{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44622/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44622","id":"gutenberg_44622","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44622","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mythology, Norse -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"By Abbie Farwell Brown\n\n\n  SONGS OF SIXPENCE. Illustrated.\n\n  THEIR CITY CHRISTMAS. Illustrated.\n\n  THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL. Illustrated.\n\n  JOHN OF THE WOODS. Illustrated.\n\n  FRESH POSIES. Illustrated.\n\n  FRIENDS AND COUSINS. Illustrated.\n\n  BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Illustrated.\n\n  THE STAR JEWELS AND OTHER WONDERS. Illustrated.\n\n  THE FLOWER PRINCESS. Illustrated.\n\n  THE CURIOUS BOOK OF BIRDS. Illustrated.\n\n  A POCKETFUL OF POSIES. Illustrated.\n\n  IN THE DAYS OF GIANTS. Illustrated.\n\n  THE BOOK OF SAINTS AND FRIENDLY BEASTS. Illustrated.\n\n  THE LONESOMEST DOLL. Illustrated.\n\n\n    HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n    BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nIN THE DAYS OF GIANTS\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"I AM THE GIANT SKRYMIR\" (page 150)]\n\n\n\n\n    IN THE DAYS OF GIANTS\n    A BOOK OF NORSE TALES\n    BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN\n    WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY\n    E. BOYD SMITH\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n    BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT 1902 BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED\n\n\n_Published April, 1902_\n\n\n\n\nNOW I LIKE A REALLY GOOD SAGA, ABOUT GODS AND GIANTS, AND THE FIRE\nKINGDOMS, AND THE SNOW KINGDOMS, AND THE \u00c6SIR MAKING MEN AND WOMEN\nOUT OF TWO STICKS, AND ALL THAT.\n\n    KINGSLEY'S HYPATIA\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                              PAGE\n\n       I. The Beginning of Things                                1\n      II. How Odin Lost His Eye                                 11\n     III. Kvasir's Blood                                        21\n      IV. The Giant Builder                                     35\n       V. The Magic Apples                                      50\n      VI. Skadi's Choice                                        70\n     VII. The Dwarf's Gifts                                     80\n    VIII. Loki's Children                                       98\n      IX. The Quest of the Hammer                              110\n       X. The Giantess Who Would Not                           132\n      XI. Thor's Visit to the Giants                           146\n     XII. Thor's Fishing                                       172\n    XIII. Thor's Duel                                          192\n     XIV. In the Giant's House                                 208\n      XV. Balder and the Mistletoe                             226\n     XVI. The Punishment of Loki                               243\n\n\n\n\n_Six of these Tales, namely, The Magic Apples, The Dwarf's Gifts, The\nQuest of the Hammer, In the Giant's House, Balder and the Mistletoe,\nand The Punishment of Loki are, by the courteous permission of the\npublishers of_ The Churchman, _reprinted from that magazine._\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                                                              PAGE\n\n    \"I am the giant Skrymir\" (page 150)             _Frontispiece_\n\n    He flapped away with her, magic apples and all              62\n\n    The third gift--an enormous hammer                          88\n\n    \"Ah, what a lovely maid it is!\"                            122\n\n    Each arrow overshot his head                               232\n\n    \"Kill him! Kill him!\"                                      256\n\n\n\n\nIN THE DAYS OF GIANTS\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEGINNING OF THINGS\n\n\nThe oldest stories of every race of people tell about the Beginning\nof Things. But the various folk who first told them were so very\ndifferent, the tales are so very old, and have changed so greatly in\nthe telling from one generation to another, that there are almost as\nmany accounts of the way in which the world began as there are nations\nupon the earth. So it is not strange that the people of the North have\na legend of the Beginning quite different from that of the Southern,\nEastern, and Western folk.\n\nThis book is made of the stories told by the Northern folk,--the\npeople who live in the land of the midnight sun, where summer is green\nand pleasant, but winter is a terrible time of cold and gloom; where\nrocky mountains tower like huge giants, over whose heads the thunder\nrolls and crashes, and under whose feet are mines of precious metals.\nTherefore you will find the tales full of giants and dwarfs,--spirits\nof the cold mountains and dark caverns.\n\nYou will find the hero to be Thor, with his thunderbolt hammer, who\ndwells in the happy heaven of Asgard, where All-Father Odin is king,\nand where Balder the beautiful makes springtime with his smile. In the\nnorth countries, winter, cold, and frost are very real and terrible\nenemies; while spring, sunshine, and warmth are near and dear friends.\nSo the story of the Beginning of Things is a story of cold and heat, of\nthe wicked giants who loved the cold, and of the good \u00c6sir, who basked\nin pleasant warmth.\n\nIn the very beginning of things, the stories say, there were two\nworlds, one of burning heat and one of icy cold. The cold world was\nin the north, and from it flowed Eliv\u00e2gar, a river of poisonous water\nwhich hardened into ice and piled up into great mountains, filling the\nspace which had no bottom. The other world in the south was on fire\nwith bright flame, a place of heat most terrible. And in those days\nthrough all space there was nothing beside these two worlds of heat\nand cold.\n\nBut then began a fierce combat. Heat and cold met and strove to destroy\neach other, as they have tried to do ever since. Flaming sparks from\nthe hot world fell upon the ice river which flowed from the place of\ncold. And though the bright sparks were quenched, in dying they wrought\nmischief, as they do to-day; for they melted the ice, which dripped\nand dripped, like tears from the suffering world of cold. And then,\nwonderful to say, these chilly drops became alive; became a huge,\nbreathing mass, a Frost-Giant with a wicked heart of ice. And he was\nthe ancestor of all the giants who came afterwards, a bad and cruel\nrace.\n\nAt that time there was no earth nor sea nor heaven, nothing but the icy\nabyss without bottom, whence Ymir the giant had sprung. And there he\nlived, nourished by the milk of a cow which the heat had formed. Now\nthe cow had nothing for her food but the snow and ice of Eliv\u00e2gar, and\nthat was cold victuals indeed! One day she was licking the icy rocks,\nwhich tasted salty to her, when Ymir noticed that the mass was taking\na strange shape. The more the cow licked it, the plainer became the\noutline of the shape. And when evening came Ymir saw thrusting itself\nthrough the icy rock a head of hair. The next day the cow went on with\nher meal, and at night-time a man's head appeared above the rock. On\nthe third day the cow licked away the ice until forth stepped a man,\ntall and powerful and handsome. This was no evil giant, for he was\ngood; and, strangely, though he came from the ice his heart was warm.\nHe was the ancestor of the kind \u00c6sir; for All-Father Odin and his\nbrothers Vili and Ve, the first of the gods, were his grandsons, and as\nsoon as they were born they became the enemies of the race of giants.\n\nNow after a few giant years,--ages and ages of time as we reckon\nit,--there was a great battle, for Odin and his brothers wished to\ndestroy all the evil in the world and to leave only good. They attacked\nthe wicked giant Ymir, first of all his race, and after hard fighting\nslew him. Ymir was so huge that when he died a mighty river of blood\nflowed from the wounds which Odin had given him; a stream so large\nthat it flooded all space, and the frost-giants, his children and\ngrandchildren, were drowned, except one who escaped with his wife in a\nchest. And but for the saving of these two, that would have been the\nend of the race of giants.\n\nAll-Father and his brothers now had work to do. Painfully they dragged\nthe great bulk of Ymir into the bottomless space of ice, and from it\nthey built the earth, the sea, and the heavens. Not an atom of his\nbody went to waste. His blood made the great ocean, the rivers, lakes,\nand springs. His mighty bones became mountains. His teeth and broken\nbones made sand and pebbles. From his skull they fashioned the arching\nheaven, which they set up over the earth and sea. His brain became the\nheavy clouds. His hair sprouted into trees, grass, plants, and flowers.\nAnd last of all, the \u00c6sir set his bristling eyebrows as a high fence\naround the earth, to keep the giants away from the race of men whom\nthey had planned to create for this pleasant globe.\n\nSo the earth was made. And next the gods brought light for the heavens.\nThey caught the sparks and cinders blown from the world of heat, and\nset them here and there, above and below, as sun and moon and stars. To\neach they gave its name and told what its duties were to be, and how\nit must perform them, day after day, and year after year, and century\nafter century, till the ending of all things; so that the children of\nmen might reckon time without mistake.\n\nS\u00f4l and M\u00e2ni, who drove the bright chariots of the sun and moon across\nthe sky, were a fair sister and brother whose father named them Sun\nand Moon because they were so beautiful. So Odin gave them each a pair\nof swift, bright horses to drive, and set them in the sky forever.\nOnce upon a time,--but that was many, many years later,--M\u00e2ni, the\nMan in the Moon, stole two children from the earth. Hiuki and Bil\nwere going to a well to draw a pail of water. The little boy and girl\ncarried a pole and a bucket across their shoulders, and looked so\npretty that M\u00e2ni thrust down a long arm and snatched them up to his\nmoon. And there they are to this day, as you can see on any moonlight\nnight,--two little black shadows on the moon's bright face, the boy and\nthe girl, with the bucket between them.\n\nThe gods also made Day and Night. Day was fair, bright, and beautiful,\nfor he was of the warm-hearted \u00c6sir race. But Night was dark and\ngloomy, because she was one of the cold giant-folk. Day and Night had\neach a chariot drawn by a swift horse, and each in turn drove about\nthe world in a twenty-four hours' journey. Night rode first behind her\ndark horse, Hr\u00eemfaxi, who scattered dew from his bit upon the sleeping\nearth. After her came Day with his beautiful horse, Glad, whose shining\nmane shot rays of light through the sky.\n\nAll these wonders the kind gods wrought that they might make a pleasant\nworld for men to call their home. And now the gods, or \u00c6sir as they\nwere called, must choose a place for their own dwelling, for there\nwere many of them, a glorious family. Outside of everything, beyond\nthe great ocean which surrounded the world, was Jotunheim, the cold\ncountry where the giants lived. The green earth was made for men. The\ngods therefore decided to build their city above men in the heavens,\nwhere they could watch the doings of their favorites and protect them\nfrom the wicked giants. Asgard was to be their city, and from Asgard\nto Midgard, the home of men, stretched a wonderful bridge, a bridge of\nmany colors. For it was the rainbow that we know and love. Up and down\nthe rainbow bridge the \u00c6sir could travel to the earth, and thus keep\nclose to the doings of men.\n\nNext, from the remnants of Ymir's body the gods made the race of little\ndwarfs, a wise folk and skillful, but in nature more like the giants\nthan like the good \u00c6sir; for they were spiteful and often wicked, and\nthey loved the dark and the cold better than light and warmth. They\nlived deep down below the ground in caves and rocky dens, and it was\ntheir business to dig the precious metals and glittering gems that were\nhidden in the rocks, and to make wonderful things from the treasures\nof the under-world. Pouf! pouf! went their little bellows. Tink-tank!\nwent their little hammers on their little anvils all day and all\nnight. Sometimes they were friendly to the giants, and sometimes they\ndid kindly deeds for the \u00c6sir. But always after men came upon the earth\nthey hated these new folk who eagerly sought for the gold and the\njewels which the dwarfs kept hidden in the ground. The dwarfs lost no\nchance of doing evil to the race of men.\n\nNow the gods were ready for the making of men. They longed to have a\nrace of creatures whom they could love and protect and bless with all\nkinds of pleasures. So Odin, with his brothers H\u0153nir and Loki, crossed\nthe rainbow bridge and came down to the earth. They were walking along\nthe seashore when they found two trees, an ash and an elm. These would\ndo as well as anything for their purpose. Odin took the two trees and\nwarmly breathed upon them; and lo! they were alive, a man and a woman.\nH\u0153nir then gently touched their foreheads, and they became wise. Lastly\nLoki softly stroked their faces; their skin grew pink with ruddy color,\nand they received the gifts of speech, hearing, and sight. Ask and\nEmbla were their names, and the ash and the elm became the father and\nmother of the whole human race whose dwelling was Midgard, under the\neyes of the \u00c6sir who had made them.\n\nThis is the story of the Beginning of Things.\n\n\n\n\nHOW ODIN LOST HIS EYE\n\n\nIn the beginning of things, before there was any world or sun, moon,\nand stars, there were the giants; for these were the oldest creatures\nthat ever breathed. They lived in Jotunheim, the land of frost and\ndarkness, and their hearts were evil. Next came the gods, the good\n\u00c6sir, who made earth and sky and sea, and who dwelt in Asgard, above\nthe heavens. Then were created the queer little dwarfs, who lived\nunderground in the caverns of the mountains, working at their mines of\nmetal and precious stones. Last of all, the gods made men to dwell in\nMidgard, the good world that we know, between which and the glorious\nhome of the \u00c6sir stretched Bifr\u00f6st, the bridge of rainbows.\n\nIn those days, folk say, there was a mighty ash-tree named Yggdrasil,\nso vast that its branches shaded the whole earth and stretched up\ninto heaven where the \u00c6sir dwelt, while its roots sank far down below\nthe lowest depth. In the branches of the big ash-tree lived a queer\nfamily of creatures. First, there was a great eagle, who was wiser\nthan any bird that ever lived--except the two ravens, Thought and\nMemory, who sat upon Father Odin's shoulders and told him the secrets\nwhich they learned in their flight over the wide world. Near the great\neagle perched a hawk, and four antlered deer browsed among the buds\nof Yggdrasil. At the foot of the tree coiled a huge serpent, who was\nalways gnawing hungrily at its roots, with a whole colony of little\nsnakes to keep him company,--so many that they could never be counted.\nThe eagle at the top of the tree and the serpent at its foot were\nenemies, always saying hard things of each other. Between the two\nskipped up and down a little squirrel, a tale-bearer and a gossip, who\nrepeated each unkind remark and, like the malicious neighbor that he\nwas, kept their quarrel ever fresh and green.\n\nIn one place at the roots of Yggdrasil was a fair fountain called the\nUrdar-well, where the three Norn-maidens, who knew the past, present,\nand future, dwelt with their pets, the two white swans. This was magic\nwater in the fountain, which the Norns sprinkled every day upon the\ngiant tree to keep it green,--water so sacred that everything which\nentered it became white as the film of an eggshell. Close beside this\nsacred well the \u00c6sir had their council hall, to which they galloped\nevery morning over the rainbow bridge.\n\nBut Father Odin, the king of all the \u00c6sir, knew of another fountain\nmore wonderful still; the two ravens whom he sent forth to bring him\nnews had told him. This also was below the roots of Yggdrasil, in the\nspot where the sky and ocean met. Here for centuries and centuries the\ngiant Mimer had sat keeping guard over his hidden well, in the bottom\nof which lay such a treasure of wisdom as was to be found nowhere else\nin the world. Every morning Mimer dipped his glittering horn Gi\u00f6ll into\nthe fountain and drew out a draught of the wondrous water, which he\ndrank to make him wise. Every day he grew wiser and wiser; and as this\nhad been going on ever since the beginning of things, you can scarcely\nimagine how wise Mimer was.\n\nNow it did not seem right to Father Odin that a giant should have all\nthis wisdom to himself; for the giants were the enemies of the \u00c6sir,\nand the wisdom which they had been hoarding for ages before the gods\nwere made was generally used for evil purposes. Moreover, Odin longed\nand longed to become the wisest being in the world. So he resolved to\nwin a draught from Mimer's well, if in any way that could be done.\n\nOne night, when the sun had set behind the mountains of Midgard, Odin\nput on his broad-brimmed hat and his striped cloak, and taking his\nfamous staff in his hand, trudged down the long bridge to where it\nended by Mimer's secret grotto.\n\n\"Good-day, Mimer,\" said Odin, entering; \"I have come for a drink from\nyour well.\"\n\nThe giant was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chin, his long\nwhite beard falling over his folded arms, and his head nodding; for\nMimer was very old, and he often fell asleep while watching over his\nprecious spring. He woke with a frown at Odin's words. \"You want a\ndrink from my well, do you?\" he growled. \"Hey! I let no one drink from\nmy well.\"\n\n\"Nevertheless, you must let me have a draught from your glittering\nhorn,\" insisted Odin, \"and I will pay you for it.\"\n\n\"Oho, you will pay me for it, will you?\" echoed Mimer, eyeing his\nvisitor keenly. For now that he was wide awake, his wisdom taught him\nthat this was no ordinary stranger. \"What will you pay for a drink from\nmy well, and why do you wish it so much?\"\n\n\"I can see with my eyes all that goes on in heaven and upon earth,\"\nsaid Odin, \"but I cannot see into the depths of ocean. I lack the\nhidden wisdom of the deep,--the wit that lies at the bottom of your\nfountain. My ravens tell me many secrets; but I would know all. And as\nfor payment, ask what you will, and I will pledge anything in return\nfor the draught of wisdom.\"\n\nThen Mimer's keen glance grew keener. \"You are Odin, of the race of\ngods,\" he cried. \"We giants are centuries older than you, and our\nwisdom which we have treasured during these ages, when we were the only\ncreatures in all space, is a precious thing. If I grant you a draught\nfrom my well, you will become as one of us, a wise and dangerous\nenemy. It is a goodly price, Odin, which I shall demand for a boon so\ngreat.\"\n\nNow Odin was growing impatient for the sparkling water. \"Ask your\nprice,\" he frowned. \"I have promised that I will pay.\"\n\n\"What say you, then, to leaving one of those far-seeing eyes of yours\nat the bottom of my well?\" asked Mimer, hoping that he would refuse the\nbargain. \"This is the only payment I will take.\"\n\nOdin hesitated. It was indeed a heavy price, and one that he could ill\nafford, for he was proud of his noble beauty. But he glanced at the\nmagic fountain bubbling mysteriously in the shadow, and he knew that he\nmust have the draught.\n\n\"Give me the glittering horn,\" he answered. \"I pledge you my eye for a\ndraught to the brim.\"\n\nVery unwillingly Mimer filled the horn from the fountain of wisdom and\nhanded it to Odin. \"Drink, then,\" he said; \"drink and grow wise. This\nhour is the beginning of trouble between your race and mine.\" And wise\nMimer foretold the truth.\n\nOdin thought merely of the wisdom which was to be his. He seized the\nhorn eagerly, and emptied it without delay. From that moment he became\nwiser than any one else in the world except Mimer himself.\n\nNow he had the price to pay, which was not so pleasant. When he went\naway from the grotto, he left at the bottom of the dark pool one of\nhis fiery eyes, which twinkled and winked up through the magic depths\nlike the reflection of a star. This is how Odin lost his eye, and why\nfrom that day he was careful to pull his gray hat low over his face\nwhen he wanted to pass unnoticed. For by this oddity folk could easily\nrecognize the wise lord of Asgard.\n\nIn the bright morning, when the sun rose over the mountains of Midgard,\nold Mimer drank from his bubbly well a draught of the wise water that\nflowed over Odin's pledge. Doing so, from his underground grotto he saw\nall that befell in heaven and on earth. So that he also was wiser by\nthe bargain. Mimer seemed to have secured rather the best of it; for he\nlost nothing that he could not spare, while Odin lost what no man can\nwell part with,--one of the good windows wherethrough his heart looks\nout upon the world. But there was a sequel to these doings which made\nthe balance swing down in Odin's favor.\n\nNot long after this, the \u00c6sir quarreled with the Vanir, wild enemies of\ntheirs, and there was a terrible battle. But in the end the two sides\nmade peace; and to prove that they meant never to quarrel again, they\nexchanged hostages. The Vanir gave to the \u00c6sir old Ni\u00f6rd the rich,\nthe lord of the sea and the ocean wind, with his two children, Frey\nand Freia. This was indeed a gracious gift; for Freia was the most\nbeautiful maid in the world, and her twin brother was almost as fair.\nTo the Vanir in return Father Odin gave his own brother H\u0153nir. And with\nH\u0153nir he sent Mimer the wise, whom he took from his lonely well.\n\nNow the Vanir made H\u0153nir their chief, thinking that he must be very\nwise because he was the brother of great Odin, who had lately become\nfamous for his wisdom. They did not know the secret of Mimer's well,\nhow the hoary old giant was far more wise than any one who had not\nquaffed of the magic water. It is true that in the assemblies of\nthe Vanir H\u0153nir gave excellent counsel. But this was because Mimer\nwhispered in H\u0153nir's ear all the wisdom that he uttered. Witless H\u0153nir\nwas quite helpless without his aid, and did not know what to do or say.\nWhenever Mimer was absent he would look nervous and frightened, and if\nfolk questioned him he always answered:--\n\n\"Yes, ah yes! Now go and consult some one else.\"\n\nOf course the Vanir soon grew very angry at such silly answers from\ntheir chief, and presently they began to suspect the truth. \"Odin has\ndeceived us,\" they said. \"He has sent us his foolish brother with a\nwitch to tell him what to say. Ha! We will show him that we understand\nthe trick.\" So they cut off poor old Mimer's head and sent it to Odin\nas a present.\n\nThe tales do not say what Odin thought of the gift. Perhaps he was glad\nthat now there was no one in the whole world who could be called so\nwise as himself. Perhaps he was sorry for the danger into which he had\nthrust a poor old giant who had never done him any wrong, except to\nbe a giant of the race which the \u00c6sir hated. Perhaps he was a little\nashamed of the trick which he had played the Vanir. Odin's new wisdom\nshowed him how to prepare Mimer's head with herbs and charms, so that\nit stood up by itself quite naturally and seemed not dead. Thenceforth\nOdin kept it near him, and learned from it many useful secrets which it\nhad not forgotten.\n\nSo in the end Odin fared better than the unhappy Mimer, whose worst\nfault was that he knew more than most folk. That is a dangerous fault,\nas others have found; though it is not one for which many of us need\nfear being punished.\n\n\n\n\nKVASIR'S BLOOD\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a man named Kvasir, who was so wise that\nno one could ask him a question to which he did not know the answer,\nand who was so eloquent that his words dripped from his lips like notes\nof music from a lute. For Kvasir was the first poet who ever lived, the\nfirst of those wise makers of songs whom the Norse folk named _skalds_.\nThis Kvasir received his precious gifts wonderfully; for he was made by\nthe gods and the Vanir, those two mighty races, to celebrate the peace\nwhich was evermore to be between them.\n\nUp and down the world Kvasir traveled, lending his wisdom to the use of\nmen, his brothers; and wherever he went he brought smiles and joy and\ncomfort, for with his wisdom he found the cause of all men's troubles,\nand with his songs he healed them. This is what the poets have been\ndoing in all the ages ever since. Folk declare that every skald has a\ndrop of Kvasir's blood in him. This is the tale which is told to show\nhow it happened that Kvasir's blessed skill has never been lost to the\nworld.\n\nThere were two wicked dwarfs named Fialar and Galar who envied Kvasir\nhis power over the hearts of men, and who plotted to destroy him. So\none day they invited him to dine, and while he was there, they begged\nhim to come aside with them, for they had a very secret question to\nask, which only he could answer. Kvasir never refused to turn his\nwisdom to another's help; so, nothing suspecting, he went with them to\nhear their trouble.\n\nThereupon this sly pair of wicked dwarfs led him into a lonely corner.\nTreacherously they slew Kvasir; and because their cunning taught them\nthat his blood must be precious, they saved it in three huge kettles,\nand mixing it with honey, made thereof a magic drink. Truly, a magic\ndrink it was; for whoever tasted of Kvasir's blood was straightway\nfilled with Kvasir's spirit, so that his heart taught wisdom and\nhis lips uttered the sweetest poesy. Thus the wicked dwarfs became\npossessed of a wonderful treasure.\n\nWhen the gods missed the silver voice of Kvasir echoing up from the\nworld below, they were alarmed, for Kvasir was very dear to them. They\ninquired what had become of him, and finally the wily dwarfs answered\nthat the good poet had been drowned in his own wisdom. But Father Odin,\nwho had tasted another wise draught from Mimer's well, knew that this\nwas not the truth, and kept his watchful eye upon the dark doings of\nFialar and Galar.\n\nNot long after this the dwarfs committed another wicked deed. They\ninvited the giant Gilling to row out to sea with them, and when they\nwere a long distance from shore, the wicked fellows upset the boat and\ndrowned the giant, who could not swim. They rowed back to land, and\ntold the giant's wife how the \"accident\" had happened. Then there were\ngiant shrieks and howls enough to deafen all the world, for the poor\ngiantess was heartbroken, and her grief was a giant grief. Her sobs\nannoyed the cruel-hearted dwarfs. So Fialar, pretending to sympathize,\noffered to take her where she could look upon the spot where her dear\nhusband had last been seen. As she passed through the gateway, the\nother dwarf, to whom his brother had made a sign, let a huge millstone\nfall upon her head. That was the ending of her, poor thing, and of her\nsorrow, which had so disturbed the little people, crooked in heart as\nin body.\n\nBut punishment was in store for them. Suttung, the huge son of Gilling,\nlearned the story of his parents' death, and presently, in a dreadful\nrage, he came roaring to the home of the dwarfs. He seized one of them\nin each big fist, and wading far out to sea, set the wretched little\nfellows on a rock which at high tide would be covered with water.\n\n\"Stay there,\" he cried, \"and drown as my father drowned!\" The dwarfs\nscreamed thereat for mercy so loudly that he had to listen before he\nwent away.\n\n\"Only let us off, Suttung,\" they begged, \"and you shall have the\nprecious mead made from Kvasir's blood.\"\n\nNow Suttung was very anxious to own this same mead, so at last he\nagreed to the bargain. He carried them back to land, and they gave him\nthe kettles in which they had mixed the magic fluid. Suttung took them\naway to his cave in the mountains, and gave them in charge of his fair\ndaughter Gunnl\u00f6d. All day and all night she watched by the precious\nkettles, to see that no one came to steal or taste of the mead; for\nSuttung thought of it as his greatest treasure, and no wonder.\n\nFather Odin had seen all these deeds from his seat above the heavens,\nand his eye had followed longingly the passage of the wondrous mead,\nfor Odin longed to have a draught of it. Odin had wisdom, he had\ndrained that draught from the bottom of Mimer's mystic fountain; but\nhe lacked the skill of speech which comes of drinking Kvasir's blood.\nHe wanted the mead for himself and for his children in Asgard, and it\nseemed a shame that this precious treasure should be wasted upon the\nwicked giants who were their enemies. So he resolved to try if it might\nnot be won in some sly way.\n\nOne day he put on his favorite disguise as a wandering old man, and set\nout for Giant Land, where Suttung dwelt. By and by he came to a field\nwhere nine workmen were cutting hay. Now these were the servants of\nBaugi, the brother of Suttung, and this Odin knew. He walked up to the\nmen and watched them working for a little while.\n\n\"Ho!\" he exclaimed at last, \"your scythes are dull. Shall I whet\nthem for you?\" The men were glad enough to accept his offer, so Odin\ntook a whetstone from his pocket and sharpened all the scythes most\nwonderfully. Then the men wanted to buy the stone; each man would have\nit for his own, and they fell to quarreling over it. To make matters\nmore exciting, Odin tossed the whetstone into their midst, saying:--\n\n\"Let him have it who catches it!\" Then indeed there was trouble! The\nmen fought with one another for the stone, slashing right and left with\ntheir sharp scythes until every one was killed. Odin hastened away,\nand went up to the house where Baugi lived. Presently home came Baugi,\ncomplaining loudly and bitterly because his quarrelsome servants had\nkilled one another, so that there was not one left to do his work.\n\n\"What am I going to do?\" he cried. \"Here it is mowing time, and I have\nnot a single man to help me in the field!\"\n\nThen Odin spoke up. \"I will help you,\" he said. \"I am a stout fellow,\nand I can do the work of nine men if I am paid the price I ask.\"\n\n\"What is the price which you ask?\" queried Baugi eagerly, for he saw\nthat this stranger was a mighty man, and he thought that perhaps he\ncould do as he boasted.\n\n\"I ask that you get for me a drink of Suttung's mead,\" Odin answered.\n\nThen Baugi eyed him sharply. \"You are one of the gods,\" he said, \"or\nyou would not know about the precious mead. Therefore I know that you\ncan do my work, the work of nine men. I cannot give you the mead. It\nis my brother's, and he is very jealous of it, for he wishes it all\nhimself. But if you will work for me all the summer, when winter comes\nI will go with you to Suttung's home and try what I can do to get a\ndraught for you.\"\n\nSo they made the bargain, and all summer Father Odin worked in the\nfields of Baugi, doing the work of nine men. When the winter came, he\ndemanded his pay. So then they set out for Suttung's home, which was\na cave deep down in the mountains, where it seems not hard to hide\none's treasures. First Baugi went to his brother and told him of the\nagreement between him and the stranger, begging for a gift of the magic\nmead wherewith to pay the stout laborer who had done the work of nine.\nBut Suttung refused to spare even a taste of the precious liquor.\n\n\"This laborer of yours is one of the gods, our enemies,\" he said.\n\"Indeed, I will not give him of the precious mead. What are you\nthinking of, brother!\" Then he talked to Baugi till the giant was ready\nto forget his promise to Odin, and to desire only the death of the\nstranger who had come forward to help him.\n\nBaugi returned to Odin with the news that the mead was not to be had\nwith Suttung's consent. \"Then we must get it without his consent,\"\ndeclared Odin. \"We must use our wits to steal it from under his nose.\nYou must help me, Baugi, for you have promised.\"\n\nBaugi agreed to this; but in his heart he meant to entrap Odin to his\ndeath. Odin now took from his pocket an auger such as one uses to bore\nholes. \"Look, now,\" he said. \"You shall bore a hole into the roof of\nSuttung's cave, and when the hole is large enough, I will crawl through\nand get the mead.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" nodded Baugi, and he began to bore into the mountain with\nall his might and main. At last he cried, \"There, it is done; the\nmountain is pierced through!\" But when Odin blew into the hole to see\nwhether it did indeed go through into the cave, the dust made by the\nauger flew into his face. Thus he knew that Baugi was deceiving him,\nand thenceforth he was on his guard, which was fortunate.\n\n\"Try again,\" said Odin sternly. \"Bore a little deeper, friend Baugi.\"\nSo Baugi went at the work once more, and this time when he said the\nhole was finished, Odin found that his word was true, for the dust blew\nthrough the hole and disappeared in the cave. Now Odin was ready to try\nthe plan which he had been forming.\n\nOdin's wisdom taught him many tricks, and among them he knew the secret\nof changing his form into that of any creature he chose. He turned\nhimself into a worm,--a long, slender, wiggly worm, just small enough\nto be able to enter the hole that Baugi had pierced. In a moment he\nhad thrust his head into the opening, and was wriggling out of sight\nbefore Baugi had even guessed what he meant to do. Baugi jumped forward\nand made a stab at him with the pointed auger, but it was too late.\nThe worm's striped tail quivered in out of sight, and Baugi's wicked\nattempt was spoiled.\n\nWhen Odin had crept through the hole, he found himself in a dark,\ndamp cavern, where at first he could see nothing. He changed himself\nback into his own noble form, and then he began to hunt about for the\nkettles of magic mead. Presently he came to a little chamber, carefully\nhidden in a secret corner of this secret grotto,--a chamber locked and\nbarred and bolted on the inside, so that no one could enter by the\ndoor. Suttung had never thought of such a thing as that a stranger\nmight enter by a hole in the roof!\n\nAt the back of this tiny room stood three kettles upon the floor; and\nbeside them, with her head resting on her elbow, sat a beautiful\nmaiden, sound asleep. It was Gunnl\u00f6d, Suttung's daughter, the guardian\nof the mead. Odin stepped up to her very softly, and bending over,\nkissed her gently upon the forehead. Gunnl\u00f6d awoke with a start, and at\nfirst she was horrified to find a stranger in the cave where it seemed\nimpossible that a stranger could enter. But when she saw the beauty of\nOdin's face and the kind look of his eye, she was no longer afraid, but\nglad that he had come. For poor Gunnl\u00f6d often grew lonesome in this\ngloomy cellar-home, where Suttung kept her prisoner day and night to\nwatch over the three kettles.\n\n\"Dear maiden,\" said Odin, \"I have come a long, long distance to see\nyou. Will you not bid me stay a little while?\"\n\nGunnl\u00f6d looked at him kindly. \"Who are you, and whence do you come so\nfar to see me?\" she asked.\n\n\"I am Odin, from Asgard. The way is long and I am thirsty. Shall I not\ntaste the liquor which you have there?\"\n\nGunnl\u00f6d hesitated. \"My father bade me never let soul taste of the\nmead,\" she said \"I am sorry for you, however, poor fellow. You look\nvery tired and thirsty. You may have one little sip.\" Then Odin kissed\nher and thanked her, and tarried there with such pleasant words for\nthe maiden that before he was ready to go she granted him what he\nasked,--three draughts, only three draughts of the mead.\n\nNow Odin took up the first kettle to drink, and with one draught he\ndrained the whole. He did the same by the next, and the next, till\nbefore she knew it, Gunnl\u00f6d found herself guarding three empty kettles.\nOdin had gained what he came for, and it was time for him to be gone\nbefore Suttung should come to seek him in the cave. He kissed fair\nGunnl\u00f6d once again, with a sigh to think that he must treat her so\nunfairly. Then he changed himself into an eagle, and away he flew to\ncarry the precious mead home to Asgard.\n\nMeanwhile Baugi had told the giant Suttung how Odin the worm had\npierced through into his treasure-cave; and when Suttung, who was\nwatching, saw the great eagle fly forth, he guessed who this eagle must\nbe. Suttung also put on an eagle's plumage, and a wonderful chase\nbegan. Whirr, whirr! The two enormous birds winged their way toward\nAsgard, Suttung close upon the other's flight. Over the mountains\nthey flew, and the world was darkened as if by the passage of heavy\nstorm-clouds, while the trees, blown by the breeze from their wings,\nswayed, and bent almost to the ground.\n\nIt was a close race; but Odin was the swifter of the two, and at last\nhe had the mead safe in Asgard, where the gods were waiting with huge\ndishes to receive it from his mouth. Suttung was so close upon him,\nhowever, that he jostled Odin even as he was filling the last dish, and\nsome of the mead was spilled about in every direction over the world.\nMen rushed from far and near to taste of these wasted drops of Kvasir's\nblood, and many had just enough to make them dizzy, but not enough\nto make them wise. These folk are the poor poets, the makers of bad\nverses, whom one finds to this day satisfied with their meagre, stolen\nportion, scattered drops of the sacred draught.\n\nThe mead that Odin had captured he gave to the gods, a wondrous gift;\nand they in turn cherished it as their most precious treasure. It was\ngiven into the special charge of old Bragi of the white beard, because\nhis taste of the magic mead had made him wise and eloquent above all\nothers. He was the sweetest singer of all the \u00c6sir, and his speech\nwas poetry. Sometimes Bragi gave a draught of Kvasir's blood to some\nfavored mortal, and then he also became a great poet. He did not do\nthis often,--only once or twice in the memory of an old man; for the\nprecious mead must be made to last a long, long time, until the world\nbe ready to drop to pieces, because this world without its poets would\nbe too dreadful a place to imagine.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIANT BUILDER\n\n\nAges and ages ago, when the world was first made, the gods decided to\nbuild a beautiful city high above the heavens, the most glorious and\nwonderful city that ever was known. Asgard was to be its name, and it\nwas to stand on Ida Plain under the shade of Yggdrasil, the great tree\nwhose roots were underneath the earth.\n\nFirst of all they built a house with a silver roof, where there were\nseats for all the twelve chiefs. In the midst, and high above the\nrest, was the wonder-throne of Odin the All-Father, whence he could\nsee everything that happened in the sky or on the earth or in the sea.\nNext they made a fair house for Queen Frigg and her lovely daughters.\nThen they built a smithy, with its great hammers, tongs, anvils, and\nbellows, where the gods could work at their favorite trade, the making\nof beautiful things out of gold; which they did so well that folk name\nthat time the Golden Age. Afterwards, as they had more leisure, they\nbuilt separate houses for all the \u00c6sir, each more beautiful than the\npreceding, for of course they were continually growing more skillful.\nThey saved Father Odin's palace until the last, for they meant this to\nbe the largest and the most splendid of all.\n\nGladsheim, the home of joy, was the name of Odin's house, and it was\nbuilt all of gold, set in the midst of a wood whereof the trees had\nleaves of ruddy gold,--like an autumn-gilded forest. For the safety of\nAll-Father it was surrounded by a roaring river and by a high picket\nfence; and there was a great courtyard within.\n\nThe glory of Gladsheim was its wondrous hall, radiant with gold, the\nmost lovely room that time has ever seen. Valhalla, the Hall of Heroes,\nwas the name of it, and it was roofed with the mighty shields of\nwarriors. The ceiling was made of interlacing spears, and there was a\nportal at the west end before which hung a great gray wolf, while over\nhim a fierce eagle hovered. The hall was so huge that it had 540 gates,\nthrough each of which 800 men could march abreast. Indeed, there needed\nto be room, for this was the hall where every morning Odin received\nall the brave warriors who had died in battle on the earth below; and\nthere were many heroes in those days.\n\nThis was the reward which the gods gave to courage. When a hero had\ngloriously lost his life, the Valkyries, the nine warrior daughters\nof Odin, brought his body up to Valhalla on their white horses that\ngallop the clouds. There they lived forever after in happiness,\nenjoying the things that they had most loved upon earth. Every morning\nthey armed themselves and went out to fight with one another in the\ngreat courtyard. It was a wondrous game, wondrously played. No matter\nhow often a hero was killed, he became alive again in time to return\nperfectly well to Valhalla, where he ate a delicious breakfast with the\n\u00c6sir; while the beautiful Valkyries who had first brought him thither\nwaited at table and poured the blessed mead, which only the immortal\ntaste. A happy life it was for the heroes, and a happy life for all who\ndwelt in Asgard; for this was before trouble had come among the gods,\nfollowing the mischief of Loki.\n\nThis is how the trouble began. From the beginning of time, the giants\nhad been unfriendly to the \u00c6sir, because the giants were older and\nhuger and more wicked; besides, they were jealous because the good \u00c6sir\nwere fast gaining more wisdom and power than the giants had ever known.\nIt was the \u00c6sir who set the fair brother and sister, Sun and Moon, in\nthe sky to give light to men; and it was they also who made the jeweled\nstars out of sparks from the place of fire. The giants hated the \u00c6sir,\nand tried all in their power to injure them and the men of the earth\nbelow, whom the \u00c6sir loved and cared for. The gods had already built a\nwall around Midgard, the world of men, to keep the giants out; built it\nof the bushy eyebrows of Ymir, the oldest and hugest of giants. Between\nAsgard and the giants flowed Ifing, the great river on which ice never\nformed, and which the gods crossed on the rainbow bridge. But this was\nnot protection enough. Their beautiful new city needed a fortress.\n\nSo the word went forth in Asgard,--\"We must build us a fortress against\nthe giants; the hugest, strongest, finest fortress that ever was\nbuilt.\"\n\nNow one day, soon after they had announced this decision, there came a\nmighty man stalking up the rainbow bridge that led to Asgard city.\n\n\"Who goes there!\" cried Heimdal the watchman, whose eyes were so keen\nthat he could see for a hundred miles around, and whose ears were so\nsharp that he could hear the grass growing in the meadow and the wool\non the backs of the sheep. \"Who goes there! No one can enter Asgard if\nI say no.\"\n\n\"I am a builder,\" said the stranger, who was a huge fellow with sleeves\nrolled up to show the iron muscles of his arms. \"I am a builder of\nstrong towers, and I have heard that the folk of Asgard need one to\nhelp them raise a fair fortress in their city.\"\n\nHeimdal looked at the stranger narrowly, for there was that about him\nwhich his sharp eyes did not like. But he made no answer, only blew\non his golden horn, which was so loud that it sounded through all the\nworld. At this signal all the \u00c6sir came running to the rainbow bridge,\nfrom wherever they happened to be, to find out who was coming to\nAsgard. For it was Heimdal's duty ever to warn them of the approach of\nthe unknown.\n\n\"This fellow says he is a builder,\" quoth Heimdal. \"And he would fain\nbuild us a fortress in the city.\"\n\n\"Ay, that I would,\" nodded the stranger. \"Look at my iron arm; look at\nmy broad back; look at my shoulders. Am I not the workman you need?\"\n\n\"Truly, he is a mighty figure,\" vowed Odin, looking at him approvingly.\n\"How long will it take you alone to build our fortress? We can allow\nbut one stranger at a time within our city, for safety's sake.\"\n\n\"In three half-years,\" replied the stranger, \"I will undertake to build\nfor you a castle so strong that not even the giants, should they swarm\nhither over Midgard,--not even they could enter without your leave.\"\n\n\"Aha!\" cried Father Odin, well pleased at this offer. \"And what reward\ndo you ask, friend, for help so timely?\"\n\nThe stranger hummed and hawed and pulled his long beard while he\nthought. Then he spoke suddenly, as if the idea had just come into his\nmind. \"I will name my price, friends,\" he said; \"a small price for so\ngreat a deed. I ask you to give me Freia for my wife, and those two\nsparkling jewels, the Sun and Moon.\"\n\nAt this demand the gods looked grave; for Freia was their dearest\ntreasure. She was the most beautiful maid who ever lived, the light and\nlife of heaven, and if she should leave Asgard, joy would go with her;\nwhile the Sun and Moon were the light and life of the \u00c6sir's children,\nmen, who lived in the little world below. But Loki the sly whispered\nthat they would be safe enough if they made another condition on their\npart, so hard that the builder could not fulfill it. After thinking\ncautiously, he spoke for them all.\n\n\"Mighty man,\" quoth he, \"we are willing to agree to your price--upon\none condition. It is too long a time that you ask; we cannot wait three\nhalf-years for our castle; that is equal to three centuries when one is\nin a hurry. See that you finish the fort without help in one winter,\none short winter, and you shall have fair Freia with the Sun and Moon.\nBut if, on the first day of summer, one stone is wanting to the walls,\nor if any one has given you aid in the building, then your reward is\nlost, and you shall depart without payment.\" So spoke Loki, in the name\nof all the gods; but the plan was his own.\n\nAt first the stranger shook his head and frowned, saying that in so\nshort a time no one unaided could complete the undertaking. At last\nhe made another offer. \"Let me have but my good horse to help me, and\nI will try,\" he urged. \"Let me bring the useful Svadilf\u00f6ri with me to\nthe task, and I will finish the work in one winter of short days, or\nlose my reward. Surely, you will not deny me this little help, from one\nfour-footed friend.\"\n\nThen again the \u00c6sir consulted, and the wiser of them were doubtful\nwhether it were best to accept the stranger's offer so strangely made.\nBut again Loki urged them to accept. \"Surely, there is no harm,\" he\nsaid. \"Even with his old horse to help him, he cannot build the castle\nin the promised time. We shall gain a fortress without trouble and with\nnever a price to pay.\"\n\nLoki was so eager that, although the other \u00c6sir did not like this\ncrafty way of making bargains, they finally consented. Then in the\npresence of the heroes, with the Valkyries and Mimer's head for\nwitnesses, the stranger and the \u00c6sir gave solemn promise that the\nbargain should be kept.\n\nOn the first day of winter the strange builder began his work, and\nwondrous was the way he set about it. His strength seemed as the\nstrength of a hundred men. As for his horse Svadilf\u00f6ri, he did more\nwork by half than even the mighty builder. In the night he dragged\nthe enormous rocks that were to be used in building the castle, rocks\nas big as mountains of the earth; while in the daytime the stranger\npiled them into place with his iron arms. The \u00c6sir watched him with\namazement; never was seen such strength in Asgard. Neither T\u0177r the\nstout nor Thor the strong could match the power of the stranger. The\ngods began to look at one another uneasily. Who was this mighty one who\nhad come among them, and what if after all he should win his reward?\nFreia trembled in her palace, and the Sun and Moon grew dim with fear.\n\nStill the work went on, and the fort was piling higher and higher,\nby day and by night. There were but three days left before the end of\nwinter, and already the building was so tall and so strong that it was\nsafe from the attacks of any giant. The \u00c6sir were delighted with their\nfine new castle; but their pride was dimmed by the fear that it must be\npaid for at all too costly a price. For only the gateway remained to be\ncompleted, and unless the stranger should fail to finish that in the\nnext three days, they must give him Freia with the Sun and Moon.\n\nThe \u00c6sir held a meeting upon Ida Plain, a meeting full of fear and\nanger. At last they realized what they had done; they had made a\nbargain with one of the giants, their enemies; and if he won the prize,\nit would mean sorrow and darkness in heaven and upon earth. \"How did\nwe happen to agree to so mad a bargain?\" they asked one another. \"Who\nsuggested the wicked plan which bids fair to cost us all that we most\ncherish?\" Then they remembered that it was Loki who had made the plan;\nit was he who had insisted that it be carried out and they blamed him\nfor all the trouble.\n\n\"It is your counsels, Loki, that have brought this danger upon us,\"\nquoth Father Odin, frowning. \"You chose the way of guile, which is not\nour way. It now remains for you to help us by guile, if you can. But if\nyou cannot save for us Freia and the Sun and Moon, you shall die. This\nis my word.\" All the other \u00c6sir agreed that this was just. Thor alone\nwas away hunting evil demons at the other end of the world, so he did\nnot know what was going on, and what dangers were threatening Asgard.\n\nLoki was much frightened at the word of All-Father. \"It was my fault,\"\nhe cried, \"but how was I to know that he was a giant? He had disguised\nhimself so that he seemed but a strong man. And as for his horse,--it\nlooks much like that of other folk. If it were not for the horse, he\ncould not finish the work. Ha! I have a thought! The builder shall not\nfinish the gate; the giant shall not receive his payment. I will cheat\nthe fellow.\"\n\nNow it was the last night of winter, and there remained but a few\nstones to put in place on the top of the wondrous gateway. The giant\nwas sure of his prize, and chuckled to himself as he went out with his\nhorse to drag the remaining stones; for he did not know that the \u00c6sir\nhad guessed at last who he was, and that Loki was plotting to outwit\nhim. Hardly had he gone to work when out of the wood came running a\npretty little mare, who neighed to Svadilf\u00f6ri as if inviting the tired\nhorse to leave his work and come to the green fields for a holiday.\n\nSvadilf\u00f6ri, you must remember, had been working hard all winter, with\nnever a sight of four-footed creature of his kind, and he was very\nlonesome and tired of dragging stones. Giving a snort of disobedience,\noff he ran after this new friend towards the grassy meadows. Off went\nthe giant after him, howling with rage, and running for dear life, as\nhe saw not only his horse but his chance of success slipping out of\nreach. It was a mad chase, and all Asgard thundered with the noise of\ngalloping hoofs and the giant's mighty tread. The mare who raced ahead\nwas Loki in disguise, and he led Svadilf\u00f6ri far out of reach, to a\nhidden meadow that he knew; so that the giant howled and panted up and\ndown all night long, without catching even a sight of his horse.\n\nNow when the morning came the gateway was still unfinished, and night\nand winter had ended at the same hour. The giant's time was over, and\nhe had forfeited his reward. The \u00c6sir came flocking to the gateway, and\nhow they laughed and triumphed when they found three stones wanting to\ncomplete the gate!\n\n\"You have failed, fellow,\" judged Father Odin sternly, \"and no price\nshall we pay for work that is still undone. You have failed. Leave\nAsgard quickly; we have seen all we want of you and of your race.\"\n\nThen the giant knew that he was discovered, and he was mad with rage.\n\"It was a trick!\" he bellowed, assuming his own proper form, which\nwas huge as a mountain, and towered high beside the fortress that he\nhad built. \"It was a wicked trick. You shall pay for this in one way\nor another. I cannot tear down the castle which, ungrateful ones, I\nhave built you, stronger than the strength of any giant. But I will\ndemolish the rest of your shining city!\" Indeed, he would have done so\nin his mighty rage; but at this moment Thor, whom Heimdal had called\nfrom the end of the earth by one blast of the golden horn, came rushing\nto the rescue, drawn in his chariot of goats. Thor jumped to the ground\nclose beside the giant, and before that huge fellow knew what had\nhappened, his head was rolling upon the ground at Father Odin's feet;\nfor with one blow Thor had put an end to the giant's wickedness and had\nsaved Asgard.\n\n\"This is the reward you deserve!\" Thor cried. \"Not Freia nor the Sun\nand Moon, but the death that I have in store for all the enemies of the\n\u00c6sir.\"\n\nIn this extraordinary way the noble city of Asgard was made safe and\ncomplete by the addition of a fortress which no one, not even the giant\nwho built it, could injure, it was so wonder-strong. But always at the\ntop of the gate were lacking three great stones that no one was mighty\nenough to lift. This was a reminder to the \u00c6sir that now they had the\nrace of giants for their everlasting enemies. And though Loki's trick\nhad saved them Freia, and for the world the Sun and Moon, it was the\nbeginning of trouble in Asgard which lasted as long as Loki lived to\nmake mischief with his guile.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC APPLES\n\n\nIt is not very amusing to be a king. Father Odin often grew tired of\nsitting all day long upon his golden throne in Valhalla above the\nheavens. He wearied of welcoming the new heroes whom the Valkyries\nbrought him from wars upon the earth, and of watching the old heroes\nfight their daily deathless battles. He wearied of his wise ravens, and\nthe constant gossip which they brought him from the four corners of\nthe world; and he longed to escape from every one who knew him to some\nplace where he could pass for a mere stranger, instead of the great\nking of the \u00c6sir, the mightiest being in the whole universe, of whom\nevery one was afraid.\n\nSometimes he longed so much that he could not bear it. Then--he would\nrun away. He disguised himself as a tall old man, with white hair and a\nlong gray beard. Around his shoulders he threw a huge blue cloak, that\ncovered him from top to toe, and over his face he pulled a big slouch\nhat, to hide his eyes. For his eyes Odin could not change--no magician\nhas ever learned how to do that. One was empty; he had given the eye to\nthe giant Mimer in exchange for wisdom.\n\nUsually Odin loved to go upon these wanderings alone; for an adventure\nis a double adventure when one meets it single-handed. It was a fine\ngame for Odin to see how near he could come to danger without feeling\nthe grip of its teeth. But sometimes, when he wanted company, he would\nwhisper to his two brothers, H\u0153nir and red Loki. They three would creep\nout of the palace by the back way; and, with a finger on the lip to\nHeimdal, the watchman, would silently steal over the rainbow bridge\nwhich led from Asgard into the places of men and dwarfs and giants.\n\nWonderful adventures they had, these three, with Loki to help make\nthings happen. Loki was a sly, mischievous fellow, full of his pranks\nand his capers, not always kindly ones. But he was clever, as well as\nmalicious; and when he had pushed folk into trouble, he could often\nhelp them out again, as safe as ever. He could be the jolliest of\ncompanions when he chose, and Odin liked his merriment and his witty\ntalk.\n\nOne day Loki did something which was no mere jest nor easily forgiven,\nfor it brought all Asgard into danger. And after that Father Odin and\nhis children thought twice before inviting Loki to join them in any\njourney or undertaking. This which I am about to tell was the first\nreally wicked deed of which Loki was found guilty, though I am sure his\nred beard had dabbled in secret wrongs before.\n\nOne night the three high gods, Odin, H\u0153nir, and Loki, stole away from\nAsgard in search of adventure. Over mountains and deserts, great rivers\nand stony places, they wandered until they grew very hungry. But there\nwas no food to be found--not even a berry or a nut.\n\nOh, how footsore and tired they were! And oh, how faint! The worst of\nit ever is that--as you must often have noticed--the heavier one's feet\ngrow, the lighter and more hollow becomes one's stomach; which seems a\nstrange thing, when you think of it. If only one's feet became as light\nas the rest of one feels, folk could fairly fly with hunger. Alas!\nthis is not so.\n\nThe three \u00c6sir drooped and drooped, and seemed on the point of\nstarving, when they came to the edge of a valley. Here, looking down,\nthey saw a herd of oxen feeding on the grass.\n\n\"Hola!\" shouted Loki. \"Behold our supper!\" Going down into the valley,\nthey caught and killed one of the oxen, and, building a great bonfire,\nhung up the meat to roast. Then the three sat around the fire and\nsmacked their lips, waiting for the meat to cook. They waited for a\nlong time.\n\n\"Surely, it is done now,\" said Loki, at last; and he took the meat\nfrom the fire. Strange to say, however, it was raw as ere the fire was\nlighted. What could it mean? Never before had meat required so long a\ntime to roast. They made the fire brighter and re-hung the beef for a\nthorough basting, cooking it even longer than they had done at first.\nWhen again they came to carve the meat, they found it still uneatable.\nThen, indeed, they looked at one another in surprise.\n\n\"What can this mean?\" cried Loki, with round eyes.\n\n\"There is some trick!\" whispered H\u0153nir, looking around as if he\nexpected to see a fairy or a witch meddling with the food.\n\n\"We must find out what this mystery betokens,\" said Odin thoughtfully.\nJust then there was a strange sound in the oak-tree under which they\nhad built their fire.\n\n\"What is that?\" Loki shouted, springing to his feet. They looked up\ninto the tree, and far above in the branches, near the top, they spied\nan enormous eagle, who was staring down at them, and making a queer\nsound, as if he were laughing.\n\n\"Ho-ho!\" croaked the eagle. \"I know why your meat will not cook. It is\nall my doing, masters.\"\n\nThe three \u00c6sir stared in surprise. Then Odin said sternly: \"Who are\nyou, Master Eagle? And what do you mean by those rude words?\"\n\n\"Give me my share of the ox, and you shall see,\" rasped the eagle, in\nhis harsh voice. \"Give me my share, and you will find that your meat\nwill cook as fast as you please.\"\n\nNow the three on the ground were nearly famished. So, although it\nseemed very strange to be arguing with an eagle, they cried, as if in\none voice: \"Come down, then, and take your share.\" They thought that,\nbeing a mere bird, he would want but a small piece.\n\nThe eagle flapped down from the top of the tree. Dear me! What a mighty\nbird he was! Eight feet across the wings was the smallest measure,\nand his claws were as long and strong as ice-hooks. He fanned the air\nlike a whirlwind as he flew down to perch beside the bonfire. Then in\nhis beak and claws he seized a leg and both shoulders of the ox, and\nstarted to fly away.\n\n\"Hold, thief!\" roared Loki angrily, when he saw how much the eagle was\ntaking. \"That is not your share; you are no lion, but you are taking\nthe lion's share of our feast. Begone, Scarecrow, and leave the meat as\nyou found it!\" Thereat, seizing a pole, he struck at the eagle with all\nhis might.\n\nThen a strange thing happened. As the great bird flapped upward with\nhis prey, giving a scream of malicious laughter, the pole which Loki\nstill held stuck fast to the eagle's back, and Loki was unable to let\ngo of the other end.\n\n\"Help, help!\" he shouted to Odin and to H\u0153nir, as he felt himself\nlifted off his feet. But they could not help him. \"Help, help!\" he\nscreamed, as the eagle flew with him, now high, now low, through brush\nand bog and briar, over treetops and the peaks of mountains. On and on\nthey went, until Loki thought his arm would be pulled out, like a weed\ntorn up by the roots. The eagle would not listen to his cries nor pause\nin his flight, until Loki was almost dead with pain and fatigue.\n\n\"Hark you, Loki,\" screamed the eagle, going a little more slowly; \"no\none can help you except me. You are bewitched, and you cannot pull away\nfrom this pole, nor loose the pole from me, until I choose. But if you\nwill promise what I ask, you shall go free.\"\n\nThen Loki groaned: \"O eagle, only let me go, and tell me who you really\nare, and I will promise whatever you wish.\"\n\nThe eagle answered: \"I am the giant Thiasse, the enemy of the \u00c6sir. But\nyou ought to love me, Loki, for you yourself married a giantess.\"\n\nLoki moaned: \"Oh, yes! I dearly love all my wife's family, great\nThiasse. Tell me what you want of me?\"\n\n\"I want this,\" quoth Thiasse gruffly. \"I am growing old, and I want the\napples which Idun keeps in her golden casket, to make me young again.\nYou must get them for me.\"\n\nNow these apples were the fruit of a magic tree, and were more\nbeautiful to look at and more delicious to taste than any fruit that\never grew. The best thing about them was that whoever tasted one, be\nhe ever so old, grew young and strong again. The apples belonged to\na beautiful lady named Idun, who kept them in a golden casket. Every\nmorning the \u00c6sir came to her to be refreshed and made over by a bite\nof her precious fruit. That is why in Asgard no one ever waxed old or\nugly. Even Father Odin, H\u0153nir, and Loki, the three travelers who had\nseen the very beginning of everything, when the world was made, were\nstill sturdy and young. And so long as Idun kept her apples safe, the\nfaces of the family who sat about the table of Valhalla would be rosy\nand fair like the faces of children.\n\n\"O friend giant!\" cried Loki. \"You know not what you ask! The apples\nare the most precious treasure of Asgard, and Idun keeps watch over\nthem as if they were dearer to her than life itself. I never could\nsteal them from her, Thiasse; for at her call all Asgard would rush to\nthe rescue, and trouble would buzz about my ears like a hive of bees\nlet loose.\"\n\n\"Then you must steal Idun herself, apples and all. For the apples I\nmust have, and you have promised, Loki, to do my bidding.\"\n\nLoki sniffed and thought, thought and sniffed again. Already his\nmischievous heart was planning how he might steal Idun away. He could\nhardly help laughing to think how angry the \u00c6sir would be when they\nfound their beauty-medicine gone forever. But he hoped that, when he\nhad done this trick for Thiasse, now and then the giant would let him\nhave a nibble of the magic apples; so that Loki himself would remain\nyoung long after the other \u00c6sir were grown old and feeble. This thought\nsuited Loki's malicious nature well.\n\n\"I think I can manage it for you, Thiasse,\" he said craftily. \"In a\nweek I promise to bring Idun and her apples to you. But you must not\nforget the great risk which I am running, nor that I am your relative\nby marriage. I may have a favor to ask in return, Thiasse.\"\n\nThen the eagle gently dropped Loki from his claws. Falling on a soft\nbed of moss, Loki jumped up and ran back to his traveling companions,\nwho were glad and surprised to see him again. They had feared that the\neagle was carrying him away to feed his young eaglets in some far-off\nnest. Ah, you may be sure that Loki did not tell them who the eagle\nreally was, nor confess the wicked promise which he had made about Idun\nand her apples.\n\nAfter that the three went back to Asgard, for they had had adventure\nenough for one day.\n\nThe days flew by, and the time came when Loki must fulfill his promise\nto Thiasse. So one morning he strolled out into the meadow where Idun\nloved to roam among the flowers. There he found her, sitting by a tiny\nspring, and holding her precious casket of apples on her lap. She was\ncombing her long golden hair, which fell from under a wreath of spring\nflowers, and she was very beautiful. Her green robe was embroidered\nwith buds and blossoms of silk in many colors, and she wore a golden\ngirdle about her waist. She smiled as Loki came, and tossed him a posy,\nsaying: \"Good-morrow, red Loki. Have you come for a bite of my apples?\nI see a wrinkle over each of your eyes which I can smooth away.\"\n\n\"Nay, fair lady,\" answered Loki politely, \"I have just nibbled of\nanother apple, which I found this morning. Verily, I think it is\nsweeter and more magical than yours.\"\n\nIdun was hurt and surprised.\n\n\"That cannot be, Loki,\" she cried. \"There are no apples anywhere like\nmine. Where found you this fine fruit?\" and she wrinkled up her little\nnose scornfully.\n\n\"Oho! I will not tell any one the place,\" chuckled Loki, \"except that\nit is not far, in a little wood. There is a gnarled old apple-tree, and\non its branches grow the most beautiful red-cheeked apples you ever\nsaw. But you could never find it.\"\n\n\"I should like to see these apples, Loki, if only to prove how far\nless good they are than mine. Will you bring me some?\"\n\n\"That I will not,\" said Loki teasingly. \"Oh, no! I have my own magic\napples now, and folk will be coming to me for help instead of to you.\"\n\nIdun began to coax him, as he had guessed that she would: \"Please,\nplease, Loki, show me the place!\"\n\nAt first he would not, for he was a sly fellow, and knew how to lead\nher on. At last, he pretended to yield.\n\n\"Well, then, because I love you, Idun, better than all the rest, I\nwill show you the place, if you will come with me. But it must be a\nsecret--no one must ever know.\"\n\nAll girls like secrets.\n\n\"Yes--yes!\" cried Idun eagerly. \"Let us steal away now, while no one is\nlooking.\"\n\nThis was just what Loki hoped for.\n\n\"Bring your own apples,\" he said, \"that we may compare them with mine.\nBut I know mine are better.\"\n\n\"I know mine are the best in all the world,\" returned Idun, pouting. \"I\nwill bring them, to show you the difference.\"\n\nOff they started together, she with the golden casket under her arm;\nand Loki chuckled wickedly as they went. He led her for some distance,\nfurther than she had ever strayed before, and at last she grew\nfrightened.\n\n\"Where are you taking me, Loki?\" she cried. \"You said it was not far. I\nsee no little wood, no old apple-tree.\"\n\n\"It is just beyond, just a little step beyond,\" he answered. So on\nthey went. But that little step took them beyond the boundary of\nAsgard--just a little step beyond, into the space where the giants\nlurked and waited for mischief.\n\nThen there was a rustling of wings, and _whirr-rr-rr_! Down came\nThiasse in his eagle dress. Before Idun suspected what was happening,\nhe fastened his claws into her girdle and flapped away with her, magic\napples and all, to his palace in Jotunheim, the Land of Giants.\n\n[Illustration: HE FLAPPED AWAY WITH HER, MAGIC APPLES AND ALL]\n\nLoki stole back to Asgard, thinking that he was quite safe, and that\nno one would discover his villainy. At first Idun was not missed.\nBut after a little the gods began to feel signs of age, and went\nfor their usual bite of her apples. Then they found that she had\ndisappeared, and a great terror fell upon them. Where had she gone?\nSuppose she should not come back!\n\nThe hours and days went by, and still she did not return. Their fright\nbecame almost a panic. Their hair began to turn gray, and their limbs\ngrew stiff and gouty so that they hobbled down Asgard streets. Even\nFreia, the loveliest, was afraid to look in her mirror, and Balder the\nbeautiful grew pale and haggard. The happy land of Asgard was like a\ngarden over which a burning wind had blown,--all the flower-faces were\nfaded and withered, and springtime was turned into yellow fall.\n\nIf Idun and her apples were not quickly found, the gods seemed likely\nto shrivel and blow away like autumn leaves. They held a council to\ninquire into the matter, endeavoring to learn who had seen Idun last,\nand whither she had gone. It turned out that one morning Heimdal had\nseen her strolling out of Asgard with Loki, and no one had seen her\nsince. Then the gods understood; Loki was the last person who had been\nwith her--this must be one of Loki's tricks. They were filled with\nanger. They seized and bound Loki and brought him before the council.\nThey threatened him with torture and with death unless he should tell\nthe truth. And Loki was so frightened that finally he confessed what he\nhad done.\n\nThen indeed there was horror in Asgard. Idun stolen away by a wicked\ngiant! Idun and her apples lost, and Asgard growing older every minute!\nWhat was to be done? Big Thor seized Loki and threw him up in the air\nagain and again, so that his heels touched first the moon and then the\nsea; you can still see the marks upon the moon's white face. \"If you do\nnot bring Idun back from the land of your wicked wife, you shall have\nworse than this!\" he roared. \"Go and bring her _now_.\"\n\n\"How can I do that?\" asked Loki, trembling.\n\n\"That is for you to find,\" growled Thor. \"Bring her you must. Go!\"\n\nLoki thought for a moment. Then he said:--\n\n\"I will bring her back if Freia will loan me her falcon dress. The\ngiant dresses as an eagle. I, too, must guise me as a bird, or we\ncannot outwit him.\"\n\nThen Freia hemmed and hawed. She did not wish to loan her feather\ndress, for it was very precious. But all the \u00c6sir begged; and finally\nshe consented.\n\nIt was a beautiful great dress of brown feathers and gray, and in it\nFreia loved to skim like a falcon among the clouds and stars. Loki put\nit on, and when he had done so he looked exactly like a great brown\nhawk. Only his bright black eyes remained the same, glancing here and\nthere, so that they lost sight of nothing.\n\nWith a whirr of his wings Loki flew off to the north, across mountains\nand valleys and the great river Ifing, which lay between Asgard and\nGiant Land. And at last he came to the palace of Thiasse the giant.\n\nIt happened, fortunately, that Thiasse had gone fishing in the sea, and\nIdun was left alone, weeping and broken-hearted. Presently she heard a\nlittle tap on her window, and, looking up, she saw a great brown bird\nperching on the ledge. He was so big that Idun was frightened and gave\na scream. But the bird nodded pleasantly and croaked: \"Don't be afraid,\nIdun. I am a friend. I am Loki, come to set you free.\"\n\n\"Loki! Loki is no friend of mine. He brought me here,\" she sobbed. \"I\ndon't believe you came to save me.\"\n\n\"That is indeed why I am here,\" he replied, \"and a dangerous business\nit is, if Thiasse should come back before we start for home.\"\n\n\"How will you get me out?\" asked Idun doubtfully. \"The door is locked,\nand the window is barred.\"\n\n\"I will change you into a nut,\" said he, \"and carry you in my claws.\"\n\n\"What of the casket of apples?\" queried Idun. \"Can you carry that also?\"\n\nThen Loki laughed long and loudly.\n\n\"What welcome to Asgard do you think I should receive without the\napples?\" he cried. \"Yes, we must take them, indeed.\"\n\nIdun came to the window, and Loki, who was a skillful magician, turned\nher into a nut and took her in one claw, while in the other he seized\nthe casket of apples. Then off he whirred out of the palace grounds and\naway toward Asgard's safety.\n\nIn a little while Thiasse returned home, and when he found Idun and\nher apples gone, there was a hubbub, you may be sure! However, he lost\nlittle time by smashing mountains and breaking trees in his giant rage;\nthat fit was soon over. He put on his eagle plumage and started in\npursuit of the falcon.\n\nNow an eagle is bigger and stronger than any other bird, and usually in\na long race he can beat even the swift hawk who has an hour's start.\nPresently Loki heard behind him the shrill scream of a giant eagle, and\nhis heart turned sick. But he had crossed the great river, and already\nwas in sight of Asgard. The aged \u00c6sir were gathered on the rainbow\nbridge watching eagerly for Loki's return; and when they spied the\nfalcon with the nut and the casket in his talons, they knew who it was.\nA great cheer went up, but it was hushed in a moment, for they saw the\neagle close after the falcon; and they guessed that this must be the\ngiant Thiasse, the stealer of Idun.\n\nThen there was a great shouting of commands, and a rushing to and fro.\nAll the gods, even Father Odin and his two wise ravens, were busy\ngathering chips into great heaps on the walls of Asgard. As soon as\nLoki, with his precious burden, had fluttered weakly over the wall,\ndropping to the ground beyond, the gods lighted the heaps of chips\nwhich they had piled, and soon there was a wall of fire, over which\nthe eagle must fly. He was going too fast to stop. The flames roared\nand crackled, but Thiasse flew straight into them, with a scream of\nfear and rage. His feathers caught fire and burned, so that he could\nno longer fly, but fell headlong to the ground inside the walls. Then\nThor, the thunder-lord, and T\u0177r, the mighty war-king, fell upon him and\nslew him, so that he could never trouble the \u00c6sir any more.\n\nThere was great rejoicing in Asgard that night, for Loki changed Idun\nagain to a fair lady; whereupon she gave each of the eager gods a bite\nof her life-giving fruit, so that they grew young and happy once more,\nas if all these horrors had never happened.\n\nNot one of them, however, forgot the evil part which Loki had played\nin these doings. They hid the memory, like a buried seed, deep in their\nhearts. Thenceforward the word of Loki and the honor of his name were\npoor coin in Asgard; which is no wonder.\n\n\n\n\nSKADI'S CHOICE\n\n\nThe giant Thiasse, whom Thor slew for the theft of Idun and the magic\napples, had a daughter, Skadi, who was a very good sort of girl, as\ngiantesses go. Most of them were evil-tempered, spiteful, and cruel\ncreatures, who desired only to do harm to the gods and to all who\nwere good. But Skadi was different. Stronger than the hatred of her\nrace for the \u00c6sir, stronger even than her wish to be revenged for her\nfather's death, was her love for Balder the beautiful, the pride of all\nthe gods. If she had not been a giantess, she might have hoped that\nhe would love her also; but she knew that no one who lived in Asgard\nwould ever think kindly of her race, which had caused so much trouble\nto Balder and his brothers. After her father was killed by the \u00c6sir,\nhowever, Skadi had a wise idea.\n\nSkadi put on her helm and corselet and set out for Asgard, meaning\nto ask a noble price to pay for the sorrow of Thiasse's death. The\ngods, who had all grown young and boyish once again, were sitting in\nValhalla merrily enjoying a banquet in honor of Idun's safe return,\nwhen Skadi, clattering with steel, strode into their midst. Heimdal the\nwatchman, astonished at the sight, had let this maiden warrior pass him\nupon the rainbow bridge. The \u00c6sir set down their cups hastily, and the\nlaughter died upon their lips; for though she looked handsome, Skadi\nwas a terrible figure in her silver armor and with her spear as long as\na ship's mast brandished in her giant hand.\n\nThe nine Valkyries, Odin's maiden warriors, hurried away to put on\ntheir own helmets and shields; for they would not have this other\nmaiden, ten times as huge, see them meekly waiting at table, while they\nhad battle-dresses as fine as hers to show the stranger.\n\n\"Who are you, maiden, and what seek you here?\" asked Father Odin.\n\n\"I am Skadi, the daughter of Thiasse, whom your folk have slain,\"\nanswered she, \"and I come here for redress.\"\n\nAt these words the coward Loki, who had been at the killing of Thiasse,\nskulked low behind the table; but Thor, who had done the killing,\nstraightened himself and clenched his fists tightly. He was not afraid\nof any giant, however fierce, and this maiden with her shield and spear\nonly angered him.\n\n\"Well, Skadi,\" quoth Odin gravely, \"your father was a thief, and died\nfor his sins. He stole fair Idun and her magic apples, and for that\ncrime he died, which was only just. Yet because our righteous deed has\nleft you an orphan, Skadi, we will grant you a recompense, so you shall\nbe at peace with us; for it is not fitting that the \u00c6sir should quarrel\nwith women. What is it you ask, O Skadi, as solace for the death of\nThiasse?\"\n\nSkadi looked like an orphan who was well able to take care of herself;\nand this indeed her next words showed her to be. \"I ask two things,\"\nshe said, without a moment's hesitation: \"I ask the husband whom I\nshall select from among you; and I ask that you shall make me laugh,\nfor it is many days since grief has let me enjoy a smile.\"\n\nAt this strange request the \u00c6sir looked astonished, and some of them\nseemed rather startled; for you can fancy that none of them wanted a\ngiantess, however handsome, for his wife. They put their heads together\nand consulted long whether or not they should allow Skadi her two\nwishes.\n\n\"I will agree to make her laugh,\" grinned Loki; \"but suppose she should\nchoose me for her husband! I am married to one giantess already.\"\n\n\"No fear of that, Loki,\" said Thor; \"you were too near being the cause\nof her father's death for her to love you overmuch. Nor do I think that\nshe will choose me; so I am safe.\"\n\nLoki chuckled and stole away to think up a means of making Skadi laugh.\n\nFinally, the gods agreed that Skadi should choose one of them for her\nhusband; but in order that all might have a fair chance of missing this\nhonor which no one coveted, she was to choose in a curious way. All the\n\u00c6sir were to stand in a row behind the curtain which was drawn across\nthe end of the hall, so that only their feet were seen by Skadi; and by\ntheir feet alone Skadi was to select him who was to be her husband.\n\nNow Skadi was very ready to agree to this, for she said to herself,\n\"Surely, I shall know the feet of Balder, for they will be the most\nbeautiful of any.\"\n\nAmid nervous laughter at this new game, the \u00c6sir ranged themselves in\na row behind the purple curtain, with only their line of feet showing\nbelow the golden border. There were Father Odin, Thor the Thunderer,\nand Balder his brother; there was old Ni\u00f6rd the rich, with his fair son\nFrey; there were T\u0177r the bold, Bragi the poet, blind H\u00f6d, and Vidar the\nsilent; Vali and Ull the archers, Forseti the wise judge, and Heimdal\nthe gold-toothed watchman. Loki alone, of all the \u00c6sir, was not there;\nand Loki was the only one who did not shiver as Skadi walked up and\ndown the hall looking at the row of feet.\n\nUp and down, back and forth, went Skadi, looking carefully; and among\nall those sandaled feet there was one pair more white and fair and\nbeautiful than the rest.\n\n\"Surely, these are Balder's feet!\" she thought, while her heart thumped\nwith eagerness under her silver corselet. \"Oh, if I guess aright, dear\nBalder will be my husband!\"\n\nShe paused confidently before the handsomest pair of feet, and,\npointing to them with her spear, she cried, \"I choose here! Few\nblemishes are to be found in Balder the beautiful.\"\n\nA shout of laughter arose behind the curtain, and forth slunk--not\nyoung Balder, but old Ni\u00f6rd the rich, king of the ocean wind, the\nfather of those fair twins, Frey and Freia. Skadi had chosen the\nhandsome feet of old Ni\u00f6rd, and thenceforth he must be her husband.\n\nNi\u00f6rd was little pleased; but Skadi was heart-broken. Her face grew\nlonger and sadder than before when he stepped up and took her hand\nsulkily, saying, \"Well, I am to be your husband, then, and all my\nriches stored in Noat\u00fbn, the home of ships, are to be yours. You would\nhave chosen Balder, and I wish that this luck had been his! However, it\ncannot be helped now.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" answered Skadi, frowning, \"the bargain is not yet complete. No\none of you has made me laugh. I am so sad now, that it will be a merry\njest indeed which can wring laughter from my heavy heart.\" She sighed,\nlooking at Balder. But Balder loved only Nanna in all the world.\n\nJust then, out came Loki, riding on one of Thor's goat steeds; and the\nred-bearded fellow cut up such ridiculous capers with the gray-bearded\ngoat that soon not only Skadi, but all the \u00c6sir and Ni\u00f6rd himself were\nholding their sides with laughter.\n\n\"Fairly won, fairly won!\" cried Skadi, wiping the tears from her eyes.\n\"I am beaten. I shall not forget that it is Loki to whom I owe this\nlast joke. Some day I shall be quits with you, red joker!\" And this\nthreat she carried out in the end, on the day of Loki's punishment.\n\nSkadi was married to old Ni\u00f6rd, both unwilling; and they went to live\namong the mountains in Skadi's home, which had once been Thiasse's\npalace, where he had shut Idun in a prison cell. As you can imagine,\nNi\u00f6rd and Skadi did not live happily ever after, like the good prince\nand princess in the story-book. For, in the first place, Skadi was a\ngiantess; and there are few folk, I fancy, who could live happily with\na giantess. In the second place, she did not love Ni\u00f6rd, nor did he\nlove Skadi, and neither forgot that Skadi's choosing had been sorrow\nto them both. But the third reason was the most important of all; and\nthis was because Skadi and Ni\u00f6rd could not agree upon the place which\nshould be their home. For Ni\u00f6rd did not like the mountain palace of\nSkadi's people,--the place where roaring winds rushed down upon the sea\nand its ships. The sea with its ships was his friend, and he wanted to\ndwell in Noat\u00fbn, where he had greater wealth than any one else in the\nworld,--where he could rule the fresh sea-wind and tame the wild ocean,\ngranting the prayers of fisher-folk and the seafarers, who loved his\nname.\n\nFinally, they agreed to dwell first in one place, then in the other,\nso that each might be happy in turn. For nine days they tarried\nin Thrymheim, and then they spent three in Noat\u00fbn. But even this\narrangement could not bring peace. One day they had a terrible quarrel.\nIt was just after they had come down from Skadi's mountain home for\ntheir three days in Ni\u00f6rd's sea palace, and he was so glad to be back\nthat he cried,--\n\n\"Ah, how I hate your hills! How long the nine nights seemed, with the\nwolves howling until dawn among the dark mountains of Giant Land! What\na discord compared to the songs of the swans who sail upon my dear,\ndear ocean!\" Thus rudely he taunted his wife; but Skadi answered him\nwith spirit.\n\n\"And I--I cannot sleep by your rolling sea-waves, where the birds are\never calling, calling, as they come from the woods on the shore. Each\nmorning the sea-gull's scream wakes me at some unseemly hour. I will\nnot stay here even for three nights! I will not stay!\"\n\n\"And I will have no more of your windy mountain-tops,\" roared Ni\u00f6rd,\nbeside himself with rage. \"Go, if you wish! Go back to Thrymheim! I\nshall not follow you, be sure!\"\n\nSo Skadi went back to her mountains alone, and dwelt in the empty\nhouse of Thiasse, her father. She became a mighty huntress, swift on\nthe skees and ice-runners which she strapped to her feet. Day after\nday she skimmed over the snow-crusted mountains, bow in hand, to hunt\nthe wild beasts which roamed there. \"Skee-goddess,\" she was called;\nand never again did she come to Asgard halls. Quite alone in the cold\ncountry, she hunted hardily, keeping ever in her heart the image of\nBalder the beautiful, whom she loved, but whom she had lost forever by\nher unlucky choice.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DWARF'S GIFTS\n\n\nRed Loki had been up to mischief again! Loki, who made quarrels and\nbrought trouble wherever he went. He had a wicked heart, and he loved\nno one. He envied Father Odin his wisdom and his throne above the\nworld. He envied Balder his beauty, and T\u0177r his courage, and Thor his\nstrength. He envied all the good \u00c6sir who were happy; but he would\nnot take the trouble to be good himself. So he was always unhappy,\nspiteful, and sour. And if anything went wrong in Asgard, the kingdom\nof the gods, one was almost sure to find Loki at the bottom of the\ntrouble.\n\nNow Thor, the strongest of all the gods, was very proud of his wife's\nbeautiful hair, which fell in golden waves to her feet, and covered\nher like a veil. He loved it better than anything, except Sif herself.\nOne day, while Thor was away from home, Loki stole into Thrudheim,\nthe realm of clouds, and cut off all Sif's golden hair, till her head\nwas as round and fuzzy as a yellow dandelion. Fancy how angry Thor\nwas when he came rattling home that night in his thunder-chariot and\nfound Sif so ugly to look at! He stamped up and down till the five\nhundred and forty floors of his cloud palace shook like an earthquake,\nand lightning flashed from his blue eyes. The people down in the world\nbelow cried: \"Dear, dear! What a terrible thunderstorm! Thor must\nbe very angry about something. Loki has been up to mischief, it is\nlikely.\" You see, they also knew Loki and his tricks.\n\nAt last Thor calmed himself a little. \"Sif, my love,\" he said, \"you\nshall be beautiful again. Red Loki shall make you so, since his was the\nunmaking. The villain! He shall pay for this!\"\n\nThen, without more ado, off set Thor to find red Loki. He went in his\nthunder-chariot, drawn by two goats, and the clouds rumbled and the\nlightning flashed wherever he went; for Thor was the mighty god of\nthunder. At last he came upon the sly rascal, who was trying to hide.\nBig Thor seized him by the throat.\n\n\"You scoundrel!\" he cried, \"I will break every bone in your body if you\ndo not put back Sif's beautiful hair upon her head.\"\n\n\"Ow--ow! You hurt me!\" howled Loki. \"Take off your big hand, Thor. What\nis done, is done. I cannot put back Sif's hair. You know that very\nwell.\"\n\n\"Then you must get her another head of hair,\" growled Thor. \"That you\ncan do. You must find for her hair of real gold, and it must grow upon\nher head as if it were her own. Do this, or you shall die.\"\n\n\"Where shall I get this famous hair?\" whined Loki, though he knew well\nenough.\n\n\"Get it of the black elves,\" said Thor; \"they are cunning jewelers, and\nthey are your friends. Go, Loki, and go quickly, for I long to see Sif\nas beautiful as ever.\"\n\nThen Loki of the burning beard slunk away to the hills where, far under\nground, the dwarfs have their furnaces and their workshops. Among great\nheaps of gold and silver and shining jewels, which they have dug up out\nof the earth, the little crooked men in brown blink and chatter and\nscold one another; for they are ugly fellows--the dwarfs. _Tink-tank!_\n_tink-tank!_ go their little hammers all day long and all night long,\nwhile they make wonderful things such as no man has ever seen, though\nyou shall hear about them.\n\nThey had no trouble to make a head of hair for Sif. It was for them\na simple matter, indeed. The dwarfs work fast for such a customer as\nLoki, and in a little while the golden wires were beaten out, and drawn\nout, made smooth and soft and curly, and braided into a thick golden\nbraid. But when Loki came away, he carried with him also two other\ntreasures which the clever dwarfs had made. One was a golden spear, and\nthe other was a ship.\n\nNow these do not sound so very wonderful. But wait until you hear!\nThe spear, which was named Gungnir, was bewitched, so that it made\nno difference if the person who held it was clumsy and careless. For\nit had this amazing quality, that no matter how badly it was aimed,\nor how unskillfully it was thrown, it was sure to go straight to the\nmark--which is a very obliging and convenient thing in one's weapon, as\nyou will readily see.\n\nAnd Skidbladnir--this was the harsh name of the ship--was even more\nwonderful. It could be taken to pieces and folded up so small that it\nwould go into one's pocket. But when it was unfolded and put together,\nit would hold all the gods of Asgard for a sea-journey. Besides all\nthis, when the sails were set, the ship was sure always to have a fair\nwind, which would make it skim along like a great bird, which was the\nbest part of the charm, as any sailor will tell you.\n\nNow Loki felt very proud of these three treasures, and left the hill\ncave stretching his neck and strutting like a great red turkey cock.\nOutside the gate, however, he met Brock, the black dwarf, who was the\nbrother of Sindri, the best workman in all the underworld.\n\n\"Hello! what have you there?\" asked Brock of the big head, pointing at\nthe bundles which Loki was carrying.\n\n\"The three finest gifts in the world,\" boasted Loki, hugging his\ntreasures tight.\n\n\"Pooh!\" said Brock, \"I don't believe it. Did my brother Sindri make\nthem?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered Loki; \"they were made by the black elves, the sons of\nIvaldi. And they are the most precious gifts that ever were seen.\"\n\n\"Pooh!\" again puffed Brock, wagging his long beard crossly. \"Nonsense!\nWhatever they be, my brother Sindri can make three other gifts more\nprecious; that I know.\"\n\n\"Can he, though?\" laughed Loki. \"I will give him my head if he can.\"\n\n\"Done!\" shouted the dwarf. \"Let me see your famous gifts.\" So Loki\nshowed him the three wonders: the gold hair for Sif, the spear, and the\nship. But again the dwarf said: \"Pooh! These are nothing. I will show\nyou what the master-smith can do, and you shall lose your bragging red\nhead, my Loki.\"\n\nNow Loki began to be a little uneasy. He followed Brock back to the\nsmithy in the mountain, where they found Sindri at his forge. Oh, yes!\nHe could beat the poor gifts of which Loki was so proud. But he would\nnot tell what his own three gifts were to be.\n\nFirst Sindri took a pig's skin and laid it on the fire. Then he went\naway for a little time; but he set Brock at the bellows and bade him\nblow--blow--blow the fire until Sindri should return. Now when Sindri\nwas gone, Loki also stole away; for, as usual, he was up to mischief.\nHe had the power of changing his shape and of becoming any creature he\nchose, which was often very convenient. Thus he turned himself into\na huge biting fly. Then he flew back into the smithy where Brock was\nblow--blow--blowing. Loki buzzed about the dwarf's head, and finally\nlighted on his hand and stung him, hoping to make him let go the\nbellows. But no! Brock only cried out, \"Oh-ee!\" and kept on blowing for\ndear life. Now soon back came Sindri to the forge and took the pigskin\nfrom the fire. Wonder of wonders! It had turned into a hog with golden\nbristles; a live hog that shone like the sun. Brock was not satisfied,\nhowever.\n\n\"Well! I don't think much of that,\" he grumbled.\n\n\"Wait a little,\" said Sindri mysteriously. \"Wait and see.\" Then he went\non to make the second gift.\n\nThis time he put a lump of gold into the fire. And when he went away,\nas before, he bade Brock stand at the bellows to blow--blow--blow\nwithout stopping. Again, as before, in buzzed Loki the gadfly as soon\nas the master-smith had gone out. This time he settled on Brock's\nswarthy neck, and stung him so sorely that the blood came and the dwarf\nroared till the mountain trembled. Still Brock did not let go the\nhandle of the bellows, but blew and howled--blew and howled with pain\ntill Sindri returned. And this time the dwarf took from the fire a fine\ngold ring, round as roundness.\n\n\"Um! I don't think so much of that,\" said Brock, again disappointed,\nfor he had expected some wonderful jewel. But Sindri wagged his head\nwisely.\n\n\"Wait a little,\" he said. \"We shall see what we shall see.\" He heaved\na great lump of iron into the fire to make the third gift. But this\ntime when he went away, leaving Brock at the bellows, he charged him\nto blow--blow--blow without a minute's rest, or everything would be\nspoiled. For this was to be the best gift of all.\n\nBrock planted himself wide-legged at the forge and blew--blew--blew.\nBut for the third time Loki, winged as a fly, came buzzing into the\nsmithy. This time he fastened viciously below Brock's bushy eyebrow,\nand stung him so cruelly that the blood trickled down, a red river,\ninto his eyes and the poor dwarf was blinded. With a howl Brock raised\nhis hand to wipe away the blood, and of course in that minute the\nbellows stood still. Then Loki buzzed away with a sound that seemed\nlike a mocking laugh. At the same moment in rushed Sindri, panting with\nfright, for he had heard that sound and guessed what it meant.\n\n\"What have you done?\" he cried. \"You have let the bellows rest! You\nhave spoiled everything!\"\n\n\"Only a little moment, but one little moment,\" pleaded Brock, in a\npanic. \"It has done no harm, has it?\"\n\nSindri leaned anxiously over the fire, and out of the flames he drew\nthe third gift--an enormous hammer.\n\n\"Oh!\" said Brock, much disappointed, \"only an old iron hammer! I don't\nthink anything of _that_. Look how short the handle is, too.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE THIRD GIFT--AN ENORMOUS HAMMER]\n\n\"That is your fault, brother,\" returned the smith crossly. \"If you\nhad not let the bellows stand still, the handle would have been\nlong enough. Yet as it is--we shall see, we shall see. I think it will\nat least win for you red Loki's head. Take the three gifts, brother,\nsuch as they are, and bear them to Asgard. Let all the gods be judges\nbetween you and Loki, which gifts are best, his or yours. But stay--I\nmay as well tell you the secrets of your three treasures, or you will\nnot know how to make them work. Your toy that is not wound up is of no\nuse at all.\" Which is very true, as we all know. Then he bent over and\nwhispered in Brock's ear. And what he said pleased Brock so much that\nhe jumped straight up into the air and capered like one of Thor's goats.\n\n\"What a clever brother you are, to be sure!\" he cried.\n\nAt that moment Loki, who had ceased to be a gadfly, came in grinning,\nwith his three gifts. \"Well, are you ready?\" he asked. Then he caught\nsight of the three gifts which Brock was putting into his sack.\n\n\"Ho! A pig, a ring, and a stub-handled hammer!\" he shouted. \"Is that\nall you have? Fine gifts, indeed! I was really growing uneasy, but\nnow I see that my head is safe. Let us start for Asgard immediately,\nwhere I promise you that I with my three treasures shall be thrice\nmore welcome than you with your stupid pig, your ugly ring, and your\nhalf-made hammer.\"\n\nSo together they climbed to Asgard, and there they found the \u00c6sir\nsitting in the great judgment hall on Ida Plain. There was Father Odin\non his high throne, with his two ravens at his head and his two wolves\nat his feet. There was Queen Frigg by his side; and about them were\nBalder the beautiful, Frey and Freia, the fair brother and sister; the\nmighty Thor, with Sif, his crop-haired wife, and all the rest of the\ngreat \u00c6sir who lived in the upper world above the homes of men.\n\n\"Brother \u00c6sir,\" said Loki, bowing politely, for he was a smooth rascal,\n\"we have come each with three gifts, the dwarf and I; and you shall\njudge which be the most worthy of praise. But if I lose,--I, your\nbrother,--I lose my head to this crooked little dwarf.\" So he spoke,\nhoping to put the \u00c6sir on his side from the first. For his head was a\nvery handsome one, and the dwarf was indeed an ill-looking fellow. The\ngods, however, nodded gravely, and bade the two show what their gifts\nmight be.\n\nThen Loki stepped forward to the foot of Odin's throne. And first he\npulled from his great wallet the spear Gungnir, which could not miss\naim. This he gave to Odin, the all-wise. And Odin was vastly pleased,\nas you may imagine, to find himself thenceforth an unequaled marksman.\nSo he smiled upon Loki kindly and said: \"Well done, brother.\"\n\nNext Loki took out the promised hair for Sif, which he handed Thor with\na grimace. Now when the golden locks were set upon her head, they grew\nthere like real hair, long and soft and curling--but still real gold.\nSo that Sif was more beautiful than ever before, and more precious,\ntoo. You can fancy how pleased Thor was with Loki's gift. He kissed\nlovely Sif before all the gods and goddesses, and vowed that he forgave\nLoki for the mischief which he had done in the first place, since he\nhad so nobly made reparation.\n\nThen Loki took out the third gift, all folded up like a paper boat;\nand it was the ship Skidbladnir,--I am sorry they did not give it a\nprettier name. This he presented to Frey the peaceful. And you can\nguess whether or not Frey's blue eyes laughed with pleasure at such a\ngift.\n\nNow when Loki stepped back, all the \u00c6sir clapped their hands and vowed\nthat he had done wondrous well.\n\n\"You will have to show us fine things, you dwarf,\" quoth Father Odin,\n\"to better the gifts of red Loki. Come, what have you in the sack you\nbear upon your shoulders?\"\n\nThen the crooked little Brock hobbled forward, bent almost double under\nthe great load which he carried. \"I have what I have,\" he said.\n\nFirst, out he pulled the ring Draupnir, round as roundness and shining\nof gold. This the dwarf gave to Odin, and though it seemed but little,\nyet it was much. For every ninth night out of this ring, he said, would\ndrop eight other rings of gold, as large and as fair. Then Odin clapped\nhis hands and cried: \"Oh, wondrous gift! I like it even better than the\nmagic spear which Loki gave.\" And all the other \u00c6sir agreed with him.\n\nThen out of the sack came grunting Goldbristle, the hog, all of\ngold. Brock gave him to Frey, to match the magic ship of Loki. This\nGoldbristle was so marvelously forged that he could run more swiftly\nthan any horse, on air or water. Moreover, he was a living lantern.\nFor on the darkest night he bristled with light like a million-pointed\nstar, so that one riding on his back would light the air and the sea\nlike a firefly, wherever he went. This idea pleased Frey mightily, for\nhe was the merriest of the gods, and he laughed aloud.\n\n\"'Tis a wondrous fine gift,\" he said. \"I like old Goldbristle even\nbetter than the compressible boat. For on this lusty steed I can ride\nabout the world when I am tending the crops and the cattle of men and\nscattering the rain upon them. Master dwarf, I give my vote to you.\"\nAnd all the other \u00c6sir agreed with him.\n\nThen out of the sack Brock drew the third gift. It was the\nshort-handled hammer named Mi\u00f6lnir. And this was the gift which Sindri\nhad made for Thor, the mightiest of the gods; and it was the best gift\nof all. For with it Thor could burst the hardest metal and shatter\nthe thickest mountain, and nothing could withstand its power. But it\nnever could hurt Thor himself; and no matter how far or how hard it was\nthrown, it would always fly back into Thor's own hand. Last of all,\nwhenever he so wished, the great hammer would become so small that he\ncould put it in his pocket, quite out of sight. But Brock was sorry\nthat the handle was so short--all owing to his fault, because he had\nlet the bellows rest for that one moment.\n\nWhen Thor had this gift in his hand, he jumped up with a shout of\njoy. \"'Tis a wondrous fine gift,\" he cried, \"with short handle or\nwith long. And I prize it even more than I prize the golden hair of\nSif which Loki gave. For with it I shall fight our enemies, the Frost\nGiants and the mischievous Trolls and the other monsters--Loki's\nfriends. And all the \u00c6sir will be glad of my gift when they see what\ndeeds I shall do therewith. Now, if I may have my say, I judge that the\nthree gifts made by Sindri the dwarf are the most precious that may be.\nSo Brock has gained the prize of Loki's red head,--a sorry recompense\nindeed for gifts so masterly.\" Then Thor sat down. And all the other\n\u00c6sir shouted that he had spoken well, and that they agreed with him.\n\nSo Loki was like to lose his head. He offered to pay instead a huge\nprice, if Brock would let him go. But Brock refused. \"The red head of\nLoki for my gift,\" he insisted, and the gods nodded that it must be so,\nsince he had earned his wish.\n\nBut when Loki saw that the count was all against him, his eyes grew\ncrafty. \"Well, take me, then--if you can!\" he shouted. And off he shot\nlike an arrow from a bow. For Loki had on magic shoes, with which he\ncould run over sea or land or sky; and the dwarf could never catch him\nin the world. Then Brock was furious. He stood stamping and chattering,\ntearing his long beard with rage.\n\n\"I am cheated!\" he cried. \"I have won--but I have lost.\" Then he turned\nto Thor, who was playing with his hammer, bursting a mountain or two\nand splitting a tree here and there. \"Mighty Thor,\" begged the dwarf,\n\"catch me the fellow who has broken his word. I have given you the best\ngift,--your wonderful hammer. Catch me, then, the boasting red head\nwhich I have fairly bought.\"\n\nThen Thor stopped his game and set out in pursuit of Loki, for he was\never on the side of fairness. No one, however fleet, can escape when\nThor follows, for his is the swiftness of a lightning flash. So he soon\nbrought Loki back to Ida Plain, and gave him up a prisoner to the dwarf.\n\n\"I have you now, boaster,\" said Brock fiercely, \"and I will cut off\nyour red head in the twinkling of an eye.\" But just as he was about to\ndo as he said, Loki had another sly idea.\n\n\"Hold, sirrah dwarf,\" he said. \"It is true that you have won my head,\nbut not the neck, not an inch of the neck.\" And all the gods agreed\nthat this was so. Then Brock was puzzled indeed, for how could he cut\noff Loki's head without an inch of the neck, too? But this he must not\ndo, or he knew the just \u00c6sir would punish him with death. So he was\nforced to be content with stopping Loki's boasting in another way. He\nwould sew up the bragging lips.\n\nHe brought a stout, strong thread and an awl to bore the holes. And\nin a twinkling he had stitched up the lips of the sly one, firm and\nfast. So for a time, at least, he put an end to Loki's boasting and his\ntaunts and his lies.\n\nIt is a pity that those mischief-making lips were not fastened up\nforever; for that would have saved much of the trouble and sorrow which\ncame after. But at last, after a long time, Loki got his lips free, and\nthey made great sorrow in Asgard for the gods and on earth for men, as\nyou shall hear.\n\nNow this is the end of the tale which tells of the dwarf's gifts, and\nespecially of Thor's hammer, which was afterwards to be of such service\nto him and such bane to the enemies of the \u00c6sir. And that also you\nshall hear before all is done.\n\n\n\n\nLOKI'S CHILDREN\n\n\nRed Loki, the wickedest of all the \u00c6sir, had done something of which\nhe was very much ashamed. He had married a giantess, the ugliest,\nfiercest, most dreadful giantess that ever lived; and of course he\nwanted no one to find out what he had done, for he knew that Father\nOdin would be indignant with him for having wedded one of the enemies\nof the \u00c6sir, and that none of his brothers would be grateful to him for\ngiving them a sister-in-law so hideous.\n\nBut at last All-Father found out the secret that Loki had been hiding\nfor years. Worst of all, he found that Loki and the giantess had three\nugly children hidden away in the dark places of the earth,--three\nchildren of whom Loki was even more ashamed than of their mother,\nthough he loved them too. For two of them were the most terrible\nmonsters which time had ever seen. Hela his daughter was the least ugly\nof the three, though one could scarcely call her attractive. She was\nhalf black and half white, which must have looked very strange; and\nshe was not easily mistaken by any one who chanced to see her, you can\nwell understand. She was fierce and grim to see, and the very sight of\nher caused terror and death to him who gazed upon her.\n\nBut the other two! One was an enormous wolf, with long fierce teeth\nand flashing red eyes. And the other was a scaly, slimy, horrible\nserpent, huger than any serpent that ever lived, and a hundred times\nmore ferocious. Can you wonder that Loki was ashamed of such children\nas these? The wonder is, how he could find anything about them to love.\nBut Loki's heart loved evil in secret, and it was the evil in these\nthree children of his which made them so ugly.\n\nNow when Odin discovered that three such monsters had been living\nin the world without his knowledge, he was both angry and anxious,\nfor he knew that these children of mischievous Loki and his wicked\ngiantess-wife were dangerous to the peace of Asgard. He consulted the\nNorns, the three wise maidens who lived beside the Urdar-well, and who\ncould see into the future to tell what things were to happen in coming\nyears. And they bade him beware of Loki's children; they told him\nthat the three monsters would bring great sorrow upon Asgard, for the\ngiantess their mother would teach them all her hatred of Odin's race,\nwhile they would have their father's sly wisdom to help them in all\nmischief. So Odin knew that his fears had warned him truly. Something\nmust be done to prevent the dangers which threatened Asgard. Something\nmust be done to keep the three out of mischief.\n\nFather Odin sent for all the gods, and bade them go forth over the\nworld, find the children of Loki in the secret places where they were\nhidden, and bring them to him. Then the \u00c6sir mounted their horses and\nset out on their difficult errand. They scoured Asgard, Midgard the\nworld of men, Utgard and Jotunheim where the giants lived. And at last\nthey found the three horrible creatures hiding in their mother's cave.\nThey dragged them forth and took them up to Asgard, before Odin's high\nthrone.\n\nNow All-Father had been considering what should be done with the\nthree monsters, and when they came, his mind was made up. Hela, the\ndaughter, was less evil than the other two, but her face was dark and\ngloomy, and she brought death to those who looked upon her. She must be\nprisoned out of sight in some far place, where her sad eyes could not\nlook sorrow into men's lives and death into their hearts. So he sent\nher down, down into the dark, cold land of Niflheim, which lay below\none root of the great tree Yggdrasil. Here she must live forever and\never. And, because she was not wholly bad, Odin made her queen of that\nland, and for her subjects she was to have all the folk who died upon\nthe earth,--except the heroes who perished in battle; for these the\nValkyries carried straight to Valhalla in Asgard. But all who died of\nsickness or of old age, all who met their deaths through accident or\nmen's cruelty, were sent to Queen Hela, who gave them lodgings in her\ngloomy palace. Vast was her kingdom, huge as nine worlds, and it was\nsurrounded by a high wall, so that no one who had once gone thither\ncould ever return. And here thenceforth Loki's daughter reigned among\nthe shadows, herself half shadow and half light, half good and half\nbad.\n\nBut the Midgard serpent was a more dangerous beast even than Death.\nOdin frowned when he looked upon this monster writhing before his\nthrone. He seized the scaly length in his mighty arms and hurled it\nforth over the wall of Asgard. Down, down went the great serpent,\ntwisting and twirling as he fell, while all the sky was black with\nthe smoke from his nostrils, and the sound of his hissing made every\ncreature tremble. Down, down he fell with a great splash into the\ndeep ocean which surrounded the world. There he lay writhing and\nsquirming, growing always larger and larger, until he was so huge that\nhe stretched like a ring about the whole earth, with his tail in his\nmouth, and his wicked eyes glaring up through the water towards Asgard\nwhich he hated. Sometimes he heaved himself up, great body and all,\ntrying to escape from the ocean which was his prison. At those times\nthere were great waves in the sea, snow and stormy winds and rain upon\nthe earth, and every one would be filled with fear lest he escape and\nbring horrors to pass. But he was never able to drag out his whole\nhideous length. For the evil in him had grown with his growth; and a\nweight of evil is the heaviest of all things to lift.\n\nThe third monster was the Fenris wolf, and this was the most dreadful\nof the three. He was so terrible that at first Father Odin decided not\nto let him out of his sight. He lived in Asgard then, among the \u00c6sir.\nOnly T\u0177r the brave had courage enough to give him food. Day by day he\ngrew huger and huger, fiercer and fiercer, and finally, when All-Father\nsaw how mighty he had become, and how he bid fair to bring destruction\nupon all Asgard if he were allowed to prowl and growl about as he saw\nfit, Odin resolved to have the beast chained up. The \u00c6sir then went\nto their smithies and forged a long, strong chain which they thought\nno living creature could break. They took it to the wolf to try its\nstrength, and he, looking sidewise, chuckled to himself and let them\ndo what they would with him. But as soon as he stretched himself, the\nchain burst into a thousand pieces, as if it were made of twine. Then\nthe \u00c6sir hurried away and made another chain, far, far stronger than\nthe first.\n\n\"If you can break this, O Fenrir,\" they said, \"you will be famous\nindeed.\"\n\nAgain the wolf blinked at his chain; again he chuckled and let them\nfasten him without a struggle, for he knew that his own strength had\nbeen increased since he broke the other; but as soon as the chain\nwas fastened, he shook his great shoulders, kicked his mighty legs,\nand--snap!--the links of the chain went whirling far and wide, and once\nmore the fierce beast was free.\n\nThen the \u00c6sir were alarmed for fear that they would never be able to\nmake a chain mighty enough to hold the wolf, who was growing stronger\nevery minute; but they sent Skirnir, Frey's trusty messenger, to the\nland of the dwarfs for help. \"Make us a chain,\" was the message he bore\nfrom the \u00c6sir,--\"make us a chain stronger than any chain that was ever\nforged; for the Fenris wolf must be captured and bound, or all the\nworld must pay the penalty.\"\n\nThe dwarfs were the finest workmen in the world, as the \u00c6sir knew; for\nit was they who made Thor's hammer, and Odin's spear, and Balder's\nfamous ship, besides many other wondrous things that you remember. So\nwhen Skirnir gave them the message, they set to work with their little\nhammers and anvils, and before long they had welded a wonderful chain,\nsuch as no man had ever before seen. Strange things went to the making\nof it,--the sound of a cat's footsteps, the roots of a mountain, a\nbear's sinews, a fish's breath, and other magic materials that only the\ndwarfs knew how to put together; and the result was a chain as soft and\ntwistable as a silken cord, but stronger than an iron cable. With this\nchain Skirnir galloped back to Asgard, and with it the gods were sure\nof chaining Fenrir; but they meant to go about the business slyly, so\nthat the wolf should not suspect the danger which was so near.\n\n\"Ho, Fenrir!\" they cried. \"Here is a new chain for you. Do you think\nyou can snap this as easily as you did the last? We warn you that it\nis stronger than it looks.\" They handed it about from one to another,\neach trying to break the links, but in vain. The wolf watched them\ndisdainfully.\n\n\"Pooh! There is little honor in breaking a thread so slender!\" he said.\n\"I know that I could snap it with one bite of my big teeth. But there\nmay be some trick about it; I will not let it bind my feet,--not I.\"\n\n\"Oho!\" cried the \u00c6sir. \"He is afraid! He fears that we shall bind\nhim in cords that he cannot loose. But see how slender the chain is.\nSurely, if you could burst the chain of iron, O Fenrir, you could break\nthis far more easily.\" Still the wolf shook his head, and refused to\nlet them fasten him, suspecting some trick. \"But even if you find that\nyou cannot break our chain,\" they said, \"you need not be afraid. We\nshall set you free again.\"\n\n\"Set me free!\" growled the wolf. \"Yes, you will set me free at the end\nof the world,--not before! I know your ways, O \u00c6sir; and if you are\nable to bind me so fast that I cannot free myself, I shall wait long to\nhave the chain made loose. But no one shall call me coward. If one of\nyou will place his hand in my mouth and hold it there while the others\nbind me, I will let the chain be fastened.\"\n\nThe gods looked at one another, their mouths drooping. Who would do\nthis thing and bear the fury of the angry wolf when he should find\nhimself tricked and captured? Yet this was their only chance to bind\nthe monster and protect Asgard from danger. At last bold T\u0177r stepped\nforward, the bravest of all the \u00c6sir. \"Open your mouth, Fenrir,\" he\ncried, with a laugh. \"I will pledge my hand to the trial.\"\n\nThen the wolf yawned his great jaws, and T\u0177r thrust in his good right\nhand, knowing full well that he was to lose it in the game. The \u00c6sir\nstepped up with the dwarfs' magic chain, and Fenrir let them fasten\nit about his feet. But when the bonds were drawn tight, he began to\nstruggle; and the more he tugged, the tighter drew the chain, so that\nhe soon saw himself to be entrapped. Then how he writhed and kicked,\nhowled and growled, in his terrible rage! How the heavens trembled\nand the earth shook below! The \u00c6sir set up a laugh to see him so\nhelpless--all except T\u0177r; for at the first sound of laughter the wolf\nshut his great mouth with a click, and poor brave T\u0177r had lost the\nright hand which had done so many heroic deeds in battle, and which\nwould never again wave sword before the warriors whom he loved and\nwould help to win the victory. But great was the honor which he won\nthat day, for without his generous deed the Fenris wolf could never\nhave been captured.\n\nAnd now the monster was safely secured by the strong chain which the\ndwarfs had made, and all his struggles to be free were in vain, for\nthey only bound the silken rope all the tighter. The \u00c6sir took one end\nof the chain and fastened it through a big rock which they planted far\ndown in the earth, as far as they could drive it with a huge hammer\nof stone. Into the wolf's great mouth they thrust a sword crosswise,\nso that the hilt pierced his lower jaw while the point stuck through\nthe upper one; and there in the heart of the world he lay howling and\ngrowling, but quite unable to move. Only the foam which dripped from\nhis angry jaws trickled away and over the earth until it formed a\nmighty river; from his wicked mouth also came smoke and fire, and the\nsound of his horrible growls. And when men hear this and see this they\nrun away as fast as they can, for they know that danger still lurks\nnear where the Fenris wolf lies chained in the depths of the earth; and\nhere he will lie until Ragnar\u00f6k,--until the end of all things.\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUEST OF THE HAMMER\n\n\nOne morning Thor the Thunderer awoke with a yawn, and stretching out\nhis knotted arm, felt for his precious hammer, which he kept always\nunder his pillow of clouds. But he started up with a roar of rage, so\nthat all the palace trembled. The hammer was gone!\n\nNow this was a very serious matter, for Thor was the protector of\nAsgard, and Mi\u00f6lnir, the magic hammer which the dwarf had made, was his\nmighty weapon, of which the enemies of the \u00c6sir stood so much in dread\nthat they dared not venture near. But if they should learn that Mi\u00f6lnir\nwas gone, who could tell what danger might not threaten the palaces of\nheaven?\n\nThor darted his flashing eye into every corner of Cloud Land in search\nof the hammer. He called his fair wife, Sif of the golden hair, to aid\nin the search, and his two lovely daughters, Thrude and Lora. They\nhunted and they hunted; they turned Thrudheim upside down, and set the\nclouds to rolling wonderfully, as they peeped and pried behind and\naround and under each billowy mass. But Mi\u00f6lnir was not to be found.\nCertainly, some one had stolen it.\n\nThor's yellow beard quivered with rage, and his hair bristled on end\nlike the golden rays of a star, while all his household trembled.\n\n\"It is Loki again!\" he cried. \"I am sure Loki is at the bottom of this\nmischief!\" For since the time when Thor had captured Loki for the dwarf\nBrock and had given him over to have his bragging lips sewed up, Loki\nhad looked at him with evil eyes; and Thor knew that the red rascal\nhated him most of all the gods.\n\nBut this time Thor was mistaken. It was not Loki who had stolen the\nhammer,--he was too great a coward for that. And though he meant,\nbefore the end, to be revenged upon Thor, he was waiting until a safe\nchance should come, when Thor himself might stumble into danger, and\nLoki need only to help the evil by a malicious word or two; and this\nchance came later, as you shall hear in another tale.\n\nMeanwhile Loki was on his best behavior, trying to appear very kind and\nobliging; so when Thor came rumbling and roaring up to him, demanding,\n\"What have you done with my hammer, you thief?\" Loki looked surprised,\nbut did not lose his temper nor answer rudely.\n\n\"Have you indeed missed your hammer, brother Thor?\" he said, mumbling,\nfor his mouth was still sore where Brock had sewed the stitches. \"That\nis a pity; for if the giants hear of this, they will be coming to try\ntheir might against Asgard.\"\n\n\"Hush!\" muttered Thor, grasping him by the shoulder with his iron\nfingers. \"That is what I fear. But look you, Loki: I suspect your hand\nin the mischief. Come, confess.\"\n\nThen Loki protested that he had nothing to do with so wicked a deed.\n\"But,\" he added wheedlingly, \"I think I can guess the thief; and\nbecause I love you, Thor, I will help you to find him.\"\n\n\"Humph!\" growled Thor. \"Much love you bear to me! However, you are a\nwise rascal, the nimblest wit of all the \u00c6sir, and it is better to\nhave you on my side than on the other, when giants are in the game.\nTell me, then: who has robbed the Thunder-Lord of his bolt of power?\"\n\nLoki drew near and whispered in Thor's ear. \"Look, how the storms\nrage and the winds howl in the world below! Some one is wielding your\nthunder-hammer all unskillfully. Can you not guess the thief? Who but\nThrym, the mighty giant who has ever been your enemy and your imitator,\nand whose fingers have long itched to grasp the short handle of mighty\nMi\u00f6lnir, that the world may name him Thunder-Lord instead of you. But\nlook! What a tempest! The world will be shattered into fragments unless\nwe soon get the hammer back.\"\n\nThen Thor roared with rage. \"I will seek this impudent Thrym!\" he\ncried. \"I will crush him into bits, and teach him to meddle with the\nweapon of the \u00c6sir!\"\n\n\"Softly, softly,\" said Loki, smiling maliciously. \"He is a shrewd\ngiant, and a mighty. Even you, great Thor, cannot go to him and pluck\nthe hammer from his hand as one would slip the rattle from a baby's\npink fist. Nay, you must use craft, Thor; and it is I who will teach\nyou, if you will be patient.\"\n\nThor was a brave, blunt fellow, and he hated the ways of Loki, his lies\nand his deceit. He liked best the way of warriors,--the thundering\ncharge, the flash of weapons, and the heavy blow; but without the\nhammer he could not fight the giants hand to hand. Loki's advice seemed\nwise, and he decided to leave the matter to the Red One.\n\nLoki was now all eagerness, for he loved difficulties which would set\nhis wit in play and bring other folk into danger. \"Look, now,\" he said.\n\"We must go to Freia and borrow her falcon dress. But you must ask; for\nshe loves me so little that she would scarce listen to me.\"\n\nSo first they made their way to Folkvang, the house of maidens, where\nFreia dwelt, the loveliest of all in Asgard. She was fairer than fair,\nand sweeter than sweet, and the tears from her flower-eyes made the\ndew which blessed the earth-flowers night and morning. Of her Thor\nborrowed the magic dress of feathers in which Freia was wont to clothe\nherself and flit like a great beautiful bird all about the world. She\nwas willing enough to lend it to Thor when he told her that by its aid\nhe hoped to win back the hammer which he had lost; for she well knew\nthe danger threatening herself and all the \u00c6sir until Mi\u00f6lnir should be\nfound.\n\n\"Now will I fetch the hammer for you,\" said Loki. So he put on the\nfalcon plumage, and, spreading his brown wings, flapped away up, up,\nover the world, down, down, across the great ocean which lies beyond\nall things that men know. And he came to the dark country where there\nwas no sunshine nor spring, but it was always dreary winter; where\nmountains were piled up like blocks of ice, and where great caverns\nyawned hungrily in blackness. And this was Jotunheim, the land of the\nFrost Giants.\n\nAnd lo! when Loki came thereto he found Thrym the Giant King sitting\noutside his palace cave, playing with his dogs and horses. The dogs\nwere as big as elephants, and the horses were as big as houses, but\nThrym himself was as huge as a mountain; and Loki trembled, but he\ntried to seem brave.\n\n\"Good-day, Loki,\" said Thrym, with the terrible voice of which he was\nso proud, for he fancied it was as loud as Thor's. \"How fares it,\nfeathered one, with your little brothers, the \u00c6sir, in Asgard halls?\nAnd how dare you venture alone in this guise to Giant Land?\"\n\n\"It is an ill day in Asgard,\" sighed Loki, keeping his eye warily upon\nthe giant, \"and a stormy one in the world of men. I heard the winds\nhowling and the storms rushing on the earth as I passed by. Some mighty\none has stolen the hammer of our Thor. Is it you, Thrym, greatest of\nall giants,--greater than Thor himself?\"\n\nThis the crafty one said to flatter Thrym, for Loki well knew the\nweakness of those who love to be thought greater than they are.\n\nThen Thrym bridled and swelled with pride, and tried to put on the\nmajesty and awe of noble Thor; but he only succeeded in becoming an\nugly, puffy monster.\n\n\"Well, yes,\" he admitted. \"I have the hammer that belonged to your\nlittle Thor; and now how much of a lord is he?\"\n\n\"Alack!\" sighed Loki again, \"weak enough he is without his magic\nweapon. But you, O Thrym,--surely your mightiness needs no such aid.\nGive me the hammer, that Asgard may no longer be shaken by Thor's grief\nfor his precious toy.\"\n\nBut Thrym was not so easily to be flattered into parting with his\nstolen treasure. He grinned a dreadful grin, several yards in width,\nwhich his teeth barred like jagged boulders across the entrance to a\nmountain cavern.\n\n\"Mi\u00f6lnir the hammer is mine,\" he said, \"and I am Thunder-Lord,\nmightiest of the mighty. I have hidden it where Thor can never find\nit, twelve leagues below the sea-caves, where Queen Ran lives with\nher daughters, the white-capped Waves. But listen, Loki. Go tell the\n\u00c6sir that I will give back Thor's hammer. I will give it back upon one\ncondition,--that they send Freia the beautiful to be my wife.\"\n\n\"Freia the beautiful!\" Loki had to stifle a laugh. Fancy the \u00c6sir\ngiving their fairest flower to such an ugly fellow as this! But he\nonly said politely, \"Ah, yes; you demand our Freia in exchange for the\nlittle hammer? It is a costly price, great Thrym. But I will be your\nfriend in Asgard. If I have my way, you shall soon see the fairest\nbride in all the world knocking at your door. Farewell!\"\n\nSo Loki whizzed back to Asgard on his falcon wings; and as he went he\nchuckled to think of the evils which were likely to happen because of\nhis words with Thrym. First he gave the message to Thor,--not sparing\nof Thrym's insolence, to make Thor angry; and then he went to Freia\nwith the word for her,--not sparing of Thrym's ugliness, to make her\nshudder. The spiteful fellow!\n\nNow you can imagine the horror that was in Asgard as the \u00c6sir listened\nto Loki's words. \"My hammer!\" roared Thor. \"The villain confesses that\nhe has stolen my hammer, and boasts that he is Thunder-Lord! Gr-r-r!\"\n\n\"The ugly giant!\" wailed Freia. \"Must I be the bride of that hideous\nold monster, and live in his gloomy mountain prison all my life?\"\n\n\"Yes; put on your bridal veil, sweet Freia,\" said Loki maliciously,\n\"and come with me to Jotunheim. Hang your famous starry necklace about\nyour neck, and don your bravest robe; for in eight days there will be a\nwedding, and Thor's hammer is to pay.\"\n\nThen Freia fell to weeping. \"I cannot go! I will not go!\" she cried. \"I\nwill not leave the home of gladness and Father Odin's table to dwell\nin the land of horrors! Thor's hammer is mighty, but mightier the love\nof the kind \u00c6sir for their little Freia! Good Odin, dear brother Frey,\nspeak for me! You will not make me go?\"\n\nThe \u00c6sir looked at her and thought how lonely and bare would Asgard be\nwithout her loveliness; for she was fairer than fair, and sweeter than\nsweet.\n\n\"She shall not go!\" shouted Frey, putting his arms about his sister's\nneck.\n\n\"No, she shall not go!\" cried all the \u00c6sir with one voice.\n\n\"But my hammer,\" insisted Thor. \"I must have Mi\u00f6lnir back again.\"\n\n\"And my word to Thrym,\" said Loki, \"that must be made good.\"\n\n\"You are too generous with your words,\" said Father Odin sternly, for\nhe knew his brother well. \"Your word is not a gem of great price, for\nyou have made it cheap.\"\n\nThen spoke Heimdal, the sleepless watchman who sits on guard at the\nentrance to the rainbow bridge which leads to Asgard; and Heimdal was\nthe wisest of the \u00c6sir, for he could see into the future, and knew how\nthings would come to pass. Through his golden teeth he spoke, for his\nteeth were all of gold.\n\n\"I have a plan,\" he said. \"Let us dress Thor himself like a bride in\nFreia's robes, and send him to Jotunheim to talk with Thrym and to win\nback his hammer.\"\n\nBut at this word Thor grew very angry. \"What! dress me like a girl!\"\nhe roared. \"I should never hear the last of it! The \u00c6sir will mock me,\nand call me 'maiden'! The giants, and even the puny dwarfs, will have a\nlasting jest upon me! I will not go! I will fight! I will die, if need\nbe! But dressed as a woman I will not go!\"\n\nBut Loki answered him with sharp words, for this was a scheme after his\nown heart. \"What, Thor!\" he said. \"Would you lose your hammer and keep\nAsgard in danger for so small a whim? Look, now: if you go not, Thrym\nwith his giants will come in a mighty army and drive us from Asgard;\nthen he will indeed make Freia his bride, and moreover he will have you\nfor his slave under the power of his hammer. How like you this picture,\nbrother of the thunder? Nay, Heimdal's plan is a good one, and I myself\nwill help to carry it out.\"\n\nStill Thor hesitated; but Freia came and laid her white hand on his\narm, and looked up into his scowling face pleadingly.\n\n\"To save me, Thor,\" she begged. And Thor said he would go.\n\nThen there was great sport among the \u00c6sir, while they dressed Thor\nlike a beautiful maiden. Brunhilde and her sisters, the nine Valkyrie,\ndaughters of Odin, had the task in hand. How they laughed as they\nbrushed and curled his yellow hair, and set upon it the wondrous\nheaddress of silk and pearls! They let out seams, and they let down\nhems, and set on extra pieces, to make it larger, and so they hid his\ngreat limbs and knotted arms under Freia's fairest robe of scarlet; but\nbeneath it all he would wear his shirt of mail and his belt of power\nthat gave him double strength. Freia herself twisted about his neck her\nfamous necklace of starry jewels, and Queen Frigg, his mother, hung at\nhis girdle a jingling bunch of keys, such as was the custom for the\nbride to wear at Norse weddings. Last of all, that Thrym might not see\nThor's fierce eyes and the yellow beard, that ill became a maiden, they\nthrew over him a long veil of silver white which covered him to the\nfeet. And there he stood, as stately and tall a bride as even a giant\nmight wish to see; but on his hands he wore his iron gloves, and they\nached for but one thing,--to grasp the handle of the stolen hammer.\n\n[Illustration: \"AH, WHAT A LOVELY MAID IT IS!\"]\n\n\"Ah, what a lovely maid it is!\" chuckled Loki; \"and how glad will Thrym\nbe to see this Freia come! Bride Thor, I will go with you as your\nhandmaiden, for I would fain see the fun.\"\n\n\"Come, then,\" said Thor sulkily, for he was ill pleased, and wore his\nmaiden robes with no good grace. \"It is fitting that you go; for I like\nnot these lies and maskings, and I may spoil the mummery without you at\nmy elbow.\"\n\nThere was loud laughter above the clouds when Thor, all veiled and\ndainty seeming, drove away from Asgard to his wedding, with maid Loki\nby his side. Thor cracked his whip and chirruped fiercely to his twin\ngoats with golden hoofs, for he wanted to escape the sounds of mirth\nthat echoed from the rainbow bridge, where all the \u00c6sir stood watching.\nLoki, sitting with his hands meekly folded like a girl, chuckled as he\nglanced up at Thor's angry face; but he said nothing, for he knew it\nwas not good to joke too far with Thor, even when Mi\u00f6lnir was hidden\ntwelve leagues below the sea in Ran's kingdom.\n\nSo off they dashed to Jotunheim, where Thrym was waiting and longing\nfor his beautiful bride. Thor's goats thundered along above the sea and\nland and people far below, who looked up wondering as the noise rolled\noverhead. \"Hear how the thunder rumbles!\" they said. \"Thor is on a long\njourney to-night.\" And a long journey it was, as the tired goats found\nbefore they reached the end.\n\nThrym heard the sound of their approach, for his ear was eager. \"Hola!\"\nhe cried. \"Some one is coming from Asgard,--only one of Odin's children\ncould make a din so fearful. Hasten, men, and see if they are bringing\nFreia to be my wife.\"\n\nThen the lookout giant stepped down from the top of his mountain, and\nsaid that a chariot was bringing two maidens to the door.\n\n\"Run, giants, run!\" shouted Thrym, in a fever at this news. \"My bride\nis coming! Put silken cushions on the benches for a great banquet,\nand make the house beautiful for the fairest maid in all space! Bring\nin all my golden-horned cows and my coal-black oxen, that she may see\nhow rich I am, and heap all my gold and jewels about to dazzle her\nsweet eyes! She shall find me richest of the rich; and when I have\nher,--fairest of the fair,--there will be no treasure that I lack,--not\none!\"\n\nThe chariot stopped at the gate, and out stepped the tall bride, hidden\nfrom head to foot, and her handmaiden muffled to the chin. \"How afraid\nof catching cold they must be!\" whispered the giant ladies, who were\npeering over one another's shoulders to catch a glimpse of the bride,\njust as the crowd outside the awning does at a wedding nowadays.\n\nThrym had sent six splendid servants to escort the maidens: these were\nthe Metal Kings, who served him as lord of them all. There was the\nGold King, all in cloth of gold, with fringes of yellow bullion, most\nglittering to see; and there was the Silver King, almost as gorgeous in\na suit of spangled white; and side by side bowed the dark Kings of Iron\nand Lead, the one mighty in black, the other sullen in blue; and after\nthem were the Copper King, gleaming ruddy and brave, and the Tin King,\nstrutting in his trimmings of gaudy tinsel which looked nearly as well\nas silver but were more economical. And this fine troop of lackey kings\nmost politely led Thor and Loki into the palace, and gave them of the\nbest, for they never suspected who these seeming maidens really were.\n\nAnd when evening came there was a wonderful banquet to celebrate the\nwedding. On a golden throne sat Thrym, uglier than ever in his finery\nof purple and gold. Beside him was the bride, of whose face no one had\nyet caught even a glimpse; and at Thrym's other hand stood Loki, the\nwaiting-maid, for he wanted to be near to mend the mistakes which Thor\nmight make.\n\nNow the dishes at the feast were served in a huge way, as befitted the\ntable of giants: great beeves roasted whole, on platters as wide across\nas a ship's deck; plum-puddings as fat as feather-beds, with plums as\nbig as footballs; and a wedding cake like a snow-capped haymow. The\ngiants ate enormously. But to Thor, because they thought him a dainty\nmaiden, they served small bits of everything on a tiny gold dish. Now\nThor's long journey had made him very hungry, and through his veil\nhe whispered to Loki, \"I shall starve, Loki! I cannot fare on these\nnibbles. I must eat a goodly meal as I do at home.\" And forthwith he\nhelped himself to such morsels as might satisfy his hunger for a little\ntime. You should have seen the giants stare at the meal which the\ndainty bride devoured!\n\nFor first under the silver veil disappeared by pieces a whole roast ox.\nThen Thor made eight mouthfuls of eight pink salmon, a dish of which\nhe was very fond. And next he looked about and reached for a platter\nof cakes and sweetmeats that was set aside at one end of the table for\nthe lady guests, and the bride ate them all. You can fancy how the\ndamsels drew down their mouths and looked at one another when they saw\ntheir dessert disappear; and they whispered about the table, \"Alack!\nif our future mistress is to sup like this day by day, there will be\npoor cheer for the rest of us!\" And to crown it all, Thor was thirsty,\nas well he might be; and one after another he raised to his lips and\nemptied three great barrels of mead, the foamy drink of the giants.\nThen indeed Thrym was amazed, for Thor's giant appetite had beaten that\nof the giants themselves.\n\n\"Never before saw I a bride so hungry,\" he cried, \"and never before one\nhalf so thirsty!\"\n\nBut Loki, the waiting-maid, whispered to him softly, \"The truth is,\ngreat Thrym, that my dear mistress was almost starved. For eight days\nFreia has eaten nothing at all, so eager was she for Jotunheim.\"\n\nThen Thrym was delighted, you may be sure. He forgave his hungry bride,\nand loved her with all his heart. He leaned forward to give her a kiss,\nraising a corner of her veil; but his hand dropped suddenly, and he\nstarted up in terror, for he had caught the angry flash of Thor's eye,\nwhich was glaring at him through the bridal veil. Thor was longing for\nhis hammer.\n\n\"Why has Freia so sharp a look?\" Thrym cried. \"It pierces like\nlightning and burns like fire.\"\n\nBut again the sly waiting-maid whispered timidly, \"Oh, Thrym, be not\namazed! The truth is, my poor mistress's eyes are red with wakefulness\nand bright with longing. For eight nights Freia has not known a wink of\nsleep, so eager was she for Jotunheim.\"\n\nThen again Thrym was doubly delighted, and he longed to call her his\nvery own dear wife. \"Bring in the wedding gift!\" he cried. \"Bring in\nThor's hammer, Mi\u00f6lnir, and give it to Freia, as I promised; for when I\nhave kept my word she will be mine,--all mine!\"\n\nThen Thor's big heart laughed under his woman's dress, and his fierce\neyes swept eagerly down the hall to meet the servant who was bringing\nin the hammer on a velvet cushion. Thor's fingers could hardly wait\nto clutch the stubby handle which they knew so well; but he sat quite\nstill on the throne beside ugly old Thrym, with his hands meekly folded\nand his head bowed like a bashful bride.\n\nThe giant servant drew nearer, nearer, puffing and blowing, strong\nthough he was, beneath the mighty weight. He was about to lay it at\nThor's feet (for he thought it so heavy that no maiden could lift it or\nhold it in her lap), when suddenly Thor's heart swelled, and he gave a\nmost unmaidenly shout of rage and triumph. With one swoop he grasped\nthe hammer in his iron fingers; with the other arm he tore off the\nveil that hid his terrible face, and trampled it under foot; then he\nturned to the frightened king, who cowered beside him on the throne.\n\n\"Thief!\" he cried. \"Freia sends you _this_ as a wedding gift!\" And he\nwhirled the hammer about his head, then hurled it once, twice, thrice,\nas it rebounded to his hand; and in the first stroke, as of lightning,\nThrym rolled dead from his throne; in the second stroke perished the\nwhole giant household,--these ugly enemies of the \u00c6sir; and in the\nthird stroke the palace itself tumbled together and fell to the ground\nlike a toppling play-house of blocks.\n\nBut Loki and Thor stood safely among the ruins, dressed in their\ntattered maiden robes, a quaint and curious sight; and Loki, full of\nmischief now as ever, burst out laughing.\n\n\"Oh, Thor! if you could see\"--he began; but Thor held up his hammer and\nshook it gently as he said,--\n\n\"Look now, Loki: it was an excellent joke, and so far you have done\nwell,--after your crafty fashion, which likes me not. But now I have\nmy hammer again, and the joke is done. From you, nor from another, I\nbrook no laughter at my expense. Henceforth we will have no mention of\nthis masquerade, nor of these rags which now I throw away. Do you hear,\nred laugher?\"\n\nAnd Loki heard, with a look of hate, and stifled his laughter as best\nhe could; for it is not good to laugh at him who holds the hammer.\n\nNot once after that was there mention in Asgard of the time when Thor\ndressed him as a girl and won his bridal gift from Thrym the giant.\n\nBut Mi\u00f6lnir was safe once more in Asgard, and you and I know how it\ncame there; so some one must have told. I wonder if red Loki whispered\nthe tale to some outsider, after all? Perhaps it may be so, for now he\nknew how best to make Thor angry; and from that day when Thor forbade\nhis laughing, Loki hated him with the mean little hatred of a mean\nlittle soul.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIANTESS WHO WOULD NOT\n\n\nOf all the \u00c6sir who sat in the twelve seats about Father Odin's\nwonder-throne none was so dear to the people of Midgard, the world of\nmen, as Frey. For Frey, the twin brother of Freia the fair, was the god\nwho sent sunshine and rain upon the earth that men's crops might grow\nand ripen, and the fruits become sweet and mellow. He gave men cattle,\nand showed them how to till the fields; and it was he who spread peace\nand prosperity over the world. For he was lord of the Light-Elves,\nthe spirits of the upper air, who were more beautiful than the sun.\nAnd these were his servants whom he sent to answer the prayers of the\nmen who loved him. Frey was more beautiful, too, than any of the \u00c6sir\nexcept young Balder. This was another reason why he was so beloved by\nall. But there came a time when Frey found some one who would not love\nhim; and that was a new experience for him, a punishment for the only\nwrong he ever committed.\n\nYou remember that Father Odin had a wonderful throne in the\nsilver-roofed house, a throne whence he could see everything that was\nhappening in all the world? Well, no one was allowed to sit upon this\nthrone except All-Father himself, for he would not have the others\nspying into affairs which only the King of Asgard was wise enough to\nunderstand. But one day, when Odin was away from home, Frey had such\na longing to climb up where he might gaze upon all the world which he\nloved, that he could not resist the temptation. He stole up to the\ngreat throne when no one was looking, and mounting the steps, seated\nhimself upon All-Father's wonder-seat.\n\nOh, marvelous, grand, and beautiful! He looked off into the heavens,\nand there he saw all the \u00c6sir busy about their daily work. He looked\nabove, into the shining realm of clear air. And there he saw his\nmessengers, the pretty little Light-Elves, flying about upon their\nerrands of help for men. Some were carrying seeds for the farmers to\nplant. Some were watering the fields with their little water-pots,\nmaking the summer showers. Some were pinching the cheeks of the apples\nto make them red, and others were reeling silk for the corn-tassels.\nThen Frey looked down upon the earth, where men were scurrying around\nlike little ants, improving the blessings which his servants were\nsending, and often stopping their work to give thanks to their beloved\nFrey. And this made his kind heart glad.\n\nNext he turned his gaze down into the depths of the blue ocean which\nflowed about Midgard like a great river. And down in the sea-caves he\nsaw the mermaids playing, Queen Ran and her daughters the white-capped\nWaves, with their nets ready to catch the sailors who might be drowned\nat sea. And he saw King \u0152gir, among the whales and dolphins, with all\nthe myriad wondrous creatures who lived in his watery empire. But\nFrey's father, old Ni\u00f6rd, lord of the ocean wind, would have been more\ninterested than he in such a sight.\n\nLast of all Frey bent his eyes upon the far, cold land of Jotunheim,\nbeyond the ocean, where the giants lived; and as he did so, a beam\nof brightness dazzled him. He rubbed his eyes and looked again; and\nlo! the flash was from the bright arms of a beautiful maiden, who was\npassing from her father's hall to her own little bower. When she raised\nher arms to open the door, the air and water reflected their brightness\nso that the whole world was flooded with light, and one shaft shot\nstraight into the heart of Frey, making him love her and long for her\nmore than for anything he had ever seen. But because he knew that she\nmust be a giant's daughter, how could he win her for his bride? Frey\ndescended from Odin's throne very sadly, very hopelessly, and went home\nwith a heavy heart which would let him neither eat nor sleep. This was\nthe penalty which came for his disobedience in presuming to sit upon\nOdin's sacred throne.\n\nFor hours no one dared speak to Frey, he looked so gloomy and\nforbidding, quite unlike his own gay self. Ni\u00f6rd his father was greatly\nworried, and knew not what to do; at last he sent for Skirnir, who was\nFrey's favorite servant, and bade him find out what was the matter.\nSkirnir therefore went to his master, whom he found sitting all alone\nin his great hall, looking as if there were no more joy for him.\n\n\"What ails you, master?\" asked Skirnir. \"From the beginning of time\nwhen we were very young we two have lived together, and I have served\nyou with loving care. You ought, then, to have confidence in me and\ntell me all your troubles.\"\n\n\"Ah, Skirnir, my faithful friend,\" sighed Frey, \"how shall I tell you\nmy sorrow? The sun shines every day, but no longer brings light to my\nsad heart. And all because I saw more than was good for me!\"\n\nSo then he told Skirnir all the matter: how he had stolen into Odin's\nseat, and what he had seen from there; how he loved a giant's daughter\nwhose arms were more bright than silver moonbeams.\n\n\"Oh, Skirnir, I love her very dearly,\" he cried; \"but because our races\nare enemies she would never marry me, I know, even if her father would\nallow it. Therefore is it that I am so sad.\"\n\nBut Skirnir did not seem to think the case so hopeless. \"Give me but\nyour swift horse,\" he said, \"which can bear me even through flames\nof fire and thick smoke; give me also your magic wand and your sword,\nwhich if he be brave who carries it, will smite by itself any giant who\ncomes in its way,--and I will see what I can do for you.\"\n\nThen Skirnir rode forth upon his dangerous errand; for a visit to Giant\nLand was ever a perilous undertaking, as you may well imagine. As\nSkirnir rode, he patted his good horse's neck and said to him, \"Dark it\nis, friend, and we have to go over frosty mountains and among frosty\npeople this night. Bear me well, good horse; for if you fail me the\ngiants will catch us both, and neither of us will return to bring the\nnews to our master Frey.\"\n\nAfter a long night of hard riding over mountain and desolate snowfield,\nSkirnir came to that part of Jotunheim where the giant Gymir dwelt.\nThis was the father of Gerd, the maiden whom Frey had seen and loved.\nBut first he had to ride through a hedge of flame, which the horse\npassed bravely. Now when he came to the house of Gymir, he found a pack\nof fierce dogs chained about the door to keep strangers away.\n\n\"H'm!\" thought Skirnir, \"I like this little indeed. I must find out\nwhether there be not some other entrance.\" So he looked around, and\nsoon he saw a herdsman sitting on a little hill, tending his cattle.\nSkirnir rode up to him.\n\n\"Ho, friend,\" he cried. \"Tell me, how am I to pass these growling curs\nso that I may speak with the young maiden who dwells in this house?\"\n\n\"Are you mad, or are you a spirit who is not afraid of death!\"\nexclaimed the herdsman. \"Know you not that you can never enter there?\nThat is Gymir's dwelling, and he lets no one speak with his fair and\ngood daughter.\"\n\n\"If I choose to die, you need not weep for me,\" quoth Skirnir boldly.\n\"But I do not think that I am yet to die. The Norn-maidens spun my fate\ncenturies ago, and they only can tell what is to be.\" Now Skirnir's\nvoice was loud and the hoof-beats of his horse were mighty. For this\nwas one of the magic steeds of Asgard, used to bearing Frey himself\non his broad back. And not without much noise had all these things\nbeen said and done. From her room in Gymir's mansion Gerd heard the\nstranger's voice, and to her waiting-maid she said, \"What are these\nsounds that I hear? The earth is trembling and all the house shakes.\"\n\nThen the servant ran to look out of the window, and in a minute\nshe popped in her head, crying, \"Here is a mighty stranger who has\ndismounted from his horse and leads him by the bridle to crop the\ngrass.\"\n\nGerd was curious to see who this stranger might be; for her father kept\nher close and she saw few visitors.\n\n\"Bid him enter our hall,\" she said, \"and give him a horn of bright\nmead to drink. I will see him, though I fear it is the slayer of my\nbrother.\" For Gerd was the sister of Thiasse whom Thor slew.\n\nSo Skirnir came into the hall, and Gerd received him coldly. \"Who are\nyou?\" she asked. \"Which of the wise \u00c6sir are you? For I know that only\none of the mighty ones from Asgard would have the courage and the power\nto pass through the raging flames that surround my father's land.\"\n\n\"I come from Frey, O maiden,\" said Skirnir, \"from Frey, whom all folk\nlove. I come to beg that you also will love him and consent to be his\nwife. For Frey has seen your beauty, and you are very dear to him.\"\n\nGerd laughed carelessly. \"I have heard of your fair Frey,\" she said,\n\"and how he is more dear to all than sunshine and the sweet smell of\nflowers. But he is not dear to me. I do not wish the love of Frey, nor\nany of that race of giant-killers. Tell him that I will not be his\nbride.\"\n\n\"Stay, be not so hasty,\" urged Skirnir. \"We have more words to exchange\nbefore I start for home. Look, I will give you eleven golden apples\nfrom Asgard's magic tree if you will go with me to Frey's dwelling.\"\n\nGerd would hear nothing of the golden apples. Then Skirnir promised her\nthe golden ring, Draupnir, which the dwarfs had made for Odin, out of\nwhich every ninth night dropped eight other rings as large and bright.\nBut neither would Gerd listen to word of this generous gift. \"I have\ngold enough in my father's house,\" she said disdainfully. \"With such\ntrifles you cannot tempt me to marry your Frey.\"\n\nThen Skirnir was very angry, and he began to storm and threaten. \"I\nwill strike you with the bright sword which I hold in my hand!\" he\ncried. \"It is Frey's magic sword, under which even that stout old giant\nyour father must sink if he comes within its reach.\" But again Gerd\nlaughed, though with less mirth in her laughter. \"I will tame you with\nFrey's magic wand!\" he threatened, \"the wand with which he rules the\nLight-Elves, and changes folk into strange shapes. You shall vanish\nfrom the sight of men, and pass your life on the eagle's mount far\nabove the sky, where you shall sit all day, too sad to eat. And when\nyou come thence, after countless ages, you will be a hideous monster at\nwhich all creatures will stare in mockery and scorn.\"\n\nThese were dreadful words, and Gerd no longer laughed when she heard\nthem. But she was obstinate. \"I do not love Frey,\" she said, \"and I\nwill not be his bride.\"\n\nThen Skirnir was angry indeed, and his fury blazed out in threats most\nhorrible. \"If you will not marry my dear master,\" he cried, \"you shall\nbe the most unhappy girl that ever lived. You shall cry all day long\nand never see joy again. You shall marry a hideous old three-headed\ngiant, and from day to day you shall ever be in terror of some still\nmore dreadful fate to come!\"\n\nNow Gerd began to tremble, for she saw that Frey's servant meant every\nword that he spoke. But she was not ready to yield. \"Go back to the\nland of Elves,\" she taunted; \"I will not be their Queen at any cost.\"\n\nNow Skirnir grasped the magic wand, and waving it over her, spoke his\nlast words of threat and anger. \"The gods are angry with you, evil\nmaiden!\" he cried. \"Odin sees your obstinacy from his throne, and\nwill punish you for your cruelty to kind Frey. Frey himself, instead\nof loving, will shun you when the gods arm themselves to destroy you\nand all your race. Listen, Giants, Dwarfs, Light-Elves, Men, and\nall friends of the \u00c6sir! I forbid any one to have aught to do with\nthis wicked girl,--only the old giant who shall carry her to his\ngloomy castle, barred and bolted and grated across. Misery, pain, and\nmadness--this, Gerd, is the fate which I wave over you with my wand,\nunless speedily you repent and do my will.\"\n\nPoor Gerd gasped and trembled under this dreadful doom. Her willfulness\nwas quite broken, and now she sought only to make Skirnir unsay the\nwords of horror. \"Hold!\" she cried; \"be welcome, youth, in the name of\nyour powerful master, Frey. I cannot afford to be enemy of such as he.\nDrink this icy cup of welcome filled with the giant's mead, and take\nwith it my consent to be the bride of Frey. But alas! I never thought\nto be a friend to one of Asgard's race.\"\n\n\"You shall never repent, fair Gerd,\" said Skirnir gently. For now that\nhe had won his will, he was all smiles and friendliness. \"And when you\nsee my dear master, you will be glad indeed that you did not insist\nupon wedding the old three-headed giant. For Frey is fair,--ay, as fair\nas are you yourself. And that is saying much, sweet lady.\"\n\nSo Gerd promised that in nine days she would come to be the bride of\nFrey. And the more she thought it over, the less unpleasant seemed the\nidea. So that before the time was passed, she was almost as eager as\nFrey for their happy meeting; not quite so eager, for you must remember\nthat she had not yet seen him and knew not all his glory, while he knew\nwhat it was to long and long for what he had once seen.\n\nIndeed, when Skirnir galloped back to Frey as fast as the good horse\ncould take him, still Frey chided him for being slow. And when\nthe faithful fellow told the good news of the bride who was to be\nhis master's in nine short days, still Frey frowned and grumbled\nimpatiently.\n\n\"How can I wait to see her?\" he cried. \"One day is long; two days are a\ncentury; nine days seem forever. Oh, Skirnir, could you not have done\nbetter than that for your dear master?\"\n\nBut Skirnir forgave Frey for his impatience, for he knew that\nthenceforward his master would love all the better him who had done so\nnobly to win the beloved bride.\n\nWhen Gerd married Frey and went with him to live in Elf Land, where he\nand she were king and queen, they were the happiest folk that the world\never saw. And Gerd was as grateful to Skirnir as Frey himself. For she\ncould not help thinking of that dreadful old three-headed giant whom\nbut for him she might have married, instead of her beautiful, kind Frey.\n\nSo you see that sometimes one is happier in the end if she is not\nallowed to have her own way.\n\n\n\n\nTHOR'S VISIT TO THE GIANTS\n\n\nNowadays, since their journey to get the stolen hammer, Thor and Loki\nwere good friends, for Loki seemed to have turned over a new leaf and\nto be a very decent sort of fellow; but really he was the same sly\nrascal at heart, only biding his time for mischief. However, in this\ntale he behaves well enough.\n\nIt was a long time since Thor had slain any giants, and he was growing\nrestless for an adventure. \"Come, Loki,\" he said one day, \"let us fare\nforth to Giant Land and see what news there is among the Big Folk.\"\n\nLoki laughed, saying, \"Let us go, Thor. I know I am safe with you;\"\nwhich was a piece of flattery that happened to be true.\n\nSo they mounted the goat chariot as they had done so many times before\nand rumbled away out of Asgard. All day they rode; and when evening\ncame they stopped at a little house on the edge of a forest, where\nlived a poor peasant with his wife, his son, and daughter.\n\n\"May we rest here for the night, friend?\" asked Thor; and noting their\npoverty, he added, \"We bring our own supper, and ask but a bed to\nsleep in.\" So the peasant was glad to have them stay. Then Thor, who\nknew what he was about, killed and cooked his two goats, and invited\nthe family of peasants to sup with him and Loki; but when the meal was\nended, he bade them carefully save all the bones and throw them into\nthe goatskins which he had laid beside the hearth. Then Thor and Loki\nlay down to sleep.\n\nIn the morning, very early, before the rest were awake, Thor rose,\nand taking his hammer, Mi\u00f6lnir, went into the kitchen, where were the\nremains of his faithful goats. Now the magic hammer was skillful, not\nonly to slay, but to restore, when Thor's hand wielded it. He touched\nwith it the two heaps of skin and bones, and lo! up sprang the goats,\nalive and well, and as good as new. No, not quite as good as new. What\nwas this? Thor roared with anger, for one of the goats was lame in one\nof his legs, and limped sorely. \"Some one has meddled with the bones!\"\nhe cried. \"Who has touched the bones that I bade be kept so carefully?\"\n\nThialfi, the peasant's son, had broken one of the thigh-bones in order\nto get at the sweet marrow, and this Thor soon discovered by the lad's\nguilty face; then Thor was angry indeed. His knuckles grew white as he\nclenched the handle of Mi\u00f6lnir, ready to hurl it and destroy the whole\nunlucky house and family; but the peasant and the other three fell\nupon their knees, trembling with fear, and begged him to spare them.\nThey offered him all that they owned,--they offered even to become his\nslaves,--if he would but spare their wretched lives.\n\nThey looked so miserable that Thor was sorry for them, and resolved at\nlast to punish them only by taking away Thialfi, the son, and R\u00f6skva,\nthe daughter, thenceforth to be his servants. And this was not so bad\na bargain for Thor, for Thialfi was the swiftest of foot of any man in\nthe whole world.\n\nSo he left the goats behind, and fared forth with his three attendants\nstraight towards the east and Jotunheim. Thialfi carried Thor's wallet\nwith their scanty store of food. They crossed the sea and came at\nlast to a great forest, through which they tramped all day, until\nonce more it was night; and now they must find a place in which all\ncould sleep safely until morning. They wandered about here and there,\nlooking for some sign of a dwelling, and at last they came to a big,\nqueer-shaped house. Very queer indeed it was; for the door at one end\nwas as broad as the house itself! They entered, and lay down to sleep;\nbut at midnight Thor was wakened by a terrible noise. The ground shook\nunder them like an earthquake, and the house trembled as if it would\nfall to pieces. Thor arose and called to his companions that there was\ndanger about, and that they must be on guard. Groping in the dark,\nthey found a long, narrow chamber on the right, where Loki and the two\npeasants hid trembling, while Thor guarded the doorway, hammer in hand.\nAll night long the terrible noises continued, and Thor's attendants\nwere frightened almost to death; but early in the morning Thor stole\nforth to find out what it all meant. And lo! close at hand in the\nforest lay an enormous giant, sound asleep and snoring loudly. Then\nThor understood whence all their night's terror had proceeded, for the\ngiant was so huge that his snoring shook even the trees of the forest,\nand made the mountains tremble. So much the better! Here at last was\na giant for Thor to tackle. He buckled his belt of power more tightly\nto increase his strength, and laid hold of Mi\u00f6lnir to hurl it at the\ngiant's forehead; but just at that moment the giant waked, rose slowly\nto his feet, and stood staring mildly at Thor. He did not seem a fierce\ngiant, so Thor did not kill him at once. \"Who are you?\" asked Thor\nsturdily.\n\n\"I am the giant Skrymir, little fellow,\" answered the stranger, \"and\nwell I know who you are, Thor of Asgard. But what have you been doing\nwith my glove?\"\n\nThen the giant stooped and picked up--what do you think?--the queer\nhouse in which Thor and his three companions had spent the night! Loki\nand the two others had run out of their chamber in affright when they\nfelt it lifted; and their chamber was the thumb of the giant's glove.\nThat was a giant indeed, and Thor felt sure that they must be well upon\ntheir way to Giant Land.\n\nWhen Skrymir learned where they were going, he asked if he might not\nwend with them, and Thor said that he was willing. Now Skrymir untied\nhis wallet and sat down under a tree to eat his breakfast, while Thor\nand his party chose another place, not far away, for their picnic. When\nall had finished, the giant said, \"Let us put our provisions together\nin one bag, my friends, and I will carry it for you.\" This seemed fair\nenough, for Thor had so little food left that he was not afraid to risk\nlosing it; so he agreed, and Skrymir tied all the provisions in his\nbag and strode on before them with enormous strides, so fast that even\nThialfi could scarcely keep up with him.\n\nThe day passed, and late in the evening Skrymir halted under a great\noak-tree, saying, \"Let us rest here. I must have a nap, and you must\nhave your dinner. Here is the wallet,--open it and help yourselves.\"\nThen he lay down on the moss, and was soon snoring lustily.\n\nThor tried to open the wallet, in vain; he could not loosen a single\nknot of the huge thongs that fastened it. He strained and tugged,\ngrowing angrier and redder after every useless attempt. This was too\nmuch; the giant was making him appear absurd before his servants. He\nseized his hammer, and bracing his feet with all his might, struck\nSkrymir a blow on his head. Skrymir stirred lazily, yawned, opened one\neye, and asked whether a leaf had fallen on his forehead, and whether\nhis companions had dined yet. Thor bit his lip with vexation, but he\nanswered that they were ready for bed; so he and his three followers\nretired to rest under another oak.\n\nBut Thor did not sleep that night. He lay thinking how he had been\nput to shame, and how Loki had snickered at the sight of Thor's vain\nstruggles with the giant's wallet, and he resolved that it should not\nhappen again. At about midnight, once more he heard the giant's snore\nresounding like thunder through the forest. Thor arose, clenching\nMi\u00f6lnir tight, and stole over to the tree where Skrymir slept; then\nwith all his might he hurled the hammer and struck the giant on the\ncrown of his head, so hard that the hammer sank deep into his skull. At\nthis the giant awoke with a start, exclaiming, \"What is that? Did an\nacorn fall on my head? What are you doing there, Thor?\"\n\nThor stepped back quickly, answering that he had waked up, but that it\nwas only midnight, so they might all sleep some hours longer. \"If I can\nonly give him one more blow before morning,\" he thought, \"he will never\nsee daylight again.\" So he lay watching until Skrymir had fallen asleep\nonce more, which was near daybreak; then Thor arose as before, and\ngoing very softly to the giant's side, smote him on the temple so sore\nthat the hammer sank into his skull up to the very handle. \"Surely, he\nis killed now,\" thought Thor.\n\nBut Skrymir only raised himself on his elbow, stroked his chin, and\nsaid, \"There are birds above me in the tree. Methinks that just now a\nfeather fell upon my head. What, Thor! are you awake? I am afraid you\nslept but poorly this night. Come, now, it is high time to rise and\nmake ready for the day. You are not far from our giant city,--Utgard we\ncall it. Aha! I have heard you whispering together. You think that I\nam big; but you will see fellows taller still when you come to Utgard.\nAnd now I have a piece of advice to give you. Do not pride yourselves\novermuch upon your importance. The followers of Utgard's king think\nlittle of such manikins as you, and will not bear any nonsense, I\nassure you. Be advised; return homeward before it is too late. If you\nwill go on, however, your way lies there to the eastward. Yonder is my\npath, over the mountains to the north.\"\n\nSo saying, Skrymir hoisted his wallet upon his shoulders, and turning\nback upon the path that led into the forest, left them staring after\nhim and hoping that they might never see his big bulk again.\n\nThor and his companions journeyed on until noon, when they saw in\nthe distance a great city, on a lofty plain. As they came nearer,\nthey found the buildings so high that the travelers had to bend back\ntheir necks in order to see the tops. \"This must be Utgard, the giant\ncity,\" said Thor. And Utgard indeed it was. At the entrance was a great\nbarred gate, locked so that no one might enter. It was useless to try\nto force a passage in; even Thor's great strength could not move it on\nits hinges. But it was a giant gate, and the bars were made to keep out\nother giants, with no thought of folk so small as these who now were\nbent upon finding entrance by one way or another. It was not dignified,\nand noble Thor disliked the idea. Yet it was their only way; so one\nby one they squeezed and wriggled between the bars, until they stood\nin a row inside. In front of them was a wonderful great hall with the\ndoor wide open. Thor and the three entered, and found themselves in the\nmidst of a company of giants, the very hugest of their kind. At the end\nof the hall sat the king upon an enormous throne. Thor, who had been in\ngiant companies ere now, went straight up to the throne and greeted\nthe king with civil words. But the giant merely glanced at him with a\ndisagreeable smile, and said,--\n\n\"It is wearying to ask travelers about their journey. Such little\nfellows as you four can scarcely have had any adventures worth\nmentioning. Stay, now! Do I guess aright? Is this manikin Thor of\nAsgard, or no? Ah, no! I have heard of Thor's might. You cannot really\nbe he, unless you are taller than you seem, and stronger too. Let us\nsee what feats you and your companions can perform to amuse us. No one\nis allowed here who cannot excel others in some way or another. What\ncan you do best?\"\n\nAt this word, Loki, who had entered last, spoke up readily: \"There is\none thing that I can do,--I can eat faster than any man.\" For Loki was\nfamished with hunger, and thought he saw a way to win a good meal.\n\nThen the king answered, \"Truly, that is a noble accomplishment of\nyours, if you can prove your words true. Let us make the test.\" So he\ncalled forth from among his men Logi,--whose name means \"fire,\"--and\nbade him match his powers with the stranger.\n\nNow a trough full of meat was set upon the floor, with Loki at one end\nof it and the giant Logi at the other. Each began to gobble the meat\nas fast as he could, and it was not a pretty sight to see them. Midway\nin the trough they met, and at first it would seem as if neither had\nbeaten the other. Loki had indeed done wondrous well in eating the meat\nfrom the bones so fast; but Logi, the giant, had in the same time eaten\nnot only meat but bones also, and had swallowed his half of the trough\ninto the bargain. Loki was vanquished at his own game, and retired\nlooking much ashamed and disgusted.\n\nThe king then pointed at Thialfi, and asked what that young man could\nbest do. Thialfi answered that of all men he was the swiftest runner,\nand that he was not afraid to race with any one whom the king might\nselect.\n\n\"That is a goodly craft,\" said the king, smiling; \"but you must be a\nswift runner indeed if you can win a race from my Hugi. Let us go to\nthe racing-ground.\"\n\nThey followed him out to the plain where Hugi, whose name means\n\"thought,\" was ready to race with young Thialfi. In the first run Hugi\ncame in so far ahead that when he reached the goal he turned about and\nwent back to meet Thialfi. \"You must do better than that, Thialfi, if\nyou hope to win,\" said the king, laughing, \"though I must allow that no\none ever before came here who could run so fast as you.\"\n\nThey ran a second race; and this time when Hugi reached the goal there\nwas a long bow-shot between him and Thialfi.\n\n\"You are truly a good runner,\" exclaimed the king. \"I doubt not that\nno man can race like you; but you cannot win from my giant lad, I\nthink. The last time shall show.\" Then they ran for the third time, and\nThialfi put forth all his strength, speeding like the wind; but all\nhis skill was in vain. Hardly had he reached the middle of the course\nwhen he heard the shouts of the giants announcing that Hugi had won the\ngoal. Thialfi, too, was beaten at his own game, and he withdrew, as\nLoki had done, shamefaced and sulky.\n\nThere remained now only Thor to redeem the honor of his party, for\nR\u00f6skva the maiden was useless here. Thor had watched the result of\nthese trials with surprise and anger, though he knew it was no fault\nof Loki or of Thialfi that they had been worsted by the giants. And\nThor was resolved to better even his own former great deeds. The king\ncalled to Thor, and asked him what he thought he could best do to prove\nhimself as mighty as the stories told of him. Thor answered that he\nwould undertake to drink more mead than any one of the king's men. At\nthis proposal the king laughed aloud, as if it were a giant joke. He\nsummoned his cup-bearer to fetch his horn of punishment, out of which\nthe giants were wont to drink in turn. And when they returned to the\nhall, the great vessel was brought to the king.\n\n\"When any one empties this horn at one draught, we call him a famous\ndrinker,\" said the king. \"Some of my men empty it in two trials; but no\none is so poor a manikin that he cannot empty it in three. Take the\nhorn, Thor, and see what you can do with it.\"\n\nNow Thor was very thirsty, so he seized the horn eagerly. It did not\nseem to him so very large, for he had drunk from other mighty vessels\nere now. But indeed, it was deep. He raised it to his lips and took\na long pull, saying to himself, \"There! I have emptied it already, I\nknow.\" Yet when he set the horn down to see how well he had done, he\nfound that he seemed scarcely to have drained a drop; the horn was\nbrimming as before. The king chuckled.\n\n\"Well, you have drunk but little,\" he said. \"I would never have\nbelieved that famous Thor would lower the horn so soon. But doubtless\nyou will finish all at a second draught.\"\n\nInstead of answering, Thor raised the horn once more to his lips,\nresolved to do better than before. But for some reason the tip of the\nhorn seemed hard to raise, and when he set the vessel down again his\nheart sank, for he feared that he had drunk even less than at his first\ntrial. Yet he had really done better, for now it was easy to carry the\nhorn without spilling. The king smiled grimly. \"How now, Thor!\" he\ncried. \"You have left too much for your third trial. I fear you will\nnever be able to empty the little horn in three draughts, as the least\nof my men can do. Ho, ho! You will not be thought so great a hero here\nas the folk deem you in Asgard, if you cannot play some other game more\nskillfully than you do this one.\"\n\nAt this speech Thor grew very angry. He raised the horn to his mouth\nand drank lustily, as long as he was able. But when he looked into the\nhorn, he found that some drops still remained. He had not been able to\nempty it in three draughts. Angrily he flung down the horn, and said\nthat he would have no more of it.\n\n\"Ah, Master Thor,\" taunted the king, \"it is now plain that you are not\nso mighty as we thought you. Are you inclined to try some other feats?\nFor indeed, you are easily beaten at this one.\"\n\n\"I will try whatever you like,\" said Thor; \"but your horn is a wondrous\none, and among the \u00c6sir such a draught as mine would be called far from\nlittle. Come, now,--what game do you next propose, O King?\"\n\nThe king thought a moment, then answered carelessly, \"There is a little\ngame with which my youngsters amuse themselves, though it is so simple\nas to be almost childish. It is merely the exercise of lifting my cat\nfrom the ground. I should never have dared suggest such a feat as this\nto you, Thor of Asgard, had I not seen that great tasks are beyond your\nskill. It may be that you will find this hard enough.\" So he spoke,\nsmiling slyly, and at that moment there came stalking into the hall a\nmonstrous gray cat, with eyes of yellow fire.\n\n\"Ho! Is this the creature I am to lift?\" queried Thor. And when they\nsaid that it was, he seized the cat around its gray, huge body and\ntugged with all his might to lift it from the floor. Then the wretched\ncat, lengthening and lengthening, arched its back like the span of a\nbridge; and though Thor tugged and heaved his best, he could manage to\nlift but one of its huge feet off the floor. The other three remained\nas firmly planted as iron pillars.\n\n\"Oho, oho!\" laughed the king, delighted at this sight. \"It is just as I\nthought it would be. Poor little Thor! My cat is too big for him.\"\n\n\"Little I may seem in this land of monsters,\" cried Thor wrathfully,\n\"but now let him who dares come hither and try a hug with me.\"\n\n\"Nay, little Thor,\" said the king, seeking to make him yet more angry,\n\"there is not one of my men who would wrestle with you. Why, they would\ncall it child's play, my little fellow. But, for the joke of it, call\nin my old foster-mother, Elli. She has wrestled with and worsted many\na man who seemed no weaker than you, O Thor. She shall try a fall with\nyou.\"\n\nNow in came the old crone, Elli, whose very name meant \"age.\" She\nwas wrinkled and gray, and her back was bent nearly double with the\nweight of the years which she carried, but she chuckled when she saw\nThor standing with bared arm in the middle of the floor. \"Come and be\nthrown, dearie,\" she cried in her cracked voice, grinning horribly.\n\n\"I will not wrestle with a woman!\" exclaimed Thor, eyeing her with pity\nand disgust, for she was an ugly creature to behold. But the old woman\ntaunted him to his face and the giants clapped their hands, howling\nthat he was \"afraid.\" So there was no way but that Thor must grapple\nwith the hag.\n\nThe game began. Thor rushed at the old woman and gripped her tightly\nin his iron arms, thinking that as soon as she screamed with the pain\nof his mighty hug, he would give over. But the crone seemed not to\nmind it at all. Indeed, the more he crushed her old ribs together the\nfirmer and stronger she stood. Now in her turn the witch attempted\nto trip up Thor's heels, and it was wonderful to see her power and\nagility. Thor soon began to totter, great Thor, in the hands of a poor\nold woman! He struggled hard, he braced himself, he turned and twisted.\nIt was no use; the old woman's arms were as strong as knotted oak. In\na few moments Thor sank upon one knee, and that was a sign that he was\nbeaten. The king signaled for them to stop. \"You need wrestle no more,\nThor,\" he said, with a curl to his lip, \"we see what sort of fellow\nyou are. I thought that old Elli would have no difficulty in bringing\nto his knees him who could not lift my cat. But come, now, night is\nalmost here. We will think no more of contests. You and your companions\nshall sup with us as welcome guests and bide here till the morrow.\"\n\nNow as soon as the king had pleased himself in proving how small and\nweak were these strangers who had come to the giant city, he became\nvery gracious and kind. But you can fancy whether or no Thor and the\nothers had a good appetite for the banquet where all the giants ate so\nmerrily. You can fancy whether or no they were happy when they went to\nbed after the day of defeats, and you can guess what sweet dreams they\nhad.\n\nThe next morning at daybreak the four guests arose and made ready to\nsteal back to Asgard without attracting any more attention. For this\nadventure alone of all those in which Thor had taken part had been a\ndisgraceful failure. Silently and with bowed heads they were slipping\naway from the hall when the king himself came to them and begged them\nto stay.\n\n\"You shall not leave Utgard without breakfast,\" he said kindly, \"nor\nwould I have you depart feeling unfriendly to me.\"\n\nThen he ordered a goodly breakfast for the travelers, with store\nof choicest dainties for them to eat and drink. When the four had\nbroken fast, he escorted them to the city gate where they were to say\nfarewell. But at the last moment he turned to Thor with a sly, strange\nsmile and asked,--\n\n\"Tell me now truly, brother Thor; what think you of your visit to\nthe giant city? Do you feel as mighty a fellow as you did before you\nentered our gates, or are you satisfied that there are folk even\nsturdier than yourself?\"\n\nAt this question Thor flushed scarlet, and the lightning flashed\nangrily in his eye. Briefly enough he answered that he must confess to\nsmall pride in his last adventure, for that his visit to the king had\nbeen full of shame to the hero of Asgard. \"My name will become a joke\namong your people,\" quoth he. \"You will call me Thor the puny little\nfellow, which vexes me more than anything; for I have not been wont to\nblush at my name.\"\n\nThen the king looked at him frankly, pleased with the humble manner of\nThor's speech. \"Nay,\" he said slowly, \"hang not your head so shamedly,\nbrave Thor. You have not done so ill as you think. Listen, I have\nsomewhat to tell you, now that you are outside Utgard,--which, if I\nlive, you shall never enter again. Indeed, you should not have entered\nat all had I guessed what noble strength was really yours,--strength\nwhich very nearly brought me and my whole city to destruction.\"\n\nTo these words Thor and his companions listened with open-mouthed\nastonishment. What could the king mean, they wondered? The giant\ncontinued:--\n\n\"By magic alone were you beaten, Thor. Of magic alone were my\ntriumphs,--not real, but seeming to be so. Do you remember the giant\nSkrymir whom you found sleeping and snoring in the forest? That was I.\nI learned your errand and resolved to lower your pride. When you vainly\nstrove to untie my wallet, you did not know that I had fastened it with\ninvisible iron wire, in order that you might be baffled by the knots.\nThrice you struck me with your hammer,--ah! what mighty blows were\nthose! The least one would have killed me, had it fallen on my head as\nyou deemed it did. In my hall is a rock with three square hollows in\nit, one of them deeper than the others. These are the dents of your\nwondrous hammer, my Thor. For, while you thought I slept, I slipped the\nrock under the hammer-strokes, and into this hard crust Mi\u00f6lnir bit.\nHa, ha! It was a pretty jest.\"\n\nNow Thor's brow was growing black at this tale of the giant's trickery,\nbut at the same time he held up his head and seemed less ashamed of his\nweakness, knowing now that it had been no weakness, but lack of guile.\nHe listened frowningly for the rest of the tale. The king went on:--\n\n\"When you came to my city, still it was magic that worsted your party\nat every turn. Loki was certainly the hungriest fellow I ever saw, and\nhis deeds at the trencher were marvelous to behold. But the Logi who\nate with him was Fire, and easily enough fire can consume your meat,\nbones, and wood itself. Thialfi, my boy, you are a runner swift as\nthe wind. Never before saw I such a race as yours. But the Hugi who\nran with you was Thought, my thought. And who can keep pace with the\nspeed of winged thought? Next, Thor, it was your turn to show your\nmight. Bravely indeed you strove. My heart is sick with envy of your\nstrength and skill. But they availed you naught against my magic. When\nyou drank from the long horn, thinking you had done so ill, in truth\nyou had performed a miracle,--never thought I to behold the like. You\nguessed not that the end of the horn was out in the ocean, which no\none might drain dry. Yet, mighty one, the draughts you swallowed have\nlowered the tide upon the shore. Henceforth at certain times the sea\nwill ebb; and this is by great Thor's drinking. The cat also which you\nalmost lifted,--it was no cat, but the great Midgard serpent himself\nwho encircles the whole world. He had barely length enough for his head\nand tail to touch in a circle about the sea. But you raised him so high\nthat he almost touched heaven. How terrified we were when we saw you\nheave one of his mighty feet from the ground! For who could tell what\nhorror might happen had you raised him bodily. Ah, and your wrestling\nwith old Elli! That was the most marvelous act of all. You had nearly\noverthrown Age itself; yet there has never lived one, nor will such\never be found, whom Elli, old age, will not cast to earth at last.\nSo you were beaten, Thor, but by a mere trick. Ha, ha! How angry you\nlooked,--I shall never forget! But now we must part, and I think you\nsee that it will be best for both of us that we should not meet again.\nAs I have done once, so can I always protect my city by magic spells.\nYes, should you come again to visit us, even better prepared than now,\nyet you could never do us serious harm. Yet the wear and tear upon the\nnerves of both of us is something not lightly forgotten.\"\n\nHe ceased, smiling pleasantly, but with a threatening look in his eye.\nThor's wrath had been slowly rising during this tedious, grim speech,\nand he could control it no longer.\n\n\"Cheat and trickster!\" he cried, \"your wiles shall avail you nothing\nnow that I know your true self. You have put me to shame, now my\nhammer shall shame you beyond all reckoning!\" and he raised Mi\u00f6lnir to\nsmite the giant deathfully. But at that moment the king faded before\nhis very eyes. And when he turned to look for the giant city that he\nmight destroy it,--as he had so many giant dwellings,--there was in the\nplace where it had been but a broad, fair plain, with no sign of any\npalace, wall, or gate. Utgard had vanished. The king had kept one trick\nof magic for the last.\n\nThen Thor and his three companions wended their way back to Asgard. But\nthey were slower than usual about answering questions concerning their\nlast adventure, their wondrous visit to the giant city. Truth to tell,\nmagic or no magic, Thor and Loki had showed but a poor figure that day.\nFor the first time in all their meeting with Thor the giants had not\ncome off any the worse for the encounter. Perhaps it was a lesson that\nhe sorely needed. I am afraid that he was rather inclined to think well\nof himself. But then, he had reason, had he not?\n\n\n\n\nTHOR'S FISHING\n\n\nOnce upon a time the \u00c6sir went to take dinner with old \u0152gir, the\nking of the ocean. Down under the green waves they went to the coral\npalace where \u0152gir lived with his wife, Queen Ran, and his daughters,\nthe Waves. But \u0152gir was not expecting so large a party to dinner, and\nhe had not mead enough for them all to drink. \"I must brew some more\nmead,\" he said to himself. But when he came to look for a kettle in\nwhich to make the brew, there was none in all the sea large enough\nfor the purpose. At first \u0152gir did not know what to do; but at last\nhe decided to consult the gods themselves, for he knew how wise and\npowerful his guests were, and he hoped that they might help him to a\nkettle.\n\nNow when he told the \u00c6sir his trouble they were much interested, for\nthey were hungry and thirsty, and longed for some of \u0152gir's good mead.\n\"Where can we find a kettle?\" they said to one another. \"Who has a\nkettle huge enough to hold mead for all the \u00c6sir?\"\n\nThen T\u0177r the brave turned to Thor with a grand idea. \"My father, the\ngiant Hymir, has such a kettle,\" he said. \"I have seen it often in his\ngreat palace near Eliv\u00e2gar, the river of ice. This famous kettle is a\nmile deep, and surely that is large enough to brew all the mead we may\nneed.\"\n\n\"Surely, surely it is large enough,\" laughed \u0152gir. \"But how are we to\nget the kettle, my distinguished guests? Who will go to Giant Land to\nfetch the kettle a mile deep?\"\n\n\"That will I,\" said brave Thor. \"I will go to Hymir's dwelling and\nbring thence the little kettle, if T\u0177r will go with me to show me the\nway.\" So Thor and T\u0177r set out together for the land of snow and ice,\nwhere the giant Hymir lived. They traveled long and they traveled fast,\nand finally they came to the huge house which had once been T\u0177r's home,\nbefore he went to live with the good folk in Asgard.\n\nWell T\u0177r knew the way to enter, and it was not long before they found\nthemselves in the hall of Hymir's dwelling, peering about for some sign\nof the kettle which they had come so far to seek; and sure enough,\npresently they discovered eight huge kettles hanging in a row from one\nof the beams in the ceiling. While the two were wondering which kettle\nmight be the one they sought, there came in T\u0177r's grandmother,--and\na terrible grandmother she was. No wonder that T\u0177r had run away from\nhome when he was very little; for this dreadful creature was a giantess\nwith nine hundred heads, each more ugly than the others, and her temper\nwas as bad as were her looks. She began to roar and bellow; and no one\nknows what this evil old person would have done to her grandson and his\nfriend had not there come into the hall at this moment another woman,\nfair and sweet, and glittering with golden ornaments. This was T\u0177r's\ngood mother, who loved him dearly, and who had mourned his absence\nduring long years.\n\nWith a cry of joy she threw herself upon her son's neck, bidding him\nwelcome forty times over. She welcomed Thor also when she found out who\nhe was; but she sent away the wicked old grandmother, that she might\nnot hear, for Thor's name was not dear to the race of giants, to so\nmany of whom he had brought dole and death.\n\n\"Why have you come, dear son, after so many years?\" she cried. \"I know\nthat some great undertaking calls you and this noble fellow to your\nfather's hall. Danger and death wait here for such as you and he; and\nonly some quest with glory for its reward could have brought you to\nsuch risks. Tell me your secret, T\u0177r, and I will not betray it.\"\n\nThen they told her how that they had come to carry away the giant\nkettle; and T\u0177r's mother promised that she would help them all she\ncould. But she warned them that it would be dangerous indeed, for that\nHymir had been in a terrible temper for many days, and that the very\nsight of a stranger made him wild with rage. Hastily she gave them meat\nand drink, for they were nearly famished after their long journey;\nand then she looked around to see where she should hide them against\nHymir's return, who was now away at the hunt.\n\n\"Aha!\" she cried. \"The very thing! You shall hide in the great kettle\nitself; and if you escape Hymir's terrible eye, it may hap that you\nwill find a way to make off with your hiding-place, which is what you\nwant.\" So the kind creature helped them to climb into the great kettle\nwhere it hung from one of the rafters in a row with seven others; but\nthis one was the biggest and the strongest of them all.\n\nHardly had they snuggled down out of sight when T\u0177r's mother began\nto tremble. \"Hist!\" she cried. \"I hear him coming. Keep as still as\never you can, O T\u0177r and Thor!\" The floor also began to tremble, and\nthe eight kettles to clatter against one another, as Hymir's giant\nfootsteps approached the house. Outside they could hear the icebergs\nshaking with a sound like thunder; indeed, the whole earth quivered as\nif with fear when the terrible giant Hymir strode home from the hunt.\nHe came into the hall puffing and blowing, and immediately the air\nof the room grew chilly; for his beard was hung with icicles and his\nface was frosted hard, while his breath was a winter wind,--a freezing\nblast.\n\n\"Ho! wife,\" he growled, \"what news, what news? For I see by the\nfootprints in the snow outside that you have had visitors to-day.\"\n\nThen indeed the poor woman trembled; but she tried not to look\nfrightened as she answered, \"Yes, you have a guest, O Hymir!--a guest\nwhom you have long wished to see. Your son T\u0177r has returned to visit\nhis father's hall.\"\n\n\"Humph!\" growled Hymir, with a terrible frown. \"Whom has he brought\nhere with him, the rascal? There are prints of two persons' feet in the\nsnow. Come, wife, tell me all; for I shall soon find out the truth,\nwhether or no.\"\n\n\"He has brought a friend of his,--a dear friend, O Hymir!\" faltered the\nmother. \"Surely, our son's friends are welcome when he brings them to\nthis our home, after so long an absence.\"\n\nBut Hymir howled with rage at the word \"friend.\" \"Where are they\nhidden?\" he cried. \"Friend, indeed! It is one of those bloody fellows\nfrom Asgard, I know,--one of those giant-killers whom my good mother\ntaught me to hate with all my might. Let me get at him! Tell me\ninstantly where he is hidden, or I will pull down the hall about your\nears!\"\n\nNow when the wicked old giant spoke like this, his wife knew that he\nmust be obeyed. Still she tried to put off the fateful moment of the\ndiscovery. \"They are standing over there behind that pillar,\" she said.\nInstantly Hymir glared at the pillar towards which she pointed, and at\nhis frosty glance--snick-snack!--the marble pillar cracked in two, and\ndown crashed the great roof-beam which held the eight kettles. Smash!\nwent the kettles; and there they lay shivered into little pieces at\nHymir's feet,--all except one, the largest of them all, and that was\nthe kettle in which Thor and T\u0177r lay hidden, scarcely daring to breathe\nlest the giant should guess where they were. T\u0177r's mother screamed when\nshe saw the big kettle fall with the others: but when she found that\nthis one, alone of them all, lay on its side unbroken, because it was\nso tough and strong, she held her breath to see what would happen next.\n\nAnd what happened was this: out stepped Thor and T\u0177r, and making\nlow bows to Hymir, they stood side by side, smiling and looking as\nunconcerned as if they really enjoyed all this hubbub; and I dare say\nthat they did indeed, being T\u0177r the bold and Thor the thunderer, who\nhad been in Giant Land many times ere this.\n\nHymir gave scarcely a glance at his son, but he eyed Thor with a frown\nof hatred and suspicion, for he knew that this was one of Father Odin's\nbrave family, though he could not tell which one. However, he thought\nbest to be civil, now that Thor was actually before him. So with gruff\npoliteness he invited the two guests to supper.\n\nNow Thor was a valiant fellow at the table as well as in war, as\nyou remember; and at sight of the good things on the board his eyes\nsparkled. Three roast oxen there were upon the giant's table, and Thor\nfell to with a will and finished two of them himself! You should have\nseen the giant stare.\n\n\"Truly, friend, you have a goodly appetite,\" he said. \"You have eaten\nall the meat that I have in my larder; and if you dine with us\nto-morrow, I must insist that you catch your own dinner of fish. I\ncannot undertake to provide food for such an appetite!\"\n\nNow this was not hospitable of Hymir, but Thor did not mind. \"I like\nwell to fish, good Hymir,\" he laughed; \"and when you fare forth with\nyour boat in the morning, I will go with you and see what I can find\nfor my dinner at the bottom of the sea.\"\n\nWhen the morning came, the giant made ready for the fishing, and Thor\nrose early to go with him.\n\n\"Ho, Hymir,\" exclaimed Thor, \"have you bait enough for us both?\"\n\nHymir answered gruffly, \"You must dig your own bait when you go fishing\nwith me. I have no time to waste on you, sirrah.\"\n\nThen Thor looked about to see what he could use for bait; and presently\nhe spied a herd of Hymir's oxen feeding in the meadow. \"Aha! just the\nthing!\" he cried; and seizing the hugest ox of all, he trotted down to\nthe shore with it under his arm, as easily as you would carry a handful\nof clams for bait. When Hymir saw this, he was very angry. He pushed\nthe boat off from shore and began to row away as fast as he could, so\nthat Thor might not have a chance to come aboard. But Thor made one\nlong step and planted himself snugly in the stern of the boat.\n\n\"No, no, brother Hymir,\" he said, laughing. \"You invited me to go\nfishing, and a-fishing I will go; for I have my bait, and my hope is\nhigh that great luck I shall see this day.\" So he took an oar and rowed\nmightily in the stern, while Hymir the giant rowed mightily at the\nprow; and no one ever saw boat skip over the water so fast as this one\ndid on the day when these two big fellows went fishing together.\n\nFar and fast they rowed, until they came to a spot where Hymir cried,\n\"Hold! Let us anchor here and fish; this is the place where I have best\nfortune.\"\n\n\"And what sort of little fish do you catch here, O Hymir?\" asked Thor.\n\n\"Whales!\" answered the giant proudly. \"I fish for nothing smaller than\nwhales.\"\n\n\"Pooh!\" cried Thor. \"Who would fish for such small fry! Whales,\nindeed; let us row out further, where we can find something really\nworth catching,\" and he began to pull even faster than before.\n\n\"Stop! stop!\" roared the giant. \"You do not know what you are doing.\nThese are the haunts of the dreadful Midgard serpent, and it is not\nsafe to fish in these waters.\"\n\n\"Oho! The Midgard serpent!\" said Thor, delighted. \"That is the very\nfish I am after. Let us drop in our lines here.\"\n\nThor baited his great hook with the whole head of the ox which he had\nbrought, and cast his line, big round as a man's arm, over the side\nof the boat. Hymir also cast his line, for he did not wish Thor to\nthink him a coward; but his hand trembled as he waited for a bite,\nand he glanced down into the blue depths with eyes rounded as big as\ndinner-plates through fear of the horrible creature who lived down\nbelow those waves.\n\n\"Look! You have a bite!\" cried Thor, so suddenly that Hymir started and\nnearly tumbled out of the boat. Hand over hand he pulled in his line,\nand lo! he had caught two whales--two great flopping whales--on his one\nhook! That was a catch indeed.\n\nHymir smiled proudly, forgetting his fear as he said, \"How is that, my\nfriend? Let us see you beat this catch in your morning's fishing.\"\n\nLo, just at that moment Thor also had a bite--such a bite! The boat\nrocked to and fro, and seemed ready to capsize every minute. Then the\nwaves began to roll high and to be lashed into foam for yards and yards\nabout the boat, as if some huge creature were struggling hard below the\nwater.\n\n\"I have him!\" shouted Thor; \"I have the old serpent, the brother of the\nFenris wolf! Pull, pull, monster! But you shall not escape me now!\"\n\nSure enough, the Midgard serpent had Thor's hook fixed in his jaw, and\nstruggle as he might, there was no freeing himself from the line; for\nthe harder he pulled the stronger grew Thor. In his \u00c6sir-might Thor\nwaxed so huge and so forceful that his legs went straight through the\nbottom of the boat and his feet stood on the bottom of the sea. With\nfirm bottom as a brace for his strength, Thor pulled and pulled, and\nat last up came the head of the Midgard serpent, up to the side of\nthe boat, where it thrust out of the water mountain high, dreadful to\nbehold; his monstrous red eyes were rolling fiercely, his nostrils\nspouted fire, and from his terrible sharp teeth dripped poison, that\nsizzled as it fell into the sea. Angrily they glared at each other,\nThor and the serpent, while the water streamed into the boat, and the\ngiant turned pale with fear at the danger threatening him on all sides.\n\nThor seized his hammer, preparing to smite the creature's head; but\neven as he swung Mi\u00f6lnir high for the fatal blow, Hymir cut the\nfish-line with his knife, and down into the depths of ocean sank the\nMidgard serpent amid a whirlpool of eddies. But the hammer had sped\nfrom Thor's iron fingers. It crushed the serpent's head as he sank\ndownward to his lair on the sandy bottom; it crushed, but did not kill\nhim, thanks to the giant's treachery. Terrible was the disturbance it\ncaused beneath the waves. It burst the rocks and made the caverns\nof the ocean shiver into bits. It wrecked the coral groves and tore\nloose the draperies of sea-weed. The fishes scurried about in every\ndirection, and the sea-monsters wildly sought new places to hide\nthemselves when they found their homes destroyed. The sea itself was\nstirred to its lowest depths, and the waves ran trembling into one\nanother's arms. The earth, too, shrank and shivered. Hymir, cowering\nlow in the boat, was glad of one thing, which was that the terrible\nMidgard serpent had vanished out of sight. And that was the last that\nwas ever seen of him, though he still lived, wounded and sore from the\nshock of Thor's hammer.\n\nNow it was time to return home. Silently and sulkily the giant swam\nback to land; Thor, bearing the boat upon his shoulders, filled with\nwater and weighted as it was with the great whales which Hymir had\ncaught, waded ashore, and brought his burden to the giant's hall.\nHere Hymir met him crossly enough, for he was ashamed of the whole\nmorning's work, in which Thor had appeared so much more of a hero than\nhe. Indeed, he was tired of even pretending hospitality towards this\nunwelcome guest, and was resolved to be rid of him; but first he would\nput Thor to shame.\n\n\"You are a strong fellow,\" he said, \"good at the oar and at the\nfishing; most wondrously good at the hammer, by which I know that you\nare Thor. But there is one thing which you cannot do, I warrant,--you\ncannot break this little cup of mine, hard though you may try.\"\n\n\"That I shall see for myself,\" answered Thor; and he took the cup\nin his hand. Now this was a magic cup, and there was but one way of\nbreaking it, but one thing hard enough to shatter its mightiness.\nThor threw it with all his force against a stone of the flooring;\nbut instead of breaking the cup, the stone itself was cracked into\nsplinters. Then Thor grew angry, for the giant and all his servants\nwere laughing as if this were the greatest joke ever played.\n\n\"Ho, ho! Try again, Thor!\" cried Hymir, nearly bursting with delight;\nfor he thought that now he should prove how much mightier he was than\nthe visitor from Asgard. Thor clutched the cup more firmly and hurled\nit against one of the iron pillars of the hall; but like a rubber ball\nthe magic cup merely bounded back straight into Hymir's hand. At this\nsecond failure the giants were full of merriment and danced about,\nmaking all manner of fun at the expense of Thor. You can fancy how well\nThor the mighty enjoyed this! His brow grew black, and the glance of\nhis eye was terrible. He knew there was some magic in the trick, but he\nknew not how to meet it. Just then he felt the soft touch of a woman's\nhand upon his arm, and the voice of T\u0177r's mother whispered in his ear,--\n\n\"Cast the cup against Hymir's own forehead, which is the hardest\nsubstance in the world.\" No one except Thor heard the woman say these\nwords, for all the giant folk were doubled up with mirth over their\nfamous joke. But Thor dropped upon one knee, and seizing the cup\nfiercely, whirled it about his head, then dashed it with all his might\nstraight at Hymir's forehead. Smash! Crash! What had happened? Thor\nlooked eagerly to see. There stood the giant, looking surprised and\na little dazed; but his forehead showed not even a scratch, while the\nstrong cup was shivered into little pieces.\n\n\"Well done!\" exclaimed Hymir hastily, when he had recovered a little\nfrom his surprise. But he was mortified at Thor's success, and set\nabout to think up a new task to try his strength. \"That was very well,\"\nhe remarked patronizingly; \"now you must perform a harder task. Let us\nsee you carry the mead kettle out of the hall. Do that, my fine fellow,\nand I shall say you are strong indeed.\"\n\nThe mead kettle! The very thing Thor had come to get! He glanced at\nT\u0177r; he shot a look at T\u0177r's mother; and both of them caught the\nsparkle, which was very like a wink. To himself Thor muttered, \"I must\nnot fail in this! I must not, will not fail!\"\n\n\"First let me try,\" cried T\u0177r; for he wanted to give Thor time for a\nresting-spell. Twice T\u0177r the mighty strained at the great kettle, but\nhe could not so much as stir one leg of it from the floor where it\nrested. He tugged and heaved in vain, growing red in the face, till his\nmother begged him to give over, for it was quite useless.\n\nThen Thor stepped forth upon the floor. He grasped the rim of the\nkettle, and stamped his feet through the stone of the flooring as he\nbraced himself to lift. One, two, three! Thor straightened himself,\nand up swung the giant kettle to his head, while the iron handle\nclattered about his feet. It was a mighty burden, and Thor staggered\nas he started for the door; but T\u0177r was close beside him, and they had\ncovered long leagues of ground on their way home before the astonished\ngiants had recovered sufficiently to follow them. When Thor and T\u0177r\nlooked back, however, they saw a vast crowd of horrible giants, some of\nthem with a hundred heads, swarming out of the caverns in Hymir's land,\nhowling and prowling upon their track.\n\n\"You must stop them, Thor, or they will never let us get away with\ntheir precious kettle,--they take such long strides!\" cried T\u0177r. So\nThor set down the kettle, and from his pocket drew out Mi\u00f6lnir, his\nwondrous hammer. Terribly it flashed in the air as he swung it over his\nhead; then forth it flew towards Jotunheim; and before it returned to\nThor's hand it had crushed all the heads of those many-headed giants,\nHymir's ugly mother and Hymir himself among them. The only one who\nescaped was the good and beautiful mother of T\u0177r. And you may be sure\nshe lived happily ever after in the palace which Hymir and his wicked\nold mother had formerly made so wretched a home for her.\n\nNow T\u0177r and Thor had the giant kettle which they had gone so far and\nhad met so many dangers to obtain. They took it to \u0152gir's sea-palace,\nwhere the banquet was still going on, and where the \u00c6sir were still\nwaiting patiently for their mead; for time does not go so fast below\nthe quiet waves as on shore. Now that King \u0152gir had the great kettle,\nhe could brew all the mead they needed. So every one thanked T\u0177r and\ncongratulated Thor upon the success of their adventure.\n\n\"I was sure that Thor would bring the kettle,\" said fair Sif, smiling\nupon her brave husband.\n\n\"What Thor sets out to do, that he always accomplishes,\" said Father\nOdin gravely. And that was praise enough for any one.\n\n\n\n\nTHOR'S DUEL\n\n\nIn the days that are past a wonderful race of horses pastured in the\nmeadows of heaven, steeds more beautiful and more swift than any which\nthe world knows to-day. There was Hr\u00eemfaxi, the black, sleek horse who\ndrew the chariot of Night across the sky and scattered the dew from his\nfoaming bit. There was Glad, behind whose flying heels sped the swift\nchariot of Day. His mane was yellow with gold, and from it beamed light\nwhich made the whole world bright. Then there were the two shining\nhorses of the sun, Arvakur the watchful, and Alsvith the rapid; and\nthe nine fierce battle-chargers of the nine Valkyries, who bore the\nbodies of fallen heroes from the field of fight to the blessedness of\nValhalla. Each of the gods had his own glorious steed, with such pretty\nnames as Gold-mane and Silver-top, Light-foot and Precious-stone; these\ngalloped with their masters over clouds and through the blue air,\nblowing flame from their nostrils and glinting sparks from their fiery\neyes. The \u00c6sir would have been poor indeed without their faithful\nmounts, and few would be the stories to tell in which these noble\ncreatures do not bear at least a part.\n\nBut best of all the horses of heaven was Sleipnir, the eight-legged\nsteed of Father Odin, who because he was so well supplied with sturdy\nfeet could gallop faster over land and sea than any horse which ever\nlived. Sleipnir was snow-white and beautiful to see, and Odin was very\nfond and proud of him, you may be sure. He loved to ride forth upon his\ngood horse's back to meet whatever adventure might be upon the way, and\nsometimes they had wild times together.\n\nOne day Odin galloped off from Asgard upon Sleipnir straight towards\nJotunheim and the Land of Giants, for it was long since All-Father had\nbeen to the cold country, and he wished to see how its mountains and\nice-rivers looked. Now as he galloped along a wild road, he met a huge\ngiant standing beside his giant steed.\n\n\"Who goes there?\" cried the giant gruffly, blocking the way so that\nOdin could not pass. \"You with the golden helmet, who are you, who ride\nso famously through air and water? For I have been watching you from\nthis mountain-top. Truly, that is a fine horse which you bestride.\"\n\n\"There is no finer horse in all the world,\" boasted Odin. \"Have you not\nheard of Sleipnir, the pride of Asgard? I will match him against any of\nyour big, clumsy giant horses.\"\n\n\"Ho!\" roared the giant angrily, \"an excellent horse he is, your little\nSleipnir. But I warrant he is no match for my Gullfaxi here. Come, let\nus try a race; and at its end I shall pay you for your insult to our\nhorses of Jotunheim.\"\n\nSo saying, the giant, whose ugly name was Hrungnir, sprang upon his\nhorse and spurred straight at Odin in the narrow way. Odin turned and\ngalloped back towards Asgard with all his might; for not only must he\nprove his horse's speed, but he must save himself and Sleipnir from the\nanger of the giant, who was one of the fiercest and wickedest of all\nhis fierce and wicked race.\n\nHow the eight slender legs of Sleipnir twinkled through the blue sky!\nHow his nostrils quivered and shot forth fire and smoke! Like a flash\nof lightning he darted across the sky, and the giant horse rumbled and\nthumped along close behind like the thunder following the flash.\n\n\"Hi, hi!\" yelled the giant. \"After them, Gullfaxi! And when we have\novertaken the two, we will crush their bones between us!\"\n\n\"Speed, speed, my Sleipnir!\" shouted Odin. \"Speed, good horse, or you\nwill never again feed in the dewy pastures of Asgard with the other\nhorses. Speed, speed, and bring us safe within the gates!\"\n\nWell Sleipnir understood what his master said, and well he knew the\nway. Already the rainbow bridge was in sight, with Heimdal the watchman\nprepared to let them in. His sharp eyes had spied them afar, and had\nrecognized the flash of Sleipnir's white body and of Odin's golden\nhelmet. Gallop and thud! The twelve hoofs were upon the bridge, the\ngiant horse close behind the other. At last Hrungnir knew where he was,\nand into what danger he was rushing. He pulled at the reins and tried\nto stop his great beast. But Gullfaxi was tearing along at too terrible\na speed. He could not stop. Heimdal threw open the gates of Asgard, and\nin galloped Sleipnir with his precious burden, safe. Close upon them\nbolted in Gullfaxi, bearing his giant master, puffing and purple in\nthe face from hard riding and anger. Cling-clang! Heimdal had shut and\nbarred the gates, and there was the giant prisoned in the castle of his\nenemies.\n\nNow the \u00c6sir were courteous folk, unlike the giants, and they were not\nanxious to take advantage of a single enemy thus thrown into their\npower. They invited him to enter Valhalla with them, to rest and sup\nbefore the long journey of his return. Thor was not present, so they\nfilled for the giant the great cups which Thor was wont to drain, for\nthey were nearest to the giant size. But you remember that Thor was\nfamous for his power to drink deep. Hrungnir's head was not so steady;\nThor's draught was too much for him. He soon lost his wits, of which he\nhad but few; and a witless giant is a most dreadful creature. He raged\nlike a madman, and threatened to pick up Valhalla like a toy house\nand carry it home with him to Jotunheim. He said he would pull Asgard\nto pieces and slay all the gods except Freia the fair and Sif, the\ngolden-haired wife of Thor, whom he would carry off like little dolls\nfor his toy house.\n\nThe \u00c6sir knew not what to do, for Thor and his hammer were not there to\nprotect them, and Asgard seemed in danger with this enemy within its\nvery walls. Hrungnir called for more and more mead, which Freia alone\ndared to bring and set before him. And the more he drank the fiercer\nhe became. At last the \u00c6sir could bear no longer his insults and his\nviolence. Besides, they feared that there would be no more mead left\nfor their banquets if this unwelcome visitor should keep Freia pouring\nout for him Thor's mighty goblets. They bade Heimdal blow his horn and\nsummon Thor; and this Heimdal did in a trice.\n\nNow rumbling and thundering in his chariot of goats came Thor. He\ndashed into the hall, hammer in hand, and stared in amazement at the\nunwieldy guest whom he found there.\n\n\"A giant feasting in Asgard hall!\" he roared. \"This is a sight which\nI never saw before. Who gave the insolent fellow leave to sit in my\nplace? And why does fair Freia wait upon him as if he were some noble\nguest at a feast of the high gods? I will slay him at once!\" and he\nraised the hammer to keep his word.\n\nThor's coming had sobered the giant somewhat, for he knew that this was\nno enemy to be trifled with. He looked at Thor sulkily and said: \"I am\nOdin's guest. He invited me to this banquet, and therefore I am under\nhis protection.\"\n\n\"You shall be sorry that you accepted the invitation,\" cried Thor,\nbalancing his hammer and looking very fierce; for Sif had sobbed in his\near how the giant had threatened to carry her away.\n\nHrungnir now rose to his feet and faced Thor boldly, for the sound of\nThor's gruff voice had restored his scattered wits. \"I am here alone\nand without weapons,\" he said. \"You would do ill to slay me now. It\nwould be little like the noble Thor, of whom we hear tales, to do such\na thing. The world will count you braver if you let me go and meet me\nlater in single combat, when we shall both be fairly armed.\"\n\nThor dropped the hammer to his side. \"Your words are true,\" he said,\nfor he was a just and honorable fellow.\n\n\"I was foolish to leave my shield and stone club at home,\" went on the\ngiant. \"If I had my arms with me, we would fight at this moment. But I\nname you a coward if you slay me now, an unarmed enemy.\"\n\n\"Your words are just,\" quoth Thor again. \"I have never before been\nchallenged by any foe. I will meet you, Hrungnir, at your Stone City,\nmidway between heaven and earth. And there we will fight a duel to see\nwhich of us is the better fellow.\"\n\nHrungnir departed for Stone City in Jotunheim; and great was the\nexcitement of the other giants when they heard of the duel which one of\ntheir number was to fight with Thor, the deadliest enemy of their race.\n\n\"We must be sure that Hrungnir wins the victory!\" they cried. \"It will\nnever do to have Asgard victorious in the first duel that we have\nfought with her champion. We will make a second hero to aid Hrungnir.\"\n\nAll the giants set to work with a will. They brought great buckets of\nmoist clay, and heaping them up into a huge mound, moulded the mass\nwith their giant hands as a sculptor does his image, until they had\nmade a man of clay, an immense dummy, nine miles high and three miles\nwide. \"Now we must make him live; we must put a heart into him!\" they\ncried. But they could find no heart big enough until they thought of\ntaking that of a mare, and that fitted nicely. A mare's heart is the\nmost cowardly one that beats.\n\nHrungnir's heart was a three-cornered piece of hard stone. His head\nalso was of stone, and likewise the great shield which he held before\nhim when he stood outside of Stone City waiting for Thor to come to\nthe duel. Over his shoulder he carried his club, and that also was of\nstone, the kind from which whetstones are made, hard and terrible. By\nhis side stood the huge clay man, M\u00f6ckuralfi, and they were a dreadful\nsight to see, these two vast bodies whom Thor must encounter.\n\nBut at the very first sight of Thor, who came thundering to the place\nwith swift Thialfi his servant, the timid mare's heart in the man\nof clay throbbed with fear; he trembled so that his knees knocked\ntogether, and his nine miles of height rocked unsteadily.\n\nThialfi ran up to Hrungnir and began to mock him, saying, \"You are\ncareless, giant. I fear you do not know what a mighty enemy has come to\nfight you. You hold your shield in front of you; but that will serve\nyou nothing. Thor has seen this. He has only to go down into the earth\nand he can attack you conveniently from beneath your very feet.\"\n\nAt this terrifying news Hrungnir hastened to throw his shield upon\nthe ground and to stand upon it, so that he might be safe from Thor's\nunder-stroke. He grasped his heavy club with both hands and waited. He\nhad not long to wait. There came a blinding flash of lightning and a\npeal of crashing thunder. Thor had cast his hammer into space. Hrungnir\nraised his club with both hands and hurled it against the hammer which\nhe saw flying towards him. The two mighty weapons met in the air with\nan earsplitting shock. Hard as was the stone of the giant's club, it\nwas like glass against the power of Mi\u00f6lnir. The club was dashed into\npieces; some fragments fell upon the earth; and these, they say, are\nthe rocks from which whetstones are made unto this day. They are so\nhard that men use them to sharpen knives and axes and scythes. One\nsplinter of the hard stone struck Thor himself in the forehead, with\nso fierce a blow that he fell forward upon the ground, and Thialfi\nfeared that he was killed. But Mi\u00f6lnir, not even stopped in its course\nby meeting the giant's club, sped straight to Hrungnir and crushed his\nstony skull, so that he fell forward over Thor, and his foot lay on the\nfallen hero's neck. And that was the end of the giant whose head and\nheart were of stone.\n\nMeanwhile Thialfi the swift had fought with the man of clay, and had\nfound little trouble in toppling him to earth. For the mare's cowardly\nheart in his great body gave him little strength to meet Thor's\nfaithful servant; and the trembling limbs of M\u00f6ckuralfi soon yielded to\nThialfi's hearty blows. He fell like an unsteady tower of blocks, and\nhis brittle bulk shivered into a thousand fragments.\n\nThialfi ran to his master and tried to raise him. The giant's great\nfoot still rested upon his neck, and all Thialfi's strength could not\nmove it away. Swift as the wind he ran for the other \u00c6sir, and when\nthey heard that great Thor, their champion, had fallen and seemed\nlike one dead, they came rushing to the spot in horror and confusion.\nTogether they all attempted to raise Hrungnir's foot from Thor's neck\nthat they might see whether their hero lived or no. But all their\nefforts were in vain. The foot was not to be lifted by \u00c6sir-might.\n\nAt this moment a second hero appeared upon the scene. It was Magni, the\nson of Thor himself; Magni, who was but three days old, yet already\nin his babyhood he was almost as big as a giant and had nearly the\nstrength of his father. This wonderful youngster came running to\nthe place where his father lay surrounded by a group of sad-faced\nand despairing gods. When Magni saw what the matter was, he seized\nHrungnir's enormous foot in both his hands, heaved his broad young\nshoulders, and in a moment Thor's neck was free of the weight which was\ncrushing it.\n\nBest of all, it proved that Thor was not dead, only stunned by the blow\nof the giant's club and by his fall. He stirred, sat up painfully, and\nlooked around him at the group of eager friends. \"Who lifted the weight\nfrom my neck?\" he asked.\n\n\"It was I, father,\" answered Magni modestly. Thor clasped him in his\narms and hugged him tight, beaming with pride and gratitude.\n\n\"Truly, you are a fine child!\" he cried; \"one to make glad your\nfather's heart. Now as a reward for your first great deed you shall\nhave a gift from me. The swift horse of Hrungnir shall be yours,--that\nsame Gullfaxi who was the beginning of all this trouble. You shall ride\nGullfaxi; only a giant steed is strong enough to bear the weight of\nsuch an infant prodigy as you, my Magni.\"\n\nNow this word did not wholly please Father Odin, for he thought that\na horse so excellent ought to belong to him. He took Thor aside and\nargued that but for him there would have been no duel, no horse to win.\nThor answered simply,--\n\n\"True, Father Odin, you began this trouble. But I have fought your\nbattle, destroyed your enemy, and suffered great pain for you. Surely,\nI have won the horse fairly and may give it to whom I choose. My son,\nwho has saved me, deserves a horse as good as any. Yet, as you have\nproved, even Gullfaxi is scarce a match for your Sleipnir. Verily,\nFather Odin, you should be content with the best.\" Odin said no more.\n\nNow Thor went home to his cloud-palace in Thrudvang. And there he\nwas healed of all his hurts except that which the splinter of stone\nhad made in his forehead. For the stone was imbedded so fast that it\ncould not be taken out, and Thor suffered sorely therefor. Sif, his\nyellow-haired wife, was in despair, knowing not what to do. At last she\nbethought her of the wise woman, Groa, who had skill in all manner of\nherbs and witch charms. Sif sent for Groa, who lived all alone and sad\nbecause her husband \u00d6rvandil had disappeared, she knew not whither.\nGroa came to Thor and, standing beside his bed while he slept, sang\nstrange songs and gently waved her hands over him. Immediately the\nstone in his forehead began to loosen, and Thor opened his eyes.\n\n\"The stone is loosening, the stone is coming out!\" he cried. \"How can I\nreward you, gentle dame? Prithee, what is your name?\"\n\n\"My name is Groa,\" answered the woman, weeping, \"wife of \u00d6rvandil who\nis lost.\"\n\n\"Now, then, I can reward you, kind Groa!\" cried Thor, \"for I can\nbring you tidings of your husband. I met him in the cold country,\nin Jotunheim, the Land of Giants, which you know I sometimes visit\nfor a bit of good hunting. It was by Eliv\u00e2gar's icy river that I met\n\u00d6rvandil, and there was no way for him to cross. So I put him in an\niron basket and myself bore him over the flood. Br-r-r! But that is a\ncold land! His feet stuck out through the meshes of the basket, and\nwhen we reached the other side one of his toes was frozen stiff. So\nI broke it off and tossed it up into the sky that it might become a\nstar. To prove that what I relate is true, Groa, there is the new star\nshining over us at this very moment. Look! From this day it shall be\nknown to men as \u00d6rvandil's Toe. Do not you weep any longer. After all,\nthe loss of a toe is a little thing; and I promise that your husband\nshall soon return to you, safe and sound, but for that small token of\nhis wanderings in the land where visitors are not welcome.\"\n\nAt these joyful tidings poor Groa was so overcome that she fainted.\nAnd that put an end to the charm which she was weaving to loosen the\nstone from Thor's forehead. The stone was not yet wholly free, and\nthenceforth it was in vain to attempt its removal; Thor must always\nwear the splinter in his forehead. Groa could never forgive herself for\nthe carelessness which had thus made her skill vain to help one to whom\nshe had reason to be so grateful.\n\nNow because of the bit of whetstone in Thor's forehead, folk of olden\ntimes were very careful how they used a whetstone; and especially they\nknew that they must not throw or drop one on the floor. For when they\ndid so, the splinter in Thor's forehead was jarred, and the good Asa\nsuffered great pain.\n\n\n\n\nIN THE GIANT'S HOUSE\n\n\nAlthough Thor had slain Thiasse the giant builder, Thrym the thief,\nHrungnir, and Hymir, and had rid the world of whole families of\nwicked giants, there remained many others in Jotunheim to do their\nevil deeds and to plot mischief against both gods and men; and of\nthese Geirr\u00f6d was the fiercest and the wickedest. He and his two ugly\ndaughters--Gialp of the red eyes, and Greip of the black teeth--lived\nin a large palace among the mountains, where Geirr\u00f6d had his treasures\nof iron and copper, silver and gold; for, since the death of Thrym,\nGeirr\u00f6d was the Lord of the Mines, and all the riches that came out of\nthe earth-caverns belonged to him.\n\nThrym had been Geirr\u00f6d's friend, and the tale of Thrym's death through\nthe might of Thor and his hammer had made Geirr\u00f6d very sad and angry.\n\"If I could but catch Thor, now, without his weapons,\" he said to his\ndaughters, \"what a lesson I would give him! How I would punish him for\nhis deeds against us giants!\"\n\n\"Oh, what would you do, father?\" cried Gialp, twinkling her cruel red\neyes, and working her claw fingers as if she would like to fasten them\nin Thor's golden beard.\n\n\"Oh, what would you do, father?\" cried Greip, smacking her lips and\ngrinding her black teeth as if she would like a bite out of Thor's\nstout arm.\n\n\"Do to him!\" growled Geirr\u00f6d fiercely. \"Do to him! Gr-r-r! I would chew\nhim all up! I would break his bones into little bits! I would smash him\ninto jelly!\"\n\n\"Oh, good, good! Do it, father, and then give him to us to play with,\"\ncried Gialp and Greip, dancing up and down till the hills trembled and\nall the frightened sheep ran home to their folds thinking that there\nmust be an earthquake; for Gialp was as tall as a pine-tree and many\ntimes as thick, while Greip, her little sister, was as large around as\na haystack and high as a flagstaff. They both hoped some day to be as\nhuge as their father, whose legs were so long that he could step across\nthe river valleys from one hilltop to another, just as we human folk\ncross a brook on stepping-stones; and his arms were so stout that he\ncould lift a yoke of oxen in each fist, as if they were red-painted\ntoys.\n\nGeirr\u00f6d shook his head at his two playful daughters and sighed. \"We\nmust catch Master Thor first, my girls, before we do these fine things\nto him. We must catch him without his mighty hammer, that never fails\nhim, and without his belt, that doubles his strength whenever he puts\nit on, or even I cannot chew and break and smash him as he deserves;\nfor with these his weapons he is the mightiest creature in the whole\nworld, and I would rather meddle with thunder and lightning than with\nhim. Let us wait, children.\"\n\nThen Gialp and Greip pouted and sulked like two great babies who cannot\nhave the new plaything which they want; and very ugly they were to see,\nwith tears as big as oranges rolling down their cheeks.\n\nSooner than they expected they came very near to having their heart's\ndesire fulfilled. And if it had happened as they wished, and if Asgard\nhad lost its goodliest hero, its strongest defense, that would have\nbeen red Loki's fault, all Loki's evil planning; for you are now to\nhear of the wickedest thing that up to this time Loki had ever done.\nAs you know, it was Loki who was Thor's bitterest enemy; and for many\nmonths he had been awaiting the chance to repay the Thunder Lord for\nthe dole which Thor had brought upon him at the time of the dwarf's\ngifts to Asgard.\n\nThis is how it came about: Loki had long remembered the fun of skimming\nas a great bird in Freia's falcon feathers. He had longed to borrow\nthe wings once again and to fly away over the round world to see what\nhe could see; for he thought that so he could learn many secrets which\nhe was not meant to know, and plan wonderful mischief without being\nfound out. But Freia would not again loan her feather dress to Loki.\nShe owed him a grudge for naming her as Thrym's bride; and besides,\nshe remembered his treatment of Idun, and she did not trust his oily\ntongue and fine promises. So Loki saw no way but to borrow the feathers\nwithout leave; and this he did one day when Freia was gone to ride in\nher chariot drawn by white cats. Loki put on the feather dress, as he\nhad done twice before,--once when he went to Jotunheim to bring back\nstolen Idun and her magic apples, once when he went to find out about\nThor's hammer.\n\nAway he flew from Asgard as birdlike as you please, chuckling to\nhimself with wicked thoughts. It did not make any particular difference\nto him where he went. It was such fun to flap and fly, skim and wheel,\nlooking and feeling for all the world like a big brown falcon. He\nswooped low, thinking, \"I wonder what Freia would say to see me now!\nWhee-e-e! How angry she would be!\" Just then he spied the high wall of\na palace on the mountains.\n\n\"Oho!\" said Loki. \"I never saw that place before. It may be a giant's\ndwelling. I think this must be Jotunheim, from the bigness of things. I\nmust just peep to see.\" Loki was the most inquisitive of creatures, as\nwily minded folk are apt to be.\n\nLoki the falcon alighted and hopped to the wall, then giving a flap of\nhis wings he flew up and up to the window ledge, where he perched and\npeered into the hall. And there within he saw the giant Geirr\u00f6d with\nhis daughters eating their dinner. They looked so ugly and so greedy,\nas they sat there gobbling their food in giant mouthfuls, that Loki on\nthe window-sill could not help snickering to himself. Now at that sound\nGeirr\u00f6d looked up and saw the big brown bird peeping in at the window.\n\n\"Heigha!\" cried the giant to one of his servants. \"Go you and fetch me\nthe big brown bird up yonder in the window.\"\n\nThen the servant ran to the wall and tried to climb up to get at Loki;\nbut the window was so high that he could not reach. He jumped and\nslipped, scrambled and slipped, again and again, while Loki sat just\nabove his clutching fingers, and chuckled so that he nearly fell from\nhis perch. \"Te-he! te-he!\" chattered Loki in the falcon tongue. It was\nsuch fun to see the fellow grow black in the face with trying to reach\nhim that Loki thought he would wait until the giant's fingers almost\ntouched him, before flying away.\n\nBut Loki waited too long. At last, with a quick spring, the giant\ngained a hold upon the window ledge, and Loki was within reach. When\nLoki flapped his wings to fly, he found that his feet were tangled\nin the vine that grew upon the wall. He struggled and twisted with\nall his might,--but in vain. There he was, caught fast. Then the\nservant grasped him by the legs, and so brought him to Geirr\u00f6d, where\nhe sat at table. Now Loki in his feather dress looked exactly like a\nfalcon--except for his eyes. There was no hiding the wise and crafty\nlook of Loki's eyes. As soon as Geirr\u00f6d looked at him, he suspected\nthat this was no ordinary bird.\n\n\"You are no falcon, you!\" he cried. \"You are spying about my palace in\ndisguise. Speak, and tell me who you are.\" Loki was afraid to tell,\nbecause he knew the giants were angry with him for his part in Thrym's\ndeath,--small though his part had really been in that great deed. So he\nkept his beak closed tight, and refused to speak. The giant stormed and\nraged and threatened to kill him; but still Loki was silent.\n\nThen Geirr\u00f6d locked the falcon up in a chest for three long months\nwithout food or water, to see how that would suit his bird-ship.\nYou can imagine how hungry and thirsty Loki was at the end of that\ntime,--ready to tell anything he knew, and more also, for the sake of a\ncrumb of bread and a drop of water.\n\nSo then Geirr\u00f6d called through the keyhole, \"Well, Sir Falcon, now will\nyou tell me who you are?\" And this time Loki piped feebly, \"I am Loki\nof Asgard; give me something to eat!\"\n\n\"Oho!\" quoth the giant fiercely. \"You are that Loki who went with\nThor to kill my brother Thrym! Oho! Well, you shall die for that, my\nfeathered friend!\"\n\n\"No, no!\" screamed Loki. \"Thor is no friend of mine. I love the giants\nfar better! One of them is my wife!\"--which was indeed true, as were\nfew of Loki's words.\n\n\"Then if Thor is no friend of yours, to save your life will you bring\nhim into my power?\" asked Geirr\u00f6d.\n\nLoki's eyes gleamed wickedly among the feathers. Here all at once was\nhis chance to be free, and to have his revenge upon Thor, his worst\nenemy. \"Ay, that I will!\" he cried eagerly. \"I will bring Thor into\nyour power.\"\n\nSo Geirr\u00f6d made him give a solemn promise to do that wrong; and upon\nthis he loosed Loki from the chest and gave him food. Then they formed\nthe wicked plan together, while Gialp and Greip, the giant's ugly\ndaughters, listened and smacked their lips.\n\nLoki was to persuade Thor to come with him to Geirr\u00f6dsgard. More; he\nmust come without his mighty hammer, and without the iron gloves of\npower, and without the belt of strength; for so only could the giant\nhave Thor at his mercy.\n\nAfter their wicked plans were made, Loki bade a friendly farewell to\nGeirr\u00f6d and his daughters and flew back to Asgard as quickly as he\ncould. You may be sure he had a sound scolding from Freia for stealing\nher feather dress and for keeping it so long. But he told such a\npitiful story of being kept prisoner by a cruel giant, and he looked in\ntruth so pale and thin from his long fast, that the gods were fain to\npity him and to believe his story, in spite of the many times that he\nhad deceived them. Indeed, most of his tale was true, but he told only\nhalf of the truth; for he spoke no word of his promise to the giant.\nThis he kept hidden in his breast.\n\nNow, one day not long after this, Loki invited Thor to go on a journey\nwith him to visit a new friend who, he said, was anxious to know the\nThunder Lord. Loki was so pleasant in his manner and seemed so frank in\nhis speech that Thor, whose heart was simple and unsuspicious, never\ndreamed of any wrong, not even when Loki added,--\"And by the bye, my\nThor, you must leave behind your hammer, your belt, and your gloves;\nfor it would show little courtesy to wear such weapons in the home of a\nnew friend.\"\n\nThor carelessly agreed; for he was pleased with the idea of a new\nadventure, and with the thought of making a new friend. Besides,\non their last journey together, Loki had behaved so well that Thor\nbelieved him to have changed his evil ways and to have become his\nfriend. So together they set off in Thor's goat chariot, without\nweapons of any kind except those which Loki secretly carried. Loki\nchuckled as they rattled over the clouds, and if Thor had seen the look\nin his eyes, he would have turned the chariot back to Asgard and to\nsafety, where he had left gentle Sif his wife. But Thor did not notice,\nand so they rumbled on.\n\nSoon they came to the gate of Giant Land. Thor thought this strange,\nfor he knew they were like to find few friends of his dwelling among\nthe Big Folk. For the first time he began to suspect Loki of some\ntreacherous scheme. However, he said nothing, and pretended to be as\ngay and careless as before. But he thought of a plan to find out the\ntruth.\n\nClose by the entrance was the cave of Grid, a good giantess, who alone\nof all her race was a friend of Thor and of the folk in Asgard.\n\n\"I will alight here for a moment, Loki,\" said Thor carelessly. \"I long\nfor a draught of water. Hold you the goats tightly by the reins until I\nreturn.\"\n\nSo he went into the cave and got his draught of water. But while he was\ndrinking, he questioned good mother Grid to some purpose.\n\n\"Who is this friend Geirr\u00f6d whom I go to see?\" he asked her.\n\n\"Geirr\u00f6d your friend! You go to see Geirr\u00f6d!\" she exclaimed. \"He is the\nwickedest giant of us all, and no friend to you. Why do you go, dear\nThor?\"\n\n\"H'm!\" muttered Thor. \"Red Loki's mischief again!\" He told her of the\nvisit that Loki had proposed, and how he had left at home the belt, the\ngloves, and the hammer which made him stronger than any giant. Then\nGrid was frightened.\n\n\"Go not, go not, Thor!\" she begged. \"Geirr\u00f6d will kill you, and those\nugly girls, Gialp and Greip, will have the pleasure of crunching your\nbones. Oh, I know them well, the hussies!\"\n\nBut Thor declared that he would go, whether or no. \"I have promised\nLoki that I will go,\" he said, \"and go I will; for I always keep my\nword.\"\n\n\"Then you shall have three little gifts of me,\" quoth she. \"Here is my\nbelt of power--for I also have one like your own.\" And she buckled\nabout his waist a great belt, at whose touch he felt his strength\nredoubled. \"This is my iron glove,\" she said, as she put one on his\nmighty hand, \"and with it, as with your own, you can handle lightning\nand touch unharmed the hottest of red-hot metal. And here, last of\nall,\" she added, \"is Gridarv\u00f6ll, my good staff, which you may find\nuseful. Take them, all three; and may Sif see you safe at home again by\ntheir aid.\"\n\nThor thanked her and went out once more to join Loki, who never\nsuspected what had happened in the cave. For the belt and the glove\nwere hidden under Thor's cloak. And as for the staff, it was quite\nordinary looking, as if Thor might have picked it up anywhere along the\nroad.\n\nOn they journeyed until they came to the river Vimer, the greatest of\nall rivers, which roared and tossed in a terrible way between them and\nthe shore which they wanted to reach. It seemed impossible to cross.\nBut Thor drew his belt a little tighter, and planting Grid's staff\nfirmly on the bottom, stepped out into the stream. Loki clung behind to\nhis cloak, frightened out of his wits. But Thor waded on bravely, his\nstrength doubled by Grid's belt, and his steps supported by her magic\nstaff. Higher and higher the waves washed over his knees, his waist,\nhis shoulders, as if they were fierce to drown him. And Thor said,--\n\n\"Ho there, river Vimer! Do not grow any larger, I pray. It is of no\nuse. The more you crowd upon me, the mightier I grow with my belt and\nmy staff!\"\n\nBut lo! as he nearly reached the other side, Thor spied some one hiding\nclose down by the bank of the river. It was Gialp of the red eyes, the\nbig elder daughter of Geirr\u00f6d. She was splashing the water upon Thor,\nmaking the great waves that rolled up and threatened to drown him.\n\n\"Oho!\" cried he. \"So it is you who are making the river rise, big\nlittle girl. We must see to that;\" and seizing a huge boulder, he\nhurled it at her. It hit her with a thud, for Thor's aim never missed.\nGiving a scream as loud as a steam-whistle, Gialp limped home as best\nshe could to tell her father, and to prepare a warm reception for the\nstranger who bore Loki at his back.\n\nWhen Thor had pulled himself out of the river by some bushes, he soon\ncame to the palace which Loki had first sighted in his falcon dress.\nAnd there he found everything most courteously made ready for him. He\nand Loki were received like dear old friends, with shouts of rejoicing\nand ringing of bells. Geirr\u00f6d himself came out to meet them, and would\nhave embraced his new friend Thor; but the Thunder Lord merely seized\nhim by the hand and gave him so hearty a squeeze with the iron glove\nthat the giant howled with pain. Yet he could say nothing, for Thor\nlooked pleased and gentle. And Geirr\u00f6d said to himself, \"Ho, ho, my\nfine little Thor! I will soon pay you for that handshake, and for many\nthings beside.\"\n\nAll this time Gialp and Greip did not appear, and Loki also had taken\nhimself away, to be out of danger when the hour of Thor's death should\ncome. For he feared that dreadful things might happen before Thor died;\nand he did not want to be remembered by the big fist of the companion\nwhom he had betrayed. Loki, having kept his promise to the giant, was\neven now far on the road back to Asgard, where he meant with a sad\nface to tell the gods that Thor had been slain by a horrible giant; but\nnever to tell them how.\n\nSo Thor was all alone when the servants led him to the chamber which\nGeirr\u00f6d had made ready for his dear friend. It was a wonderfully fine\nchamber, to be sure; but the strange thing about it was that among the\nfurnishings there was but one chair, a giant chair, with a drapery all\nabout the legs. Now Thor was very weary with his long journey, and he\nsat down in the chair to rest. Then, wonderful to tell!--if elevators\nhad been invented in those days, he might have thought he was in one.\nFor instantly the seat of the chair shot up towards the roof, and\nagainst this he was in danger of being crushed as Geirr\u00f6d had longed to\nsee him. But quick as a flash Thor raised the staff which good old Grid\nhad given him, and pushed it against the rafters with all his might\nto stop his upward journey. It was a tremendous push that he gave.\nSomething cracked; something crashed; the chair fell to the ground as\nThor leaped off the seat, and there were two terrible screams.\n\nThen Thor found--what do you think? Why, that Gialp and Greip, the\ngiant's daughters, had hidden under the seat of the chair, and had\nlifted it up on their backs to crush Thor against the roof! But instead\nof that, it was Thor who had broken their backs, so that they lay dead\nupon the floor like limp rag dolls.\n\nNow this little exercise had only given Thor an excellent appetite for\nsupper. So that when word came bidding him to the banquet, he was very\nglad.\n\n\"First,\" said big Geirr\u00f6d, grinning horribly, for he did not know what\nhad happened to his daughters,--\"first we will see some games, friend\nThor.\"\n\nThen Thor came into the hall, where fires were burning in great chimney\nplaces along the walls. \"It is here that we play our little games,\"\ncried Geirr\u00f6d. And on the moment, seizing a pair of tongs, he snatched\na red-hot wedge of iron from one of the fires and hurled it straight at\nThor's head. But Thor was quicker than he. Swift as a flash he caught\nthe flying spark in his iron glove, and calling forth all the might\nof Grid's belt, he cast the wedge back at the giant. Geirr\u00f6d dodged\nbehind an iron pillar, but it was in vain. Thor's might was such as no\niron could meet. Like a bolt of lightning the wedge passed through the\npillar, through Geirr\u00f6d himself, through the thick wall of the palace,\nand buried itself deep in the ground, where it lodges to this day,\nunless some one has dug it up to sell for old iron.\n\nSo perished Geirr\u00f6d and his children, one of the wickedest families\nof giants that ever lived in Jotunheim. And so Thor escaped from the\nsnares of Loki, who had never done deed worse than this.\n\nWhen Thor returned home to Asgard, where from Loki's lying tale he\nfound all the gods mourning him as dead, you can fancy what a joyful\nreception he had. But for Loki, the false-hearted, false-tongued\ntraitor to them all, there was only hatred. He no longer had any\nfriends among the good folk. The wicked giants and the monsters of\nUtgard were now his only friends, for he had grown to be like them, and\neven these did not trust him overmuch.\n\n\n\n\nBALDER AND THE MISTLETOE\n\n\nLoki had given up trying to revenge himself upon Thor. The Thunder\nLord seemed proof against his tricks. And indeed nowadays Loki hated\nhim no more than he did the other gods. He hated some because they\nalways frowned at him; he hated others because they only laughed and\njeered. Some he hated for their distrust and some for their fear. But\nhe hated them all because they were happy and good and mighty, while he\nwas wretched, bad, and of little might. Yet it was all his own fault\nthat this was so. He might have been an equal with the best of them,\nif he had not chosen to set himself against everything that was good.\nHe had made them all his enemies, and the more he did to injure them,\nthe more he hated them,--which is always the way with evil-doers. Loki\nlonged to see them all unhappy. He slunk about in Asgard with a glum\nface and wrinkled forehead. He dared not meet the eyes of any one, lest\nthey should read his heart. For he was plotting evil, the greatest\nof evils, which should bring sorrow to all his enemies at once and\nturn Asgard into a land of mourning. The \u00c6sir did not guess the whole\ntruth, yet they felt the bitterness of the thoughts which Loki bore;\nand whenever in the dark he passed unseen, the gods shuddered as if a\nbreath of evil had blown upon them, and even the flowers drooped before\nhis steps.\n\nNow at this time Balder the beautiful had a strange dream. He dreamed\nthat a cloud came before the sun, and all Asgard was dark. He waited\nfor the cloud to drift away, and for the sun to smile again. But no;\nthe sun was gone forever, he thought; and Balder awoke feeling very\nsad. The next night Balder had another dream. This time he dreamed that\nit was still dark as before; the flowers were withered and the gods\nwere growing old; even Idun's magic apples could not make them young\nagain. And all were weeping and wringing their hands as though some\ndreadful thing had happened. Balder awoke feeling strangely frightened,\nyet he said no word to Nanna his wife, for he did not want to trouble\nher.\n\nWhen it came night again Balder slept and dreamed a third dream, a\nstill more terrible one than the other two had been. He thought that in\nthe dark, lonely world there was nothing but a sad voice, which cried,\n\"The sun is gone! The spring is gone! Joy is gone! For Balder the\nbeautiful is dead, dead, dead!\"\n\nThis time Balder awoke with a cry, and Nanna asked him what was\nthe matter. So he had to tell her of his dream, and he was sadly\nfrightened; for in those days dreams were often sent to folk as\nmessages, and what the gods dreamed usually came true. Nanna ran\nsobbing to Queen Frigg, who was Balder's mother, and told her all the\ndreadful dream, asking what could be done to prevent it from coming\ntrue.\n\nNow Balder was Queen Frigg's dearest son. Thor was older and stronger,\nand more famous for his great deeds; but Frigg loved far better\ngold-haired Balder. And indeed he was the best-beloved of all the\n\u00c6sir; for he was gentle, fair, and wise, and wherever he went folk\ngrew happy and light-hearted at the very sight of him, just as we do\nwhen we first catch a glimpse of spring peeping over the hilltop into\nWinterland. So when Frigg heard of Balder's woeful dream, she was\nfrightened almost out of her wits.\n\n\"He must not die! He shall not die!\" she cried. \"He is so dear to all\nthe world, how could there be anything which would hurt him?\"\n\nAnd then a wonderful thought came to Frigg. \"I will travel over the\nworld and make all things promise not to injure my boy,\" she said.\n\"Nothing shall pass my notice. I will get the word of everything.\"\n\nSo first she went to the gods themselves, gathered on Ida Plain for\ntheir morning exercise; and telling them of Balder's dream, she begged\nthem to give the promise. Oh, what a shout arose when they heard her\nwords!\n\n\"Hurt Balder!--our Balder! Not for the world, we promise! The dream\nis wrong,--there is nothing so cruel as to wish harm to Balder the\nbeautiful!\" they cried. But deep in their hearts they felt a secret\nfear which would linger until they should hear that all things had\ngiven their promise. What if harm were indeed to come to Balder! The\nthought was too dreadful.\n\nThen Frigg went to see all the beasts who live in field or forest or\nrocky den. Willingly they gave their promise never to harm hair of\ngentle Balder. \"For he is ever kind to us,\" they said, \"and we love him\nas if he were one of ourselves. Not with claws or teeth or hoofs or\nhorns will any beast hurt Balder.\"\n\nNext Frigg spoke to the birds and fishes, reptiles and insects. And\nall--even the venomous serpents--cried that Balder was their friend,\nand that they would never do aught to hurt his dear body. \"Not with\nbeak or talon, bite or sting or poison fang, will one of us hurt\nBalder,\" they promised.\n\nAfter doing this, the anxious mother traveled over the whole round\nworld, step by step; and from all the things that are she got the\nsame ready promise never to harm Balder the beautiful. All the trees\nand plants promised; all the stones and metals; earth, air, fire, and\nwater; sun, snow, wind, and rain, and all diseases that men know,--each\ngave to Frigg the word of promise which she wanted. So at last,\nfootsore and weary, she came back to Asgard with the joyful news that\nBalder must be safe, for that there was nothing in the world but had\npromised to be his harmless friend.\n\nThen there was rejoicing in Asgard, as if the gods had won one of their\ngreat victories over the giants. The noble \u00c6sir and the heroes who had\ndied in battle upon the earth, and who had come to Valhalla to live\nhappily ever after, gathered on Ida Plain to celebrate the love of all\nnature for Balder.\n\nThere they invented a famous game, which was to prove how safe he was\nfrom the bite of death. They stationed Balder in the midst of them, his\nface glowing like the sun with the bright light which ever shone from\nhim. And as he stood there all unarmed and smiling, by turns they tried\nall sorts of weapons against him; they made as if to beat him with\nsticks, they stoned him with stones, they shot at him with arrows and\nhurled mighty spears straight at his heart.\n\nIt was a merry game, and a shout of laughter went up as each stone\nfell harmless at Balder's feet, each stick broke before it touched\nhis shoulders, each arrow overshot his head, and each spear turned\naside. For neither stone nor wood nor flinty arrow-point nor barb of\niron would break the promise which each had given. Balder was safe\nwith them, just as if he were bewitched. He remained unhurt among the\nmissiles which whizzed about his head, and which piled up in a great\nheap around the charmed spot whereon he stood.\n\nNow among the crowd that watched these games with such enthusiasm,\nthere was one face that did not smile, one voice that did not rasp\nitself hoarse with cheering. Loki saw how every one and every thing\nloved Balder, and he was jealous. He was the only creature in all the\nworld that hated Balder and wished for his death. Yet Balder had never\ndone harm to him. But the wicked plan that Loki had been cherishing\nwas almost ripe, and in this poison fruit was the seed of the greatest\nsorrow that Asgard had ever known.\n\n[Illustration: EACH ARROW OVERSHOT HIS HEAD]\n\nWhile the others were enjoying their game of love, Loki stole away\nunperceived from Ida Plain, and with a wig of gray hair, a long\ngown, and a staff, disguised himself as an old woman. Then he hobbled\ndown Asgard streets till he came to the palace of Queen Frigg, the\nmother of Balder.\n\n\"Good-day, my lady,\" quoth the old woman, in a cracked voice. \"What is\nthat noisy crowd doing yonder in the green meadow? I am so deafened by\ntheir shouts that I can hardly hear myself think.\"\n\n\"Who are you, good mother, that you have not heard?\" said Queen Frigg\nin surprise. \"They are shooting at my son Balder. They are proving the\nword which all things have given me,--the promise not to injure my dear\nson. And that promise will be kept.\"\n\nThe old crone pretended to be full of wonder. \"So, now!\" she cried.\n\"Do you mean to say that _every single thing_ in the whole world has\npromised not to hurt your son? I can scarce believe it; though, to be\nsure, he is as fine a fellow as I ever saw.\" Of course this flattery\npleased Frigg.\n\n\"You say true, mother,\" she answered proudly, \"he is a noble son. Yes,\neverything has promised,--that is, everything except one tiny little\nplant that is not worth mentioning.\"\n\nThe old woman's eyes twinkled wickedly. \"And what is that foolish\nlittle plant, my dear?\" she asked coaxingly.\n\n\"It is the mistletoe that grows in the meadow west of Valhalla. It was\ntoo young to promise, and too harmless to bother with,\" answered Frigg\ncarelessly.\n\nAfter this her questioner hobbled painfully away. But as soon as she\nwas out of sight from the Queen's palace, she picked up the skirts of\nher gown and ran as fast as she could to the meadow west of Valhalla.\nAnd there sure enough, as Frigg had said, was a tiny sprig of mistletoe\ngrowing on a gnarled oak-tree. The false Loki took out a knife which\nshe carried in some hidden pocket and cut off the mistletoe very\ncarefully. Then she trimmed and shaped it so that it was like a little\ngreen arrow, pointed at one end, but very slender.\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" chuckled the old woman. \"So you are the only thing in all the\nworld that is too young to make a promise, my little mistletoe. Well,\nyoung as you are, you must go on an errand for me to-day. And maybe\nyou shall bear a message of my love to Balder the beautiful.\"\n\nThen she hobbled back to Ida Plain, where the merry game was still\ngoing on around Balder. Loki quietly passed unnoticed through the\ncrowd, and came close to the elbow of a big dark fellow who was\nstanding lonely outside the circle of weapon-throwers. He seemed sad\nand forgotten, and he hung his head in a pitiful way. It was H\u00f6d, the\nblind brother of Balder.\n\nThe old woman touched his arm. \"Why do you not join the game with the\nothers?\" she asked, in her cracked voice. \"Are you the only one to do\nyour brother no honor? Surely, you are big and strong enough to toss a\nspear with the best of them yonder.\"\n\nH\u00f6d touched his sightless eyes madly. \"I am blind,\" he said. \"Strength\nI have, greater than belongs to most of the \u00c6sir. But I cannot see to\naim a weapon. Besides, I have no spear to test upon him. Yet how gladly\nwould I do honor to dear Balder!\" and he sighed deeply.\n\n\"It were a pity if I could not find you at least a little stick to\nthrow,\" said Loki sympathetically. \"I am only a poor old woman, and of\ncourse I have no weapon. But ah,--here is a green twig which you can\nuse as an arrow, and I will guide your arm, poor fellow.\"\n\nH\u00f6d's dark face lighted up, for he was eager to take his turn in the\ngame. So he thanked her, and grasped eagerly the little arrow which she\nput into his hand. Loki held him by the arm, and together they stepped\ninto the circle which surrounded Balder. And when it was H\u00f6d's turn to\nthrow his weapon, the old woman stood at his elbow and guided his big\narm as it hurled the twig of mistletoe towards where Balder stood.\n\nOh, the sad thing that befell! Straight through the air flew the little\narrow, straight as magic and Loki's arm could direct it. Straight to\nBalder's heart it sped, piercing through jerkin and shirt and all, to\ngive its bitter message of \"Loki's love,\" as he had said. With a cry\nBalder fell forward on the grass. And that was the end of sunshine and\nspring and joy in Asgard, for the dream had come true, and Balder the\nbeautiful was dead.\n\nWhen the \u00c6sir saw what had happened, there was a great shout of fear\nand horror, and they rushed upon H\u00f6d, who had thrown the fatal arrow.\n\n\"What is it? What have I done?\" asked the poor blind brother, trembling\nat the tumult which had followed his shot.\n\n\"You have slain Balder!\" cried the \u00c6sir. \"Wretched H\u00f6d, how could you\ndo it?\"\n\n\"It was the old woman--the evil old woman, who stood at my elbow and\ngave me a little twig to throw,\" gasped H\u00f6d. \"She must be a witch.\"\n\nThen the \u00c6sir scattered over Ida Plain to look for the old woman who\nhad done the evil deed; but she had mysteriously disappeared.\n\n\"It must be Loki,\" said wise Heimdal. \"It is Loki's last and vilest\ntrick.\"\n\n\"Oh, my Balder, my beautiful Balder!\" wailed Queen Frigg, throwing\nherself on the body of her son. \"If I had only made the mistletoe give\nme the promise, you would have been saved. It was I who told Loki of\nthe mistletoe,--so it is I who have killed you. Oh, my son, my son!\"\n\nBut Father Odin was speechless with grief. His sorrow was greater than\nthat of all the others, for he best understood the dreadful misfortune\nwhich had befallen Asgard. Already a cloud had come before the sun, so\nthat it would never be bright day again. Already the flowers had begun\nto fade and the birds had ceased to sing. And already the \u00c6sir had\nbegun to grow old and joyless,--all because the little mistletoe had\nbeen too young to give a promise to Queen Frigg.\n\n\"Balder the beautiful is dead!\" the cry went echoing through all the\nworld, and everything that was sorrowed at the sound of the \u00c6sir's\nweeping.\n\nBalder's brothers lifted up his beautiful body upon their great war\nshields and bore him on their shoulders down to the seashore. For, as\nwas the custom in those days, they were going to send him to Hela, the\nQueen of Death, with all the things he best had loved in Asgard. And\nthese were,--after Nanna his wife,--his beautiful horse, and his ship\nHringhorni. So that they would place Balder's body upon the ship with\nhis horse beside him, and set fire to this wonderful funeral pile. For\nby fire was the quickest passage to Hela's kingdom.\n\nBut when they reached the shore, they found that all the strength of\nall the \u00c6sir was unable to move Hringhorni, Balder's ship, into the\nwater. For it was the largest ship in the world, and it was stranded\nfar up the beach.\n\n\"Even the giants bore no ill-will to Balder,\" said Father Odin. \"I\nheard the thunder of their grief but now shaking the hills. Let us for\nthis once bury our hatred of that race and send to Jotunheim for help\nto move the ship.\"\n\nSo they sent a messenger to the giantess Hyrrockin, the hugest of all\nthe Frost People. She was weeping for Balder when the message came.\n\n\"I will go, for Balder's sake,\" she said. Soon she came riding fast\nupon a giant wolf, with a serpent for the bridle; and mighty she was,\nwith the strength of forty \u00c6sir. She dismounted from her wolf-steed,\nand tossed the wriggling reins to one of the men-heroes who had\nfollowed Balder and the \u00c6sir from Valhalla. But he could not hold the\nbeast, and it took four heroes to keep him quiet, which they could only\ndo by throwing him upon the ground and sitting upon him in a row. And\nthis mortified them greatly.\n\nThen Hyrrockin the giantess strode up to the great ship and seized\nit by the prow. Easily she gave a little pull and presto! it leaped\nforward on its rollers with such force that sparks flew from the flint\nstones underneath and the whole earth trembled. The boat shot into the\nwaves and out toward open sea so swiftly that the \u00c6sir were likely to\nhave lost it entirely, had not Hyrrockin waded out up to her waist and\ncaught it by the stern just in time.\n\nThor was angry at her clumsiness, and raised his hammer to punish her.\nBut the other \u00c6sir held his arm.\n\n\"She cannot help being so strong,\" they whispered. \"She meant to do\nwell. She did not realize how hard she was pulling. This is no time for\nanger, brother Thor.\" So Thor spared her life, as indeed he ought, for\nher kindness.\n\nThen Balder's body was borne out to the ship and laid upon a pile of\nbeautiful silks, and furs, and cloth-of-gold, and woven sunbeams which\nthe dwarfs had wrought. So that his funeral pyre was more grand than\nanything which had ever been seen. But when Nanna, Balder's gentle\nwife, saw them ready to kindle the flames under this gorgeous bed, she\ncould bear her grief no longer. Her loving heart broke, and they laid\nher beside him, that they might comfort each other on their journey\nto Hela. Thor touched the pile gently with his hammer that makes\nthe lightning, and the flames burst forth, lighting up the faces of\nBalder and Nanna with a glory. Then they cast upon the fire Balder's\nwar-horse, to serve his master in the dark country to which he was\nabout to go. The horse was decked with a harness all of gold, with\njewels studding the bridle and headstall. Last of all Odin laid upon\nthe pyre his gift to Balder, Draupnir, the precious ring of gold which\nthe dwarf had made, from which every ninth night there dropped eight\nother rings as large and brightly golden.\n\n\"Take this with you, dear son, to Hela's palace,\" said Odin. \"And do\nnot forget the friends you leave behind in the now lonely halls of\nAsgard.\"\n\nThen Hyrrockin pushed the great boat out to sea, with its bonfire of\nprecious things. And on the beach stood all the \u00c6sir watching it out\nof sight, all the \u00c6sir and many besides. For there came to Balder's\nfuneral great crowds of little dwarfs and multitudes of huge frost\ngiants, all mourning for Balder the beautiful. For this one time\nthey were all friends together, forgetting their quarrels of so many\ncenturies. All of them loved Balder, and were united to do him honor.\n\nThe great ship moved slowly out to sea, sending up a red fire to color\nall the heavens. At last it slid below the horizon softly, as you have\noften seen the sun set upon the water, leaving a brightness behind to\nlighten the dark world for a little while.\n\nThis indeed was the sunset for Asgard. The darkness of sorrow came in\nearnest after the passing of Balder the beautiful.\n\nBut the punishment of Loki was a terrible thing. And that came soon and\nsore.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI\n\n\nAfter the death of Balder the world grew so dreary that no one had any\nheart left for work or play. The \u00c6sir sat about moping and miserable.\nThey were growing old,--there was no doubt about that. There was no\nlonger any gladness in Valhalla, where the Valkyries waited on table\nand poured the foaming mead. There was no longer any mirth on Ida\nPlain, when every morning the bravest of earth-heroes fought their\nbattles over again. Odin no longer had any pleasure in the daily news\nbrought by his wise ravens, Thought and Memory, nor did Freia enjoy her\nfalcon dress. Frey forgot to sail in his ship Skidbladnir, and even\nThor had almost wearied of his hammer, except as he hoped that it would\nhelp him to catch Loki. For the one thought of all of them now was to\nfind and punish Loki.\n\nYet they waited; for Queen Frigg had sent a messenger to Queen Hela to\nfind if they might not even yet win Balder back from the kingdom of\ndeath.\n\nOdin shook his head. \"Queen Hela is Loki's daughter,\" he said, \"and she\nwill not let Balder return.\" But Frigg was hopeful; she had employed a\ntrusty messenger, whose silver tongue had won many hearts against their\nwill.\n\nIt was Hermod, Balder's brother, who galloped down the steep road to\nHela's kingdom, on Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of Father Odin.\nFor nine nights and nine days he rode, through valleys dark and chill,\nuntil he came to the bridge which is paved with gold. And here the\nmaiden Modgard told him that Balder had passed that way, and showed him\nthe path northward to Hela's city. So he rode, down and down, until\nhe came to the high wall which surrounded the grim palace where Hela\nreigned. Hermod dismounted and tightened the saddle-girths of gray\nSleipnir, whose eight legs were as frisky as ever, despite the long\njourney. And when he had mounted once more, the wonderful horse leaped\nwith him over the wall, twenty feet at least!\n\nThen Hermod rode straight into the palace of Hela, straight up to the\nthrone where she sat surrounded by gray shadows and spirit people. She\nwas a dreadful creature to see, was this daughter of Loki,--half white\nlike other folk, but half black, which was not sunburn, for there was\nno sunshine in this dark and dismal land. Yet she was not so bad as she\nlooked; for even Hela felt kindly towards Balder, whom her father had\nslain, and was sorry that the world had lost so dear a friend. So when\nHermod begged of her to let his brother return with him to Asgard, she\nsaid very gently,--\n\n\"Freely would I let him go, brave Hermod, if I might. But a queen\ncannot always do as she likes, even in her own kingdom. His life must\nbe bought; the price must be paid in tears. If everything upon earth\nwill weep for Balder's death, then may he return, bringing light and\nhappiness to the upper world. Should one creature fail to weep, Balder\nmust remain with me.\"\n\nThen Hermod was glad, for he felt sure that this price was easily paid.\nHe thanked Hela, and made ready to depart with the hopeful message.\nBefore he went away he saw and spoke with Balder himself, who sat with\nNanna upon a throne of honor, talking of the good times that used to\nbe. And Balder gave him the ring Draupnir to give back to Father Odin,\nas a remembrance from his dear son; while Nanna sent to mother Frigg\nher silver veil with other rich presents. It was hard for Hermod to\npart with Balder once again, and Balder also wept to see him go. But\nHermod was in duty bound to bear the message back to Asgard as swiftly\nas might be.\n\nNow when the \u00c6sir heard from Hermod this news, they sent messengers\nforth over the whole world to bid every creature weep for Balder's\ndeath. Heimdal galloped off upon Goldtop and Frey upon Goldbristle, his\nfamous hog; Thor rumbled away in his goat chariot, and Freia drove her\nteam of cats,--all spreading the message in one direction and another.\nThere really seemed little need for them to do this, for already there\nwas mourning in every land and clime. Even the sky was weeping, and the\nflower eyes were filled with dewy tears.\n\nSo it seemed likely that Balder would be ransomed after all, and the\n\u00c6sir began to hope more strongly. For they had not found one creature\nwho refused to weep. Even the giants of Jotunheim were sorry to lose\nthe gentle fellow who had never done them any harm, and freely added\ntheir giant tears to the salt rivers that were coursing over all the\nworld into the sea, making it still more salt.\n\nIt was not until the messengers had nearly reached home, joyful in the\nsurety that Balder was safe, that they found an ugly old giantess named\nTh\u00f6kt hidden in a black cavern among the mountains.\n\n\"Weep, mother, weep for Balder!\" they cried. \"Balder the beautiful is\ndead, but your tears will buy him back to life. Weep, mother, weep!\"\n\nBut the sulky old woman refused to weep.\n\n\"Balder is nothing to me,\" she said. \"I care not whether he lives or\ndies. Let him bide with Hela--he is out of mischief there. I weep dry\ntears for Balder's death.\"\n\nSo all the work of the messengers was in vain, because of this one\nobstinate old woman. So all the tears of the sorrowing world were shed\nin vain. Because there were lacking two salty drops from the eyes of\nTh\u00f6kt, they could not buy back Balder from the prison of death.\n\nWhen the messengers returned and told Odin their sad news, he was\nwrathful.\n\n\"Do you not guess who the old woman was?\" he cried. \"It was Loki--Loki\nhimself, disguised as a giantess. He has tricked us once more, and for\na second time has slain Balder for us; for it is now too late,--Balder\ncan never return to us after this. But it shall be the last of Loki's\nmischief. It is now time that we put an end to his deeds of shame.\"\n\n\"Come, my brothers!\" shouted Thor, flourishing his hammer. \"We have\nwept and mourned long enough. It is now time to punish. Let us hasten\nback to Th\u00f6kt's cave, and seize Loki as quickly as may be.\"\n\nSo they hurried back into the mountains where they had left the\ngiantess who would not weep. But when they came to the place, the\ncave was empty. Loki was too sharp a fellow to sit still and wait for\npunishment to overtake him. He knew very well that the \u00c6sir would soon\ndiscover who Th\u00f6kt really was. And he had taken himself off to a safer\nplace, to escape the questions which a whole world of not too gentle\nfolk were anxious to ask him.\n\nThe one desire of the \u00c6sir was now to seize and punish Loki. So when\nthey were unable to find him as easily as they expected, they were\nwroth indeed. Why had he left the cave? Whither had he gone? In what\nnew disguise even now was he lurking, perhaps close by?\n\nThe truth was that when Loki found himself at war with the whole world\nwhich he had injured, he fled away into the mountains, where he had\nbuilt a strong castle of rocks. This castle had four doors, one looking\ninto the north, one to the south, one to the east, and one to the west;\nso that Loki could keep watch in all directions and see any enemy\nwho might approach. Besides this, he had for his protection the many\ndisguises which he knew so well how to don. Near the castle was a river\nand a waterfall, and it was Loki's favorite game to change himself into\na spotted pink salmon and splash about in the pool below the fall.\n\n\"Ho, ho! Let them try to catch me here, if they can!\" he would chuckle\nto himself. And indeed, it seemed as if he were safe enough.\n\nOne day Loki was sitting before the fire in his castle twisting\ntogether threads of flax and yarn into a great fish-net which was his\nown invention. For no one had ever before thought of catching fish with\na net. Loki was a clever fellow; and with all his faults, for this one\nthing at least the fishermen of to-day ought to be grateful to him. As\nLoki sat busily knotting the meshes of the net, he happened to glance\nout of the south door,--and there were the \u00c6sir coming in a body up the\nhill towards his castle.\n\nNow this is what had happened: from his lookout throne in Asgard,\nOdin's keen sight had spied Loki's retreat. This throne, you remember,\nwas in the house with a silver roof which Odin had built in the very\nbeginning of time; and whenever he wanted to see what was going on in\nthe remotest corner of Asgard, or to spy into some secret place beyond\nthe sight of gods or men, he would mount this magic throne, whence his\neye could pierce thick mountains and sound the deepest sea. So it was\nthat the \u00c6sir had found out Loki's castle, well-hidden though it was\namong the furthest mountains of the world. They had come to catch him,\nand there was nothing left for him but to run.\n\nLoki jumped up and threw his half-mended net into the fire, for he did\nnot want the \u00c6sir to discover his invention; then he ran down to the\nriver and leaped in with a great splash. When he was well under water,\nhe changed himself into a salmon, and flickered away to bask in his\nshady pool and think how safe he was.\n\nBy this time the \u00c6sir had entered his castle and were poking among the\nashes which they found smouldering on the hearth.\n\n\"What is this?\" asked Thor, holding up a piece of knotted flax which\nwas not quite burned. \"The knave has been making something with little\ncords.\"\n\n\"Let me see it,\" said Heimdal, the wisest of the \u00c6sir,--he who once\nupon a time had suggested Thor's clever disguise for winning back his\nhammer from the giant Thrym. He took now the little scrap of fish-net\nand studied it carefully, picking out all the knots and twists of it.\n\n\"It is a net,\" said Heimdal at last. \"He has been making a net,\nand--pfaugh!--it smells of fish. The fellow must have used it to trap\nfish for his dinner, though I never before heard of such a device.\"\n\n\"I saw a big splash in the river just as we came up,\" said Thor the\nkeen-eyed,--\"a very big splash indeed. It seemed too large for any\nfish.\"\n\n\"It was Loki,\" declared Heimdal. \"He must have been here but a\nmoment since, for this fire has just gone out, and the net is still\nsmouldering. That shows he did not wish us to find this new-fangled\nidea of his. Why was that? Let me think. Aha! I have it. Loki has\nchanged himself into a fish, and did not wish us to discover the means\nof catching him.\"\n\n\"Oho!\" cried the \u00c6sir regretfully. \"If only we had another net!\"\n\n\"We can make one,\" said wise Heimdal. \"I know how it is done, for I\nhave studied out this little sample. Let us make a net to catch the\nslyest of all fish.\"\n\n\"Let us make a net for Loki,\" echoed the \u00c6sir. And they all sat down\ncross-legged on the floor to have a lesson in net-weaving from Heimdal.\nHe found hemp cord in a cupboard, and soon they had contrived a goodly\nnet, big enough to catch several Lokis, if they should have good\nfisherman's luck.\n\nThey dragged the net to the river and cast it in. Thor, being the\nstrongest, held one end of the net, and all the rest drew the other\nend up and down the stream. They were clumsy and awkward, for they had\nnever used a net before, and did not know how to make the best of it.\nBut presently Thor exclaimed, \"Ha! I felt some live thing touch the\nmeshes!\"\n\n\"So did we!\" cried the others. \"It must be Loki!\" And Loki it was, sure\nenough; for the \u00c6sir had happened upon the very pool where the great\nsalmon lay basking so peacefully. But when he felt the net touch him,\nhe darted away and hid in a cleft between two rocks. So that, although\nthey dragged the net to and fro again and again, they could not catch\nLoki in its meshes; for the net was so light that it floated over his\nhead.\n\n\"We must weight the net,\" said Heimdal wisely; \"then nothing can pass\nbeneath it.\" So they tied heavy stones all along the under edge, and\nagain they cast the net, a little below the waterfall. Now Loki had\nseized the chance to swim further down the stream. But ugh! suddenly he\ntasted salt water. He was being swept out to sea! That would never do,\nfor he could not live an hour in the sea. So he swam back and leaped\nstraight over the net up into the waterfall, hoping that no one had\nnoticed him. But Thor's sharp eyes had spied the flash of pink and\nsilver, and Thor came running to the place.\n\n\"He is here!\" he shouted. \"Cast in the net above the fall! We have him\nnow!\"\n\nWhen Loki saw the net cast again, so that there was no choice for him\nbut to be swept back over the falls and out to sea, or to leap the net\nonce more still further up the river, he hesitated. He saw Thor in the\nmiddle of the stream wading towards him; but behind him was sure death.\nSo he set his teeth and once more he leaped the net. There was a huge\nsplash, a scuffle, a scramble, and the water was churned into froth all\nabout Thor's feet. He was struggling with the mighty fish. He caught\nhim once, but the salmon slipped through his fingers. He caught him\nagain, and this time Thor gripped hard. The salmon almost escaped, but\nThor's big fingers kept hold of the end of his tail, and he flapped\nand flopped in vain. It was the grip of Thor's iron glove; and that\nis why to this day the salmon has so pointed a tail. The next time\nyou see a salmon you must notice this, and remember that he may be a\ngreat-great-great-grand-descendant of Loki.\n\nSo Loki was captured and changed back into his own shape, sullen and\nfierce. But he had no word of sorrow for his evil deeds; nor did he ask\nfor mercy, for he knew that it would be in vain. He kept silent while\nthe \u00c6sir led him all the weary way back to Asgard.\n\nNow the whole world was noisy with the triumph of his capture. As the\nprocession passed along it was joined by all the creatures who had\nmourned for Balder,--all the creatures who longed to see Loki punished.\nThere were the men of Midgard, the place of human folk, shouting, \"Kill\nhim! kill him!\" at the top of their lungs; there were armies of little\nmountain dwarfs in their brown peaked caps, who hobbled along, prodding\nLoki with their picks; there were beasts growling and showing their\nteeth as if they longed to tear Loki in pieces; there were birds who\ntried to peck his eyes, insects who came in clouds to sting him, and\nserpents that sprang up hissing at his feet to poison him with their\ndeadly bite.\n\nBut to all these Thor said, \"Do not kill the fellow. We are keeping\nhim for a worse punishment than you can give.\" So the creatures merely\nfollowed and jostled Loki into Asgard, shouting, screaming, howling,\ngrowling, barking, roaring, spitting, squeaking, hissing, croaking, and\nbuzzing, according to their different ways of showing hatred and horror.\n\n[Illustration: \"KILL HIM! KILL HIM!\"]\n\nThe \u00c6sir met on Ida Plain to decide what should be done with Loki.\nThere were Idun whom he had cheated, and Sif whose hair he had cut\noff. There were Freia whose falcon dress he had stolen and Thor whom he\nhad tried to kill. There were H\u00f6d whom he had made a murderer; Frigg\nand Odin whose son he had slain. There was not one of them whom Loki\nhad not injured in some way; and besides, there was the whole world\ninto which he had brought sorrow and darkness; for the sake of all\nthese Loki must be punished. But it was hard to think of any doom heavy\nenough for him. At last, however, they agreed upon a punishment which\nthey thought suited to so wicked a wretch.\n\nThe long procession formed again and escorted Loki down, down into a\ndamp cavern underground. Here sunlight never came, but the cave was\nfull of ugly toads, snakes, and insects that love the dark. These were\nLoki's evil thoughts, who were to live with him henceforth and torment\nhim always. In this prison chamber side by side they placed three sharp\nstones, not far apart, to make an uneasy bed. And these were for Loki's\nthree worst deeds, against Thor and H\u00f6d and Balder. Upon these rocks\nthey bound Loki with stout thongs of leather. But as soon as the cords\nwere fastened they turned into iron bands, so that no one, though he\nhad the strength of a hundred giants, could loosen them. For these were\nLoki's evil passions, and the more he strained against them, the more\nthey cut into him and wounded him until he howled with pain.\n\nOver his head Skadi, whose father he had helped to slay, hung a\nvenomous, wriggling serpent, from whose mouth dropped poison into\nLoki's face, which burned and stung him like fire. And this was the\ndeceit which all his life Loki had spoken to draw folk into trouble and\ndanger. At last it had turned about to torture him, as deceit always\nwill do to him who utters it. Yet from this one torment Loki had some\nrelief; for alone of all the world Sigyn, his wife, was faithful and\nforgiving. She stood by the head of the painful bed upon which the Red\nOne was stretched, and held a bowl to catch the poison which dropped\nfrom the serpent's jaws, so that some of it did not reach Loki's face.\nBut as often as the bowl became full, Sigyn had to go out and empty it;\nand then the bitter drops fell and burned till Loki made the cavern\nring with his cries.\n\nSo this was Loki's punishment, and bad enough it was,--but not too bad\nfor such a monster. Under the caverns he lies there still, struggling\nto be free. And when his great strength shakes the hills so that the\nwhole ground trembles, men call it an earthquake. Sometimes they even\nsee his poisonous breath blowing from the top of a mountain-chimney,\nand amid it the red flame of wickedness which burns in Loki's heart.\nThen all cry, \"The volcano, the volcano!\" and run away as fast as they\ncan. For Loki, poisoned though he is, is still dangerous and full of\nmischief, and it is not good to venture near him in his torment.\n\nBut there for his sins he must bide and suffer, suffer and bide, until\nthe end of all sorrow and suffering and sin shall come, with Ragnar\u00f6k,\nthe ending of the world.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\n\nPunctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant\npreference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.\n\nAmbiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.\n\nPage 176: \"You shall hide\" was misprinted as \"You shall bide\". Corrected\nhere based on the use of \"hiding-place\" later in the same sentence.","title":"In the Days of Giants: A Book of Norse Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":49987}