very great god indeed. Upon this\njourney he became the father of the three races of men, the Thralls,\nthe Karls and the Jarls. The way in which these three races are\ncompared with one another is very curious.\n\nThe Thralls are described with \"shrivelled skin, knotty knuckles,\nthick fingers, hideous faces, curved backs and protruding heels, they\nare made to erect fences, manure fields, tend swine, keep goats and\ndig turf.\" The Karls' children are said to be clothed in linen, to be\nruddy headed and have twinkling eyes, and they grow up to \"tame oxen,\nmake ploughs, build houses, make carts and farm;\" but the favoured,\nuseless Jarls, \"Light of hair, bright cheeks, eyes piercing as a\nserpent's,\" grow up to \"shake the shield, to brandish spears,\n\n    \"Horses to ride,\n    Dogs to slip,\n    Swords to draw,\n    Swimming to practise.\"\n\nHeimdall keeps the bridge alike from thunder god and frost giants,\nbut at Ragnar\u00f6k, the swarthy god Surtur, who lives on the borders of\nMuspellheim, will ride over it and shatter it to pieces. Heimdall's\nhorn is mentioned,--this is supposed to mean the crescent moon, and\nMimer's drinking horn also means the moon. Later, when the stories of\nthe gods had dwindled down into weird, unholy legends, and Odin had\nsunk into the wild Huntsman, the crescent moon was his horn. One of\nHeimdall's names was Irmin, and this means \"Shining.\" The milky way\nis called Irmin strasse or Irmin's way, and the wild hunt was\nsupposed to go over the milky way, which is also called Waldemar's\nway in Denmark, and Waldemar is a common name of hunters.\n\nLoki and his children in these myths are evidently the destructive\nprinciple, either physically, or morally, or both. J\u00f6rmungand and\nFenrir are much alike. J\u00f6rmungand means \"the universal Wolf,\" and of\nFenrir it is said \"he goes about revengeful, with open jaws devouring\nall things.\" Hela had originally another side to her character, but\nhere as Loki's daughter she has only the nature of his other\nchildren.\n\nThe myth about Loki finding the half-burnt heart of a woman is said\nto be a very young one; and so perhaps it is not worth considering\nthe meaning of.\n\nThe god about whom, next to Odin, most stories are told, is Thor. In\nsome parts of the north he was a more prominent object of worship\neven than Odin, Norway and Iceland being especially devoted to his\nservice.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLet us now hear how Thor went to J\u00f6tunheim.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nHOW THOR WENT TO J\u00d6TUNHEIM.\n\n\nPART I. FROM ASGARD TO UTGARD.\n\nOnce on a time, Asa Thor and Loki set out on a journey from Asgard to\nJ\u00f6tunheim. They travelled in Thor's chariot, drawn by two milk-white\ngoats. It was a somewhat cumbrous iron chariot, and the wheels made a\nrumbling noise as it moved, which sometimes startled the ladies of\nAsgard, and made them tremble; but Thor liked it, thought the noise\nsweeter than any music, and was never so happy as when he was\njourneying in it from one place to another.\n\nThey travelled all day, and in the evening they came to a\ncountryman's house. It was a poor, lonely place; but Thor descended\nfrom his chariot, and determined to pass the night there. The\ncountryman, however, had no food in his house to give these\ntravellers; and Thor, who liked to feast himself and make every one\nfeast with him, was obliged to kill his own two goats and serve them\nup for supper. He invited the countryman and his wife and children to\nsup with him; but before they began to eat he made one request of\nthem.\n\n\"Do not, on any account,\" he said, \"break or throw away any of the\nbones of the goats you are going to eat for supper.\"\n\n\"I wonder why,\" said the peasant's son, Thialfi, to his sister Roska.\nRoska could not think of any reason, and by-and-bye Thialfi happened\nto have a very nice little bone given him with some marrow in it.\n\"Certainly there can be no harm in my breaking just this one,\" he\nsaid to himself; \"it would be such a pity to lose the marrow;\" and as\nAsa Thor's head was turned another way, he slyly broke the bone in\ntwo, sucked the marrow, and then threw the pieces into the goats'\nskins, where Thor had desired that all the bones might be placed. I\ndo not know whether Thialfi was uneasy during the night about what he\nhad done; but in the morning he found out the reason of Asa Thor's\ncommand, and received a lesson on \"wondering why,\" which he never\nforgot all his life after.\n\nAs soon as Asa Thor rose in the morning he took his hammer, Mi\u00f6lnir,\nin his hand, and held it over the goat-skins as they lay on the\nfloor, whispering runes the while. They were dead skins with dry\nbones on them when he began to speak; but as he said the last word,\nThialfi, who was looking curiously on, saw two live goats spring up\nand walk towards the chariot, as fresh and well as when they brought\nthe chariot up to the door Thialfi hoped. But no; one of the goats\nlimped a little with his hind leg, and Asa Thor saw it. His brow grew\ndark as he looked, and for a minute Thialfi thought he would run far,\nfar into the forest, and never come back again; but one look more at\nAsa Thor's face, angry as it was, made him change his mind. He\nthought of a better thing to do than running away. He came forward,\nthrew himself at the Asa's feet, and, confessing what he had done,\nbegged pardon for his disobedience. Thor listened, and the displeased\nlook passed away from his face.\n\n\"You have done wrong, Thialfi,\" he said, raising him up; \"but as you\nhave confessed your fault so bravely, instead of punishing you, I\nwill take you with me on my journey, and teach you myself the lesson\nof obedience to the \u00c6sir which is, I see, wanted.\"\n\nRoska chose to go with her brother, and from that day Thor had two\nfaithful servants, who followed him wherever he went.\n\nThe chariot and goats were now left behind: but, with Loki and his\ntwo new followers, Thor journeyed on to the end of Manheim, over the\nsea, and then on, on, on in the strange, barren, misty land of\nJ\u00f6tunheim, Sometimes they crossed great mountains; sometimes they had\nto make their way among torn and rugged rocks, which often, through\nthe mist, appeared to them to wear the forms of men, and once for a\nwhole day they traversed a thick and tangled forest. In the evening\nof that day, being very much tired, they saw with pleasure that they\nhad come upon a spacious hall, of which the door, as broad as the\nhouse itself, stood wide open.\n\n\"Here we may very comfortably lodge for the night,\" said Thor; and\nthey went in and looked about them.\n\nThe house appeared to be perfectly empty; there was a wide hall, and\nfive smaller rooms opening into it. They were, however, too tired to\nexamine it carefully, and as no inhabitants made their appearance,\nthey ate their supper in the hall, and lay down to sleep. But they\nhad not rested long before they were disturbed by strange noises,\ngroanings, mutterings, and snortings, louder than any animal that\nthey had ever seen in their lives could make. By-and-bye the house\nbegan to shake from side to side, and it seemed as if the very earth\ntrembled. Thor sprang up in haste, and ran to the open door; but,\nthough he looked earnestly into the starlit forest, there was no\nenemy to be seen anywhere. Loki and Thialfi, after groping about for\na time, found a sheltered chamber to the right, where they thought\nthey could finish their night's rest in safety; but Thor, with\nMi\u00f6lnir in his hand, watched at the door of the house all night. As\nsoon as the day dawned he went out into the forest, and there,\nstretched on the ground close by the house, he saw a strange,\nuncouth, gigantic shape of a man, out of whose nostrils came a breath\nwhich swayed the trees to their very tops. There was no need to\nwonder any longer what the disturbing noises had been. Thor\nfearlessly walked up to this strange monster to have a better look at\nhim; but at the sound of his footsteps the giant-shape rose slowly,\nstood up an immense height, and looked down upon Thor with two great\nmisty eyes, like blue mountain-lakes.\n\n[Illustration: GIANT SKRYMIR AND THOR.]\n\n\"Who are you?\" said Thor, standing on tiptoe, and stretching his neck\nto look up; \"and why do you make such a noise as to prevent your\nneighbours from sleeping?\"\n\n\"My name is Skrymir,\" said the giant sternly; \"I need not ask yours.\nYou are the little Asa Thor of Asgard; but pray, now, what have you\ndone with my glove?\"\n\nAs he spoke he stooped down, and picked up the hall where Thor and\nhis companions had passed the night, and which, in truth, was\nnothing more than his glove, the room where Loki and Thialfi had\nslept being the thumb.\n\nThor rubbed his eyes, and felt as if he must be dreaming. Rousing\nhimself, however, he raised Mi\u00f6lnir in his hand, and, trying to keep\nhis eyes fixed on the giant's face, which seemed to be always\nchanging, he said, \"It is time that you should know, Skrymir, that I\nam come to J\u00f6tunheim to fight and conquer such evil giants as you\nare, and, little as you think me, I am ready to try my strength\nagainst yours.\"\n\n\"Try it, then,\" said the giant.\n\nAnd Thor, without another word, threw Mi\u00f6lnir at his head.\n\n\"Ah! Ah!\" said the giant; \"did a leaf touch me?\"\n\nAgain Thor seized Mi\u00f6lnir, which always returned to his hand, however\nfar he cast it from him, and threw it with all his force.\n\nThe giant put up his hand to his forehead. \"I think,\" he said, \"that\nan acorn must have fallen on my head.\"\n\nA third time Thor struck a blow, the heaviest that ever fell from\nthe hand of an Asa; but this time the giant laughed out loud.\n\n\"There is surely a bird on that tree,\" he said, \"who has let a\nfeather fall on my face.\"\n\nThen, without taking any further notice of Thor, he swung an immense\nwallet over his shoulder, and, turning his back upon him, struck into\na path that led from the forest. When he had gone a little way he\nlooked round, his immense face appearing less like a human\ncountenance than some strange, uncouthly-shaped stone toppling on a\nmountain precipice.\n\n\"Ving-Thor,\"[3] he said, \"let me give you a piece of good advice\nbefore I go. When you get to Utgard don't make much of yourself. You\nthink me a tall man, but you have taller still to see; and you\nyourself are a very little mannikin. Turn back home whence you came,\nand be satisfied to have learned something of yourself by your\njourney to J\u00f6tunheim.\"\n\n [3] Ving-Thor--Winged-Thor.\n\n\"Mannikin or not, _that_ will I never do,\" shouted Asa Thor after the\ngiant. \"We will meet again, and something more will we learn, or\nteach each other.\"\n\nThe giant, however, did not turn back to answer, and Thor and his\ncompanions, after looking for some time after him, resumed their\njourney. Before the sun was quite high in the heavens they came out\nof the forest, and at noon they found themselves on a vast barren\nplain, where stood a great city, whose walls of dark, rough stone\nwere so high, that Thor had to bend his head quite far back to see\nthe top of them. When they approached the entrance of this city they\nfound that the gates were closed and barred; but the space between\nthe bars was so large that Thor passed through easily, and his\ncompanions followed him. The streets of the city were gloomy and\nstill. They walked on for some time without meeting any one; but at\nlength they came to a very high building, of which the gates stood\nopen.\n\n\"Let us go in and see what is going on here,\" said Thor; and they\nwent.\n\nAfter crossing the threshold they found themselves in an immense\nbanqueting hall. A table stretched from one end to the other of it;\nstone thrones stood round the table, and on every throne sat a giant,\neach one, as Thor glanced round, appearing more grim, and cold, and\nstony than the rest. One among them sat on a raised seat, and\nappeared to be the chief; so to him Thor approached and paid his\ngreetings.\n\nThe giant chief just glanced at him, and, without rising, said, in a\nsomewhat careless manner, \"It is, I think, a foolish custom to tease\ntired travellers with questions about their journey. I know without\nasking that you, little fellow, are Asa Thor. Perhaps, however, you\nmay be in reality taller than you appear; and as it is a rule here\nthat no one shall sit down to table till he has performed some\nwonderful feat, let us hear what you and your followers are famed\nfor, and in what way you choose to prove yourselves worthy to sit\ndown in the company of giants.\"\n\nAt this speech, Loki, who had entered the hall cautiously behind\nThor, pushed himself forward.\n\n\"The feat for which I am most famed,\" he said, \"is eating, and it is\none which I am just now inclined to perform with right good will. Put\nfood before me, and let me see if any of your followers can despatch\nit as quickly as I can.\"\n\n\"The feat you speak of is one by no means to be despised,\" said the\nKing, \"and there is one here who would be glad to try his powers\nagainst yours. Let Logi,\" he said to one of his followers, \"be\nsummoned to the hall.\"\n\nAt this, a tall, thin, yellow-faced man approached, and a large\ntrough of meat having been placed in the middle of the hall, Loki sat\nto work at one end, and Logi at the other, and they began to eat. I\nhope _I_ shall never see any one eat as they ate; but the giants all\nturned their slow-moving eyes to watch them, and in a few minutes\nthey met in the middle of the trough. It seemed, at first, as if they\nhad both eaten exactly the same quantity; but, when the thing came to\nbe examined into, it was found that Loki had, indeed, eaten up all\nthe meat, but that Logi had also eaten the bones and the trough. Then\nthe giants nodded their huge heads, and determined that Loki was\nconquered. The King now turned to Thialfi, and asked what he could\ndo.\n\n\"I was thought swift of foot among the youth of my own country,\"\nanswered Thialfi; \"and I will, if you please, try to run a race with\nany one here.\"\n\n\"You have chosen a noble sport, indeed,\" said the King; \"but you must\nbe a good runner if you could beat him with whom I shall match you.\"\n\nThen he called a slender lad, Hugi by name, and the whole company\nleft the hall, and, going out by an opposite gate to that by which\nThor had entered, they came out to an open space, which made a noble\nrace-ground. There the goal was fixed, and Thialfi and Hugi started\noff together.\n\nThialfi ran fast--fast as the reindeer which hears the wolves howling\nbehind; but Hugi ran so much faster that, passing the goal, he turned\nround, and met Thialfi half-way in the course.\n\n\"Try again, Thialfi,\" cried the King; and Thialfi, once more taking\nhis place, flew along the course with feet scarcely touching the\nground--swiftly as an eagle when, from his mountain-crag, he swoops\non his prey in the valley; but with all his running he was still a\ngood bow-shot from the goal when Hugi reached it.\n\n\"You are certainly a good runner,\" said the King; \"but if you mean to\nwin you must do a little better still than this; but perhaps you wish\nto surprise us all the more this third time.\"\n\nThe third time, however, Thialfi was wearied, and though he did his\nbest, Hugi, having reached the goal, turned and met him not far from\nthe starting-point.\n\nThe giants again looked at each other, and declared that there was no\nneed of further trial, for that Thialfi was conquered.\n\nIt was now Asa Thor's turn, and all the company looked eagerly at\nhim, while the Utgard King asked by what wonderful feat he chose to\ndistinguish himself.\n\n\"I will try a drinking-match with any of you,\" Thor said, shortly;\nfor, to tell the truth, he cared not to perform anything very worthy\nin the company in which he found himself.\n\nKing Utgard appeared pleased with this choice, and when the giants\nhad resumed their seats in the hall, he ordered one of his servants\nto bring in his drinking-cup, called the \"cup of penance,\" which it\nwas his custom to make his guests drain at a draught, if they had\nbroken any of the ancient rules of the society.\n\n\"There!\" he said, handing it to Thor, \"we call it well drunk if a\nperson empties it at a single draught. Some, indeed, take two to it;\nbut the very puniest can manage it in three.\"\n\nThor looked into the cup; it appeared to him long, but not so very\nlarge after all, and being thirsty he put it to his lips, and thought\nto make short work of it, and empty it at one good, hearty pull. He\ndrank, and put the cup down again; but, instead of being empty, it\nwas now just so full that it could be moved without danger of\nspilling.\n\n\"Ha! ha! You are keeping all your strength for the second pull I\nsee,\" said Utgard, looking in. Without answering, Thor lifted the cup\nagain, and drank with all his might till his breath failed; but, when\nhe put down the cup, the liquor had only sunk down a little from the\nbrim.\n\n\"If you mean to take three draughts to it,\" said Utgard, \"you are\nreally leaving yourself a very unfair share for the last time. Look\nto yourself, Ving-Thor; for, if you do not acquit yourself better in\nother feats, we shall not think so much of you here as they say the\n\u00c6sir do in Asgard.\"\n\nAt this speech Thor felt angry, and, seizing the cup again, he drank\na third time, deeper and longer than he had yet done; but, when he\nlooked into the cup, he saw that a very small part only of its\ncontents had disappeared. Wearied and disappointed he put the cup\ndown, and said he would try no more to empty it.\n\n\"It is pretty plain,\" said the King, looking round on the company,\n\"that Asa Thor is by no means the kind of man we always supposed him\nto be.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Thor, \"I am willing to try another feat, and you\nyourselves shall choose what it shall be.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the King, \"there is a game at which our children are\nused to play. A short time ago I dare not have named it to Asa Thor;\nbut now I am curious to see how he will acquit himself in it. It is\nmerely to lift my cat from the ground--a childish amusement truly.\"\n\nAs he spoke a large, grey cat sprang into the hall, and Thor,\nstooping forward, put his hand under it to lift it up. He tried\ngently at first; but by degrees he put forth all his strength,\ntugging and straining as he had never done before; but the utmost he\ncould do was to raise one of the cat's paws a little way from the\nground.\n\n\"It is just as I thought,\" said King Utgard, looking round with a\nsmile; \"but we all are willing to allow that the cat _is_ large, and\nThor but a little fellow.\"\n\n\"Little as you think me,\" cried Thor, \"who is there who will dare to\nwrestle with me in my anger?\"\n\n\"In truth,\" said the King, \"I don't think there is any one here who\nwould choose to wrestle with you; but, if wrestle you must, I will\ncall in that old crone Elli. She has, in her time, laid low many a\nbetter man than Asa Thor has shown himself to be.\"\n\nThe crone came. She was old, withered, and toothless, and Thor shrank\nfrom the thought of wrestling with her; but he had no choice. She\nthrew her arms round him, and drew him towards the ground, and the\nharder he tried to free himself, the tighter grew her grasp. They\nstruggled long. Thor strove bravely, but a strange feeling of\nweakness and weariness came over him, and at length he tottered and\nfell down on one knee before her. At this sight all the giants\nlaughed aloud, and Utgard coming up, desired the old woman to leave\nthe hall, and proclaimed that the trials were over. No one of his\nfollowers would _now_ contend with Asa Thor, he said, and night was\napproaching. He then invited Thor and his companions to sit down at\nthe table, and spend the night with him as his guests. Thor, though\nfeeling somewhat perplexed and mortified, accepted his invitation\ncourteously, and showed, by his agreeable behaviour during the\nevening, that he knew how to bear being conquered with a good grace.\n\nIn the morning, when Thor and his companions were leaving the city,\nthe King himself accompanied them without the gates; and Thor,\nlooking steadily at him when he turned to bid him farewell,\nperceived, for the first time, that he was the very same Giant\nSkrymir with whom he had met in the forest.\n\n\"Come, now, Asa Thor,\" said the giant with a strange sort of smile on\nhis face, \"tell me truly, before you go, how you think your journey\nhas turned out, and whether or not I was right in saying that you\nwould meet with better men than yourself in J\u00f6tunheim.\"\n\n\"I confess freely,\" answered Asa Thor, looking up without any false\nshame on his face, \"that I have acquitted myself but humbly, and it\ngrieves me; for I know that in J\u00f6tunheim henceforward it will be said\nthat I am a man of little worth.\"\n\n\"By my troth! no,\" cried the giant, heartily. \"Never should you have\ncome into my city if I had known what a mighty man of valour you\nreally are; and now that you are safely out of it, I will, for once,\ntell the truth to you, Thor. All this time I have been deceiving you\nby my enchantments. When you met me in the forest, and hurled\nMi\u00f6lnir at my head, I should have been crushed by the weight of your\nblows had I not skilfully placed a mountain between myself and you,\non which the strokes of your hammer fell, and where you cleft three\ndeep ravines, which shall henceforth become verdant valleys. In the\nsame manner I deceived you about the contests in which you engaged\nlast night. When Loki and Logi sat down before the trough, Loki,\nindeed, eat like hunger itself; but Logi is fire, who, with eager,\nconsuming tongue, licked up both bones and trough. Thialfi is the\nswiftest of mortal runners; but the slender lad, Hugi, was my\nthought; and what speed can ever equal his? So it was in your own\ntrials. When you took such deep draughts from the horn, you little\nknew what a wonderful feat you were performing. The other end of that\nhorn reached the ocean, and when you come to the shore you will see\nhow far its waters have fallen away, and how much the deep sea itself\nhas been diminished by your draught. Hereafter, men watching the\ngoing out of the tide will call it the ebb, or draught of Thor.\nScarcely less wonderful was the prowess you displayed in the second\ntrial. What appeared to you to be a cat, was, in reality, the Midgard\nserpent, which encircles the world. When we saw you succeed in moving\nit we trembled lest the very foundations of earth and sea should be\nshaken by your strength. Nor need you be ashamed of having been\noverthrown by the old woman Elli, for she is old age; and there never\nhas, and never will be, one whom she has not the power to lay low. We\nmust now part, and you had better not come here again, or attempt\nanything further against my city; for I shall always defend it by\nfresh enchantments, and you will never be able to do anything against\nme.\"\n\nAt these words Thor raised Mi\u00f6lnir, and was about to challenge the\ngiant to a fresh trial of strength; but, before he could speak,\nUtgard vanished from his sight; and, turning round to look for the\ncity, he found that it, too, had disappeared, and that he was\nstanding alone on a smooth, green, empty plain.\n\n\"What a fool I have been,\" said Asa Thor, aloud, \"to allow myself to\nbe deceived by a mountain giant!\"\n\n\"Ah,\" answered a voice from above, \"I told you, you would learn to\nknow yourself better by your journey to J\u00f6tunheim. It is the great\nuse of travelling.\"\n\nThor turned quickly round again, thinking to see Skrymir behind him;\nbut, after looking on every side, he could perceive nothing, but that\na high, cloud-capped mountain, which he had noticed on the horizon,\nappeared to have advanced to the edge of the plain.\n\n\nPART II. THE SERPENT AND THE KETTLE.\n\nThor turned away from Giant-land, and on the road homeward he passed\nthrough the Sea-King's dominions. There he found that \u00c6gir the Old\nwas giving a banquet to all the \u00c6sir in his wide coral-caves. At a\nlittle distance Thor stood still to listen and to look. It was a fair\nsight: cave within cave stretched out before him decked with choicest\nshells, whilst far inward lay the banqueting-hall, lighted with\nshining gold; white and red coral-pillars stood at uneven distances;\nthe bright-browed \u00c6sir reclined at the board on soft water couches;\n\u00c6gir's daughters--the fair-haired waves--murmured sweet music as they\nwaited on their guests; and little baby-ripples ran about laughing\nin all the corners. Thor walked through the caves and entered the\nhall. As he did so Odin looked up from his place at \u00c6gir's right\nhand, and said,--\n\n\"Good evening, son Thor; how has it fared with you in J\u00f6tunheim?\"\n\nThor's face grew a little cloudy at this question, and he only\nanswered,--\n\n\"Not as it ought to have done, father.\" Then he placed himself\namongst \u00c6gir's guests.\n\n\"In my dominions,\" said King \u00c6gir, looking all round, \"an\nextraordinary thing has happened.\"\n\n\"And what may that be, brother?\" asked Ni\u00f6rd.\n\n\"From the shores of J\u00f6tunheim,\" answered \u00c6gir, \"the sea has run back\na quarter of a mile, drawing itself away as if a giant were drinking\nit in.\"\n\n\"Is that all you have got to say, father?\" said a tall Wave, as she\nswept her hair over the Sea-King's shoulder, and peeped up from\nbehind him; \"is that all you know of the wonders which are going on\nin your deep home? Listen.\"\n\nThen \u00c6gir bent forward on his seat; the \u00c6sir all ceased speaking,\nand drew in their breath; the waves raised their arched necks, and\nwere still, listening. From a great way off came the sound of a\nsullen swell.\n\n\"Who is that speaking?\" asked Odin.\n\n\"That is J\u00f6rmungand speaking,\" said Thor.\n\n\"And what does he say, Thor?\"\n\n\"He says that I could not conquer him.\"\n\n\"Pass round the foaming mead,\" cried \u00c6gir, who saw that it was time\nto turn the conversation.\n\nBut alas! \u00c6gir's mead-kettle was so small, that before it had gone\nhalf down the table it stood empty before Tyr.\n\n\"There is a giant called Hymir,\" remarked Tyr, \"who lives far over\nthe stormy waves to eastward at the end of heaven.\"\n\nThe \u00c6sir all looked up.\n\n\"He has a kettle,\" Tyr went on to say, \"which is a mile deep, and\nwhich would certainly hold mead enough for all this company.\"\n\n\"If Hymir would lend it to us,\" said \u00c6gir, \"we could finish our\nsupper; but who would go to the end of heaven to borrow a kettle?\"\n\nThen Thor rose from the table, and began to tighten round him his\nbelt of power; he put on his iron gloves, and took Mi\u00f6lnir in his\nhand.\n\n\"What! off again to Giant-land, Ving-Thor?\" cried \u00c6gir.\n\n\"Didn't you say you wanted Mile-deep?\" said Thor. \"I am going to\nborrow it of Hymir for you. Will you come with me, Tyr?\"\n\nTyr sprang up joyfully, and the two brothers started on their\njourney. When they arrived at Hymir's dwelling, which was a\nroughly-hewn cavern on the shore of a frozen sea, the first person\nthey met was a wonderful giantess with nine hundred heads, in which\nglittered fiery eyes, and which grew out from all parts of her body,\nso that it was impossible to tell whether she was walking upon her\nhead or her heels. As Thor and Tyr were looking at her trying to\ndiscover this, a woman came out of the giant's home quite as lovely\nas the giantess was hideous. She greeted them on the threshold. Her\ngolden hair fell thick upon her shoulders; her mild eyes shone upon\nthem; and with words of welcome she held out her hands and led them\ninto the cavern. There she offered them meat and drink, and bade them\nrest until her husband, Hymir, should come home. As the darkness came\non, however, and the time of his expected return drew near, she\nbecame silent and anxious; and at last she said, \"I am very much\nafraid that my husband will be angry if he sees strangers here when\nhe comes in. Take my advice, now, Asa Thor and Asa Tyr, and hide\nbehind one of these pillars in the rock. My lord, I assure you, is\nsurly sometimes, and not nearly so hospitable as I could wish.\"\n\n\"We are not accustomed to hide ourselves,\" remarked Thor.\n\n\"But you shall come forth when I call you,\" answered the woman.\n\nSo the \u00c6sir did as she desired. By-and-bye they heard heavy footsteps\nfar off, over the frozen sea, coming nearer and nearer every moment.\nThe distant icebergs resounded, and at last Hymir burst open the door\nof his cavern, and stalked angrily in. He had been unsuccessful that\nday in the chase, his hands were frost-bitten, and a \"hard-frozen\nwood stood upon his cheek.\"\n\nAs soon as the fair-browed woman saw what mood he was in she went\ngently towards him, placed her hand in his, and told him of the\narrival of the guests; then, with a sweet smile and voice, she\nentreated him to receive the strangers kindly, and entertain them\nhospitably.\n\nHymir made no answer; but, at one glance of his eye towards the place\nwhere the \u00c6sir were hidden, the pillar burst asunder, and the\ncross-beam which it supported fell with a crash to the ground. Eight\nponderous kettles had been hanging on the beam, and all but one were\nshivered to atoms.\n\nThor and Tyr then stepped forth into the middle of the hall, and\nHymir received them civilly, after which he turned his attention to\nsupper; and, having cooked three whole oxen, he invited the \u00c6sir to\neat with him. Thor fell to work with great relish, and when he had\neaten the whole of one ox, prepared to cut a slice out of another.\n\n\"You eat a great deal,\" said Hymir, sulkily, but Thor was still very\nhungry, and went on with his supper until he had eaten two entire\noxen. Then said Hymir, \"Another night, Ving-Thor, you must provide\nyour own supper; for I can't undertake to keep so expensive a guest.\"\n\nAccordingly, early the next morning, Hymir prepared to go out\nfishing, and offered Thor a place in his boat. On their way to the\nshore they passed a herd of oxen feeding.\n\n\"Have you provided a bait for me?\" said Thor to the giant.\n\n\"You must get one for yourself,\" answered Hymir, surlily.\n\nSo Thor was obliged to cut off the head of one of the oxen for a\nbait.\n\n\"You'll never be able to carry _that_ head,\" said Hymir; for, in\ntruth, the ox to which it had belonged was an enormous animal, called\n\"Heaven Breaking.\"\n\nBut Thor made nothing of the head, slung it over his shoulder, and\ncarried it down to the boat. As they got under weigh, Thor and Hymir\neach took an oar; but Thor pulled so fast, and with such mighty\nstrokes, that the giant was obliged to stop for breath, and beg that\nthey might go no further.\n\n\"We have already reached the spot,\" he said, \"where I always catch\nthe finest whales.\"\n\n\"But I want to go further out to sea,\" said Thor.\n\n\"That will be dangerous, Ving-Thor,\" said Hymir; \"for if we row any\nfurther we shall come to the waters under which J\u00f6rmungand lies.\"\n\nThor laughed, and rowed on. At last he stopped, baited his hook with\nthe ox's head, and cast the line out into the sea, whilst Hymir leant\nover the other side of the boat, and caught two whales.\n\nNow, when the great J\u00f6rmungand smelt Thor's bait he opened wide his\nmonstrous jaws, and eagerly sucked in both head, and hook, and line;\nbut no sooner did he feel the pain than he struggled so fiercely, and\nplunged so wildly, that Thor's hands were in an instant dashed\nagainst the sides of the boat. Still Thor did not lose his hold, but\nwent on pulling with such wondrous force that his feet burst through\nthe boat, and rested on the slippery rocks beneath. At last the\nvenomous monster's mountain-high head was hauled above the waves, and\nthen, indeed, it was a dreadful sight to see Thor, in all the power\nof his god-like strength, casting his fiery looks on the serpent, and\nthe serpent glaring upon him, and spitting forth poisoned venom. Even\nHymir's sun-burnt cheek changed colour as he beheld beneath his feet\nthe sinking boat, and at his side the deadliest monster of the deep.\nAt last, in the wildness of his fear, he rushed before Thor, and cut\nhis line in sunder. Immediately the serpent's head began to sink; but\nThor hurled Mi\u00f6lnir with fearful force after it into the waters.\n\nThen did the rocks burst; it thundered through the caverns; old\nmother earth all shrank; even the fishes sought the bottom of the\nocean; but the serpent sank back, with a long, dull sound, beneath\nthe waves, a deep wound in his head, and smothered vengeance in his\nheart.\n\nIll at ease and silent, Hymir then turned to go home, and Thor\nfollowed him, carrying boat and oars, and everything else, on his\nshoulders. Now, every fresh sight of Thor increased the giant's envy\nand rage; for he could not bear to think that he had shown so little\ncourage before his brave guest, and, besides, losing his boat and\ngetting so desperately wet in his feet by wading home through the\nsea, did not by any means improve his temper. When they got home,\ntherefore, and were supping together, he began jeering and taunting\nThor.\n\n\"No doubt, Asa Thor,\" he said, \"you think yourself a good rower and a\nfine fisher, though you did not catch anything to-day; but can you\nbreak that drinking-cup before you, do you think?\"\n\nThor seized the cup, and dashed it against an upright stone. But, lo!\nthe stone was shattered in pieces, and the cup unbroken. Again, with\ngreater strength, he hurled the cup against the pillars in the rock:\nit was still without a crack.\n\nNow, it happened that the beautiful woman was sitting spinning at her\nwheel just behind where Thor was standing. From time to time she\nchanted snatches of old runes and sagas in soft tones; and now, when\nThor stood astonished that the cup was not broken, the woman's voice\nfell on his ear, singing low the following words:--\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\nThen Thor once more took the cup, and hurled it against the giant's\nforehead. The cup was this time shivered to pieces; but Hymir himself\nwas unhurt, and cried out, \"Well done at last, Ving-Thor; but can you\ncarry that mile-deep kettle out of my hall, think you?\"\n\nTyr tried to lift it, and could not even raise the handle.\n\nThen Thor grasped it by the rim, and, as he did so, his feet pressed\nthrough the floor. With a mighty effort he lifted it; he placed it on\nhis head, while the rings rang at his feet; and so in triumph he bore\noff the kettle, and set out again for \u00c6gir's Hall.\n\nAfter journeying a little way he chanced to look round, and then he\nsaw that a host of many-headed giants, with Hymir for their leader,\nwere thronging after him. From every cavern, and iceberg, and jagged\npeak some hideous monster grinned and leered as a great wild beast\nwaiting for his prey.\n\n\"Treachery!\" cried Thor, as he raised Mi\u00f6lnir above his head, and\nhurled it three times among the giants.\n\nIn an instant they stood stiff, and cold, and dead, in rugged groups\nalong the shore; one with his arm raised; another with his head\nstretched out; some upright, some crouching; each in the position he\nhad last assumed. And there still they stand, petrified by ages into\ngiant rocks; and, still pointing their stony fingers at each other,\nthey tell the mighty tale of Thor's achievements, and the wondrous\nstory of their fate.\n\n\"Pass round the foaming mead,\" cried King \u00c6gir, as Thor placed\n\"Mile-deep\" on the table; and this time it happened that there was\nenough for every one.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThor, as his name implies, was the thunder god; his realm was called\nThrudvang, which is said to mean the \"Region of Fortitude.\" Of his\nhall, Bilskirnir (storm-serene), Odin says, \"Five hundred floors, and\nforty eke, has Bilskirnir with its windings. Of all the roofed\nhouses that I know is my son's the greatest.\" His hammer, Mi\u00f6lnir,\n\"To pound, or grind,\"--Megingjardir, his belt of prowess--his goats,\nwhose names signify \"To crack, grind, gnash\" and \"race at\nintervals\"--his attendant Thialfi, the swift falling thunder shower,\nall help to picture him in this character; but he ought to be\nunderstood, also, in the larger sense of a god of cultivation and the\norder of nature, in opposition to the whole tribe of the Hrimthursar,\nfrost-giants, mountain-giants, fog-enchantments, and the like sterile\nportions and retarding forces of the physical world. The principle of\ncombat in the physical world, Thor appears also as the chief hero-god\nand warrior; his victories are moral as well as physical--his life\nwas unceasing warfare.\n\nIn the _Edda_ account of Thor going to Utgard, the giant-king whom he\nfinds there is called Utgard-_Loki_; and it is to be observed that\nLoki, who, we saw, had his own root in fire, is in Utgard opposed to\nLogi who is also fire, so that in this myth Loki stands in opposition\nto two beings nearly akin to himself. This may be explained as\nfollows. Utgard, outer-world, or under-world, means outside of both\nthe human and godly regions, and reminds us of the chaotic,\nelementary powers. Utgard-Loki, or out-worldly-Loki, represents\noutside of human world in its evil aspect--the destructive apart from\nthe formative principle. Connected with him appears elementary fire\n(Logi), and Loki is opposed to the latter because at the time this\nmyth was conceived he had come to mean evil _in_ the world rather\nthan that elementary double-natured fire out of which the idea of his\nevil had originally crept. This view of Utgard, viz., its connection\nwith the chaotic powers, explains the apparent defeats of Thor during\nhis visit there, for Thor is a deity of the formed universe, he can\nsubdue _that_ to his will, not the first double-natured elements out\nof which it was built up.\n\nHow naturally would the dark frozen land and misty mountain shapes of\nthe north, suggest to the ancient song singers these ideas concerning\noutworldly and inworldly giants and wild unfathomable powers and\nenchanted combatants.\n\nIt must be confessed that Asa Thor does not always appear in the\nfavourable light in which the tales given here represent him. There\nare one or two very uncomfortable stories about him, bringing out\nthose dark traits of craft and cruelty which, as we saw before, so\noften stained the bright shields of northern warriors. In particular,\nthere is a story of his losing his hammer and going to J\u00f6tunheim to\nrecover it, disguised as Freyja. When his craft had succeeded, and he\nfelt the hammer in his grasp again, \"Loud laughed,\" says the lay,\n\"the fierce hearted one's soul in his breast.\" After which he slew,\nfirst the giant who had robbed him, then _all_ the giant's race.\nPerhaps, even so far as that we could have forgiven him, but--the\ngiant, it is said, had \"a luckless sister, an aged sister,\" and the\nhero-god must need slay her too. \"Blows she got, a hammer's stroke,\"\nand \"so,\" ends the lay, \"did Odin's son get his hammer back,\"\napparently well satisfied with the whole performance. But are the\nWarrior-god's descendants so very different from himself--the giant's\nsister, the aged, luckless sister, who does not seem as if she could\ndo anybody much harm, is she not apt even now to fall beneath the\nvengeful hammers of our modern Thors, remorselessly stricken down\nafter the real battle has been fought and won?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrom the fierce thunder deity we turn to Njord's bright children,\nFrey and Freyja, \"Beauteous and mighty.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFREY.\n\n\nPART I. ON TIPTOE IN AIR THRONE.\n\nI told you, some time ago, how Van Frey went away into Alfheim with\nthe light elves, of whom Odin made him king and schoolmaster.\n\nYou have heard what Frey was like, and the kind of lessons he\npromised to teach his pupils, so you can imagine what pleasant times\nthey had of it in Alfheim.\n\nWherever Frey came there was summer and sunshine. Flowers sprang up\nunder his footsteps, and bright-winged insects, like flying flowers,\nhovered round his head. His warm breath ripened the fruit on the\ntrees, and gave a bright yellow colour to the corn, and purple bloom\nto the grapes, as he passed through fields and vineyards.\n\nWhen he rode along in his car, drawn by the stately boar, Golden\nBristles, soft winds blew before him, filling the air with fragrance,\nand spreading abroad the news, \"Van Frey is coming!\" and every\nhalf-closed flower burst into perfect beauty, and forest, and field,\nand hill, flushed their richest colours to greet his presence.\n\nUnder Frey's care and instruction the pretty little light elves\nforgot their idle ways, and learned all the pleasant tasks he had\npromised to teach them. It was the prettiest possible sight to see\nthem in the evening filling their tiny buckets, and running about\namong the woods and meadows to hang the dew-drops deftly on the\nslender tips of the grass-blades, or to drop them into the\nhalf-closed cups of the sleepy flowers. When this last of their day's\ntasks was over they used to cluster round their summer-king, like\nbees about the queen, while he told them stories about the wars\nbetween the \u00c6sir and the giants, or of the old time when he lived\nalone with his father Ni\u00f6rd, in Noatun, and listened to the waves\nsinging songs of far distant lands. So pleasantly did they spend\ntheir time in Alfheim.\n\nBut in the midst of all this work and play Frey had a wish in his\nmind, of which he could not help often talking to his clear-minded\nmessenger and friend Skirnir. \"I have seen many things,\" he used to\nsay, \"and travelled through many lands; but to see all the world at\nonce, as Asa Odin does from Air Throne, _that_ must be a splendid\nsight.\"\n\n\"Only Father Odin may sit on Air Throne,\" Skirnir would say; and it\nseemed to Frey that this answer was not so much to the purpose as his\nfriend's sayings generally were.\n\nAt length, one very clear summer evening, when Odin was feasting with\nthe other \u00c6sir in Valhalla, Frey could restrain his curiosity no\nlonger. He left Alfheim, where all the little elves were fast asleep,\nand, without asking any one's advice, climbed into Air Throne, and\nstood on tiptoe in Odin's very seat. It was a clear evening, and I\nhad, perhaps, better not even try to tell you what Frey saw.\n\nHe looked first all round him over Manheim, where the rosy light of\nthe set sun still lingered, and where men, and birds, and flowers\nwere gathering themselves up for their night's repose; then he\nglanced towards the heavenly hills where Bifr\u00f6st rested, and then\ntowards the shadowy land which deepened down into Niflheim. At length\nhe turned his eyes northward to the misty land of J\u00f6tunheim. There\nthe shades of evening had already fallen; but from his high place\nFrey could still see distinct shapes moving about through the gloom.\nStrange and monstrous shapes they were, and Frey stood a little\nhigher, on tiptoe, that he might look further after them. In this\nposition he could just descry a tall house standing on a hill in the\nvery middle of J\u00f6tunheim. While he looked at it a maiden came and\nlifted up her arms to undo the latch of the door. It was dusk in\nJ\u00f6tunheim; but when this maiden lifted up her white arms, such a\ndazzling reflection came from them, that J\u00f6tunheim, and the sky, and\nall the sea were flooded with clear light. For a moment everything\ncould be distinctly seen; but Frey saw nothing but the face of the\nmaiden with the uplifted arms; and when she had entered the house and\nshut the door after her, and darkness fell again on earth, and sky,\nand sea,--darkness fell, too, upon Frey's heart.\n\n\nPART II. THE GIFT.\n\nThe next morning, when the little elves awoke up with the dawn, and\ncame thronging round their king to receive his commands, they were\nsurprised to see that he had changed since they last saw him.\n\n\"He has grown up in the night,\" they whispered one to another\nsorrowfully.\n\nAnd in truth he was no longer so fit a teacher and playfellow for the\nmerry little people as he had been a few hours before.\n\nIt was to no purpose that the sweet winds blew, and the flowers\nopened, when Frey came forth from his chamber. A bright white light\nstill danced before him, and nothing now seemed to him worth looking\nat. That evening when the sun had set, and work was over, there were\nno stories for the light elves.\n\n\"Be still,\" Frey said, when they pressed round, \"If you will be still\nand listen, there are stories enough to be heard better than mine.\"\n\nI do not know whether the elves heard anything; but to Frey it seemed\nthat flowers, and birds, and winds, and the whispering rivers, united\nthat day in singing one song, which he never wearied of hearing.\n\n\"We are fair,\" they said; \"but there is nothing in the whole world so\nfair as Gerda, the giant-maiden whom you saw last night in\nJ\u00f6tunheim.\"\n\n\"Frey has dew-drops in his eyes,\" the little elves said to each other\nin whispers as they sat round looking up at him, and they felt very\nmuch surprised; for only to men and the \u00c6sir is it permitted to be\nsorrowful and weep.\n\nSoon, however, wiser people noticed the change that had come over the\nsummer king, and his good-natured father, Ni\u00f6rd, sent Skirnir one\nday into Alfheim to inquire into the cause of Frey's sorrow.\n\nHe found him walking alone in a shady place, and Frey was glad enough\nto tell his trouble to his wise friend.\n\nWhen he had related the whole story, he said,--\n\n\"And now you will see that there is no use in asking me to be merry\nas I used to be; for how can I ever be happy in Alfheim, and enjoy\nthe summer and sunshine, while my dear Gerd, whom I love, is living\nin a dark, cold land, among cruel giants?\"\n\n\"If she be really as beautiful and beloved as you say,\" answered\nSkirnir, \"she must be sadly out of place in J\u00f6tunheim. Why do not you\nask her to be your wife, and live with you in Alfheim?\"\n\n\"That would I only too gladly do,\" answered Frey; \"but if I were to\nleave Alfheim only for a few hours, the cruel giant, Ryme,[4] would\nrush in to take my place; all the labours of the year would be undone\nin a night, and the poor, toiling men, who are watching for the\nharvest, would wake some morning to find their corn-fields and\norchards buried in snow.\"\n\n [4] Ryme--the Frost Giant.\n\n\"Well,\" said Skirnir, thoughtfully, \"I am neither so strong nor so\nbeautiful as you, Frey; but, if you will give me the sword that hangs\nby your side, I will undertake the journey to J\u00f6tunheim; and I will\nspeak in such a way of you, and of Alfheim, to the lovely Gerd, that\nshe will gladly leave her land and the house of her giant-father to\ncome to you.\"\n\nNow, Frey's sword was a gift, and he knew well enough that he ought\nnot to part with it, or trust it in any hands but his own; and yet\nhow could he expect Skirnir to risk all the dangers of J\u00f6tunheim for\nany less recompense than an enchanted sword? and what other hope had\nhe of ever seeing his dear Gerda again?\n\nHe did not allow himself a moment to think of the choice he was\nmaking. He unbuckled his sword from his side and put it into\nSkirnir's hands; and then he turned rather pettishly away, and threw\nhimself down on a mossy bank under a tree.\n\n\"You will be many days in travelling to J\u00f6tunheim,\" he said, \"and\nall that time I shall be miserable.\"\n\nSkirnir was too sensible to think this speech worth answering. He\ntook a hasty farewell of Frey, and prepared to set off on his\njourney; but, before he left the hill, he chanced to see the\nreflection of Frey's face in a little pool of water that lay near. In\nspite of its sorrowful expression, it was as beautiful as the woods\nare in full summer, and a clever thought came into Skirnir's mind. He\nstooped down, without Frey's seeing him, and, with cunning touch,\nstole the picture out of the water; then he fastened it up carefully\nin his silver drinking-horn, and, hiding it in his mantle, he mounted\nhis horse and rode towards J\u00f6tunheim, secure of succeeding in his\nmission, since he carried a matchless sword to conquer the giant, and\na matchless picture to win the maiden.\n\n\nPART III. FAIREST GERD.\n\nI told you that the house of Gymir, Gerda's father, stood in the\nmiddle of J\u00f6tunheim, so it will not be difficult for you to imagine\nwhat a toilsome and wondrous journey Skirnir had. He was a brave\nhero, and he rode a brave horse; but, when they came to the barrier\nof murky flame that surrounds J\u00f6tunheim, a shudder came over both.\n\n\"Dark it is without,\" said Skirnir to his horse, \"and you and I must\nleap through flame, and go over hoar mountains among Giant Folk. The\ngiants will take us both, or we shall return victorious together.\"\n\nThen he patted his horse's neck, and touched him with his armed heel,\nand with one bound he cleared the barrier, and his hoofs rang on the\nfrozen land.\n\nTheir first day's journey was through the land of the Frost Giants,\nwhose prickly touch kills, and whose breath is sharper than swords.\nThen they passed through the dwellings of the horse-headed and\nvulture-headed giants,--monsters terrible to see. Skirnir hid his\nface, and the horse flew along swifter than the wind.\n\nOn the evening of the third day they reached Gymir's house. Skirnir\nrode round it nine times; but though there were twenty doors, he\ncould find no entrance; for fierce three-headed dogs guarded every\ndoor-way.\n\nAt length he saw a herdsman pass near, and he rode up and asked him\nhow it was possible for a stranger to enter Gymir's house, or get a\nsight of his fair daughter Gerd.\n\n\"Are you doomed to death, or are you already a dead man,\" answered\nthe herdsman, \"that you talk of seeing Gymir's fair daughter, or\nentering a house from which no one ever returns?\"\n\n\"My death is fixed for one day,\" said Skirnir, in answer, and his\nvoice, the voice of an Asa, sounded loud and clear through the misty\nair of J\u00f6tunheim. It reached the ears of the fair Gerd as she sat in\nher chamber with her maidens.\n\n\"What is that noise of noises,\" she said, \"that I hear? The earth\nshakes with it, and all Gymir's halls tremble.\"\n\nThen one of the maidens got up, and peeped out of the window.\n\n\"I see a man,\" she said; \"he has dismounted from his horse, and he is\nfearlessly letting it graze before the door.\"\n\n\"Go out and bring him in stealthily, then,\" said Gerda; \"I must again\nhear him speak; for his voice is sweeter than the ringing of bells.\"\n\nSo the maiden rose, and opened the house-door softly, lest the grim\ngiant, Gymir, who was drinking mead in the banquet-hall with seven\nother giants, should hear and come forth.\n\nSkirnir heard the door open, and understanding the maiden's sign, he\nentered with stealthy steps, and followed her to Gerda's chamber. As\nsoon as he entered the doorway the light from her face shone upon\nhim, and he no longer wondered that Frey had given up his sword.\n\n\"Are you the son of an Asa, or an Alf, or of a wise Van?\" asked\nGerda; \"and why have you come through flame and snow to visit our\nhalls?\"\n\nThen Skirnir came forward and knelt at Gerda's feet, and gave his\nmessage, and spoke as he had promised to speak of Van Frey and of\nAlfheim.\n\nGerda listened; and it was pleasant enough to talk to her, looking\ninto her bright face; but she did not seem to understand much of what\nhe said.\n\nHe promised to give her eleven golden apples from Id\u016bna's grove if\nshe would go with him, and that she should have the magic ring\nDraupnir from which every day a still fairer jewel fell. But he found\nthere was no use in talking of beautiful things to one who had never\nin all her life seen anything beautiful.\n\nGerda smiled at him as a child smiles at a fairy tale.\n\nAt length he grew angry. \"If you are so childish, maiden,\" he said,\n\"that you can believe only what you have seen, and have no thought of\n\u00c6sirland or the \u00c6sir, then sorrow and utter darkness shall fall upon\nyou; you shall live alone on the Eagle Mount turned towards Hel.\nTerrors shall beset you; weeping shall be your lot. Men and \u00c6sir will\nhate you, and you shall be doomed to live for ever with the Frost\nGiant, Ryme, in whose cold arms you will wither away like a thistle\non a house-top.\"\n\n\"Gently,\" said Gerd, turning away her bright head, and sighing. \"How\nam I to blame? you make such a talk of your \u00c6sir and your \u00c6sir; but\nhow can I know about it, when all my life long I have lived with\ngiants?\"\n\nAt these words, Skirnir rose as if he would have departed, but Gerda\ncalled him back.\n\n\"You must drink a cup of mead,\" she said, \"in return for your\nsweet-sounding words.\"\n\nSkirnir heard this gladly, for now he knew what he would do. He\ntook the cup from her hand, drank off the mead, and, before he\nreturned it, he contrived cleverly to pour in the water from his\ndrinking-horn, on which Frey's image was painted; then he put the\ncup into Gerda's hand, and bade her look.\n\nShe smiled as she looked; and the longer she looked, the sweeter grew\nher smile; for she looked for the first time on a face that loved\nher, and many things became clear to her that she had never\nunderstood before. Skirnir's words were no longer like fairy tales.\nShe could now believe in \u00c6sirland, and in all beautiful things.\n\n\"Go back to your master,\" she said, at last, \"and tell him that in\nnine days I will meet him in the warm wood Barri.\"\n\nAfter hearing these joyful words, Skirnir made haste to take leave,\nfor every moment that he lingered in the giant's house he was in\ndanger. One of Gerda's maidens conducted him to the door, and he\nmounted his horse again, and rode from J\u00f6tunheim with a glad heart.\n\n\nPART IV. THE WOOD BARRI.\n\nWhen Skirnir got back to Alfheim, and told Gerd's answer to Frey, he\nwas disappointed to find that his master did not immediately look as\nbright and happy as he expected.\n\n\"Nine days!\" he said; \"but how can I wait nine days? One day is long,\nand three days are very long, but 'nine days' might as well be a\nwhole year.\"\n\nI have heard children say such things when one tells them to wait for\na new toy.\n\nSkirnir and old Ni\u00f6rd only laughed at it; but Freyja and all the\nladies of Asgard made a journey to Alfheim, when they heard the\nstory, to comfort Frey, and hear all the news about the wedding.\n\n\"Dear Frey,\" they said, \"it will never do to lie still here, sighing\nunder a tree. You are quite mistaken about the time being long; it is\nhardly long enough to prepare the marriage presents, and talk over\nthe wedding. You have no idea how busy we are going to be; everything\nin Alfheim will have to be altered a little.\"\n\nAt these words Frey really did lift up his head, and wake up from his\nmusings. He looked, in truth, a little frightened at the thought;\nbut, when all the Asgard ladies were ready to work for his wedding,\nhow could he make any objection? He was not allowed to have much\nshare in the business himself; but he had little time, during the\nnine days, to indulge in private thought, for never before was there\nsuch a commotion in Alfheim. The ladies found so many things that\nwanted overlooking, and the little light elves were not of the\nslightest use to any one. They forgot all their usual tasks, and went\nrunning about through groves and fields, and by the sedgy banks of\nrivers, peering into earth-holes, and creeping down into flower-cups\nand empty snail-shells, every one hoping to find a gift for Gerda.\n\nSome stole the light from glow-worms' tails, and wove it into a\nnecklace, and others pulled the ruby spots from cowslip leaves, to\nset with jewels the acorn cups that Gerda was to drink from; while\nthe swiftest runners chased the butterflies, and pulled feathers from\ntheir wings to make fans and bonnet-plumes.\n\nAll the work was scarcely finished when the ninth day came, and Frey\nset out from Alfheim with all his elves, to the warm wood Barri.\n\nThe \u00c6sir joined him on the way, and they made, together, something\nlike a wedding procession. First came Frey in his chariot, drawn by\nGolden Bristles, and carrying in his hand the wedding-ring, which was\nnone other than Draupnir, the magic ring of which so many stories are\ntold.\n\nOdin and Frigga followed with their wedding gift, the Ship\nSkidbladnir, in which all the \u00c6sir could sit and sail, though it\ncould afterwards be folded up so small, that you might carry it in\nyour hand.\n\nThen came Id\u016bna, with eleven golden apples in a basket on her fair\nhead, and then two and two all the heroes and ladies with their\ngifts.\n\nAll round them flocked the elves, toiling under the weight of their\nofferings. It took twenty little people to carry one gift, and yet\nthere was not one so large as a baby's finger. Laughing, and singing,\nand dancing, they entered the warm wood, and every summer flower sent\na sweet breath after them. Everything on earth smiled on the\nwedding-day of Frey and Gerda, only--when it was all over, and every\none had gone home, and the moon shone cold into the wood--it seemed\nas if the Vanir spoke to one another.\n\n\"Odin,\" said one voice, \"gave his eye for wisdom, and we have seen\nthat it was well done.\"\n\n\"Frey,\" answered the other, \"has given his sword for happiness. It\nmay be well to be unarmed while the sun shines and bright days last;\nbut when Ragnar\u00f6k has come, and the sons of Muspell ride down to the\nlast fight, will not Frey regret his sword?\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrey appears as the summer god, and the Boar was sacred to him\nbecause, from its tearing up the earth with its tusks, it typified\nagriculture and return of the seed-sowing time. Gerda is supposed to\nrepresent the frozen earth, which Summer seeing from far off loves\nand woos to his embrace. The lighting of the sky by the uplifted\ngiant maiden's arms is explained to mean the Northern Lights glancing\nfrom one end of heaven to the other. Frey parts with his sword in\norder to win Gerda--this is alluded to in both _Eddas_ as if it were\nwrong or at any rate highly imprudent. \"When the sons of Muspell come\nat Ragnar\u00f6k,\" it is said, and Frey shall have to meet Surtur in\nbattle, \"then will thou, unhappy, not have wherewith to fight.\" The\nship Skidbladnir was said to have been made by four dwarfs in the\nbeginning of time; it is alluded to in a poem quoted before. Draupnir\nis not mentioned in the _Edda_ in connection with Frey and Gerda.\n\nThe Northmen had three grand religious festivals in their year: they\nall took place in the winter half of the year, between the harvest\nand seed time. One was celebrated in midwinter about the turn of the\nday, and from so very nearly coinciding with our Christmas, its name,\n\"Yule,\" came to be applied to the Christian festival. Yule is derived\nfrom a name of Odin, but it is said by Laing that this winter feast\nwas held in honour of Thor. In Fouqu\u00e9's writings a custom is named\nwhich the Scandinavians had of making vows to accomplish some great\nenterprise before another new year, over a golden boar's head at this\nwinter feast; the mention of the golden boar seems to connect the\nfestival with the god Frey, probably it was a general propitiation of\nthe summer deities for the coming year; the second festival was in\nhonour of the goddesses; the third, about spring, in honour of Odin,\nbecause at this season warlike expeditions began to be undertaken.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE WANDERINGS OF FREYJA.\n\n\nPART I. THE NECKLACE BRISINGAMEN.\n\nNow, though Frey was made king and schoolmaster of the light elves,\nand spent the greater part of his time with them in Alfheim, his\nsister Freyja remained in the city of Asgard, and had a palace built\nfor her named Folkvang. In this palace there was one very beautiful\nhall, Sessrymnir--the \"Roomy Seated\"--where Freyja entertained her\nguests, and she had always plenty of them; for every one liked to\nlook at her beautiful face, and listen to her enchanting music which\nwas quite superior to anybody else's. She had, moreover, a wonderful\nhusband named Odur, who was one of the sons of the immortals, and had\ncome from a long way off on purpose to marry her. Freyja was a little\nproud of this, and used often to speak of it to Frigga and the other\nladies of Asgard. Some of them said she was a very fortunate person;\nbut some were a little jealous of her, whilst Frigga always gravely\nwarned her not to be vain on account of her happiness, lest sorrow\nshould overtake her unawares.\n\nEverything went on quite smoothly, however, for a long time, Freyja\nleading a very gay and beautiful life in the sunshine of her\nhappiness, and herself a very radiant joy to every one around her.\nBut one day, one unlucky day, Freyja, this fair and sunshiny young\nVana, went out alone from Asgard to take a walk in Alfheim. She hoped\nto meet somewhere thereabouts her dear brother Frey, whom she had not\nseen for a long time, and of whom she wanted to ask a very particular\nfavour. The occasion for it was this;--Heimdall and \u00c6gir were\nexpected to dine at Valhalla the next day, and Freyja and her husband\nwere invited to meet them. All the lords and ladies of Asgard were to\nbe there. Ni\u00f6rd, too, was coming, with his new wife, Skadi, the\ndaughter of a giant.\n\n\"Every one will be beautifully dressed,\" said Freyja, \"and _I_ have\nnot a single ornament to wear.\"\n\n\"But you are more beautiful than any one, Freyja,\" said her husband;\n\"for you were born in the spacious Wind-Home.\"\n\n\"All are not so high-minded as you, Odur,\" answered his wife; \"and if\nI go to Valhalla without an ornament of any kind I shall certainly be\nlooked down upon.\"\n\nSo saying, Freyja set off, as I told you, to Alfheim, determined to\nask of her good-natured brother a garland of flowers at, least. But\nsomehow or other she could not find Frey anywhere. She tried to keep\nin Alfheim--she thought she was there; but all the time she was\nthinking of her dress and her ornaments, planning what she should\nwear, and her steps went downward, downward, away from Alfheim to the\ncavern of four dwarfs.\n\n\"Where am I?\" said Freyja to herself, as she at last lost the light\nof day, and went down, wandering on deeper and deeper between the\nhigh walls, and under the firm roof of rock. \"Why, surely this must\nbe Svartheim; and yet it is not unpleasant, nor quite dark here,\nthough the sun is not shining.\"\n\nAnd in truth it was not dark; for, far on before her, winding in and\nout through the cavern's innermost recesses, were groups of little\nmen, who had each a lantern in his cap and a pickaxe in his hand; and\nthey were working hard, digging for diamonds, which they piled up the\nwalls, and hung across the roof in white and rose-coloured coronets,\nmarvellously glittering.\n\nFour clever little dwarf-chiefs were there directing the labours of\nthe rest; but, as soon as they caught sight of Freyja, they sat down\nin the centre of the cavern, and began to work diligently at\nsomething which they held between them, bending over it with\nstrange chattering and grimaces. Freyja felt very curious to see what\nit was; but her eyes were so dazzled with the blaze of diamonds and\nlanterns, that she was obliged to go nearer in order to distinguish\nit clearly. Accordingly, she walked on to where the four dwarfs were\nsitting, and peeped over their shoulders. Oh! brilliant! exquisitely\nworked! bewildering!\n\n[Illustration: FREYJA IN THE DWARFS' CAVE.]\n\nFreyja drew back again with almost blinded eyes; for she had looked\nupon the necklace Brisingamen, and at the same moment a passionate\nwish burst forth in her heart to have it for her own, to wear it in\nValhalla, to wear it always round her own fair neck. \"Life to me,\"\nsaid Freyja, \"is no longer worth having without Brisingamen.\" Then\nthe dwarfs held it out to her, but also looked cunningly at one\nanother as they did so, and burst into a laugh so loud that it rang\nthrough the vaulted caverns, echoed and echoed back again from side\nto side, from dwarf to dwarf, from depth to depth.\n\nFreyja, however, only turned her head a little on one side, stretched\nout her hand, grasped the necklace with her small fingers, and then\nran out of the cavern as quickly as ever she could, up again to the\ngreen hill-side. There she sat down and fitted the brilliant ornament\nabout her neck, after which she looked a little shyly at the\nreflection of herself in a still pool that was near, and turned\nhomewards with an exulting heart. She felt certain that all was well\nwith her; nevertheless, all was not well, but very miserable indeed.\nWhen Freyja was come back to Asgard again, and to her palace of\nFolkvang, she sought her own private apartments, that she might see\nOdur alone, and make him admire her necklace Brisingamen. But Odur\nwas not there. She searched in every room, hither and thither; but\nalas! he was not to be found in any room or any hall in all the\npalace of Folkvang. Freyja searched for him in every place; she\nwalked restlessly about, in and out, among the places of the \"Roomy\nSeated.\" She peered wistfully, with sad eyes, in the face of every\nguest; but the only face she cared to see, she never saw.\n\nOdur was gone, gone back for ever to the home of the Immortals.\nBrisingamen and Odur could not live together in the palace of\nFolkvang. But Freyja did not know this; she did not know why Odur was\ngone, nor where he was gone; she only saw he was not there, and she\nwrung her hands sadly, and watered her jewels with salt, warm tears.\n\nAs she sat thus and mourned in the entrance of her palace, all the\nladies of Asgard passed by on their way to Valhalla, and looked at\nher. Some said one thing, some another; but no one said anything at\nall encouraging, or much to the purpose. Frigga passed by last of\nall, and she raised her head with a little severe shake, saying\nsomething about beauty, and pride, and punishment, which sank down so\ndeeply into the heart of the sorrow-stricken young Vana that she got\nup with a desperate resolution, and, presenting herself before the\nthrone of Asa Odin, spoke to him thus: \"Father of \u00c6sir, listen to my\nweeping, and do not turn away from me with a cruel frown. I have\nsearched through my palace of Folkvang, and all through the city of\nAsgard, but nowhere is Odur the Immortal to be found. Let me go,\nFather Odin, I beseech you, and seek him far and near, across the\nearth, through the air, over the sea, even to the borders of\nJ\u00f6tunheim.\"\n\nAnd Odin answered, \"Go, Freyja, and good fortune go with you.\"\n\nThen Freyja sprang into her swift, softly-rolling chariot, which was\ndrawn by two cats, waved her hand as she rose over the city, and was\ngone.\n\n\nPART II. LOKI--THE IRON WOOD--A BOUNDLESS WASTE.\n\nThe cats champed their bright bits, and skimmed alike over earth and\nair with swift, clinging steps, eager and noiseless. The chariot\nrolled on, and Freyja was carried away up and down into every part of\nthe world, weeping golden tears wherever she went; they fell down\nfrom her pale cheeks, and rippled away behind her in little sunshiny\nrivers, that carried beauty and weeping to every land. She came to\nthe greatest city in the world, and drove down its wide streets.\n\n\"But none of the houses here are good enough for Odur,\" said Freyja\nto herself; \"I will not ask for him at such doors as these.\"\n\nSo she went straight on to the palace of the king.\n\n\"Is Odur in this palace?\" she asked of the gate-keeper. \"Is Odur, the\nImmortal, living with the king?\"\n\nBut the gate-keeper shook his head, and assured her that his master\nhad never even heard of such a person.\n\nThen Freyja turned away, and knocked at many other stately doors,\nasking for Odur; but no one in all that great city so much as knew\nher husband's name.\n\nThen Freyja went into the long, narrow lanes and shabby streets,\nwhere the poor people lived, but there it was all the same; every one\nsaid only, \"No--not here,\" and stared at her.\n\nIn the night-time Freyja went quite away from the city, and the\nlanes, and the cottages, far off to the side of a lake, where she lay\ndown and looked over into the water.\n\nBy-and-bye the moon came and looked there too, and the Queen of Night\nsaw a calm face in the water, serene and high; but the Queen of\nBeauty saw a troubled face, frail and fair.\n\nBrisingamen was reflected in the water too, and its rare colours\nflashed from the little waves. Freyja was pleased at the sight of her\nfavourite ornament, and smiled even in the midst of her tears; but as\nfor the moon, instead of Brisingamen, the deep sky and the stars were\naround her.\n\nAt last Freyja slept by the side of the lake, and then a dark shape\ncrept up the bank on which she was lying, sat down beside her, and\ntook her fair head between its hands. It was Loki, and he began to\nwhisper into Freyja's ear as she slept.\n\n\"You were quite right, Freyja,\" he said, \"to go out and try to get\nsomething for yourself in Svartheim, instead of staying at home with\nyour husband. It was very wise of you to care more for your dress and\nyour beauty than for Odur. You went down into Svartheim, and found\nBrisingamen. Then the Immortal went away; but is not Brisingamen\nbetter then he? Why do you cry, Freyja? Why do you start so?\"\n\nFreyja turned, moaning, and tried to lift her head from between his\nhands; but she could not, and it seemed in her dream as if a terrible\nnightmare brooded over her.\n\n\"Brisingamen is dragging me down,\" she cried in her sleep, and laid\nher little hand upon the clasp without knowing what she was doing.\n\nThen a great laugh burst forth in Svartheim, and came shuddering up\nthrough the vaulted caverns until it shook the ground upon which she\nlay. Loki started up, and was gone before Freyja had time to open her\neyes.\n\nIt was morning, and the young Vana prepared to set out on her\njourney.\n\n\"Brisingamen is fair,\" she said, as she bade farewell to her image in\nthe lake. \"Brisingamen is fair; but I find it heavy sometimes.\"\n\nAfter this, Freyja went to many cities, and towns, and villages,\nasking everywhere for Odur; but there was not one in all the world\nwho could tell her where he was gone, and at last her chariot rolled\neastward and northward to the very borders of J\u00f6tunheim. There Freyja\nstopped; for before her lay Jarnvid, the Iron Wood, which was one\nroad from earth to the abode of the giants, and whose tall trees,\nblack and hard, were trying to pull down the sky with their iron\nclaws. In the entrance sat an Iron Witch, with her back to the forest\nand her face towards the Vana. Jarnvid was full of the sons and\ndaughters of this Iron Witch; they were wolves, and bears, and foxes,\nand many-headed ravenous birds.\n\n\"Eastward,\" croaked a raven as Freyja drew near--\n\n    \"Eastward in the Iron Wood\n    The old one sitteth;\"\n\nand there she did sit, talking in quarrelsome tones to her wolf-sons\nand vulture-daughters, who answered from the wood behind her,\nhowling, screeching, and screaming all at the same time. There was a\nhorrible din, and Freyja began to fear that her low voice would never\nbe heard. She was obliged to get out of her chariot, and walk close\nup to the old witch, so that she might whisper in her ear.\n\n\"Can you tell me, old mother,\" she said, \"where Odur is? Have you\nseen him pass this way?\"\n\n\"I don't understand one word of what you are saying,\" answered the\niron woman; \"and if I did, I have no time to waste in answering\nfoolish questions.\"\n\nNow, the witch's words struck like daggers into Freyja's heart, and\nshe was not strong enough to pull them out again; so she stood there\na long time, not knowing what she should do.\n\n\"You had better go,\" said the crone to her at last; \"there's no use\nin standing there crying.\" For this was the grandmother of\nstrong-minded women, and she hated tears.\n\nThen Freyja got into her chariot again, and went westward a long way\nto the wide, boundless land where impenetrable forests were growing,\nand undying nature reigned in silence. She knew that the silent Vidar\nwas living there; for, not finding any pleasure in the gay society of\nAsgard, he had obtained permission from Father Odin to retire to this\nplace. \"He is one of the \u00c6sir, and perhaps _he_ will be able to help\nme,\" said the sad-hearted young Vana, as her chariot rolled on\nthrough empty moor-lands and forests, always in twilight Her ear\nheard no sound, her eye saw no living shape; but still she went on\nwith a trembling hope till she came to the spot\n\n    \"Begrown with branches\n    And high grass,\n    Which was Vidar's dwelling.\"\n\nVidar was sitting there firm as an oak, and as silent as night. Long\ngrass grew up through his long hair, and the branches of trees\ncrossed each other over his eyes; his ears were covered with moss,\nand dewdrops glistened upon his beard.\n\n\"It is almost impossible to get to him,\" sighed Freyja, \"through all\nthese wet leaves, and I am afraid his moss-covered ears are very\ndeaf.\" But she threw herself down on the ground before him, and said,\n\"Tell me, Vidar, does Odur hide among thick trees? or is he wandering\nover the broad west lands?\"\n\nVidar did not answer her--only a pale gleam shot over his face, as if\nreflected from that of Freyja, like sunshine breaking through a wood.\n\n\"He does not hear me,\" said Freyja to herself, and she crushed\nnearer to him through the branches. \"Only tell me, Vidar,\" she said,\n\"is Odur here?\" But Vidar said nothing, for he had no voice.\n\nThen Freyja hid her face in her lap, and wept bitterly for a long\ntime. \"An Asa,\" she said, at last, looking up, \"is no better to one\nthan an Iron Witch when one is really in trouble;\" and then she\ngathered her disordered dress about her, threw back her long bright\nhair, and, springing into her chariot, once again went wearily on her\nway.\n\n\nPART III. THE KING OF THE SEA AND HIS DAUGHTERS.\n\nAt last she came to the wide sea-coast, and there everything was\ngloriously beautiful. It was evening, and the western sky looked like\na broad crimson flower. No wind stirred the ocean, but the small\nwaves rippled in rose-coloured froth on the shore, like the smiles of\na giant at play.\n\n\u00c6gir, the old sea-king, supported himself on the sand, whilst the\ncool waters were laving his breast, and his ears drank their sweet\nmurmur; for nine waves were his beautiful daughters, and they and\ntheir father were talking together. Now, though \u00c6gir looked so stormy\nand old, he was really as gentle as a child, and no mischief would\never have happened in his kingdom if he had been left to himself. But\nhe had a cruel wife, called Ran, who was the daughter of a giant, and\nso eagerly fond of fishing that, whenever any of the rough winds came\nto call upon her husband, she used to steal out of the deep sea-caves\nwhere she lived, and follow ships for miles under the water, dragging\nher net after her, so that she might catch any one who fell\noverboard.\n\nFreyja wandered along the shore towards the place where the Sea King\nwas lying, and as she went she heard him speaking to his daughters.\n\n\"What is the history of Freyja?\" he asked.\n\nAnd the first wave answered,--\n\n\"Freyja is a fair young Vana, who once was happy in Asgard.\"\n\nThen the second wave said,--\n\n\"But she left her fair palace there, and Odur, her Immortal Love.\"\n\nThird wave,--\n\n\"She went down to the cavern of dwarfs.\"\n\nFourth wave,--\n\n\"She found Brisingamen there, and carried it away with her.\"\n\nFifth wave,--\n\n\"But when she got back to Folkvang she found that Odur was gone.\"\n\nSixth wave,--\n\n\"Because the Vana had loved herself more than Immortal Love.\"\n\nSeventh wave,--\n\n\"Freyja will never be happy again, for Odur will never come back.\"\n\nEighth wave,--\n\n\"Odur will never come back as long as the world shall last.\"\n\nNinth wave,--\n\n\"Odur will never return, nor Freyja forget to weep.\"\n\nFreyja stood still, spell-bound, listening, and when she heard the\nlast words, that Odur would never come back, she wrung her hands, and\ncried,--\n\n\"O, Father \u00c6gir! trouble comes, comes surging up from a wide sea,\nwave over wave, into my soul.\" And in truth it seemed as if her\nwords had power to change the whole surface of the ocean--wave over\nwave rose higher and spoke louder--Ran was seen dragging her net in\nthe distance--old \u00c6gir shouted, and dashed into the deep--sea and sky\nmixed in confusion, and night fell upon the storm. Then Freyja sank\ndown exhausted on the sand, where she lay until her kind daughter,\nthe sleepy little Siofna, came and carried her home again in her\narms. After this the beautiful Vana lived in her palace of Folkvang,\nwith friends and sisters, \u00c6sir and Asyniur, but Odur did not return,\nnor Freyja forget to weep.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFreyja, as she appears in the Edda, was the goddess of the beautiful\nyear and of all sorts of love. The story of her marriage with Odur is\nextremely obscure; it is even thought that Odur is only a form of\nOdin, and, in like manner, that Freyja and Frigga are very intimately\nconnected.\n\nFrigga was the patroness of married love, of the happiness and duties\nof the home (originally, she and Freyja and all the great goddesses\nwere probably personifications of the earth); but Freyja, as goddess\nof love, is less developed in idea than Frigga, she has more of the\nnature goddess, less of the woman in her. She was said to divide the\nspoil with Odin in battle, taking half the slain for herself and\nleaving him the other half, which points to her having been at one\ntime his wife and sharing all with him. Supposing her to have been\nthe beautiful year, or rather the earth during the beautiful part of\nthe year, Odur leaving her would imply the beginning of the\nshortening of the days at midsummer. The source of summer flies,\nSummer seeks him weeping golden tears. Do these mean Autumn's golden\nleaves and falling fruits? or that the Sun's beautiful gifts must\never follow him.\n\nThis myth of Summer's source, the Sun, declining from the year has,\nit is supposed, been given to Odur because it was not important\nenough to belong to the greatest of the gods, although it was really\nwrapped up in his nature, and the names Odur and Odin are identical\nin German. Simrock says, \"Every mythology tells us of the death of\nthe beautiful part of the year like the flight of a god, who is\nmourned by his wife or his beloved.\" Looked at from this point of\nview, we see the summerly earth vaunting and decking herself with her\nrichest jewels in the deepest pride of her delight at the very moment\nwhen the spirit of her existence is stealing away from her. The\nsummer-decked earth, without the sun of her life, is soulless, has\nbecome mortal. But it must be confessed that the _Edda_ is very\nobscure about Brisingamen, and does not mention the necklace in\nconnection with Odur's departure. The Iron Witch was the mother of\ntwo wolves who devoured the sun and the moon at Ragnar\u00f6k, she is not\nmentioned in the myth of Freyja, but in another lay. It has been\nsuggested that Freyja's tears may be dew, and she in the character of\nAurora when she sheds them, weeping for some star god of the night.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe shall now hear the story of Id\u016bna--a dwarf's daughter, the wife of\nBragi and goddess of Spring, the renewing of life.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nID\u016aNA'S APPLES.\n\n\nPART I. REFLECTIONS IN THE WATER\n\nOf all the groves and gardens round the city of Asgard--and they were\nmany and beautiful--there was none so beautiful as the one where\nId\u016bna, the wife of Bragi, lived. It stood on the south side of the\nhill, not far from Gladsheim, and it was called \"Always Young,\"\nbecause nothing that grew there could ever decay, or become the least\nbit older than it was on the day when Id\u016bna entered it. The trees\nwore always a tender, light green colour, as the hedges do in spring.\nThe flowers were mostly half-opened, and every blade of grass bore\nalways a trembling, glittering drop of early dew. Brisk little winds\nwandered about the grove, making the leaves dance from morning till\nnight and swaying backwards and forwards the heads of the flowers.\n\n\"Blow away!\" said the leaves to the wind, \"for we shall never be\ntired.\"\n\n\"And you will never be old,\" said the winds in answer. And then the\nbirds took up the chorus and sang,--\n\n\"Never tired and never old.\"\n\nId\u016bna, the mistress of the grove, was fit to live among young birds,\nand tender leaves, and spring flowers. She was so fair that when she\nbent over the river to entice her swans to come to her, even the\nstupid fish stood still in the water, afraid to destroy so beautiful\nan image by swimming over it; and when she held out her hand with\nbread for the swans to eat, you would not have known it from a\nwater-lily--it was so wonderfully white.\n\nId\u016bna never left her grove even to pay a visit to her nearest\nneighbour, and yet she did not lead by any means a dull life; for,\nbesides having the company of her husband, Bragi, who must have been\nan entertaining person to live with; for he is said to have known a\nstory which never came to an end, and yet which never grew wearisome.\nAll the heroes of Asgard made a point of coming to call upon her\nevery day. It was natural enough that they should like to visit so\nbeautiful a grove and so fair a lady; and yet, to confess the truth,\nit was not quite to see either the grove or Id\u016bna that they came.\n\nId\u016bna herself was well aware of this, and when her visitors had\nchatted a short time with her, she never failed to bring out from the\ninnermost recess of her bower a certain golden casket, and to\nrequest, as a favour, that her guests would not think of going away\ntill they had tasted her apples, which, she flattered herself, had a\nbetter flavour than any other fruit in the world.\n\nIt would have been quite unlike a hero of Asgard to have refused such\ncourtesy; and, besides, Id\u016bna was not as far wrong about her apples\nas hostesses generally are, when they boast of the good things on\ntheir tables.\n\nThere is no doubt her apples _had_ a peculiar flavour; and if any one\nof the heroes happened to be a little tired, or a little out of\nspirits, or a little cross, when he came into the bower, it always\nfollowed that, as soon as he had eaten one apple, he found himself as\nfresh, and vigorous, and happy as he had ever been in his life.\n\nSo fond were the heroes of these apples, and so necessary did they\nthink them to their daily comfort, that they never went on a journey\nwithout requesting Id\u016bna to give them one or two, to fortify them\nagainst the fatigues of the way.\n\n[Illustration: IDUNA GIVING THE MAGIC APPLES.]\n\nId\u016bna had no difficulty in complying with this request; she had no\nfear of her store ever failing, for as surely as she took an apple\nfrom her casket another fell in; but where it came from Id\u016bna could\nnever discover. She never saw it till it was close to the bottom of\nthe casket; but she always heard the sweet tinkling sound it made\nwhen it touched the golden rim. It was as good as play to Id\u016bna to\nstand by her casket, taking the apples out, and watching the fresh\nrosy ones come tumbling in, without knowing who threw them.\n\nOne spring morning Id\u016bna was very busy taking apples out of her\ncasket; for several of the heroes were taking advantage of the fine\nweather to journey out into the world. Bragi was going from home for\na time; perhaps he was tired of telling his story only to Id\u016bna,\nand perhaps she was beginning to know it by heart; and Odin, Loki,\nand H\u0153nir had agreed to take a little tour in the direction of\nJ\u00f6tunheim, just to see if any entertaining adventure would befall\nthem. When they had all received their apples, and taken a tender\nfarewell of Id\u016bna, the grove--green and fair as it was--looked,\nperhaps, a little solitary.\n\nId\u016bna stood by her fountain, watching the bright water as it danced\nup into the air and quivered, and turned, and fell back, making a\nhundred little flashing circles in the river; and then she grew\ntired, for once, of the light and the noise, and wandered down to a\nstill place, where the river was shaded by low bushes on each side,\nand reflected clearly the blue sky overhead.\n\nId\u016bna sat down and looked into the deep water. Besides her own fair\nface there were little, wandering, white clouds to be seen reflected\nthere. She counted them as they sailed past. At length a strange form\nwas reflected up to her from the water--large, dark, lowering wings,\npointed claws, a head with fierce eyes--looking at her.\n\nId\u016bna started and raised her head. It was above as well as below; the\nsame wings--the same eyes--the same head--looking down from the blue\nsky, as well as up from the water. Such a sight had never been seen\nnear Asgard before; and, while Id\u016bna looked, the thing waved its\nwings, and went up, up, up, till it lessened to a dark spot in the\nclouds and on the river.\n\nIt was no longer terrible to look at; but, as it shook its wings a\nnumber of little black feathers fell from them, and flew down towards\nthe grove. As they neared the trees, they no longer looked like\nfeathers--each had two independent wings and a head of its own; they\nwere, in fact, a swarm of Nervous Apprehensions; troublesome little\ninsects enough, and well-known elsewhere, but which now, for the\nfirst time, found their way into the grove.\n\nId\u016bna ran away from them; she shook them off; she fought quite\nbravely against them; but they are by no means easy to get rid of;\nand when, at last, one crept within the folds of her dress, and\ntwisted itself down to her heart, a new, strange feeling thrilled\nthere--a feeling never yet known to any dweller in Asgard. Id\u016bna did\nnot know what to make of it.\n\n\nPART II. THE WINGED-GIANT.\n\nIn the meantime Odin, Loki, and H\u0153nir proceeded on their journey.\nThey were not bound on any particular quest. They strayed hither and\nthither that Odin might see that things were going on well in the\nworld, and his subjects comporting themselves in a becoming manner.\nEvery now and then they halted while Odin inspected the thatching of\na barn, or stood at the smithy to see how the smith wielded his\nhammer, or in a furrow to observe if the ploughman guided his\nplough-share evenly through the soil. \"Well done,\" he said if the\nworkman was working with all his might; and he turned away, leaving\nsomething behind him, a straw in the barn, a piece of old iron at\nthe forge-door, a grain in the furrow--nothing to look at; but ever\nafter the barn was always full, the forge-fire never went out, the\nfield yielded bountifully.\n\nTowards noon the \u00c6sir reached a shady valley, and, feeling tired and\nhungry, Odin proposed to sit down under a tree, and while he rested\nand studied a book of runes which he had with him, he requested Loki\nand H\u0153nir to prepare some dinner.\n\n\"I will undertake the meat and the fire,\" said H\u0153nir; \"you, Loki,\nwill like nothing better than foraging about for what good things you\ncan pick up.\"\n\n\"That is precisely what I mean to do,\" said Loki. \"There is a\nfarm-house near here, from which I can perceive a savoury smell. It\nwill be strange, with my cunning, if I do not contrive to have the\nbest of all the dishes under this tree before your fire is burnt up.\"\n\nAs Loki spoke he turned a stone in his hand, and immediately he\nassumed the shape of a large black cat. In this form he stole in at\nthe kitchen-window of a farm-house, where a busy housewife was\nintent on taking pies and cakes from a deep oven, and ranging them on\na dresser under the window. Loki watched his opportunity, and\nwhenever the mistress's back was turned he whisked a cake or a pie\nout of the window.\n\n\"One, two, three. Why, there are fewer every time I bring a fresh one\nfrom the oven!\" cried the bewildered housewife. \"It's that thieving\ncat. I see the end of her tail on the window-sill.\" Out of the window\nleant the housewife to throw a stone at the cat, but she could see\nnothing but a thin cow trespassing in her garden; and when she ran\nout with a stick to drive away the cow, it, too, had vanished, and an\nold raven, with six young ones, was flying over the garden-hedge.\n\nThe raven was Loki, the little ones were the pies; and when he\nreached the valley, and changed himself and them into their proper\nshapes, he had a hearty laugh at his own cleverness, and at the old\nwoman's dismay.\n\n\"Well done, Loki, king of thieves,\" said a chorus of foxes, who\npeeped out of their holes to see the only one of the \u00c6sir whose\nconduct they could appreciate; but Odin, when he heard of it, was\nvery far from thinking it well done. He was extremely displeased with\nLoki for having disgraced himself by such mean tricks.\n\n\"It is true,\" he said, \"that my subjects may well be glad to furnish\nme with all I require, but it should be done knowingly. Return to the\nfarmhouse, and place these three black stones on the table from\nwhence you stole the provisions.\"\n\nLoki--unwilling as he was to do anything he believed likely to bring\ngood to others--was obliged to obey. He made himself into the shape\nof a white owl, flew once more through the window, and dropped the\nstones out of his beak; they sank deep into the table, and looked\nlike three black stains on the white deal-board.\n\nFrom that time the housewife led an easy life; there was no need for\nher to grind corn, or mix dough, or prepare meat. Let her enter her\nkitchen at what time of day she would, stores of provisions stood\nsmoking hot on the table. She kept her own counsel about it, and\nenjoyed the reputation of being the most economical house-keeper in\nthe whole country-side; but one thing disturbed her mind, and\nprevented her thoroughly enjoying the envy and wonder of the\nneighbouring wives. All the rubbing, and brushing, and cleaning in\nthe world would not remove the three black stains from her kitchen\ntable, and as she had no cooking to do, she spent the greater part of\nher time in looking at them.\n\n\"If they were but gone,\" she said, a hundred times every day, \"I\nshould be content; but how is one to enjoy one's life when one cannot\nrub the stains off one's own table?\"\n\nPerhaps Loki foresaw how the good wife would use her gift; for he\ncame back from the farm-house in the best spirits. \"We will now, with\nFather Odin's permission, sit down to dinner,\" he said; \"for surely,\nbrother H\u0153nir, while I have been making so many journeys to and fro,\nyou have been doing something with that fire which I see blazing so\nfiercely, and with that old iron pot smoking over it.\"\n\n\"The meat will be by this time ready, no doubt,\" said H\u0153nir. \"I\nkilled a wild ox while you were away, and part of it has been now for\nsome time stewing in the pot.\"\n\nThe \u00c6sir now seated themselves near the fire, and H\u0153nir lifted up\nthe lid of the pot. A thick steam rose up from it; but when he took\nout the meat it was as red and uncooked as when he first put it into\nthe pot.\n\n\"Patience,\" said H\u0153nir; and Odin again took out his book of Runes.\nAnother hour passed, and H\u0153nir again took off the lid, and looked at\nthe meat; but it was in precisely the same state as before. This\nhappened several times, and even the cunning Loki was puzzled; when,\nsuddenly, a strange noise was heard coming from a tree near, and,\nlooking up, they saw an enormous human-headed eagle seated on one of\nthe branches, and looking at them with two fierce eyes. While they\nlooked it spoke.\n\n\"Give me my share of the feast,\" it said, \"and the meat shall\npresently be done.\"\n\n\"Come down and take it--it lies before you,\" said Loki, while Odin\nlooked on with thoughtful eyes; for he saw plainly that it was no\nmortal bird who had the boldness to claim a share in the \u00c6sir's\nfood.\n\nUndaunted by Odin's majestic looks, the eagle flew down, and, seizing\na large piece of meat, was going to fly away with it, when Loki,\nthinking he had now got the bird in his power, took up a stick that\nlay near, and struck a hard blow on the eagle's back. The stick made\na ringing sound as it fell; but, when Loki tried to draw it back, he\nfound that it stuck with extraordinary force to the eagle's back;\nneither could he withdraw his own hands from the other end.\n\nSomething like a laugh came from the creature's half-human,\nhalf-bird-like mouth; and then it spread its dark wings and rose up\ninto the air, dragging Loki after.\n\n\"It is as I thought,\" said Odin, as he saw the eagle's enormous bulk\nbrought out against the sky; \"it is Thiassi, the strongest giant in\nJ\u00f6tunheim, who has presumed to show himself in our presence. Loki has\nonly received the reward of his treachery, and it would ill-become us\nto interfere in his behalf; but, as the monster is near, it will be\nwell for us to return to Asgard, lest any misfortune should befall\nthe city in our absence.\"\n\nWhile Odin spoke, the winged creature had risen up so high as to be\ninvisible even to the eyes of the \u00c6sir; and, during their return to\nAsgard, he did not again appear before them; but, as they approached\nthe gates of the city, they were surprised to see Loki coming to meet\nthem. He had a crest-fallen and bewildered look; and when they\nquestioned him as to what had happened to him since they parted in\nsuch a strange way, he declared himself to be quite unable to give\nany further account of his adventures than that he had been carried\nrapidly through the air by the giant, and, at last, thrown down from\na great height near the place where the \u00c6sir met him.\n\nOdin looked steadfastly at him as he spoke, but he forbore to\nquestion him further: for he knew well that there was no hope of\nhearing the truth from Loki, and he kept within his own mind the\nconviction he felt that some disastrous result must follow a meeting\nbetween two such evil-doers as Loki and the giant Thiassi.\n\nThat evening, when the \u00c6sir were all feasting and telling stories to\neach other in the great hall of Valhalla, Loki stole out from\nGladsheim, and went alone to visit Id\u016bna in her grove. It was a\nstill, bright evening. The leaves of the trees moved softly up and\ndown, whispering sweet words to each other; the flowers, with\nhalf-shut eyes, nodded sleepily to their own reflections in the\nwater, and Id\u016bna sat by the fountain, with her head resting in one\nhand, thinking of pleasant things.\n\n\"It is all very well,\" thought Loki; \"but I am not the happier\nbecause people can here live such pleasant lives. It does not do me\nany good, or cure the pain I have had so long in my heart.\"\n\nLoki's long shadow--for the sun was setting--fell on the water as he\napproached, and made Id\u016bna start. She remembered the sight that had\ndisturbed her so much in the morning; but when she saw only Loki, she\nlooked up and smiled kindly; for he had often accompanied the other\n\u00c6sir in their visits to her grove.\n\n\"I am wearied with a long journey,\" said Loki abruptly, \"and I would\neat one of your apples to refresh me after my fatigue.\" The casket\nstood by Id\u016bna's side, and she immediately put in her hand and gave\nLoki an apple. To her surprise, instead of thanking her warmly, or\nbeginning to eat it, he turned it round and round in his hand with a\ncontemptuous air.\n\n\"It is true then,\" he said, after looking intently at the apple for\nsome time, \"your apples are but small and withered in comparison. I\nwas unwilling to believe it at first, but now I can doubt no longer.\"\n\n\"Small and withered!\" said Id\u016bna, rising hastily. \"Nay, Asa Odin\nhimself, who has traversed the whole world, assures me that he has\nnever seen any to be compared to them.\"\n\n\"That will never be said again,\" returned Loki; \"for this very\nafternoon I have discovered a tree, in a grove not far from Asgard,\non which grow apples so beautiful that no one who has seen them will\never care again for yours.\"\n\n\"I do not wish to see or hear of them,\" said Id\u016bna, trying to turn\naway with an indifferent air; but Loki followed her, and continued\nto speak more and more strongly of the beauty of this new fruit,\nhinting that Id\u016bna would be sorry that she had refused to listen when\nshe found all her guests deserting her for the new grove, and when\neven Bragi began to think lightly of her and of her gifts. At this\nId\u016bna sighed, and Loki came up close to her, and whispered in her\near,--\n\n\"It is but a short way from Asgard, and the sun has not yet set. Come\nout with me, and, before any one else has seen the apples, you shall\ngather them, and put them in your casket, and no woman shall ever\nhave it in her power to boast that she can feast the \u00c6sir more\nsumptuously than Id\u016bna.\"\n\nNow Id\u016bna had often been cautioned by her husband never to let\nanything tempt her to leave the grove, and she had always been so\nhappy here, that she thought there was no use in his telling her the\nsame thing so often over; but now her mind was so full of the\nwonderfully beautiful fruit, and she felt such a burning wish to get\nit for herself, that she quite forgot her husband's commands.\n\n\"It is only a little way,\" she said to herself; \"there can be no harm\nin going out just this once;\" and, as Loki went on urging her, she\ntook up her casket from the ground hastily, and begged him to show\nher the way to this other grove. Loki walked very quickly, and Id\u016bn\nhad not time to collect her thoughts before she found herself at the\nentrance of Always Young. At the gate she would gladly have stopped a\nminute to take breath; but Loki took hold of her hand, and forced her\nto pass through, though, at the very moment of passing, she half drew\nback; for it seemed to her as if all the trees in the grove suddenly\ncalled out in alarm, \"Come back, come back, Oh, come back, Id\u016bna!\"\nShe half drew back her hand, but it was too late; the gate fell\nbehind her, and she and Loki stood together without the grove.\n\nThe trees rose up between them and the setting sun, and cast a deep\nshadow on the place where they stood; a cold, night air blew on\nId\u016bna's cheek, and made her shiver.\n\n\"Let us hasten on,\" she said to Loki; \"let us hasten on, and soon\ncome back again.\"\n\nBut Loki was not looking on, he was looking up. Id\u016bna raised her eyes\nin the direction of his, and her heart died within her; for there,\nhigh up over her head, just as she had seen it in the morning, hung\nthe lowering, dark wings--the sharp talons--the fierce head, looking\nat her. For one moment it stood still above her head, and then lower,\nlower, lower, the huge shadow fell; and, before Id\u016bn found breath to\nspeak, the dark wings were folded round her, and she was borne high\nup in the air, northwards, towards the grey mist that hangs over\nJ\u00f6tunheim. Loki watched till she was out of sight, and then returned\nto Asgard. The presence of the giant was no wonder to him; for he\nhad, in truth, purchased his own release by promising to deliver up\nId\u016bna and her casket into his power; but, as he returned alone\nthrough the grove, a foreboding fear pressed on his mind.\n\n\"If it should be true,\" he thought, \"that Id\u016bna's apples have the\nwonderful power Odin attributes to them! if I among the rest should\nsuffer from the loss!\"\n\nOccupied with these thoughts, he passed quickly among the trees,\nkeeping his eyes resolutely fixed on the ground. He dare not trust\nhimself to look around; for once, when he had raised his head, he\nfancied that, gliding through the brushwood, he had seen the dark\nrobes and pale face of his daughter Hela.\n\n\nPART III. HELA.\n\nWhen it was known that Id\u016bna had disappeared from her grove, there\nwere many sorrowful faces in Asgard, and anxious voices were heard\ninquiring for her. Loki walked about with as grave a face, and asked\nas many questions, as any one else; but he had a secret fear that\nbecame stronger every day, that now, at last, the consequence of his\nevil ways would find him out.\n\nDays passed on, and the looks of care, instead of wearing away,\ndeepened on the faces of the \u00c6sir. They met, and looked at each\nother, and turned away sighing; each saw that some strange change was\ncreeping over all the others, and none liked to be the first to\nspeak of it. It came on very gradually--a little change every day,\nand no day ever passing without the change. The leaves of the trees\nin Id\u016bna's grove deepened in colour. They first became a sombre\ngreen, then a glowing red, and, at last, a pale brown; and when the\nbrisk winds came and blew them about, they moved every day more\nlanguidly.\n\n\"Let us alone,\" they said at length. \"We are tired, tired, tired.\"\n\nThe winds, surprised, carried the new sound to Gladsheim, and\nwhispered it all round the banquet-hall where the \u00c6sir sat, and then\nthey rushed back again, and blew all through the grove.\n\n\"We are tired,\" said the leaves again; \"we are tired, we are old; we\nare going to die;\" and at the word they broke from the trees one by\none, and fluttered to the ground, glad to rest anywhere; and the\nwinds, having nothing else to do, went back to Gladsheim with the\nlast strange word they had learned.\n\nThe \u00c6sir were all assembled in Valhalla; but there were no stories\ntold, and no songs sung. No one spoke much but Loki, and he was that\nday in a talking humour. He moved from one to another, whispering an\nunwelcome word in every ear.\n\n\"Have you noticed your mother Frigga?\" he said to Baldur. \"Do you see\nhow white her hair is growing, and what a number of deep lines are\nprinted on her face?\"\n\nThen he turned to Frey. \"Look at your sister Freyja and your friend\nBaldur,\" he said, \"as they sit opposite to us. What a change has come\nover them lately! Who would think that that pale man and that faded\nwoman were Baldur the beautiful and Freyja the fair?\"\n\n\"You are tired--you are old--you are going to die,\"--moaned the\nwinds, wandering all round the great halls, and coming in and out of\nthe hundred doorways, and all the \u00c6sir looked up at the sad sound.\nThen they saw, for the first time, that a new guest had seated\nherself that day at the table of the \u00c6sir. There could be no question\nof her fitness on the score of royalty, for a crown rested on her\nbrow, and in her hand she held a sceptre; but the fingers that\ngrasped the sceptre were white and fleshless, and under the crown\nlooked the threatening face of Hela, half corpse, half queen.\n\nA great fear fell on all the \u00c6sir as they looked, and only Odin found\nvoice to speak to her. \"Dreadful daughter of Loki!\" he said, \"by what\nwarrant do you dare to leave the kingdom where I permit you to reign,\nand come to take your place among the \u00c6sir, who are no mates for such\nas you?\"\n\nThen Hela raised her bony finger, and pointed, one by one, to the\nguests that sat round. \"White hair,\" she said, \"wrinkled faces, weary\nlimbs, dull eyes--these are the warrants which have summoned me from\nthe land of shadows to sit among the \u00c6sir. I have come to claim you,\nby these signs, as my future guests, and to tell you that I am\npreparing a place for you in my kingdom.\"\n\nAt every word she spoke a gust of icy wind came from her mouth and\nfroze the blood in the listeners' veins. If she had stayed a moment\nlonger they would have stiffened into stone; but when she had spoken\nthus, she rose and left the hall, and the sighing winds went out with\nher.\n\nThen, after a long silence, Bragi stood up and spoke. \"\u00c6sir,\" he\nsaid, \"We are to blame. It is now many months since Id\u016bn was carried\naway from us; we have mourned for her, but we have not yet avenged\nher loss. Since she left us a strange weariness and despair have come\nover us, and we sit looking on each other as if we had ceased to be\nwarriors and \u00c6sir. It is plain that, unless Id\u016bn returns, we are\nlost. Let two of us journey to the Urda fount, which we have so long\nneglected to visit, and enquire of her from the Norns--for they know\nall things--and then, when we have learnt where she is, we will fight\nfor her liberty, if need be, till we die; for that will be an end\nmore fitting for us than to sit here and wither away under the breath\nof Hela.\"\n\nAt these words of Bragi the \u00c6sir felt a revival of their old strength\nand courage. Odin approved of Bragi's proposal, and decreed that he\nand Baldur should undertake the journey to the dwelling-place of the\nNorns. That very evening they set forth; for Hela's visit showed them\nthat they had no time to lose.\n\nIt was a weary time to the dwellers in Asgard while they were absent.\nTwo new citizens had taken up their abode in the city, Age and Pain.\nThey walked the streets hand-in-hand, and there was no use in\nshutting the doors against them; for however closely the entrance was\nbarred, the dwellers in the houses felt them as they passed.\n\n\nPART IV. THROUGH FLOOD AND FIRE.\n\nAt length, Baldur and Bragi returned with the answer of the Norns,\ncouched in mystic words, which Odin alone could understand. It\nrevealed Loki's treacherous conduct to the \u00c6sir, and declared that\nId\u016bn could only be brought back by Loki, who must go in search of\nher, clothed in Freyja's garments of falcon feathers.\n\nLoki was very unwilling to venture on such a search; but Thor\nthreatened him with instant death if he refused to obey Odin's\ncommands, or failed to bring back Id\u016bna; and, for his own safety he\nwas obliged to allow Freyja to fasten the falcon wings to his\nshoulders, and to set off towards Thiassi's castle in J\u00f6tunheim,\nwhere he well knew that Id\u016bna was imprisoned.\n\nIt was called a castle; but it was, in reality, a hollow in a dark\nrock; the sea broke against two sides of it; and, above, the\nsea-birds clamoured day and night.\n\nThere the giant had taken Id\u016bna on the night on which she had left\nher grove; and, fearing lest Odin should spy her from Air Throne, he\nhad shut her up in a gloomy chamber, and strictly forbidden her ever\nto come out. It was hard to be shut up from the fresh air and\nsunshine; and yet, perhaps, it was safer for Id\u016bn than if she had\nbeen allowed to wander about J\u00f6tunheim, and see the monstrous sights\nthat would have met her there.\n\nShe saw nothing but Thiassi himself and his servants, whom he had\ncommanded to attend upon her; and they, being curious to see a\nstranger from a distant land, came in and out many times every day.\n\nThey were fair, Id\u016bna saw--fair and smiling; and, at first, it\nrelieved her to see such pleasant faces round her, when she had\nexpected something horrible.\n\n\"Pity me!\" she used to say to them; \"pity me! I have been torn away\nfrom my home and my husband, and I see no hope of ever getting back.\"\nAnd she looked earnestly at them; but their pleasant faces never\nchanged, and there was always--however bitterly Id\u016bn might be\nweeping--the same smile on their lips.\n\nAt length Id\u016bna, looking more narrowly at them, saw, when they turned\ntheir backs to her, that they were hollow behind; they were, in\ntruth, Ellewomen, who have no hearts, and can never pity any one.\n\nAfter Id\u016bna saw this she looked no more at their smiling faces, but\nturned away her head and wept silently. It is very sad to live among\nEllewomen when one is in trouble.\n\nEvery day the giant came and thundered at Id\u016bna's door. \"Have you\nmade up your mind yet,\" he used to say, \"to give me the apples?\nSomething dreadful will happen to you if you take much longer to\nthink of it.\" Id\u016bna trembled very much every day, but still she had\nstrength to say, \"No;\" for she knew that the _most_ dreadful thing\nwould be for her to give to a wicked giant the gifts that had been\nentrusted to her for the use of the \u00c6sir. The giant would have taken\nthe apples by force if he could; but, whenever he put his hand into\nthe casket, the fruit slipped from beneath his fingers, shrivelled\ninto the size of a pea, and hid itself in crevices of the casket\nwhere his great fingers could not come--only when Id\u016bna's little\nwhite hand touched it, it swelled again to its own size, and this she\nwould never do while the giant was with her. So the days passed on,\nand Id\u016bna would have died of grief among the smiling Ellewomen if it\nhad not been for the moaning sound of the sea and the wild cry of the\nbirds; \"for, however others may smile, these pity me,\" she used to\nsay, and it was like music to her.\n\nOne morning when she knew that the giant had gone out, and when the\nEllewomen had left her alone, she stood for a long time at her window\nby the sea, watching the mermaids floating up and down on the waves,\nand looking at heaven with their sad blue eyes. She knew that they\nwere mourning because they had no souls, and she thought within\nherself that even in prison it was better to belong to the \u00c6sir than\nto be a mermaid or an Ellewoman, were they ever so free or happy.\n\nWhile she was still occupied with these thoughts she heard her name\nspoken, and a bird with large wings flew in at the window, and,\nsmoothing its feathers, stood upright before her. It was Loki in\nFreyja's garment of feathers, and he made her understand in a moment\nthat he had come to set her free, and that there was no time to lose.\nHe told her to conceal her casket carefully in her bosom, and then he\nsaid a few words over her, and she found herself changed into a\nsparrow, with the casket fastened among the feathers of her breast.\n\nThen Loki spread his wings once more, and flew out of the window, and\nId\u016bna followed him. The sea-wind blew cold and rough, and her little\nwings fluttered with fear; but she struck them bravely out into the\nair and flew like an arrow over the water.\n\n\"This way lies Asgard,\" cried Loki, and the word gave her strength.\nBut they had not gone far when a sound was heard above the sea, and\nthe wind, and the call of the sea-birds. Thiassi had put on his eagle\nplumage, and was flying after them. For five days and five nights the\nthree flew over the water that divides J\u00f6tunheim from Asgard, and, at\nthe end of every day, they were closer together, for the giant was\ngaining on the other two.\n\nAll the five days the dwellers in Asgard stood on the walls of the\ncity watching. On the sixth evening they saw a falcon and a sparrow,\nclosely pursued by an eagle, flying towards Asgard.\n\n\"There will not be time,\" said Bragi, who had been calculating the\nspeed at which they flew. \"The eagle will reach them before they can\nget into the city.\"\n\nBut Odin desired a fire to be lighted upon the walls; and Thor and\nTyr, with what strength remained to them, tore up the trees from the\ngroves and gardens, and made a rampart of fire all round the city.\nThe light of the fire showed Id\u016bna her husband and her friends\nwaiting for her. She made one last effort, and, rising high up in the\nair above the flames and smoke, she passed the walls, and dropped\ndown safely at the foot of Odin's throne. The giant tried to follow;\nbut, wearied with his long flight, he was unable to raise his\nenormous bulk sufficiently high in the air. The flames scorched his\nwings as he flew through them, and he fell among the flaming piles of\nwood, and was burnt to death.\n\nHow Id\u016bn feasted the \u00c6sir on her apples, how they grew young and\nbeautiful again, and how spring, and green leaves, and music came\nback to the grove, I must leave you to imagine, for I have made my\nstory long enough already; and if I say any more you will fancy that\nit is Bragi who has come among you, and that he has entered on his\nendless story.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nId\u016bna has a connection with the underworld, carried away by a giant\nand kept captive in his frozen regions, the earth meanwhile becoming\nwinterly, old; death threatening all things. Her story is curiously\nhinted at in the _Elder Edda_, where Id\u016bna is represented as falling\ndown from Yggdrasil's Ash into the nether world. Odin sends Heimdall\nand Bragi to bring her up again, and to ascertain from her if she has\nbeen able to discover anything about the destruction and duration of\nthe world and heaven. Instead of answering she bursts into tears--the\nbright, tearful return of Spring--or may this mean the impossibility\nof wringing from Nature answers to the questions and longings that\nfill the heart, even the tender year with its messages of hope and\nhints of immortality is unable to give the full assurance for which\nwe yearn.\n\nId\u016bna is supposed to typify the Spring, and her falling into\ncaptivity for a time to the giant Thiassi corresponds to the falling\nof the leaf in Autumn. The union of Poetry with Spring seems very\nappropriate, and we must not forget to mention that Bragi's name\ncalls to mind the old story of the Bragarfull. At feasts, in old\ntimes, it was the custom to drink from cups of mead. One to Odin for\nvictory, one to Frey and one to Ni\u00f6rd for a good year and peace, and\nthe fourth to Bragi. It was called the \"Cup of Vows,\" and the drinker\nvowed over it to perform some great deed worthy of the song of a\nskald.\n\nIn connection with the story of Id\u016bna--being, indeed, almost a sequel\nto it--we find the myth of Skadi, which is as follows:--\n\nThe giant Thiassi had a very tall daughter, called Skadi. When she\nfound that her father never returned from his pursuit of Id\u016bn, she\nput on her armour and set off to Asgard to revenge his death. The\nheroes, however, were not inclined to allow her the honour of a\ncombat. They suggested to her that, perhaps, it would answer her\npurpose as well, if, instead of fighting them, she were to content\nherself with marrying one of their number, and it appeared to Skadi\nthat this might possibly be revenge enough. The \u00c6sir, however, could\nnot make up their minds who should be the victim. It was agreed, at\nlast, that they should all stand in some place of concealment\nwhere only their feet could be seen, and that Skadi should walk\nbefore them, and, by looking at the feet, choose her husband. Now,\nSkadi had privately made up her mind to marry Baldur; so, after\nlooking carefully at all the feet, she stopped before a pair, which,\nfrom their beautiful shape, she thought could only belong to the\nhandsome Sun-god. When, however, the figure belonging to the feet\nemerged from the hiding-place, it was discovered that she had chosen\nthe bluff, gusty old Ni\u00f6rd instead of the beautiful young Baldur; and\nshe was not particularly well pleased with her choice, though she was\nobliged to abide by it.\n\n[Illustration: SKADI CHOOSING HER HUSBAND.]\n\nWhen Skadi and Ni\u00f6rd were married they found, as persons do find who\nmarry each other for the shape of their feet, and other such wise\nreasons, that it was not at all an easy thing to live happily\ntogether. They could not even agree about the place where they should\nlive. Skadi was never happy out of Thrymheim--the home of noise in\nmisty J\u00f6tunheim, and Ni\u00f6rd could not forget pleasant N\u00f6atun, and the\nclear, sunny seas where he had dwelt in his youth. At last they\nagreed that they would spend three days in N\u00f6atun, and nine days in\nThrymheim; but one day, when Ni\u00f6rd was returning to N\u00f6atun, he could\nnot help breaking out into the following song:--\n\n    \"Of mountains I am weary,\n    Nine nights long and dreary,\n    All up the misty hill,\n    The wolf's long howl I heard.\n    Methought it sounded strangely--\n    Methought it sounded ill\n    To the song of the swan bird.\"\n\nAnd Skadi immediately answered:\n\n    \"Never can I sleep\n    In my couch by the strand,\n    For the wild, restless waves\n    Rolling over the sand,\n    For the scream of the seagulls,\n    For the mew as he cries,\n    These sounds chase for ever\n    Sweet sleep from mine eyes.\"\n\nThen, putting on a pair of snow-skates, she set off more swiftly than\nthe wind, and Ni\u00f6rd never saw more of her. Ever afterwards, with her\nbow in her hand, she spent her time in chasing wild animals over the\nsnow, and she is the queen and patroness of all skaters.\n\nThe next story is about Baldur, of whom Har says \"that he is the best\nof the sons of Odin. So fair and dazzling that rays of light seem to\nissue from him, and thou mayest form some idea of the beauty of his\nhair when I tell thee that the whitest of all plants is called\n'Baldur's brow'\" (a plant in Sweden still called Baldur's eyebrow).\nBaldur is the mildest, the wisest, and the most eloquent of all the\n\u00c6sir.\n\n    \"Broad glance 'tis called\n    Where Baldur the Fair\n    Hath built him a bower\n    In that land where I know\n    The least loathliness lieth.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nBALDUR.\n\n\nPART I. THE DREAM.\n\nUpon a summer's afternoon it happened that Baldur the Bright and\nBold, beloved of men and \u00c6sir, found himself alone in his palace of\nBroadblink. Thor was walking low down among the valleys, his brow\nheavy with summer heat; Frey and Gerda sported on still waters in\ntheir cloud-leaf ship; Odin, for once, slept on the top of Air\nThrone; a noon-day stillness pervaded the whole earth; and Baldur in\nBroadblink, the wide-glancing most sunlit of palaces, dreamed a\ndream.\n\nNow the dream of Baldur was troubled. He knew not whence nor why; but\nwhen he awoke he found that a most new and weighty care was within\nhim. It was so heavy that Baldur could scarcely carry it, and yet he\npressed it closely to his heart, and said, \"Lie there, and do not\nfall on any one but me.\" Then he rose up, and walked out from the\nexpanded splendour of his hall, that he might seek his own mother,\nFrigga, and tell her what had happened to him. He found her in her\ncrystal saloon, calm and kind, waiting to listen, and ready to\nsympathise; so he walked up to her, his hands pressed closely on his\nheart, and lay down at her feet sighing.\n\n\"What is the matter, dear Baldur?\" asked Frigga, gently.\n\n\"I do not know, mother,\" answered he. \"I do not know what the matter\nis; but I have a shadow in my heart.\"\n\n\"Take it out, then, my son, and let me look at it,\" replied Frigg.\n\n\"But I fear, mother, that if I do it will cover the whole earth.\"\n\nThen Frigga laid her hand upon the heart of her son that she might\nfeel the shadow's shape. Her brow became clouded as she felt it; her\nparted lips grew pale, and she cried out, \"Oh! Baldur, my beloved\nson! the shadow is the shadow of death!\"\n\nThen said Baldur, \"I will die bravely, my mother.\"\n\nBut Frigga answered, \"You shall not die at all; for I will not sleep\nto-night until everything on earth has sworn to me that it will\nneither kill nor harm you.\"\n\nSo Frigga stood up, and called to her everything on earth that had\npower to hurt or slay. First she called all metals to her; and heavy\niron-ore came lumbering up the hill into the crystal hall, brass and\ngold, copper, silver, lead, and steel, and stood before the Queen,\nwho lifted her right-hand high in the air, saying, \"Swear to me that\nyou will not injure Baldur;\" and they all swore, and went. Then she\ncalled to her all stones; and huge granite came with crumbling\nsand-stone, and white lime, and the round, smooth stones of the\nsea-shore, and Frigga raised her arm, saying, \"Swear that you will\nnot injure Baldur;\" and they swore, and went. Then Frigga called to\nher the trees; and wide-spreading oak-trees, with tall ash and sombre\nfirs came rushing up the hill, with long branches, from which green\nleaves like flags were waving, and Frigga raised her hand, and said,\n\"Swear that you will not hurt Baldur;\" and they said, \"We swear,\" and\nwent. After this Frigga called to her the diseases, who came blown\nthitherward by poisonous winds on wings of pain, and to the sound of\nmoaning. Frigga said to them, \"Swear:\" and they sighed, \"We swear,\"\nthen flew away. Then Frigga called to her all beasts, birds, and\nvenomous snakes, who came to her and swore, and disappeared. After\nthis she stretched out her hand to Baldur, whilst a smile spread over\nher face, saying, \"And now, my son, you cannot die.\"\n\nBut just then Odin came in, and when he had heard from Frigga the\nwhole story, he looked even more mournful than she had done; neither\ndid the cloud pass from his face when he was told of the oaths that\nhad been taken.\n\n\"Why do you still look so grave, my lord?\" demanded Frigg, at last.\n\"Baldur cannot now die.\"\n\nBut Odin asked very gravely, \"Is the shadow gone out of our son's\nheart, or is it still there?\"\n\n\"It cannot be there,\" said Frigg, turning away her head resolutely,\nand folding her hands before her.\n\nBut Odin looked at Baldur, and saw how it was. The hands pressed to\nthe heavy heart, the beautiful brow grown dim. Then immediately he\narose, saddled Sleipnir, his eight-footed steed, mounted him, and,\nturning to Frigga, said, \"I know of a dead Vala,[5] Frigg, who, when\nshe was alive, could tell what was going to happen; her grave lies on\nthe east side of Helheim, and I am going there to awake her, and ask\nwhether any terrible grief is really coming upon us.\"\n\n [5] Vala--a prophetess.\n\nSo saying Odin shook the bridle in his hand, and the Eight-footed,\nwith a bound, leapt forth, rushed like a whirlwind down the mountain\nof Asgard, and then dashed into a narrow defile between rocks.\n\nSleipnir went on through the defile a long way, until he came to a\nplace where the earth opened her mouth. There Odin rode in and down a\nbroad, steep, slanting road which led him to the cavern Gnipa, and\nthe mouth of the cavern Gnipa yawned upon Niflheim. Then thought Odin\nto himself, \"My journey is already done.\" But just as Sleipnir was\nabout to leap through the jaws of the pit, Garm, the voracious dog\nwho was chained to the rock, sprang forward, and tried to fasten\nhimself upon Odin. Three times Odin shook him off, and still Garm, as\nfierce as ever, went on with the fight. At last Sleipnir leapt, and\nOdin thrust just at the same moment; then horse and rider cleared the\nentrance, and turned eastward toward the dead Vala's grave, dripping\nblood along the road as they went; while the beaten Garm stood baying\nin the cavern's mouth.\n\nWhen Odin came to the grave he got off his horse, and stood with his\nface northwards looking through barred enclosures into the city of\nHelheim itself. The servants of Hela were very busy there making\npreparations for some new guest--hanging gilded couches with curtains\nof anguish and splendid misery upon the walls. Then Odin's heart died\nwithin him and he began to repeat mournful runes in a low tone to\nhimself.\n\nThe dead Vala turned heavily in her grave at the sound of his voice,\nand, as he went on, sat bolt upright. \"What man is this,\" she asked,\n\"who dares disturb my sleep?\"\n\nThen Odin, for the first time in his life, said what was not true;\nthe shadow of Baldur dead fell upon his lips, and he made answer, \"My\nname is Vegtam, the son of Valtam.\"\n\n\"And what do you want from me?\" asked the Vala.\n\n\"I want to know,\" replied Odin, \"for whom Hela is making ready that\ngilded couch in Helheim?\"\n\n\"That is for Baldur the Beloved,\" answered the dead Vala. \"Now go\naway, and let me sleep again, for my eyes are heavy.\"\n\nBut Odin said, \"Only one word more. Is Baldur going to Helheim?\"\n\n\"Yes, I've told you that he is,\" answered the Vala.\n\n\"Will he never come back to Asgard again?\"\n\n\"If everything on earth should weep for him,\" answered she, \"he will\ngo back; if not, he will remain in Helheim.\"\n\nThen Odin covered his face with his hands, and looked into darkness.\n\n\"Do go away,\" said the Vala, \"I'm so sleepy; I cannot keep my eyes\nopen any longer.\"\n\nBut Odin raised his head, and said again, \"Only tell me this one\nthing. Just now, as I looked into darkness, it seemed to me as if I\nsaw one on earth who would not weep for Baldur. Who was it?\"\n\nAt this the Vala grew very angry and said, \"How couldst _thou_ see in\ndarkness? I know of only one who, by giving away his eye, gained\nlight. No Vegtam art thou, but Odin, chief of men.\"\n\nAt her angry words Odin became angry too, and called out as loudly as\never he could, \"No Vala art thou, nor wise woman, but rather the\nmother of three giants.\"\n\n\"Go, go!\" answered the Vala, falling back in her grave; \"no man shall\nwaken me again until Loki have burst his chains and Ragnar\u00f6k be\ncome.\" After this Odin mounted the Eight-footed once more, and rode\nthoughtfully towards home.\n\n\nPART II. THE PEACESTEAD.\n\nWhen Odin came back to Asgard, Hermod took the bridle from his\nfather's hand, and told him that the rest of the \u00c6sir were gone to\nthe Peacestead--a broad, green plain which lay just outside the city.\nNow this was, in fact, the playground of the \u00c6sir, where they\npractised trials of skill one with another, and held tournaments and\nsham fights. These last were always conducted in the gentlest and\nmost honourable manner; for the strongest law of the Peacestead was,\nthat no angry blow should be struck, or spiteful word spoken, upon\nthe sacred field; and for this reason some have thought it might be\nwell if children also had a Peacestead to play in.\n\nOdin was too much tired by his journey from Helheim to go to the\nPeacestead that afternoon; so he turned away, and shut himself up in\nhis palace of Gladsheim. But when he was gone, Loki came into the\ncity by another way, and hearing from Hermod where the \u00c6sir were, set\noff to join them.\n\nWhen he got to the Peacestead, Loki found that the \u00c6sir were standing\nround in a circle shooting at something, and he peeped between the\nshoulders of two of them to find out what it was. To his surprise he\nsaw Baldur standing in the midst, erect and calm, whilst his friends\nand brothers were aiming their weapons at him. Some hewed at him with\ntheir sword--others threw stones at him--some shot arrows pointed\nwith steel, and Thor continually swung Mi\u00f6lnir at his head. \"Well,\"\nsaid Loki to himself, \"if this is the sport of Asgard, what must that\nof J\u00f6tunheim be? I wonder what Father Odin and Mother Frigg would say\nif they were here?\" But as Loki still looked, he became even more\nsurprised, for the sport went on, and Baldur was not hurt. Arrows\naimed at his very heart glanced back again untinged with blood. The\nstones fell down from his broad bright brow, and left no bruises\nthere. Swords clave, but did not wound him; Mi\u00f6lnir struck him, and\nhe was not crushed. At this Loki grew perfectly furious with envy and\nhatred. \"And why is Baldur to be so honoured,\" said he, \"that even\nsteel and stone shall not hurt him?\" Then Loki changed himself into a\nlittle, dark, bent, old woman, with a stick in his hand, and hobbled\naway from the Peacestead to Frigga's cool saloon. At the door he\nknocked with his stick.\n\n\"Come in!\" said the kind voice of Frigg, and Loki lifted the latch.\n\nNow when Frigga saw, from the other end of the hall, a little, bent,\ncrippled, old woman, come hobbling up her crystal floor, she got up\nwith true queenliness, and met her half way, holding out her hand,\nand saying in the kindest manner, \"Pray sit down, my poor old friend;\nfor it seems to me that you have come from a great way off.\"\n\n\"That I have, indeed,\" answered Loki in a tremulous, squeaking voice.\n\n\"And did you happen to see anything of the \u00c6sir,\" asked Frigg, \"as\nyou came?\"\n\n\"Just now I passed by the Peacestead, and saw them at play.\"\n\n\"What were they doing?\"\n\n\"Shooting at Baldur.\"\n\nThen Frigg bent over her work with a pleased smile on her face. \"And\nnothing hurt him?\" she said.\n\n\"Nothing,\" answered Loki, looking keenly at her.\n\n\"No, nothing,\" murmured Frigg, still looking down and speaking half\nmusingly to herself; \"for all things have sworn to me that they will\nnot.\"\n\n\"Sworn!\" exclaimed Loki, eagerly; \"what is that you say? Has\neverything sworn then?\"\n\n\"Everything,\" answered she, \"excepting, indeed, the little shrub\nmistletoe, which grows, you know, on the west side of Valhal, and to\nwhich I said nothing, because I thought it was too young to swear.\"\n\n\"Excellent!\" thought Loki; and then he got up.\n\n\"You're not going yet, are you?\" said Frigg, stretching out her hand\nand looking up at last into the eyes of the old woman.\n\n\"I'm quite rested now, thank you,\" answered Loki in his squeaky\nvoice, and then he hobbled out at the door, which clapped after him,\nand sent a cold gust into the room. Frigga shuddered, and thought\nthat a serpent was gliding down the back of her neck.\n\nWhen Loki had left the presence of Frigg, he changed himself back to\nhis proper shape, and went straight to the west side of Valhal, where\nthe mistletoe grew. Then he opened his knife, and cut off a large\nbranch, saying these words, \"Too young for Frigga's oaths, but not\ntoo weak for Loki's work.\" After which he set off for the Peacestead\nonce more, the mistletoe in his hand. When he got there he found that\nthe \u00c6sir were still at their sport, standing round, taking aim, and\ntalking eagerly, and Baldur did not seem tired.\n\nBut there was one who stood alone, leaning against a tree, and who\ntook no part in what was going on. This was H\u00f6dur, Baldur's blind\ntwin-brother; he stood with his head bent downwards, silent, whilst\nthe others were speaking, doing nothing when they were most eager;\nand Loki thought that there was a discontented expression on his\nface, just as if he were saying to himself, \"Nobody takes any notice\nof me.\" So Loki went up to him, and put his hand upon his shoulder.\n\n\"And why are you standing here all alone, my brave friend?\" said he.\n\"Why don't _you_ throw something at Baldur. Hew at him with a sword,\nor show him some attention of that sort.\"\n\n\"I haven't got a sword,\" answered H\u00f6dur, with an impatient gesture;\n\"and you know as well as I do, Loki, that Father Odin does not\napprove of my wearing warlike weapons, or joining in sham fights,\nbecause I am blind.\"\n\n\"Oh! is that it?\" said Loki. \"Well, I only know _I_ shouldn't like to\nbe left out of everything. However, I've got a twig of mistletoe here\nwhich I'll lend you if you like; a harmless little twig enough, but I\nshall be happy to guide your arm if you would like to throw it, and\nBaldur might take it as a compliment from his twin-brother.\"\n\n\"Let me feel it,\" said H\u00f6dur, stretching out his uncertain hands.\n\n\"This way, this way, my dear friend,\" said Loki, giving him the twig.\n\"Now, as hard as ever you can, to do _him honour_; throw!\"\n\nH\u00f6dur threw--Baldur fell, and the shadow of death covered the whole\nearth.\n\n\nPART III. BALDUR DEAD.\n\nOne after another they turned and left the Peacestead, those friends\nand brothers of the slain. One after another they turned and went\ntowards the city; crushed hearts, heavy footsteps, no word amongst\nthem, a shadow upon all. The shadow was in Asgard too,--had walked\nthrough Frigga's hall, and seated itself upon the threshold of\nGladsheim. Odin had just come out to look at it, and Frigg stood by\nin mute despair as the \u00c6sir came up.\n\n\"Loki did it! Loki did it!\" they said at last in confused, hoarse\nwhispers, and they looked from one to another, upon Odin, upon Frigg,\nupon the shadow which they saw before them, and which they felt\nwithin. \"Loki did it! Loki, Loki!\" they went on saying; but it was no\nuse repeating the name of Loki over and over again when there was\nanother name they were too sad to utter which yet filled all their\nhearts--Baldur. Frigga said it first, and then they all went to look\nat him lying down so peacefully on the grass--dead, dead.\n\n\"Carry him to the funeral pyre!\" said Odin, at length; and four of\nthe \u00c6sir stooped down, and lifted their dead brother.\n\nWith scarcely any sound they carried the body tenderly to the\nsea-shore, and laid it upon the deck of that majestic ship called\nRinghorn, which had been _his_. Then they stood round waiting to see\nwho would come to the funeral. Odin came, and on his shoulders sat\nhis two ravens, whose croaking drew clouds down over the Asa's face,\nfor Thought and Memory sang one sad song that day. Frigga\ncame,--Frey, Gerda, Freyja, Thor, H\u0153nir, Bragi, and Id\u016bn. Heimdall\ncame sweeping over the tops of the mountains on Golden Mane, his\nswift, bright steed. \u00c6gir the Old groaned from under the deep, and\nsent his daughters up to mourn around the dead. Frost-giants and\nmountain-giants came crowding round the rimy shores of J\u00f6tunheim to\nlook across the sea upon the funeral of an Asa. Nanna came, Baldur's\nfair young wife; but when she saw the dead body of her husband her\nown heart broke with grief, and the \u00c6sir laid her beside him on the\nstately ship. After this Odin stepped forward, and placed a ring on\nthe breast of his son, whispering something at the same time in his\near; but when he and the rest of the \u00c6sir tried to push Ringhorn into\nthe sea before setting fire to it, they found that their hearts were\nso heavy they could lift nothing. So they beckoned to the giantess\nHyrrokin to come over from J\u00f6tunheim and help them. She, with a\nsingle push, set the ship floating, and then, whilst Thor stood up\nholding Mi\u00f6lnir high in the air, Odin lighted the funeral pile of\nBaldur and of Nanna.\n\nSo Ringhorn went out floating towards the deep, and the funeral fire\nburnt on. Its broad red flame burst forth towards heaven; but when\nthe smoke would have gone upward too, the winds came sobbing and\ncarried it away.\n\n\nPART IV. HELHEIM.\n\nWhen at last the ship Ringhorn had floated out so far to sea that it\nlooked like a dull, red lamp on the horizon, Frigga turned round and\nsaid, \"Does any one of you, my children, wish to perform a noble\naction, and win my love for ever?\"\n\n\"I do,\" cried Hermod, before any one else had time to open his lips.\n\n\"Go, then, Hermod,\" answered Frigg, \"saddle Sleipnir with all speed,\nand ride down to Helheim; there seek out Hela, the stern mistress of\nthe dead, and entreat her to send our beloved back to us once more.\"\n\nHermod was gone in the twinkling of an eye, not in at the mouth of\nthe earth and through the steep cavern down which Odin went to the\ndead Vala's grave; he chose another way, though not a better one;\nfor, go to Helheim how you will, the best is but a downward road, and\nso Hermod found it--downward, slanting, slippery, dark and very cold.\nAt last he came to the Giallar Bru--that sounding river which flows\nbetween the living and the dead, and the bridge over which is paved\nwith stones of glittering gold. Hermod was surprised to see gold in\nsuch a place; but as he rode over the bridge, and looked down\ncarefully at the stones, he saw that they were only tears which had\nbeen shed round the beds of the dying--only tears, and yet they made\nthe way seem brighter. But when Hermod reached the other end of the\nbridge, he found the courageous woman who, for ages and ages, had\nbeen sitting there to watch the dead go by, and she stopped him\nsaying,--\n\n\"What a noise you make. Who are you? Yesterday five troops of dead\nmen went over the Giallar Bridge, and did not shake it so much as\nyou have done. Besides,\" she added, looking more closely at Hermod,\n\"you are not a dead man at all. Your lips are neither cold nor blue.\nWhy, then, do you ride on the way to Helheim?\"\n\n\"I seek Baldur,\" answered Hermod. \"Tell me, have you seen him pass?\"\n\n\"Baldur,\" she said, \"has ridden over the bridge; but there below,\ntowards the north, lies the way to the Abodes of Death.\"\n\nSo Hermod went on the way until he came to the barred gates of\nHelheim itself. There he alighted, tightened his saddle-girths,\nremounted, clapped both spurs to his horse, and cleared the gate by\none tremendous leap. Then Hermod found himself in a place where no\nliving man had ever been before--the City of the Dead. Perhaps you\nthink there is a great silence there, but you are mistaken. Hermod\nthought he had never in his life heard so much noise; for the echoes\nof all words were speaking together--words, some newly uttered and\nsome ages old; but the dead men did not hear who flitted up and down\nthe dark streets, for their ears had been stunned and become cold\nlong since. Hermod rode on through the city until he came to the\npalace of Hela, which stood in the midst. Precipice was its\nthreshold, the entrance-hall, Wide Storm, and yet Hermod was not too\nmuch afraid to seek the innermost rooms; so he went on to the\nbanqueting-hall, where Hela sat at the head of her table, and served\nher newest guests. Baldur, alas! sat at her right-hand, and on her\nleft his pale young wife. When Hela saw Hermod coming up the hall she\nsmiled grimly, but beckoned to him at the same time to sit down, and\ntold him that he might sup that night with her. It was a strange\nsupper for a living man to sit down to. Hunger was the table;\nStarvation, Hela's knife; Delay her man; Slowness, her maid; and\nBurning Thirst, her wine. After supper Hela led the way to the\nsleeping apartments. \"You see,\" she said, turning to Hermod, \"I am\nvery anxious about the comfort of my guests. Here are beds of unrest\nprovided for all, hung with curtains of weariness, and look how all\nthe walls are furnished with despair.\"\n\nSo saying she strode away, leaving Hermod and Baldur together. The\nwhole night they sat on those unquiet couches and talked. Hermod\ncould speak of nothing but the past, and as he looked anxiously round\nthe room his eyes became dim with tears. But Baldur seemed to see a\nlight far off, and he spoke of what was to come.\n\nThe next morning Hermod went to Hela, and entreated her to let Baldur\nreturn to Asgard. He even offered to take his place in Helheim if she\npleased; but Hela only laughed at this, and said, \"You talk a great\ndeal about Baldur, and boast how much every one loves him; I will\nprove now if what you have told me be true. Let everything on earth,\nliving or dead, weep for Baldur and he shall go home again; but if\n_one_ thing only refuse to weep, then let Helheim hold its own; he\nshall _not_ go.\"\n\n\"Every one will weep willingly,\" said Hermod, as he mounted Sleipnir,\nand rode towards the entrance of the city. Baldur went with him as\nfar as the gate, and began to send messages to all his friends in\nAsgard, but Hermod would not listen to many of them.\n\n\"You will so soon come back to us,\" he said, \"there is no use in\nsending messages.\"\n\nSo Hermod darted homewards, and Baldur watched him through the bars\nof Helheim's gateway as he flew along.\n\n\"Not soon, not soon,\" said the dead Asa; but still he saw the light\nfar off, and thought of what was to come.\n\n\nPART V. WEEPING.\n\n\"Well, Hermod, what did she say?\" asked the \u00c6sir from the top of the\nhill, as they saw him coming; \"make haste and tell us what she said.\"\nAnd Hermod came up.\n\n\"Oh! is that all?\" they cried, as soon as he had delivered his\nmessage. \"Nothing can be more easy;\" and then they all hurried off to\ntell Frigga. She was weeping already, and in five minutes there was\nnot a tearless eye in Asgard.\n\n\"But this is not enough,\" said Odin; \"the whole earth must know of\nour grief that it may weep with us.\"\n\nThen the father of the \u00c6sir called to him his messenger maidens--the\nbeautiful Valkyrior--and sent them out into all worlds with these\nthree words on their lips, \"Baldur is dead!\" But the words were so\ndreadful that at first the messenger maidens could only whisper them\nin low tones as they went along, \"Baldur is dead!\" The dull, sad\nsounds flowed back on Asgard like a new river of grief, and it seemed\nto the \u00c6sir as if they now wept for the first time--\"Baldur is dead!\"\n\n\"What is that the Valkyrior are saying?\" asked the men and women in\nall the country round, and when they heard rightly, men left their\nlabour and lay down to weep--women dropped the buckets they were\ncarrying to the well, and, leaning their faces over them, filled them\nwith tears. The children crowded upon the doorsteps, or sat down at\nthe corners of the streets, crying as if their own mothers were dead.\n\nThe Valkyrior passed on. \"Baldur is dead!\" they said to the empty\nfields; and straightway the grass and the wild field-flowers shed\ntears. \"Baldur is dead!\" said the messenger maidens to the rocks and\nthe stones; and the very stones began to weep. \"Baldur is dead!\" the\nValkyrior cried; and even the old mammoth's bones, which had lain for\ncenturies under the hills, burst into tears, so that small rivers\ngushed forth from every mountain's side. \"Baldur is dead!\" said the\nmessenger maidens as they swept over silent sands; and all the shells\nwept pearls. \"Baldur is dead!\" they cried to the sea, and to\nJ\u00f6tunheim across the sea; and when the giants understood it, even\nthey wept, whilst the sea rained spray to heaven. After this the\nValkyrior stepped from one stone to another until they reached a rock\nthat stood alone in the middle of the sea; then, all together, they\nbent forward over the edge of it, stooped down and peeped over, that\nthey might tell the monsters of the deep. \"Baldur is dead!\" they\nsaid; and, the sea monsters and the fish wept. Then the messenger\nmaidens looked at one another, and said, \"Surely our work is done.\"\nSo they twined their arms round one another's waists, and set forth\non the downward road to Helheim, there to claim Baldur from among the\ndead.\n\nNow after he had sent forth his messenger maidens, Odin had seated\nhimself on the top of Air Throne that he might see how the earth\nreceived his message. At first he watched the Valkyrior as they\nstepped forth north and south, and east and west; but soon the whole\nearth's steaming tears rose up like a great cloud, and hid everything\nfrom him. Then he looked down through the cloud, and said, \"Are you\nall weeping?\" The Valkyrior heard the sound of his voice as they went\nall together down the slippery road, and they turned round,\nstretching out their arms towards Air Throne, their long hair falling\nback, whilst, with choked voices and streaming eyes, they answered,\n\"The world weeps, Father Odin; the world and we.\"\n\nAfter this they went on their way until they came to the end of the\ncave Gnipa, where Garm was chained, and which yawned over Niflheim.\n\"The world weeps,\" they said one to another by way of encouragement,\nfor here the road was so dreadful; but just as they were about to\npass through the mouth of Gnipa they came upon a haggard witch named\nThaukt, who sat in the entrance with her back to them, and her face\ntowards the abyss. \"Baldur is dead! Weep, weep!\" said the messenger\nmaidens, as they tried to pass her; but Thaukt made answer--\n\n    \"What she doth hold,\n      Let Hela keep;\n    For naught care I,\n      Though the world weep,\n        O'er Baldur's bale.\n    Live he or die\n    With tearless eye,\n      Old Thaukt shall wail.\"\n\nAnd with these words leaped into Niflheim with a yell of triumph.\n\n\"Surely that cry was the cry of Loki,\" said one of the maidens; but\nanother pointed towards the city of Helheim, and there they saw the\nstern face of Hela looking over the wall.\n\n\"One has not wept,\" said the grim Queen, \"and Helheim holds its own.\"\nSo saying she motioned the maidens away with her long, cold hand.\n\nThen the Valkyrior turned and fled up the steep way to the foot of\nOdin's throne, like a pale snow-drift that flies before the storm.\n\nAfter this a strong child, called Vali, was born in the city of\nAsgard. He was the youngest of Odin's sons--strong and cold as the\nicy January blast; but full, also, as it is of the hope of the new\nyear. When only a day old he slew the blind H\u00f6dur by a single blow,\nand then spent the rest of his life in trying to lift the shadow of\ndeath from the face of the weeping earth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe death of Baldur was probably in the first place an expression of\nthe decline of the Summer sun. At midsummer Freyja's husband forsook\nher, at midsummer also the bright god begins to turn his face\nHelheim-wards. Midsummer day is observed in the North of Europe under\nthe name of Beltan, and fires are lighted upon the hills, a custom\nwhich evidently had its origin in a commemoration of Baldur's death.\nSome think that Baldur and H\u00f6dur typify the two halves of the year.\nAt the turn of the day in Summer H\u00f6d kills Baldur, at the turn of\nthe day in Winter Vali kills H\u00f6dur. Vali was the son of Odin and\nRind, a giantess, whose name means the winterly earth, so that\nclearly Vali comes at midwinter. Why the mistletoe should be used to\nkill Baldur it is difficult to say. Might its being so weak and small\nimply the very small beginning of the day's decline.\n\nBut Baldur, from the description given of him in the _Edda_, must\nsurely be a personification of goodness morally, as well as the sun\nof the outward year, and his not returning from Helheim, being\nretained there through the machinations of Loki, seems to be a sort\nof connecting link between the first sorrow of the gods, the\nbeginning of evil and their final defeat by the evil powers at\nRagnar\u00f6k--the giants have already one foot upon the gods.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe hero of the next story is Tyr, mentioned in the first chapter as\nthe only one of the \u00c6sir who could feed the monster Fenrir.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE BINDING OF FENRIR.\n\n\nPART I. THE MIGHT OF ASGARD.\n\nI hope you have not forgotten what I told you of Fenrir, Loki's\nfierce wolf-son, whom Odin brought home with him to Asgard, and of\nwhose reformation, uncouth and wolfish as he was, All-Father\nentertained some hope, thinking that the wholesome, bright air of\nGladsheim, the sight of the fair faces of the Asyniur and the hearing\nof the brave words which day by day fell from the lips of heroes,\nwould, perhaps, have power to change the cruel nature he had\ninherited from his father, and make him worthy of his place as a\ndweller in the City of Lords.\n\nTo Tyr, the brave and strong-handed, Odin assigned the task of\nfeeding Fenrir, and watching him, lest, in his cruel strength, he\nshould injure any who were unable to defend themselves. And truly it\nwas a grand sight, and one that Asa Odin loved, to see the two\ntogether, when, in the evening after the feast was over in Valhalla,\nFenrir came prowling to Tyr's feet to receive his food from the one\nhand strong enough to quell him.\n\nTyr stood up in his calm strength like a tall, sheltering rock in\nwhich the timid sea-birds find a home; and Fenrir roared and howled\nround him like the bitter, destroying wave that slowly undermines its\nbase.\n\n[Illustration: TYR FEEDING FENRIR.]\n\nTime passed on. Tyr had reached the prime of his strength; but Fenrir\nwent on growing, not so rapidly as to awaken fear, as his brother\nJ\u00f6rmungand had done, but slowly, surely, continually--a little\nstronger and a little fiercer every day.\n\nThe \u00c6sir and the Asyniur had become accustomed to his presence; the\ngentlest lady in Asgard no longer turned away from the sight of\nhis fierce mouth and fiery eye; they talked to each other about the\nsmallest things, and every daily event was commented on and wondered\nabout; but no one said anything of Fenrir, or noticed how gradually\nhe grew, or how the glad air and the strong food, which gave valour\nand strength to an Asa, could only develope with greater rapidity\nfierceness and cruelty in a wolf. And they would have gone on living\nsecurely together while the monster grew and grew, if it had not been\nthat Asa Odin's one eye, enlightened as it was by the upspringing\nwell of wisdom within, saw more clearly than the eyes of his brothers\nand children.\n\nOne evening, as he stood in the court of Valhalla watching Tyr as he\ngave Fenrir his evening meal, a sudden cloud of care fell on the\nplacid face of All-Father, and when the wolf, having satisfied his\nhunger, crouched back to his lair, he called together a council of\nthe heads of the \u00c6sir--Thor, Tyr, Bragi, H\u0153nir, Frey, and Ni\u00f6rd;\nand, after pointing out to them the evil which they had allowed to\ngrow up among them unnoticed, he asked their counsel as to the best\nway of overcoming it before it became too strong to withstand.\n\nThor, always ready, was the first to answer. \"One would think,\" he\nsaid, \"to hear the grave way in which you speak, Father Odin, that\nthere was no such thing as a smithy near Asgard, or that I, Asa Thor,\nhad no power to forge mighty weapons, and had never made my name\nknown in J\u00f6tunheim as the conqueror and binder of monsters. Set your\nmind at rest. Before to-morrow evening at this time I will have\nforged a chain with which you shall bind Fenrir; and, once bound in a\nchain of my workmanship, there will be nothing further to fear from\nhim.\"\n\nThe assembled \u00c6sir applauded Thor's speech; but the cloud did not\npass away from Odin's brow.\n\n\"You have done many mighty deeds, Son Thor,\" he said; \"but, if I\nmistake not, this binding of Fenrir will prove a task too difficult\neven for you.\"\n\nThor made no answer; but he seized Mi\u00f6lnir, and, with sounding\nsteps, strode to the smithy. All night long the mighty blows of\nMi\u00f6lnir rang on the anvil, and the roaring bellows breathed a hot\nblast over all the hill of Asgard. None of the \u00c6sir slept that night;\nbut every now and then one or other of them came to cheer Thor at his\nwork. Sometimes Frey brought his bright face into the dusky smithy;\nsometimes Tyr entreated permission to strike a stout blow; sometimes\nBragi seated himself among the workers, and, with his eyes fixed on\nthe glowing iron, poured forth a hero song, to which the ringing\nblows kept time.\n\nThere was also another guest, who, at intervals, made his presence\nknown. By the light of the fire the evil form of Fenrir was seen\nprowling round in the darkness, and every now and then a fiendish,\nmocking laugh filled the pauses of the song, and the wind, and the\nringing hammer.\n\nAll that night and the next day Thor laboured and Fenrir watched,\nand, at the time of the evening meal, Thor strode triumphantly into\nFather Odin's presence, and laid before him L\u00e6ding, the strongest\nchain that had ever yet been forged on earth. The \u00c6sir passed it from\none to another, and wondered at its immense length, and at the\nponderous moulding of its twisted links.\n\n\"It is impossible for Fenrir to break through this,\" they said; and\nthey were loud in their thanks to Thor and praises of his prowess;\nonly Father Odin kept a grave, sad silence.\n\nWhen Fenrir came into the court to receive his food from Tyr, it was\nagreed that Thor and Tyr were to seize and bind him. They held their\nweapons in readiness, for they expected a fierce struggle; but, to\ntheir surprise, Fenrir quietly allowed the chain to be wound round\nhim, and lay down at his ease, while Thor, with two strokes of\nMi\u00f6lnir, rivetted the last link into one of the strongest stones on\nwhich the court rested. Then, when the \u00c6sir were about to\ncongratulate each other on their victory, he slowly raised his\nponderous form, which seemed to dilate in the rising, with one bound\nforward snapped the chain like a silken thread, and walked leisurely\nto his lair, as if no unusual thing had befallen him.\n\nThe \u00c6sir, with downcast faces, stood looking at each other. Once more\nThor was the first to speak. \"He who breaks through L\u00e6ding,\" he said,\n\"only brings upon himself the still harder bondage of Dromi.\" And\nhaving uttered these words, he again lifted Mi\u00f6lnir from the ground,\nand, weary as he was, returned to the smithy and resumed his place at\nthe anvil.\n\nFor three days and nights Thor worked, and, when he once more\nappeared before Father Odin, he carried in his hand Dromi--the\n\"Strong Binding.\" This chain exceeded L\u00e6ding in strength by one half,\nand was so heavy that Asa Thor himself staggered under its weight;\nand yet Fenrir showed no fear of allowing himself to be bound by it,\nand it cost him very little more effort than on the first evening to\nfree himself from its fetters.\n\nAfter this second failure Odin again called a council of \u00c6sir in\nGladsheim, and Thor stood among the others, silent and shamefaced.\n\nIt was now Frey who ventured first to offer an opinion. \"Thor, Tyr,\nand other brave sons of the \u00c6sir,\" he said, \"have passed their lives\nvaliantly in fighting against giants and monsters, and, doubtless,\nmuch wise lore has come to them through these adventures. I, for the\nmost part, have spent my time peacefully in woods and fields,\nwatching how the seasons follow each other, and how the silent, dewy\nnight ever leads up the brightly-smiling day; and, in this watching,\nmany things have been made plain to me which have not, perhaps, been\nthought worthy of regard by my brother Lords. One thing that I have\nlearned is, the wondrous strength that lies in little things, and\nthat the labour carried on in darkness and silence ever brings forth\nthe grandest birth. Thor and Mi\u00f6lnir have failed to forge a chain\nstrong enough to bind Fenrir; but, since we cannot be helped by the\nmighty and renowned, let us turn to the unknown and weak.\n\n\"In the caverns and dim places of the earth live a tiny race of\npeople, who are always working with unwearied, noiseless fingers.\nWith Asa Odin's permission, I will send my messenger, Skirnir, and\nentreat aid of them; and we shall, perhaps, find that what passes\nthe might of Asgard may be accomplished in the secret places of\nSvartheim.\"\n\nThe face of Asa Odin brightened as Frey spoke, and, rising\nimmediately from his seat, he broke up the council, and entreated\nFrey to lose no time in returning to Alfheim and despatching Skirnir\non his mission.\n\n\nPART II. THE SECRET OF SVARTHEIM.\n\nIn spite of the cloud that hung over Asgard all was fair and peaceful\nin Alfheim. Gerda, the radiant Alf Queen, made there perpetual\nsunshine with her bright face. The little elves loved her, and\nfluttered round her, keeping up a continual merry chatter, which\nsounded through the land like the sharp ripple of a brook over stony\nplaces; and Gerda answered them in low, sweet tones, as the answering\nwind sounds among the trees.\n\nThese must have been pleasant sounds to hear after the ringing of\nMi\u00f6lnir and the howling of Fenrir; but Frey hardly gave himself time\nto greet Gerd and his elves before he summoned Skirnir into his\npresence, and acquainted him with the danger that hung over Asgard,\nand the important mission which the \u00c6sir had determined to trust to\nhis sagacity. Skirnir listened, playing with the knot of his wondrous\nsword, as he was wont to do, in order to make known to every one that\nhe possessed it; for, to confess the truth, it was somewhat too heavy\nfor him to wield.\n\n\"This is a far different mission,\" he said, \"from that on which you\nonce sent me--to woo fairest Gerd; but, as the welfare of Asgard\nrequires it, I will depart at once, though I have little liking for\nthe dark caves and cunning people.\"\n\nFrey thanked him, and, putting a small key into his hand, which was,\nindeed, the key to the gate of Svartheim, he bade him farewell, and\nSkirnir set out on his journey.\n\nThe road from Alfheim to Svartheim is not as long as you would be apt\nto imagine. Indeed, it is possible for a careless person to wander\nfrom one region to another without being at once aware of it.\nSkirnir, having the key in his hand, took the direct way. The\nentrance-gate stands at the opening of a dim mountain-cave. Skirnir\nleft his horse without, and entered; the air was heavy, moist, and\nwarm, and it required the keenest glances of Skirnir's keen eyes to\nsee his way. Innumerable narrow, winding paths, all leading\ndownwards, opened themselves before him. As he followed the widest, a\nfaint clinking sound of hammers met his ear, and, looking round, he\nsaw groups of little men at work on every side. Some were wheeling\nsmall wheelbarrows full of lumps of shining metal along the ledges of\nthe rock; some, with elfin pickaxes and spades, were digging ore from\nthe mountain-side; some, herded together in little caves, were busy\nkindling fires, or working with tiny hammers on small anvils. As he\ncontinued his downward path the last remnant of daylight faded away;\nbut he was not in total darkness, for now he perceived that each\nworker carried on his head a lantern, in which burned a pale, dancing\nlight. Skirnir knew that each light was a Will-o'-the-wisp, which the\ndwarf who carried it had caught and imprisoned to light him in his\nwork during the day, and which he must restore to the earth at night.\n\nFor many miles Skirnir wandered on lower and lower. On every side of\nhim lay countless heaps of treasure--gold, silver, diamonds, rubies,\nemeralds--which the cunning workers stowed away silently in their\ndark hiding-places. At length he came to the very middle of the\nmountain, where the rocky roof rose to an immense height, and where\nhe found himself in a brilliantly-lighted palace. Here, in truth,\nwere hung all the lights in the world, which, on dark, moonless\nnights, are carried out by dwarfs to deceive the eyes of men.\nCorpse-lights, Will-o'-the-wisps, the sparks from glow-worms' tails,\nthe light in fire-flies' wings--these, carefully hung up in tiers\nround and round the hall, illuminated the palace with a cold blue\nlight, and revealed to Skirnir's eyes the grotesque and hideous\nshapes of the tiny beings around him. Hump-backed, cunning-eyed,\nopen-mouthed, they stood round, laughing, and whispering, and\npointing with shrivelled fingers. One among them, a little taller\nthan the rest, who sat on a golden seat thickly set with diamonds,\nappeared to be a kind of chief among them, and to him Skirnir\naddressed his message.\n\nCunning and wicked as these dwarfs were, they entertained a wholesome\nfear of Odin, having never forgotten their one interview with him in\nGladsheim; and, therefore, when they heard from whom Skirnir came,\nwith many uncouth gesticulations they bowed low before him, and\ndeclared themselves willing to obey All-Father's commands. They asked\nfor two days and two nights in which to complete their task, and\nduring that time Skirnir remained their guest in Svartheim.\n\nHe wandered about, and saw strange sights. He saw the great earth\ncentral fire, and the swarthy, withered race, whose task it is\nceaselessly to feed it with fuel; he saw the diamond-makers, who\nchange the ashes of the great fire into brilliants; and the dwarfs,\nwhose business it is to fill the cracks in the mountain-sides with\npure veins of silver and gold, and lead them up to places where they\nwill one day meet the eyes of men. Nearer the surface he visited the\nworkers in iron and the makers of salt-mines; he drank of their\nstrange-tasting mineral waters, and admired the splendour of their\nsilver-roofed temples and dwellings of solid gold.\n\nAt the end of two days Skirnir re-entered the audience-hall, and then\nthe chief of the dwarfs put into his hand a slender chain. You can\nimagine what size it was when I tell you that the dwarf chief held it\nlightly balanced on his forefinger; and when it rested on Skirnir's\nhand it felt to him no heavier than a piece of thistle-down.\n\nThe Svart King laughed loud when he saw the disappointment on\nSkirnir's face. \"It seems to you a little thing,\" he said; \"and yet I\nassure you that in making it we have used up all the materials in the\nwhole world fit for the purpose. No such chain can ever be made\nagain, neither will the least atom of the substances of which it is\nmade be found more. It is fashioned out of six things. The noise made\nby the footfall of cats; the beards of women; the roots of stones;\nthe sinews of bears; the breath of fish; and the spittle of birds.\nFear not with this to bind Fenrir; for no stronger chain will ever be\nmade till the end of the world.\"\n\nSkirnir now looked with wonder at his chain, and, after having\nthanked the dwarfs, and promised to bring them a reward from Odin, he\nset forth on his road home, and, by the time of the evening meal,\nreached Valhalla, and gladdened the hearts of the \u00c6sir by the tidings\nof his success.\n\n\nPART III. HONOUR.\n\nFar away to the north of Asgard, surrounded by frowning mountains,\nthe dark lake, Amsvartnir, lies, and, above the level of its troubled\nwaters, burns Lyngvi, the island of sweet broom, flaming like a jewel\non the dark brow of Hela. In this lonely isle, to which no ship but\nSkidbladnir could sail, the \u00c6sir, with Fenrir in the midst, assembled\nto try the strength of the dwarfs' chain.\n\nFenrir prowled round his old master, Tyr, with a look of savage\ntriumph in his cruel eyes, now licking the hand that had so long fed\nhim, and now shaking his great head, and howling defiantly. The \u00c6sir\nstood at the foot of Gi\u00f6ll, the sounding rock, and passed Gleipnir,\nthe chain, from one to another, talking about it, while Fenrir\nlistened. \"It was much stronger than it looked,\" they said; and Thor\nand Tyr vied with each other in their efforts to break it; while\nBragi declared his belief that there was no one among \u00c6sir or giants\ncapable of performing so great a feat, \"unless,\" he added, \"it should\nbe you, Fenrir.\"\n\nThis speech roused the pride of Fenrir; and, after looking long at\nthe slender chain and the faces of the \u00c6sir, he answered, \"Loath am I\nto be bound by this chain; but, lest you should doubt my courage, I\nwill consent that you should bind me, provided one of you put his\nhand into my mouth as a pledge that no deceit is intended.\"\n\nThere was a moment's silence among the \u00c6sir when they heard this, and\nthey looked at one another. Odin looked at Thor, and Thor looked at\nBragi, and Frey fell behind, and put his hand to his side, where the\nall-conquering sword, which he alone could wield, no longer rested.\n\nAt length Tyr stepped forward valiantly, and put his strong right\nhand, with which he had so often fed him, into the wolf's cruel jaws.\n\nAt this signal the other \u00c6sir threw the chain round the monster's\nneck, bound him securely with one end, and fastened the other to the\ngreat rock Gi\u00f6ll. When he was bound Fenrir rose, and shook himself,\nas he had done before; but in vain he raised himself up, and bounded\nforward--the more he struggled the more firmly the slender chain\nbound him.\n\nAt this sight the \u00c6sir set up a loud shout of joy; for they saw their\nenemy conquered, and the danger that threatened Asgard averted. Only\nTyr was silent, for in the struggle he had lost his hand.\n\nThen Thor thrust his sword into the mouth of Fenrir, and a foaming\ndark flood burst forth, roared down the rock and under the lake, and\nbegan its course through the country a turbid river. So it will roll\non till Ragnar\u00f6k be come.\n\nThe sails of Skidbladnir now spread themselves out to the wind; and\nthe \u00c6sir, seated in the magic ship, floated over the lake silently in\nthe silent moonlight; while, from the top of Bifr\u00f6st, over the Urda\nfount and the dwelling of the Norns, a song floated down. \"Who,\"\nasked one voice, \"of all the \u00c6sir has won the highest honour?\" and,\nsinging, another voice made answer, \"Tyr has won the highest honour;\nfor, of all the \u00c6sir, he has the most worthily employed his gift.\"\n\n\"Frey gave his sword for fairest Gerd.\"\n\n\"Odin bought for himself wisdom at the price of his right eye.\"\n\n\"Tyr, not for himself, but for others, has sacrificed his strong\nright hand.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe wolf Fenrir is annihilation; he was destined to swallow the chief\nof the gods at Ragnar\u00f6k. We see him here as destruction chained until\nhis time for mischief should come again--the destructive side of\nnature morally and physically is personified in him. Why the dwarfs\nshould be able to make a chain strong enough to bind him, which the\ngods had failed to do, is a puzzle. May it mean that subtlety can\ncompass ends which force has to relinquish, or possibly a better\nthing than subtlety, gentleness?\n\nTyr, who plays an important part in this myth, was the son of Odin\nand a giantess. His name means \"Shining;\" at one time he was probably\na chief of gods. He is also a sort of war god, something like Thor, a\nfiner hero, though, by a long way. Har says of him, \"he is the most\ndaring and intrepid of the gods, hence a man who surpasses all others\nin valour is called Tyr-strong.\" His having only one hand refers\npartly to his character of war god, and means that the victory can\nonly be awarded to one side. \"Thou never couldst settle a strife\nbetwixt two,\" was said to his shame, and, we may add, to that of all\nwar gods for ever.\n\nTyr gives his name to Tuesday, as Odin to Wednesday, Thor to\nThursday, and Freyja or Frigga to Friday. Some suggest that Loki is\nthe patron of Saturday. He--Loki--forms the subject of the next\nchapter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI.\n\n\nAfter the death of Baldur, Loki never again ventured to intrude\nhimself into the presence of the \u00c6sir. He knew well enough that he\nhad now done what could never be forgiven him, and that, for the\nfuture, he must bend all his cunning and vigilance to the task of\nhiding himself for ever from the eyes of those whom he had so\ninjured, and escaping the just punishment he had brought upon\nhimself.\n\nThe world is large, and I am very cunning, said Loki to himself, as\nhe turned his back upon Asgard, and wandered out into Manheim; there\nis no end to the thick woods, and no measure for the deep waters;\nneither is there any possibility of counting the various forms under\nwhich I shall disguise myself. All-Father will never be able to find\nme; I have no cause to fear. But, though Loki repeated this over and\nover again to himself, he _was_ afraid.\n\nHe wandered far into the thick woods, and covered himself with the\ndeep waters; he climbed to the tops of misty hills, and crouched in\nthe dark of hollow caves; but above the wood, and through the water,\nand down into the darkness, a single ray of calm, clear light seemed\nalways to follow him, and he knew that it came from the eye of\nAll-Father, who was watching him from Air Throne.\n\nThen he tried to escape the judging eye by disguising himself under\nvarious shapes. Sometimes he was an eagle on a lonely mountain-crag;\nsometimes he hid himself as one among a troop of timid reindeer;\nsometimes he lay in the nest of a wood-pigeon; sometimes he swam, a\nbright-spotted fish, in the sea; but, wherever he was, among living\ncreatures, or alone with dead nature, everything seemed to know him,\nand to find some voice in which to say to him, You are Loki, and you\nhave killed Baldur. Air, earth, or water, there was no rest for him\nanywhere.\n\nTired at last of seeking what he could nowhere find, Loki built\nhimself a house by the side of a narrow, glittering river which, at a\nlower point, flashed down from a high rock into the sea below. He\ntook care that his house should have four doors in it, that he might\nlook out on every side, and catch the first glimpse of the \u00c6sir when\nthey came, as he knew they would come, to take him away. Here his\nwife, Siguna, and his two sons, Ali and Nari, came to live with him.\n\nSiguna was a kind woman, far too good and kind for Loki. She felt\nsorry for him now that she saw he was in great fear, and that every\nliving thing had turned against him, and she would have hidden him\nfrom the just anger of the \u00c6sir if she could; but the two sons cared\nlittle about their father's dread and danger; they spent all their\ntime in quarrelling with each other; and their loud, angry voices,\nsounding above the waterfall, would speedily have betrayed the\nhiding-place, even if All-Father's piercing eye had not already\ndiscovered it. If only the children would be quiet, Siguna used to\nsay anxiously every day; but Loki said nothing; he was beginning to\nknow by experience that there was that about his children that could\nnever be kept quiet or hidden away.\n\nAt last, one day when he was sitting in the middle of his house\nlooking alternately out of all the four doors, and amusing himself as\nwell as he could by making a fishing net, he spied in the distance\nthe whole company of the \u00c6sir approaching his house. The sight of\nthem coming all together--beautiful, and noble, and free--pierced\nLoki with a pang that was worse than death. He rose without daring to\nlook again, threw his net on a fire that burned on the floor, and,\nrushing to the side of the little river, he turned himself into a\nsalmon, swam down to the deepest, stillest pool at the bottom, and\nhid himself between two stones. The \u00c6sir entered the house, and\nlooked all round in vain for Loki, till Kvasir, one of Odin's sons,\nfamous for his keen sight, spied out the remains of the fishing-net\nin the fire; then Odin knew at once that there was a river near, and\nthat it was there where Loki had hidden himself. He ordered his sons\nto make a fresh net, and to cast it into the water, and drag out\nwhatever living thing they could find there. It was done as he\ndesired. Thor held one end of the net, and all the rest of the \u00c6sir\ndrew the other through the water. When they pulled it up the first\ntime, however, it was empty, and they would have gone away\ndisappointed, had not Kvasir, looking earnestly at the meshes of the\nnet, discovered that something living had certainly touched them.\nThey then added a weight to the net, and threw it with such force\nthat it reached the bottom of the river, and dragged up the stones in\nthe pool.\n\nLoki now saw the danger he was in of being caught in the net, and, as\nthere was no other way of escape, he rose to the surface, swam down\nthe river as quickly as he could, and leaped over the net into the\nwaterfall. He swam and leaped quickly as a flash of lightning, but\nnot so quickly but that the \u00c6sir saw him, knew him through his\ndisguise, and resolved that he should no longer escape them. They\ndivided into two bands. Thor waded down the river to the waterfall;\nthe other \u00c6sir stood in a group below. Loki swam backwards and\nforwards between them. Now he thought he would dart out into the sea,\nand now that he would spring over the net back again into the river.\nThis last seemed the readiest way of escape, and, with the greatest\nspeed, he attempted it. Thor, however, was watching for him, and, as\nsoon as Loki leaped out of the water, he stretched out his hand, and\ncaught him while he was yet turning in the air. Loki wriggled his\nslippery, slimy length through Thor's fingers; but the Thunderer\ngrasped him tightly by the tail, and, holding him in this manner in\nhis hand, waded to the shore. There Father Odin and the other \u00c6sir\nmet him; and, at Odin's first searching look, Loki was obliged to\ndrop his disguise, and, cowering and frightened, to stand in his\nproper shape before the assembled Lords. One by one they turned their\nfaces from him; for, in looking at him, they seemed to see over again\nthe death of Baldur the Beloved.\n\nI told you that there were high rocks looking over the sea not far\nfrom Loki's house. One of these, higher than the rest, had midway\nfour projecting stones, and to these the \u00c6sir resolved to bind Loki\nin such a manner that he should never again be able to torment the\ninhabitants of Manheim or Asgard by his evil-doings. Thor proposed to\nreturn to Asgard, to bring a chain with which to bind the prisoner;\nbut Odin assured him that he had no need to take such a journey,\n\"Loki,\" he said, \"has already forged for himself a chain stronger\nthan any you can make. While we have been occupied in catching him,\nhis two sons, Ali and Nari, transformed into wolves by their evil\npassions, have fought with, and destroyed, each other. With their\nsinews we must make a chain to bind their father, and from that he\ncan never escape.\"\n\nIt was done as Asa Odin said. A rope was made of the dead wolves'\nsinews, and, as soon as it touched Loki's body, it turned into bands\nof iron, and bound him immoveably to the rock. Secured in this manner\nthe \u00c6sir left him.\n\nBut his punishment did not end here. A snake, whose fangs dropped\nvenom, glided to the top of the rock, and leaned his head over to\npeer at Loki. The eyes of the two met and fixed each other. The\nserpent could never move away afterwards; but every moment a burning\ndrop from his tongue fell down on Loki's shuddering face.\n\n[Illustration: THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI.]\n\nIn all the world there was only one who pitied him. His kind wife\never afterwards stood beside him, and held a cup over his head to\ncatch the poison. When the cup was full, she was obliged to turn away\nto empty it, and drops of poison fell again on Loki's face. He\nshuddered and shrank from it, and the whole earth trembled. So will\nhe lie bound till Ragnar\u00f6k be come.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLoki, as we have seen all along, whatever his origin may have been,\nhad come to mean evil by the time these myths were formed,--the\ndestructive principle, the originator of all corruption--as, father\nof devouring Hel, of Fenrir, the wolf annihilator, and of J\u00f6rmungand,\nthe universal wolf. There is a curious story in one of the _Eddas_\nabout a feast which the King of the Sea gave to the gods. By the way,\none song says of \u00c6gir, \"Sat the Rock-dweller, glad as a child:\" which\nis the introduction to another feast he gave the gods. If he began\nby being glad on this latter occasion, expecting a happy\nentertainment, he must have had a grievous disappointment, for Loki,\nbent on mischief, would insist upon feasting with the \u00c6sir. Things\nrarely went well where Loki was, which the gods knew and begged him\nnot to come. But Loki would come, and directly he was seated at the\ntable he began his mischief-making, doing his best to make the gods\nquarrel with one another, insulting them by turns, reminding each of\nsome fault or misfortune least pleasant to remember. Altogether it\nmust have been a most uncomfortable dinner-party. At last Thor, who\nhad been on a journey, came back; and, after a good deal of abuse had\npassed between him and Loki, the latter appeared to take alarm and\nslank away from his enraged companions. One account says that it was\nimmediately after this the gods caught Loki and bound him, but\nanother does not mention his capture in connection with \u00c6gir's feast.\nSimrock says that Loki, in his character of accuser at this banquet,\nrepresents the guilty conscience of the gods. From this he becomes\nthe guilty conscience itself, a personification of the consciousness\nof sin. His attempts at concealment, the four doors of his house\nplaced every way that he might be alert in descrying danger, his\nmaking the net by which he was caught (for the \u00c6sir were said to copy\nthe net which they found in Loki's house), his being bound with the\nentrails of his own children--results of evil deeds--all carry out\nthis idea. He is, says Simrock, the Bad itself as well as the\nconsciousness of it. He is sin chained as Fenrir is destruction\nchained. The gods are moral power, they are his chains, for it is\nsaid that when he shudders they tremble. And yet, how real he has\nbecome in this myth, so much a _person_ that we can scarcely help\nwishing him to escape by means of his ingenious disguises, and are\ncertainly glad that at last some one is left to pity him--the\nfaithful wife, standing by, who wards off from him so much of his\npunishment.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe now come to Ragnar\u00f6k; and \"first,\" as Har said, \"there will come a\nwinter.\" But that is not exactly how we tell the story.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nRAGNAR\u00d6K, OR THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS.\n\n\nSince the day that Baldur died no one had walked in the bright halls\nof Broadblink--no one had even stepped through the expanded gates.\nInstead of undimmed brightness, a soft, luminous mist now hung over\nthe palace of the dead Asa, and the Asyniur whispered to one another\nthat it was haunted by wild dreams.\n\n\"I have seen them,\" Freyja used to say; \"I have seen them float in at\nsunset through the palace windows and the open doors; every evening\nI can trace their slight forms through the rosy mist; and I know\nthat those dreams are wild and strange from the shuddering that I\nfeel when I look at them, or if ever they glance at me.\"\n\nSo the Asyniur never went into Broadblink, and though the \u00c6sir did\nnot think much about the dreams, they never went there either.\n\nBut one day it happened that Odin stood in the opening of the palace\ngates at sunset. The evening was clear and calm, and he stood\nwatching the western sky until its crimson faded into soft blue grey;\nthen the colours of the flowers began to mix one with another--only\nthe tall white and yellow blossoms stood out alone--the distance\nbecame more dim. It was twilight, and there was silence over the\nearth whilst the night and the evening drew near to one another. Then\na young dream came floating through the gates into Broadblink. Her\nsisters were already there; but she had only just been born, and, as\nshe passed Odin, she touched him with a light hand, and drew him\nalong with her into the palace. She led him into the same hall in\nwhich Baldur had dreamed, and there Odin saw the night sky above\nhim, and the broad branches of Yggdrasil swaying in the breeze. The\nNorns stood under the great ash; the golden threads had dropped from\ntheir fingers; and Urd and Verdandi stood one on each side of Skuld,\nwho was still veiled. For a long time the three stood motionless, but\nat length Urd and Verdandi raised each a cold hand, and lifted the\nveil slowly from Skuld's face. Odin looked breathlessly within the\nveil, and the eyes of Skuld dilated as he looked, grew larger and\nlarger, melted into one another, and, at last, expanded into\nboundless space.\n\nIn the midst of space lay the world, with its long shores, and vast\noceans, ice mountains, and green plains; \u00c6sirland in the midst, with\nManheim all round it; then the wide sea, and, far off, the\nfrost-bound shores of J\u00f6tunheim. Sometimes there was night and\nsometimes day; summer and winter gave place to one another; and Odin\nwatched the seasons as they changed, rejoiced in the sunshine, and\nlooked calmly over the night.\n\nBut at last, during one sunrise, a wolf came out of Jarnvid, and\nbegan to howl at the sun. The sun did not seem to heed him, but\nwalked majestically up the sky to her mid-day point; then the wolf\nbegan to run after her, and chased her down the sky again to the low\nwest. There the sun opened her bright eye wide, and turned round at\nbay; but the wolf came close up to her, and opened his mouth, and\nswallowed her up. The earth shuddered, and the moon rose. Another\nwolf was waiting for the moon with wide jaws open, and, while yet\npale and young, he, too, was devoured. The earth shuddered again; it\nwas covered with cold and darkness, while frost and snow came driving\nfrom the four corners of heaven. Winter and night, winter and night,\nthere was now nothing but winter.\n\nA dauntless eagle sat upon the height of the Giantess' Rock, and\nbegan to strike his harp. Then a light red cock crowed over the Bird\nWood. A gold-combed cock crowed over Asgard, and over Helheim a cock\nof sooty red. From a long way underground Garm began to howl, and at\nlast Fenrir broke loose from his rock-prison, and ran forth over the\nwhole earth. Then brother contended with brother, and war had no\nbounds. A hard age was that.\n\n        \"An axe age,\n        A sword age,\n    Shields oft cleft in twain;\n        A storm age,\n        A wolf age,\n    Ere the earth met its doom.\"\n\nConfusion rioted in the darkness. At length Heimdall ran up Bifr\u00f6st,\nand blew his Giallar horn, whose sound went out into all worlds, and\nYggdrasil, the mighty ash, was shaken from its root to its summit.\nAfter this Odin saw himself ride forth from Asgard to consult Mimer\nat the Well of Wisdom. Whilst he was there J\u00f6rmungand turned mightily\nin his place, and began to plough the ocean, which caused it to swell\nover every shore, so that the world was covered with water to the\nbase of its high hills. Then the ship Naglfar was seen coming over\nthe sea with its prow from the east, and the giant Hrym was the\nsteersman.\n\nAll J\u00f6tunheim resounded, and the dwarfs stood moaning before their\nstony doors. Then heaven was cleft in twain, and a flood of light\nstreamed down upon the dark earth. The sons of Muspell, the sons of\nfire, rode through the breach, and at the head of them rode the\nswarth Surt, their leader, before and behind whom fire raged, and\nwhose sword outshone the sun. He led his flaming bands from heaven to\nearth over Bifr\u00f6st, and the tremulous bridge broke in pieces beneath\ntheir tread. Then the earth shuddered again; even giantesses\nstumbled; and men trod the way to Helheim in such crowds that Garm\nwas sated with their blood, broke loose, and came up to earth to look\nupon the living. Confusion rioted, and Odin saw himself, at the head\nof all the \u00c6sir, ride over the tops of the mountains to Vigrid, the\nhigh, wide battle-field, where the giants were already assembled,\nheaded by Fenrir, Garm, J\u00f6rmungand, and Loki. Surtur was there, too,\ncommanding the sons of fire, whom he had drawn up in several shining\nbands on a distant part of the plain.\n\nThen the great battle began in earnest. First, Odin went forth\nagainst Fenrir, who came on, opening his enormous mouth; the lower\njaw reached to the earth, the upper one to heaven, and would have\nreached further had there been space to admit of it. Odin and Fenrir\nfought for a little while only, and then Fenrir swallowed the \u00c6sir's\nFather; but Vidar stepped forward, and, putting his foot on Fenrir's\nlower jaw, with his hand he seized the other, and rent the wolf in\ntwain. In the meantime Tyr and Garm had been fighting until they had\nkilled each other. Heimdall slew Loki, and Loki slew Heimdall. Frey,\nBeli's radiant slayer, met Surtur in battle, and was killed by him.\nMany terrible blows were exchanged ere Frey fell; but the Fire King's\nsword outshone the sun, and where was the sword of Frey? Thor went\nforth against J\u00f6rmungand; the strong Thunderer raised his arm--he\nfeared no evil--he flung Mi\u00f6lnir at the monster serpent's head.\nJ\u00f6rmungand leaped up a great height in the air, and fell down to the\nearth again without life; but a stream of venom poured forth from his\nnostrils as he died. Thor fell back nine paces from the strength of\nhis own blow; he bowed his head to the earth, and was choked in the\npoisonous flood; so the monster serpent was killed by the strong\nThunderer's hand; but in death J\u00f6rmungand slew his slayer.\n\nThen all mankind forsook the earth, and the earth itself sank down\nslowly into the ocean. Water swelled over the mountains, rivers\ngurgled through thick trees, deep currents swept down the\nvalleys--nothing was to be seen on the earth but a wide flood. The\nstars fell from the sky, and flew about hither and thither. At last,\nsmoky clouds drifted upward from the infinite deep, encircling the\nearth and the water; fire burst forth from the midst of them, red\nflames wrapped the world, roared through the branches of Yggdrasil,\nand played against heaven itself. The flood swelled, the fire raged;\nthere was now nothing but flood and fire.\n\n\"Then,\" said Odin, in his dream, \"I see the end of all things. The\nend is like the beginning, and it will now be for ever as if nothing\nhad ever been.\"\n\nBut, as he spoke, the fire ceased suddenly; the clouds rolled away; a\nnew and brighter sun looked out of heaven; and he saw arise a second\ntime the earth from ocean. It rose slowly as it had sunk. First, the\nwaters fell back from the tops of new hills that rose up fresh and\nverdant; raindrops like pearls dripped from the freshly budding\ntrees, and fell into the sea with a sweet sound; waterfalls splashed\nglittering from the high rocks; eagles flew over the mountain\nstreams; earth arose spring-like; unsown fields bore fruit; there was\nno evil, and all nature smiled. Then from Memory's Forest came forth\na new race of men, who spread over the whole earth, and who fed on\nthe dew of the dawn. There was also a new city on Asgard's Hill--a\ncity of gems; and Odin saw a new hall standing in it, fairer than the\nsun, and roofed with gold. Above all, the wide blue expanded, and\ninto that fair city came Modi and Magni, Thor's two sons, holding\nMi\u00f6lnir between them. Vali and Vidar came, and the deathless H\u0153nir;\nBaldur came up from the deep, leading his blind brother H\u00f6dur\npeacefully by the hand; there was no longer any strife between them.\nTwo brothers' sons inhabited the spacious Wind-Home.\n\nThen Odin watched how the \u00c6sir sat on the green plain, and talked of\nmany things. \"Garm is dead,\" said H\u00f6d to Baldur, \"and so are Loki,\nand J\u00f6rmungand, and Fenrir, and the world rejoices; but did our dead\nbrothers rejoice who fell in slaying them?\"\n\n\"They did, H\u00f6d,\" answered Baldur; \"they gave their lives willingly\nfor the life of the world;\" and, as he listened, Odin felt that this\nwas true; for, when he looked upon that beautiful and happy age, it\ngave him no pain to think that he must die before it came--that,\nthough for many, it was not for him.\n\nBy-and-bye H\u0153nir came up to H\u00f6d and Baldur with something glittering\nin his hand--something that he had found in the grass; and as he\napproached he said, \"Behold the golden tablets, my brothers, which in\nthe beginning of time were given to the \u00c6sir's Father, and were lost\nin the Old World.\"\n\nThen they all looked eagerly at the tablets, and, as they bent over\nthem, their faces became even brighter than before.\n\n\"There is no longer any evil thing,\" said Odin; \"not an evil sight,\nnor an evil sound.\"\n\nBut as he spoke dusky wings rose out of Niflheim, and the\ndark-spotted serpent, Nidh\u00f6gg, came flying from the abyss, bearing\ndead carcases on his wings--cold death, undying.\n\nThen the joy of Odin was drowned in the tears that brimmed his heart,\nand it was as if the eternal gnawer had entered into his soul. \"Is\nthere, then, no victory over sin?\" he cried. \"Is there no death to\nDeath?\" and with the cry he woke. His dream had faded from him. He\nstood in the palace gates alone with night, and the night was dying.\nLong since the rosy clasp of evening had dropped from her; she had\nturned through darkness eastward, and looked earnestly towards dawn.\nIt was twilight again, for the night and the morning drew near to one\nanother. A star stood in the east--the morning star--and a coming\nbrightness smote the heavens. Out of the light a still voice came\nadvancing, swelling, widening, until it filled all space. \"Look\nforth,\" it said, \"upon the groaning earth, with all its cold, and\npain, and cruelty, and death. Heroes and giants fight and kill each\nother; now giants fall, and heroes triumph; now heroes fall, and\ngiants rise; they can but combat, and the earth is full of pain. Look\nforth, and fear not; but when the worn-out faiths of nations shall\ntotter like old men, turn eastward, and behold the light that\nlighteth every man; for there is nothing dark it doth not lighten;\nthere is nothing hard it cannot melt; there is nothing lost it will\nnot save.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOf course the _Eddas_ do not say anything about Odin seeing Ragnar\u00f6k\nin a dream, or about his having any idea of a light that was to come;\nbut, divested of this slender veil, the story as it here stands is\nalmost an exact likeness of the northern myth. In one _Edda_ it is\ngiven as the prophecy of a Vala or seeress, and the last line is \"Now\nshe will descend,\" meaning that the Vala had finished her\nprophesying, and would come down from her high seat.\n\nWe have now heard a little about the \u00c6sir, those gods in whom Har\nsaid we were to believe; and, are they like each other or unlike? we\nask ourselves. At first we say unlike, but after thinking about them\na little while, very much alike indeed. It is certain that the\n_Eddas_ speak of them as distinct, but then, as we saw before, the\n_Eddas_ are not really very old; compared with the religion they\nexplain, they are almost young.\n\nSimrock points out clearly the likenesses between the gods--a very\nfew of them we touch upon. Let us begin, by putting in a line for\nourselves to look at, Odin, Tyr, Heimdall, Thor, Frey, and Baldur.\nOdin--air, stormy and serene, the heavens with sun, moon and stars;\nOdin the wanderer; Odin on Air-throne, seeing over the whole world;\nOdin, the Summer, as Odur; the patron of battles, the chooser of the\nslain, the pledger of one eye, drinking from Mimer's horn. Tyr, the\nshining, the warrior god, the pledger of one hand. Heimdall, as\nIrmin, the shining, a dweller upon heavenly mountains, who sees and\nhears far off, who wanders over the earth, blows his golden horn.\nThor, whose dwelling is the heavens; god of the storm, of\ncultivation; the warrior, the chooser of the slain; for it is said\nthat whilst Odin had all the Jarls that fell in battle, Thor claimed\nthe Thralls for his share. Frey, the Summer, god of the fruitful\nyear, the pledger of his sword. It is supposed that Frey was once the\nhusband of Freyja, and that it was their separation which founded the\nmyth of Freyja's wanderings and tears; this would connect him with\nOdur or Odin. Baldur, Summer, or Sun god, pledges his life to the\nunder-world. In leaving the earth to weep for him, he recalls the\ndesertion of Freyja and her tears. Turning to the goddesses, we see\nJ\u00f6rd or the earth spoken of as a wife of Odin; Rind, the winterly\nearth; Freyja, so nearly joined to Frigg, the summerly earth; Id\u016bna,\nthe spring of the earth; Gerda, also the winterly earth; Hela, the\nunder-world. What strikes us through all this is that it would be\nnatural for the early earth dwellers first to worship the heavens\nwith all that they contain and suggest, whilst the action of heavenly\ninfluences upon the earth would reveal her to them as the great\nmother, stern, cold, tender, fruitful, consuming, embosoming,\nreproducing all in one. There are many ways in which gods and\ngoddesses multiply. In the first place Gylfis will begin to ask\nquestions and pry into first causes and ways and means of existence,\nwhence would easily arise a division of nature into elementary\npowers, air, water, fire, to say nothing of the giants and chaotic\nregions which would suggest themselves. One side or another of life\nmust always be uppermost, and nature in its differences grows into\nnew personalities; from nature myths again moral ones easily develop,\nand new variations meet the new requirements. Again, tribe joins\ntribe and pantheons mingle, the chief god of one race becoming the\nson, say, or the brother, of another tribe's chief god, and so on.\n\nThe fact of Thor receiving Thralls in battle whilst Odin claimed the\nJarls, looks as if Thor had fallen at one time from the first to a\nsecond place. Simrock says that Tyr answers to Zeus, and that perhaps\nhe was the oldest of the Asgard gods; but he says also that Odin has\ngathered up into himself all the highest attributes of the gods. The\nonly allusions that can be relied on as genuine which the _Eddas_\ncontain to a higher god than Odin is one very obscure strophe in the\nVoluspa which says speaking of Ragnar\u00f6k,--\n\n    \"Then comes the Mighty One,\n    To the great judgment,\n    The powerful from above\n    Who rules over all.\n    He shall doom pronounce\n    And strifes allay,\n    Holy peace establish\n    Which shall ever be.\"\n\nAnother still more difficult to understand in Hyndla's lay,\n\n    \"Then shall another come,\n    Yet mightier,\n    Although I dare not\n    His name declare.\n    Few may see\n    Further forth\n    Than when Odin\n    Meets the Wolf.\"\n\nSimrock, however, thinks that he sees some gleams of a higher unseen\nHidden Power very faintly here and there, and between this Being and\nOdin he also fancies that he can trace some connection. But he is\nvery uncertain on the point.\n\nSimrock says of the goddesses in the Scandinavian mythology that they\nmost of them represent only one side of the original Earth Mother,\ndividing the double nature between them; so we see some personating\nthe fruitful, beneficent, life-giving renovating earth, whilst Hela\nhas only the dark side left in her nature. It is, however, to be\nobserved that whilst half a corpse she is half a woman. Gerda and\nId\u016bna are mixed in nature, also Rinda and others of Odin's giantess\nwives. He says, also, that Hela is the eldest of the goddesses, and\nthat the root idea remains with her,--a receiver of the dead, as\nearth is,--though she became so degraded. Odin gave her power over\nnine worlds, and here we see a trace of the old idea of her being the\ngreat Earth Mother. \"From a goddess of the underworld to a goddess of\ndeath is one step. A goddess of the underworld should be life-giving\nas well as destroying; but soon the heathen horror of death appears,\nand the destroyer is looked upon as the ender only, not the fresh\nbegetter;\" she becomes a hunger that will not be satisfied, and hence\nHela is a daughter of Loki.\n\nOut of the flood, into the flood again,--Niflheim and Muspelheim join\nhands in the twilight. As in the first beginning of things we saw\nthe strange waves alternately frozen and melted by these\nantagonistic powers, and out of this antagonism a form--so in\nRagnar\u00f6k we see the flood once more supreme, the rival forces, cold\nand heat, both fighting against the formed, ordered world--both,\nbecause both alike represent elemental forces which must precede\nformation. So, also, a second time the world emerges out of the\nstruggle, Simrock thinks, a renewed world morally and physically; and\ncertainly it does seem to have made some advance upon the old order\nof things,--it stands forth beautiful at once. But does this mean any\nmore, we wonder, than the golden age come back, with fate in the\nback-ground. So many of the same powers seem to be at work in the two\nworlds, that we can only think of a succession of events in looking\nat the picture. We see again the golden tables, we see H\u00f6dur as well\nas Baldur. There is one very obscure verse which seems to imply that\nthe giant fate-maidens are in the renewed world. Sons succeed their\nfathers. Odin's sons inherit Odin's hall; the two mentioned are Vali\nand Vidar, who were both descended from giantesses, and giants always\ntypify the baser part of nature. Thor's sons retain the badge of\nwarfare. On the other hand, it is said that H\u00f6d and Baldur come up\n_peacefully_ together from the deep; it has been remarked, also, that\nno Vanir gods (inferior to those of Asgard) are mentioned. There is\nalso a strophe in the V\u00f6luspa which talks of peace established, and\nof heavenly Gimill, gold bedecked, where the righteous people are to\ndwell for evermore, and enjoy happiness--\n\n    \"She a Hall sees standing than the sun brighter,\n    With gold bedecked in Gimill.\n    There shall the righteous people dwell,\n    And for evermore happiness enjoy.\"\n\nBut again, immediately following these hopeful strains, we are shown\nthe dark-spotted snake--the Eternal Gnawer, with a corpse upon his\nwings.\n\n    \"The dark dragon flying from beneath, the glistening serpent,\n    On his wings bears Nidh\u00f6gg, flying o'er the plain a corpse.\"\n\nOur ears are puzzled by the strain, and we cannot catch the melody's\nlast tone. Is it a joy note or a wail? from Gimill's gold roofs, from\nthe shore of corpses? \"Who can search into the beginning; who can\nsearch into the end?\"\n\n\n\n\nINDEX OF NAMES, WITH MEANINGS.\n\n\nSELECTED FROM MALLET'S \"NORTHERN ANTIQUITIES,\" AND FROM THORPE'S\n\"NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.\"\n\n_\u00c6gir_--The King of the Sea. The name means, \"to flow.\"\n\n_\u00c6sir_--Gods or Lords. Singular, As or Asa.\n\n_Alf_, _Elf_--Alfheim, Elfhome.\n\n_Ali_ or _Vali_--The name of one of Loki's children. It signifies,\n\"strong.\"\n\n_Amsvartnir_--Name of a lake. It means, \"grief, black, gloomy.\"\n\n_Angurbodi_--The mother of J\u00f6rmungand, Hela, and Fenrir. The name\nsignifies, \"anguish boding.\"\n\n_Asgard_--Literally, \"God's-ward,\" or \"the abode of the gods.\"\n\n_Asyniur_--Goddesses.\n\n_Audhumla_--The first cow. Signifies, \"void, darkness.\"\n\n\n_Baldur_--Bright, white, bold.\n\n_Barri_--The Warm Wood.\n\n_Beli_--The stag killed by Frey. _Beli_ signifies, \"to bellow.\"\n\n_Bifr\u00f6st_--Name given to the rainbow. It means, \"the Tremulous or\nA\u00ebrial Bridge.\"\n\n_Bilskirnir_--Name of Thor's mansion. It signifies either \"bright\nspace\" or \"storm-serene.\"\n\n_B\u00f6r_ or _Bur_--The first hero.\n\n_Bragi_--The god of eloquence. From _braga_, \"to shine;\" or _bragga_,\n\"to adorn.\" _Bragr_, which in Norse signifies \"poetry,\" has become in\nEnglish \"to brag,\" and a poet \"a braggart.\" From Bragi's bumper, the\nBragafull, comes our word \"bragget,\" and probably, also, the verb \"to\nbrew;\" Norse, _brugga_.\n\n_Breidablik_--Name of Baldur's abode. It means, \"broad-blink,\nwide-glancing, expanded splendour.\"\n\n_Brisingamen_--Name of Freyja's necklace. From _brising_ \"flaming.\"\n\n\n_Dain_--Signifies, \"swoon,\" or \"complete repose.\" It is the name of\none of the four harts which ran about among the branches of\nYggdrasil; also the name of a dwarf.\n\n_Draupnir_--A ring of Odin, which, after being placed on Baldur's\npile, acquired the power of dropping every ninth night eight rings of\nequal weight with itself.\n\n_Dromi_--Name of a chain by which Fenrir was bound, and from which he\nfreed himself. It has since become a proverb in Sweden, \"To get loose\nfrom L\u00e6ding, and to dash out of Dromi,\" when anything is to be done\nwith great exertion.\n\n_Duneyr_--Name of one of the harts which lived in Yggdrasil.\n\n_Durathror_--Light sleep. Another of the harts.\n\n_Durin_--Name of a dwarf. Signifies, \"light sleep.\"\n\n_Dvalin_--Torpor. Name of one of the harts; also of a dwarf.\n\n\n_Einherjar_--Chosen heroes.\n\n_Eliv\u00e1gar_--Stormy waves. The name of the rivers which flowed forth\nfrom Hvergelmir, and hardened into ice in Ginnungagap, the abyss of\nabysses, situated between Niflheim and Muspellheim.\n\n_Elli_--Old Age. She wrestled with Thor in J\u00f6tunheim.\n\n_Elvidnir_--The entrance-hall of Hela's palace. It means, \"wide\nstorm.\"\n\n_Ermt_--Name of a river through which Thor had to wade.\n\n\n_Fenrir_ or _Fenris Ulfr_--Monster wolf, or dweller in an abyss, or\nhowling wolf of the deep.\n\n_Fensalir_--Frigga's abode. _Fensaloon_, or watery deep.\n\n_Folkvang_--Freyja's abode. Literally, \"the folk's field or\nhabitation.\"\n\n_Frey_ and _Freyja_--Master and mistress, from whence the German word\n\"frau.\" The names also signify, \"mild, joyous, fructifying,\nbeauteous.\"\n\n_Frigga_ or _Frigg_--Free, beauteous, winsome.\n\n\n_Garm_--The dog with bloody breast and jaws who guarded the way to\nHelheim. From gerr, \"voracious,\" a word probably cognate with English\n\"gorge.\"\n\n_Gerd_, _Gerda_, or _Gerdur_--From _gera_, \"to do--make,\" as in\n_akrgerd_, \"agriculture.\"\n\n_Gimli_--Name of the heavenly city which existed after the\ndestruction and renewal of the world. Signifies, \"fire,\" or \"gem.\"\n\n_Ginnungagap_--The space between Niflheim and Muspellheim. Literally,\n\"the gap of gaps, the abyss of abysses, the yawning, gaping abyss.\"\n\n_Gjallar-bru_--The sounding river leading from the abodes of the\nliving to those of the dead.\n\n_Gjallar-horn_--From _gjalla_, \"to resound, to clang.\" Cognate with\nthe English, \"to yell.\"\n\n_Gj\u00f6ll_--Name of river, meaning \"the horizon.\" It signifies,\n\"sonorous, fulgid,\" and has reference to the popular belief of the\nsun's sound when it goes down and when it rises, or when day breaks\nforth; the _skriek of day_, our \"break of day.\"\n\n_Gladsheim_--Odin's abode. Literally, \"glad's home,\" or \"the abode of\ngladness;\" from whence the English word \"gladsome.\"\n\n_Gleipnir_--The chain made by dwarfs for the binding of Fenrir. It\nsignifies, \"the devouring.\"\n\n_Gnipa_--Cave leading to Helheim.\n\n_Gullinbursti_--Golden Bristles. Name of Frey's hog.\n\n_Gulltoppr_--Golden Mane. The name of Heimdall's steed.\n\n\n_Heimdall_--Guardian of the rainbow. His name signifies, \"the pole or\npost of the world.\" The rainbow, when incomplete, is still called by\nthe northern nations Veirstolpe, literally, \"a weather-post.\"\n\n_Hela_--The Queen of the Dead. Some say that her name means \"intense\ncold;\" others, \"a large hole or cavity.\"\n\n_Helheim_--The home of Hela.\n\n_Hermod_--The name of Odin's messenger. It signifies, \"a host,\" or\n\"army of courage.\"\n\n_Himinbi\u00f6rg_--Heimdall's abode. The name signifies, \"heavenly\nmountains.\"\n\n_Hlidskjalf_--The name of Odin's throne, from whence he looked over\nthe earth. It means literally, \"a trembling or wavering slope.\"\n\n_H\u00f6dur_ or _H\u00f6d_--The blind god. His name means, \"war, combat.\"\n\n_H\u0153nir_--The god of mind or perception. He is sometimes called the\nrapid _As_, or _Long-foot_.\n\n_Hringhorn_--Literally, \"ringed horn.\" The name of Baldur's ship.\n\n_Hrym_ or _Ryme_--Name of a giant, from whence \"rime frost.\"\n\n_Hugi_ or _Hugin_--Spirit, breath, thought. The name of one of Odin's\nravens.\n\n_Hvergelmir_--The roaring cauldron, or spring of hot water, which\nbubbled up out of Niflheim.\n\n_Hymir_--Name of a giant. From _hum_, \"the sea.\"\n\n_Hyrrokin_--Literally, \"smoky fire.\" The name of a giantess.\n\n\n_Id\u016bna_ or _Id\u016bn_--Guardian of the apples of immortality.\n\n\n_Jarnvid_--Iron Wood.\n\n_J\u00f6rmungand_--Universal serpent.\n\n_J\u00f6tunheim_--Giants' home. Grimm thinks that the old Norse for giant,\n_i\u00f6tun_, is cognate with the old Saxon _eten_, and may be derived\nfrom _eta_, \"to eat.\"\n\n\n_Kerlaug_--One of the rivers through which Thor had to wade on his\nway to the Doomstead.\n\n_K\u00f6rmt_--Another of the rivers through which Thor waded.\n\n_Kvasir_--Name of a man killed by dwarfs; also of one of Odin's sons.\n\n\n_L\u00e6ding_--Name of one of the chains used to bind Fenrir.\n\n_Landvidi_--Vidar's abode. Literally, \"wide land.\"\n\n_Logi_--Flame.\n\n_Loki_--Either flame, or derived from _luka_, \"to shut;\" whence the\nEnglish \"lock.\"\n\n_Lyngvi_--The island of sweet broom.\n\n\n_Magni_--The powerful. One of Thor's sons.\n\n_Manheim_--The abode of men.\n\n_Mani_--The moon.\n\n_Mard\u00f6ll_--Sea-nymph; from whence, perhaps, the English word, \"doll.\"\n\n_Megingjardir_--Thor's girdle of might, the belt of prowess.\n\n_Midgard_--Name applied to the earth; \"middle-ward,\" or \"inclosure.\"\n\n_Mimer_--Guardian of Wisdom's Well. The name signifies, \"to keep in\nmemory,\" or \"to be mindful.\" Mimer's Well was supposed to be situated\nat that end of the rainbow opposite to Himinbi\u00f6rg. Mimer drank water\nfrom his well out of a horn, whence the popular superstition that a\ncup is to be found at the end of the rainbow.\n\n_Mi\u00f6lnir_--Name of Thor's hammer. It signifies, \"to pound or grind;\"\nwhence the English word \"mill.\"\n\n_M\u00f6dgudur_--Name of the woman who stood at the end of the bridge\nleading to Helheim. It signifies, \"courageous,\" from whence the\nEnglish word \"mood.\"\n\n_Modi_--The name of one of Thor's sons. It signifies, \"courage.\"\n\n_Munin_--Name of one of Odin's ravens. It signifies, \"memory.\"\n\n_Muspellheim_--The Muspellhome. _Muspell_ means \"elemental fire.\"\n\n\n_Naglfar_--Name of the ship that appears at Ragnar\u00f6k, made of nails.\n_Nagl_ means \"nail.\"\n\n_Nanna_--Baldur's wife. The name signifies, \"daring.\"\n\n_Nari_--One of Loki's sons. The name signifies, \"binding.\"\n\n_Nastr\u00f6nd_--Literally, \"the shore of corpses.\"\n\n_Nidh\u00f6gg_--Serpent at the root of Yggdrasil. The name may be rendered\n\"dark gnawer.\"\n\n_Niflheim_--Literally, \"nebulous home.\"\n\n_Nj\u00f6rd_--A Van, the universal nourishing power in air and water.\nThere is in the North an aquatic plant still called \"Nj\u00f6rd's glove.\"\n\n_N\u00f6atun_--The name of Nj\u00f6rd's home. It means, \"the place of ships.\"\n\n_Nornir_--singular _Norn_--Name given to the Fates.\n\n\n_Odin_--Called by the Saxons _Wodan_ or _Woden_. Several places still\nretain the name of Odin in Germany and Sweden, as, also, Wednesbury,\nin Staffordshire.\n\n_Odur_--The name of Freyja's husband.\n\n\n_Ragnar\u00f6k_--The twilight of the gods.\n\n_Ran_--Wife of \u00c6gir. Her name signifies, \"plunder, robbery.\"\n\n_Ratatosk_--The name of the squirrel which ran up and down Yggdrasil.\n\n_Roska_--The sister of Thialfi, Thor's attendant. The name signifies,\n\"quick, lively, active;\" from whence comes the English word \"rash.\"\n\n\n_S\u00e6hrimnir_--Name of the boar every evening eaten in Valhalla.\n\n_Sessrymnir_--The name of Freyja's hall. It signifies, \"seat roomy;\"\nfrom whence the English word \"room.\"\n\n_Sif_--Name of Thor's wife.\n\n_Siguna_--Name of Loki's wife.\n\n_Siofna_--Daughter of Freyja and goddess of sleep.\n\n_Skadi_--The wife of Ni\u00f6rd. _Skadi_ signifies, \"the hurtful.\" Her\nhabitation was Thrymheim, \"noise-home.\"\n\n_Skidbladnir_--Name of Frey's ship. The English word \"blade,\" or\n\"leaf,\" comes from Bladnir.\n\n_Skirnir_--Frey's messenger. The name signifies, \"serene, pure,\nclear.\" The English word \"sheer\" comes from it.\n\n_Skrymir_--Name of a giant. From _skrum_, \"show, brag, feint.\"\n\n_Skuld_--One of the Nornir. _Skuld_ signifies, \"what is to come.\"\n\n_Sleipnir_--Name of Odin's horse. He had eight legs. _Sleipnir_\nsignifies, \"smooth, gliding;\" from whence the English word\n\"slippery.\"\n\n_Sol_--The sun.\n\n_Surt_ or _Surtur_--The fire-god, who lived in Muspellheim. His name\nsignifies, \"swart, browned by fire.\"\n\n_Suttung_--A giant, whose name means, \"to drink.\"\n\n_Svartalfheim_ or _Svartheim_--Literally, \"swart or dark home.\" It\nwas the region of the dwarfs, or dark elves.\n\n\n_Thaukt_--Name of a witch.\n\n_Thialfi_--One of Thor's attendants. Supposed to mean, \"the\nthunder-shower.\"\n\n_Thiassi_--Name of Skadi's father. It signifies, \"violent,\ntempestuous.\"\n\n_Thor_--God of thunder. Also called _Ving-Thor_, or _Winged-Thor_;\n_Auku_, or _Oku-Thor_; _Chariot-Thor_.\n\n_Thrudvang_ or _Thrudheim_--Thor's abode. The name signifies, \"the\nregion of fortitude,\" or \"dense, closely packed together.\"\n\n_Thrymheim_--Noise-home.\n\n_Tyr_--The god after whom Tuesday was named.\n\n\n_Urd_--One of the Nornir. Her name signifies, \"past.\"\n\n_Urda_--The name of the sacred fount, which was situated over\nBifr\u00f6st.\n\n_Utgard_--The name of the chief city of J\u00f6tunheim. Literally,\n\"outer-ward.\"\n\n\n_Valhalla_--Name of a hall in Gladsheim. It means literally, \"hall of\nthe chosen.\"\n\n_Valkyrior_--singular, _Valkyria_--Odin's maidens. The name means\nliterally, \"choosers of the slain.\"\n\n_Vanaheim_--The home of the Vanir.\n\n_Vanir_--singular masculine, _Van_; singular feminine, _Vana_--The\nname of the gods of the air and water. _Vanr_ signifies, \"empty.\"\n\n_Vegtam_--A wanderer.\n\n_Verdandi_--One of the Nornir. Her name signifies, \"present.\"\n\n_Vidar_--The silent god. _Vidar_ signifies, \"a wood or forest.\"\n\n_Vidblain_--The wide blue.\n\n_Vigrid_--Name of the battle-field on which the gods and the evil\npowers contended during Ragnar\u00f6k. _Vigrid_ signifies, \"battle, ride.\"\n\n_Vingolf_--Abode of the goddesses. Means literally, \"the floor of\nfriends.\"\n\n_Volusp\u00e1_--The name of an old poem.\n\n\n_Yggdrasil_--The name of the earth tree.\n\n_Ymir_--The first giant. _Ymir_ means, \"a confused noise.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE STANDARD SCHOOL LIBRARY.\n\n(Each Volume, cloth, 50 cents. Sold singly or in sets.)\n\n\nBAILEY. LESSONS WITH PLANTS. Suggestions for Seeing and\nInterpreting Some of the Common Forms of Vegetation. By L. H. Bailey.\n12mo. Illustrated. xxxi + 491 pages.\n\nThis volume is the outgrowth of \"observation lessons.\" The book is\nbased upon the idea that the proper way to begin the study of plants\nis by means of plants instead of formal ideals or definitions.\nInstead of a definition as a model telling what is to be seen, the\nplant shows what there is to be seen, and the definition follows.\n\n\nBARNES. YANKEE SHIPS AND YANKEE SAILORS. Tales of 1812. By James\nBarnes. 12mo. Illustrated. xiii + 281 pages.\n\nFourteen spirited tales of the gallant defenders of the _Chesapeake_,\nthe _Wasp_, the _Vixen_, _Old Ironsides_, and other heroes of the\nNaval War of 1812.\n\n\nBELLAMY. THE WONDER CHILDREN. By Charles J. Bellamy. 12mo.\nIllustrated.\n\nNine old-fashioned fairy stories in a modern setting.\n\n\nBLACK. THE PRACTICE OF SELF-CULTURE. By Hugh Black. 12mo. vii +\n262 pages.\n\nNine essays on culture considered in its broadest sense. The title is\njustified not so much from the point of view of giving many details\nfor self-culture, as of giving an impulse to practice.\n\n\nBONSAL. THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE. Extracts from the letters of\nCaptain H. L. Herndon of the 21st U. S. Infantry, on duty in the\nPhilippine Islands, and Lieutenant Lawrence Gill, A.D.C. to the\nMilitary Governor of Puerto Rico. With a postscript by J. Sherman,\nPrivate, Co. D, 21st Infantry. Edited by Stephen Bonsal. 12mo. xi +\n316 pages.\n\nThese letters throw much light on our recent history. The story of\nour \"Expansion\" is well told, and the problems which are its\noutgrowth are treated with clearness and insight.\n\n\nBUCK. BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS. By Winifred Buck. 16mo. x + 218\npages.\n\nThe history of self-governing clubs, with directions for their\norganization and management. The author has had many years'\nexperience as organizer and adviser of self-governing clubs in New\nYork City and the vicinity.\n\n\nCARROLL. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. By Lewis Carroll.\n12mo. Illustrated. xiv + 192 pages.\n\nCARROLL. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. By\nLewis Carroll. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 224 pages.\n\nThe authorized edition of these children's classics. They have\nrecently been reprinted from new type and new cuts made from the\noriginal wood blocks.\n\n\nCHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ILIAD. By Rev. A. J. Church. vii + 314\npages.\n\nCHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY. By Rev. A. J. Church. vii + 306\npages.\n\nThe two great epics are retold in prose by one of the best of\nstory-tellers. The Greek atmosphere is remarkably well preserved.\n\n\nCRADDOCK. THE STORY OF OLD FORT LOUDON. By Charles Egbert\nCraddock. 12mo. Illustrated. v + 409 pages.\n\nA story of pioneer life in Tennessee at the time of the Cherokee\nuprising in 1760. The frontier fort serves as a background to this\npicture of Indian craft and guile and pioneer pleasures and\nhardships.\n\n\nCROCKETT. RED CAP TALES. By S. R. Crockett. 8vo. Illustrated. xii\n+ 413 pages.\n\nThe volume consists of a number of tales told in succession from four\nof Scott's novels--\"Waverley,\" \"Guy Mannering,\" \"Rob Roy,\" and \"The\nAntiquary\"; with a break here and there while the children to whom\nthey are told discuss the story just told from their own point of\nview. No better introduction to Scott's novels could be imagined or\ncontrived. Half a dozen or more tales are given from each book.\n\n\nDIX. A LITTLE CAPTIVE LAD. By Beulah Marie Dix. 12mo.\nIllustrated. vii + 286 pages.\n\nThe story is laid in the time of Cromwell, and the captive lad is a\ncavalier, full of the pride of his caste. The plot develops around\nthe child's relations to his Puritan relatives. It is a well-told\nstory, with plenty of action, and is a faithful picture of the times.\n\n\nEGGLESTON. SOUTHERN SOLDIER STORIES. By George Cary Eggleston.\n12mo. Illustrated. xi + 251 pages.\n\nForty-seven stories illustrating the heroism of those brave Americans\nwho fought on the losing side in the Civil War. Humor and pathos are\nfound side by side in these pages which bear evidence of absolute\ntruth.\n\n\nELSON. SIDE LIGHTS ON AMERICAN HISTORY.\n\nThis volume takes a contemporary view of the leading events in the\nhistory of the country from the period of the Declaration of\nIndependence to the close of the Spanish-American War. The result is\na very valuable series of studies in many respects more interesting\nand informing than consecutive history.\n\n\nGAYE. THE GREAT WORLD'S FARM. Some Account of Nature's Crops and\nHow they are Sown. By Selina Gaye. 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 365\npages.\n\nA readable account of plants and how they live and grow. It is as\nfree as possible from technicalities and well adapted to young\npeople.\n\n\nGREENE. PICKETT'S GAP. By Homer Greene. 12mo. Illustrated. vii +\n288 pages.\n\nA story of American life and character illustrated in the personal\nheroism and manliness of an American boy. It is well told, and the\nlessons in morals and character are such as will appeal to every\nhonest instinct.\n\n\nHAPGOOD. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By Norman Hapgood. 12mo. Illustrated.\nxiii + 433 pages.\n\nThis is one of the best one-volume biographies of Lincoln, and a\nfaithful picture of the strong character of the great President, not\nonly when he was at the head of the nation, but also as a boy and a\nyoung man, making his way in the world.\n\n\nHAPGOOD. GEORGE WASHINGTON. By Norman Hapgood. 12mo. Illustrated.\nxi + 419 pages.\n\nNot the semi-mythical Washington of some biographers, but a clear,\ncomprehensive account of the man as he really appeared in camp, in\nthe field, in the councils of his country, at home, and in society.\nWhenever possible the narrative is given in the words of\ncontemporaries, in extracts from letters, journals, and the\npublications of the time. There are reproductions of the four most\nfamous portraits of Washington, and several facsimiles of pages from\nhis journal and other writings.\n\n\nHUFFORD. SHAKESPEARE IN TALE AND VERSE. By Lois Grosvenor\nHufford. 12mo. ix + 445 pages.\n\nThe purpose of the author is to introduce Shakespeare to such of his\nreaders as find the intricacies of the plots of the dramas somewhat\ndifficult to manage. The stories which constitute the main plots are\ngiven, and are interspersed with the dramatic dialogue in such a\nmanner as to make tale and verse interpret each other.\n\n\nHUGHES. TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS. By Thomas Hughes. 12mo.\nIllustrated. xxi + 376 pages.\n\nAn attractive and convenient edition of this great story of life at\nRugby. It is a book that appeals to boys everywhere and which makes\nfor manliness and high ideals. The lively and spirited account of the\nEnglish school-boy's daily life, with its vivid descriptions of\nsports, games, and occasional \"scrapes,\" is as delightful to read as\non its first publication. The sympathetic and imaginative\nillustrations of Arthur Hughes are retained.\n\n\nHUTCHINSON. THE STORY OF THE HILLS. A Book about Mountains for\nGeneral Readers. By Rev. H. W. Hutchinson. 12mo. Illustrated. xv +\n357 pages.\n\nBesides the purely geological matter, there are entertaining chapters\non \"Mountains and Men,\" \"Mountain Plants and Animals,\" and \"Sunshine\nand Storm on the Mountain.\" The entire subject-matter of the book is\ndiversified by anecdote and quotation.\n\n\"A clear account of the geological formation of mountains and their\nvarious methods of origin in language so clear and untechnical that\nit will not confuse even the most unscientific.\"--Boston _Evening\nTranscript_.\n\n\nILLINOIS GIRL. A PRAIRIE WINTER. By an Illinois Girl. 16mo. 164\npages.\n\nA record of the procession of the months from midway in September to\nmidway in May. The observations on Nature are accurate and\nsympathetic, and they are interspersed with glimpses of a charming\nhome life and bits of cheerful philosophy.\n\n\nINGERSOLL. WILD NEIGHBORS. OUTDOOR STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES.\nBy Ernest Ingersoll. 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 301 pages.\n\nStudies and stories of the gray squirrel, the puma, the coyote, the\nbadger, and other burrowers, the porcupine, the skunk, the woodchuck,\nand the raccoon.\n\n\nINMAN. THE RANCH ON THE OXHIDE. By Henry Inman. 12mo.\nIllustrated. xi + 297 pages.\n\nA story of pioneer life in Kansas in the late sixties. Adventures\nwith wild animals and skirmishes with Indians add interest to the\nnarrative.\n\n\nJOHNSON. CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 12mo.\nIllustrated. xxiii + 398 pages.\n\nA well-edited edition of this classic. The one effort has been to\nbring the book to readable proportions without excluding any really\nessential incident or detail, and at the same time to make the text\nunobjectionable and wholesome.\n\n\nJUDSON. THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN NATION. By Harry Pratt Judson.\n12mo. Illustrations and maps. xi + 359 pages.\n\nThe cardinal facts of American History are grasped in such a way as\nto show clearly the orderly development of national life.\n\n\nKEARY. THE HEROES OF ASGARD: TALES FROM SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY.\nBy A. and E. Keary. 12mo. Illustrated. 323 pages.\n\nThe book is divided into nine chapters, called \"The \u00c6sir,\" \"How Thor\nwent to J\u00f6tunheim,\" \"Frey,\" \"The Wanderings of Freyja,\" \"Iduna's\nApples,\" \"Baldur,\" \"The Binding of Fenrir,\" \"The Punishment of Loki,\"\n\"Ragnar\u00f6k.\"\n\n\nKING. DE SOTO AND HIS MEN IN THE LAND OF FLORIDA. By Grace King.\n12mo. Illustrated. xiv + 326 pages.\n\nA story based upon the Spanish and Portuguese accounts of the\nattempted conquest by the armada which sailed under De Soto in 1538\nto subdue this country. Miss King gives a most entertaining history\nof the invaders' struggles and of their final demoralized rout; while\nher account of the native tribes is a most attractive feature of the\nnarrative.\n\n\nKINGSLEY. MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY: FIRST LESSONS IN EARTH LORE FOR\nCHILDREN. By Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. xviii + 321 pages.\n\nMadam How and Lady Why are two fairies who teach the how and why of\nthings in nature. There are chapters on Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Coral\nReefs, Glaciers, etc., told in an interesting manner. The book is\nintended to lead children to use their eyes and ears.\n\n\nKINGSLEY. THE WATER BABIES: A FAIRY TALE FOR A LAND BABY. By\nCharles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. 330 pages.\n\nOne of the best children's stories ever written; it has deservedly\nbecome a classic.\n\n\nLANGE. OUR NATIVE BIRDS: HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT THEM TO\nOUR HOMES. By D. Lange. 12mo. Illustrated. x + 162 pages.\n\nA strong plea for the protection of birds. Methods and devices for\ntheir encouragement are given, also a bibliography of helpful\nliterature, and material for Bird Day.\n\n\nLOVELL. STORIES IN STONE FROM THE ROMAN FORUM. By Isabel Lovell.\n12mo. Illustrated. viii + 258 pages.\n\nThe eight stories in this volume give many facts that travelers wish\nto know, that historical readers seek, and that young students enjoy.\nThe book puts the reader in close touch with Roman life.\n\n\nMcFARLAND. GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES. By J. Horace\nMcFarland. 8vo. Illustrated. xi + 241 pages.\n\nA charmingly written series of tree essays. They are not scientific\nbut popular, and are the outcome of the author's desire that others\nshould share the rest and comfort that have come to him through\nacquaintance with trees.\n\n\nMAJOR. THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER. By Charles Major. 12mo.\nIllustrated. 277 pages.\n\nA collection of good bear stories with a live boy for the hero. The\nscene is laid in the early days of Indiana.\n\n\nMARSHALL. WINIFRED'S JOURNAL. By Emma Marshall. 12mo.\nIllustrated. 353 pages.\n\nA story of the time of Charles the First. Some of the characters are\nhistorical personages.\n\n\nMEANS. PALMETTO STORIES. By Celina E. Means. 12mo. Illustrated. x\n+ 244 pages.\n\nTrue accounts of some of the men and women who made the history of\nSouth Carolina, and correct pictures of the conditions under which\nthese men and women labored.\n\n\nMORRIS. MAN AND HIS ANCESTOR: A STUDY IN EVOLUTION. By Charles\nMorris. 16mo. Illustrated. vii + 238 pages.\n\nA popular presentation of the subject of man's origin. The various\nsignificant facts that have been discovered since Darwin's time are\ngiven, as well as certain lines of evidence never before presented in\nthis connection.\n\n\nNEWBOLT. STORIES FROM FROISSART. By Henry Newbolt. 12mo.\nIllustrated. xxxi + 368 pages.\n\nHere are given entire thirteen episodes from the \"Chronicles\" of Sir\nJohn Froissart. The text is modernized sufficiently to make it\nintelligible to young readers. Separated narratives are dovetailed,\nand new translations have been made where necessary to make the\nnarrative complete and easily readable.\n\n\nOVERTON. THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER. By Gwendolen Overton. 12mo.\nIllustrated. vii + 270 pages.\n\nA story of girl life at an army post on the frontier. The plot is an\nabsorbing one, and the interest of the reader is held to the end.\n\n\nPALGRAVE. THE CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONG. Selected and\narranged by Francis Turner Palgrave. 16mo. viii + 302 pages.\n\nThis collection contains 168 selections--songs, narratives,\ndescriptive or reflective pieces of a lyrical quality, all suited to\nthe taste and understanding of children.\n\n\nPALMER. STORIES FROM THE CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF MANY NATIONS.\nEdited by Bertha Palmer. 12mo. xv + 297 pages.\n\nA collection of sixty characteristic stories from Chinese, Japanese,\nHebrew, Babylonian, Arabian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, German,\nScandinavian, Celtic, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese,\nAnglo-Saxon, English, Finnish, and American Indian sources.\n\n\nRIIS. CHILDREN OF THE TENEMENTS. By Jacob A. Riis. 12mo.\nIllustrated. ix + 387 pages.\n\nForty sketches and short stories dealing with the lights and shadows\nof life in the slums of New York City, told just as they came to the\nwriter, fresh from the life of the people.\n\n\nSANDYS. TRAPPER JIM. By Edwyn Sandys. 12mo. Illustrated. ix + 441\npages.\n\nA book which will delight every normal boy. Jim is a city lad who\nlearns from an older cousin all the lore of outdoor life--trapping,\nshooting, fishing, camping, swimming, and canoeing. The author is a\nwell-known writer on outdoor subjects.\n\n\nSEXTON. STORIES OF CALIFORNIA. By Ella M. Sexton. 12mo.\nIllustrated. x + 211 pages.\n\nTwenty-two stories illustrating the early conditions and the romantic\nhistory of California and the subsequent development of the state.\n\n\nSHARP. THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL. By Evelyn Sharp. 12mo.\nIllustrated. ix + 326 pages.\n\nBab, the \"youngest girl,\" was only eleven and the pet of five\nbrothers. Her ups and downs in a strange boarding school make an\ninteresting story.\n\n\nSPARKS. THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION: AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES\nHISTORY FROM 1776 TO 1861. By Edwin E. Sparks. 12mo. Illustrated.\nviii + 415 pages.\n\nThe author has chosen to tell our history by selecting the one man at\nvarious periods of our affairs who was master of the situation and\nabout whom events naturally grouped themselves. The characters thus\nselected number twelve, as \"Samuel Adams, the man of the town\nmeeting\"; \"Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution\";\n\"Hamilton, the advocate of stronger government,\" etc., etc.\n\n\nTHACHER. THE LISTENING CHILD. A selection from the stories of\nEnglish verse, made for the youngest readers and hearers. By Lucy W.\nThacher. 12mo. xxx + 408 pages.\n\nUnder this title are gathered two hundred and fifty selections. The\narrangement is most intelligent, as shown in the proportions assigned\nto different authors and periods. Much prominence is given to purely\nimaginative writers. The preliminary essay, \"A Short Talk to Children\nabout Poetry,\" is full of suggestion.\n\n\nWALLACE. UNCLE HENRY'S LETTERS TO THE FARM BOY. By Henry Wallace.\n16mo. ix + 180 pages.\n\nEighteen letters on habits, education, business, recreation, and\nkindred subjects.\n\n\nWEED. LIFE HISTORIES OF AMERICAN INSECTS. By Clarence Moores\nWeed. 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 272 pages.\n\nIn these pages are described by an enthusiastic student of entomology\nsuch changes as may often be seen in an insect's form, and which mark\nthe progress of its life. He shows how very wide a field of\ninteresting facts is within reach of any one who has the patience to\ncollect these little creatures.\n\n\nWELLS. THE JINGLE BOOK. By Carolyn Wells. 12mo. Illustrated. viii\n+ 124 pages.\n\nA collection of fifty delightful jingles and nonsense verses. The\nillustrations by Oliver Herford do justice to the text.\n\n\nWILSON. DOMESTIC SCIENCE IN GRAMMAR GRADES. A Reader. By Lucy L.\nW. Wilson. 12mo. ix + 193 pages.\n\nDescriptions of homes and household customs of all ages and\ncountries, studies of materials and industries, glimpses of the homes\nof literature, and articles on various household subjects.\n\n\nWILSON. HISTORY READER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W.\nWilson. 16mo. Illustrated. xvii + 403 pages.\n\nStories grouped about the greatest men and the most striking events\nin our country's history. The readings run by months, beginning with\nSeptember.\n\n\nWILSON. PICTURE STUDY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W.\nWilson. 12mo. Illustrated.\n\nNinety half-tone reproductions from celebrated paintings both old and\nmodern, accompanied by appropriate readings from the poets. All\nschools of art are represented.\n\n\nWRIGHT. HEART OF NATURE. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo.\nIllustrated.\n\nThis volume comprises \"Stories of Plants and Animals,\" \"Stories of\nEarth and Sky,\" and \"Stories of Birds and Beasts,\" usually published\nin three volumes and known as \"The Heart of Nature Series.\" It is a\ndelightful combination of story and nature study, the author's name\nbeing a sufficient warrant for its interest and fidelity to nature.\n\n\nWRIGHT. FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS AND THEIR KIN. By Mabel Osgood\nWright, edited by Frank Chapman. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 432 pages.\n\nAn animal book in story form. The scene shifts from farm to woods,\nand back to an old room, fitted as a sort of winter camp, where vivid\nstories of the birds and beasts which cannot be seen at home are told\nby the campfire,--the sailor who has hunted the sea, the woodman, the\nmining engineer, and wandering scientist, each taking his turn. A\nuseful family tree of North American Mammals is added.\n\n\nWRIGHT. DOGTOWN. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. xiii\n+ 405 pages.\n\n\"Dogtown\" was a neighborhood so named because so many people loved\nand kept dogs. For it is a story of people as well as of dogs, and\nseveral of the people as well as the dogs are old friends, having\nbeen met in Mrs. Wright's other books.\n\n\nYONGE. LITTLE LUCY'S WONDERFUL GLOBE. By Charlotte M. Yonge.\n12mo. Illustrated. xi + 140 pages.\n\nAn interesting and ingenious introduction to geography. In her dreams\nLucy visits the children of various lands and thus learns much of the\nhabits and customs of these countries.\n\n\nYONGE. UNKNOWN TO HISTORY. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo.\nIllustrated. xi + 589 pages.\n\nA story of the captivity of Mary Queen of Scots, told in the author's\nbest vein.","title":"The Heroes of Asgard: Tales from Scandinavian Mythology","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":57680}