{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXIX/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXIX","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXIX","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XXXIX","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"XXXIX. THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM\n\nTHOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM, THE GIANT'S COUNTRY\n\nOne day the god Thor, with his servant Thialfi, and accompanied by\nLoki, set out on a journey to the giant's country. Thialfi was of\nall men the swiftest of foot. He bore Thor's wallet, containing\ntheir provisions. When night came on they found themselves in an\nimmense forest, and searched on all sides for a place where they\nmight pass the night, and at last came to a very large hall, with\nan entrance that took the whole breadth of one end of the\nbuilding. Here they lay down to sleep, but towards midnight were\nalarmed by an earthquake which shook the whole edifice. Thor,\nrising up, called on his companions to seek with him a place of\nsafety. On the right they found an adjoining chamber, into which\nthe others entered, but Thor remained at the doorway with his\nmallet in his hand, prepared to defend himself, whatever might\nhappen. A terrible groaning was heard during the night, and at\ndawn of day Thor went out and found lying near him a huge giant,\nwho slept and snored in the way that had alarmed them so. It is\nsaid that for once Thor was afraid to use his mallet, and as the\ngiant soon waked up, Thor contented himself with simply asking his\nname.\n\n\"My name is Skrymir,\" said the giant, \"but I need not ask thy\nname, for I know that thou art the god Thor. But what has become\nof my glove?\" Thor then perceived that what they had taken\novernight for a hall was the giant's glove, and the chamber where\nhis two companions had sought refuge was the thumb. Skrymir then\nproposed that they should travel in company, and Thor consenting,\nthey sat down to eat their breakfast, and when they had done,\nSkrymir packed all the provisions into one wallet, threw it over\nhis shoulder, and strode on before them, taking such tremendous\nstrides that they were hard put to it to keep up with him. So they\ntravelled the whole day, and at dusk Skrymir chose a place for\nthem to pass the night in under a large oak tree. Skrymir then\ntold them he would lie down to sleep. \"But take ye the wallet,\" he\nadded, \"and prepare your supper.\"\n\nSkrymir soon fell asleep and began to snore strongly; but when\nThor tried to open the wallet, he found the giant had tied it up\nso tight he could not untie a single knot. At last Thor became\nwroth, and grasping his mallet with both hands he struck a furious\nblow on the giant's head. Skrymir, awakening, merely asked whether\na leaf had not fallen on his head, and whether they had supped and\nwere ready to go to sleep. Thor answered that they were just going\nto sleep, and so saying went and laid himself down under another\ntree. But sleep came not that night to Thor, and when Skrymir\nsnored again so loud that the forest reechoed with the noise, he\narose, and grasping his mallet launched it with such force at the\ngiant's skull that it made a deep dint in it. Skrymir, awakening,\ncried out, \"What's the matter? Are there any birds perched on this\ntree? I felt some moss from the branches fall on my head. How\nfares it with thee, Thor?\" But Thor went away hastily, saying that\nhe had just then awoke, and that as it was only midnight, there\nwas still time for sleep. He, however, resolved that if he had an\nopportunity of striking a third blow, it should settle all matters\nbetween them. A little before daybreak he perceived that Skrymir\nwas again fast asleep, and again grasping his mallet, he dashed it\nwith such violence that it forced its way into the giant's skull\nup to the handle. But Skrymir sat up, and stroking his cheek said,\n\"An acorn fell on my head. What! Art thou awake, Thor? Me thinks\nit is time for us to get up and dress ourselves; but you have not\nnow a long way before you to the city called Utgard. I have heard\nyou whispering to one another that I am not a man of small\ndimensions; but if you come to Utgard you will see there many men\nmuch taller than I. Wherefore, I advise you, when you come there,\nnot to make too much of yourselves, for the followers of Utgard\u2014Loki will not brook the boasting of such little fellows as you\nare. You must take the road that leads eastward, mine lies\nnorthward, so we must part here.\"\n\nHereupon he threw his wallet over his shoulders and turned away\nfrom them into the forest, and Thor had no wish to stop him or to\nask for any more of his company.\n\nThor and his companions proceeded on their way, and towards noon\ndescried a city standing in the middle of a plain. It was so lofty\nthat they were obliged to bend their necks quite back on their\nshoulders in order to see to the top of it. On arriving they\nentered the city, and seeing a large palace before them with the\ndoor wide open, they went in, and found a number of men of\nprodigious stature, sitting on benches in the hall. Going further,\nthey came before the king, Utgard-Loki, whom they saluted with\ngreat respect. The king, regarding them with a scornful smile,\nsaid, \"If I do not mistake me, that stripling yonder must be the\ngod Thor.\" Then addressing himself to Thor, he said, \"Perhaps thou\nmayst be more than thou appearest to be. What are the feats that\nthou and thy fellows deem yourselves skilled in, for no one is\npermitted to remain here who does not, in some feat or other,\nexcel all other men?\"\n\n\"The feat that I know,\" said Loki, \"is to eat quicker than any one\nelse, and in this I am ready to give a proof against any one here\nwho may choose to compete with me.\"\n\n\"That will indeed be a feat,\" said Utgard-Loki, \"if thou\nperformest what thou promisest, and it shall be tried forthwith.\"\n\nHe then ordered one of his men who was sitting at the farther end\nof the bench, and whose name was Logi, to come forward and try his\nskill with Loki. A trough filled with meat having been set on the\nhall floor, Loki placed himself at one end, and Logi at the other,\nand each of them began to eat as fast as he could, until they met\nin the middle of the trough. But it was found that Loki had only\neaten the flesh, while his adversary had devoured both flesh and\nbone, and the trough to boot. All the company therefore adjudged\nthat Loki was vanquished.\n\nUtgard-Loki then asked what feat the young man who accompanied\nThor could perform. Thialfi answered that he would run a race with\nany one who might be matched against him. The king observed that\nskill in running was something to boast of, but if the youth would\nwin the match he must display great agility. He then arose and\nwent with all who were present to a plain where there was good\nground for running on, and calling a young man named Hugi, bade\nhim run a match with Thialfi. In the first course Hugi so much\nout-stripped his competitor that he turned back and met him not\nfar from the starting place. Then they ran a second and a third\ntime, but Thialfi met with no better success.\n\nUtgard-Loki then asked Thor in what feats he would choose to give\nproofs of that prowess for which he was so famous. Thor answered\nthat he would try a drinking-match with any one. Utgard-Loki bade\nhis cup-bearer bring the large horn which his followers were\nobliged to empty when they had trespassed in any way against the\nlaw of the feast. The cupbearer having presented it to Thor,\nUtgard-Loki said, \"Whoever is a good drinker will empty that horn\nat a single draught, though most men make two of it, but the most\npuny drinker can do it in three.\"\n\nThor looked at the horn, which seemed of no extraordinary size\nthough somewhat long; however, as he was very thirsty, he set it\nto his lips, and without drawing breath, pulled as long and as\ndeeply as he could, that he might not be obliged to make a second\ndraught of it; but when he set the horn down and looked in, he\ncould scarcely perceive that the liquor was diminished.\n\nAfter taking breath, Thor went to it again with all his might, but\nwhen he took the horn from his mouth, it seemed to him that he had\ndrunk rather less than before, although the horn could now be\ncarried without spilling.\n\n\"How now, Thor?\" said Utgard-Loki; \"thou must not spare thyself;\nif thou meanest to drain the horn at the third draught thou must\npull deeply; and I must needs say that thou wilt not be called so\nmighty a man here as thou art at home if thou showest no greater\nprowess in other feats than methinks will be shown in this.\"\n\nThor, full of wrath, again set the horn to his lips, and did his\nbest to empty it; but on looking in found the liquor was only a\nlittle lower, so he resolved to make no further attempt, but gave\nback the horn to the cup-bearer.\n\n\"I now see plainly,\" said Utgard-Loki, \"that thou art not quite so\nstout as we thought thee: but wilt thou try any other feat, though\nmethinks thou art not likely to bear any prize away with thee\nhence.\"\n\n\"What new trial hast thou to propose?\" said Thor.\n\n\"We have a very trifling game here,\" answered Utgard-Loki, \"in\nwhich we exercise none but children. It consists in merely lifting\nmy cat from the ground; nor should I have dared to mention such a\nfeat to the great Thor if I had not already observed that thou art\nby no means what we took thee for.\"\n\nAs he finished speaking, a large gray cat sprang on the hall\nfloor. Thor put his hand under the cat's belly and did his utmost\nto raise him from the floor, but the cat, bending his back, had,\nnotwithstanding all Thor's efforts, only one of his feet lifted\nup, seeing which Thor made no further attempt.\n\n\"This trial has turned out,\" said Utgard-Loki, \"just as I imagined\nit would. The cat is large, but Thor is little in comparison to\nour men.\"\n\n\"Little as ye call me,\" answered Thor, \"let me see who among you\nwill come hither now I am in wrath and wrestle with me.\"\n\n\"I see no one here,\" said Utgard-Loki, looking at the men sitting\non the benches, \"who would not think it beneath him to wrestle\nwith thee; let somebody, however, call hither that old crone, my\nnurse Elli, and let Thor wrestle with her if he will. She has\nthrown to the ground many a man not less strong than this Thor\nis.\"\n\nA toothless old woman then entered the hall, and was told by\nUtgard-Loki to take hold of Thor. The tale is shortly told. The\nmore Thor tightened his hold on the crone the firmer she stood. At\nlength after a very violent struggle Thor began to lose his\nfooting, and was finally brought down upon one knee. Utgard-Loki\nthen told them to desist, adding that Thor had now no occasion to\nask any one else in the hall to wrestle with him, and it was also\ngetting late; so he showed Thor and his companions to their seats,\nand they passed the night there in good cheer.\n\nThe next morning, at break of day, Thor and his companions dressed\nthemselves and prepared for their departure. Utgard-Loki ordered a\ntable to be set for them, on which there was no lack of victuals\nor drink. After the repast Utgard-Loki led them to the gate of the\ncity, and on parting asked Thor how he thought his journey had\nturned out, and whether he had met with any men stronger than\nhimself. Thor told him that he could not deny but that he had\nbrought great shame on himself. \"And what grieves me most,\" he\nadded, \"is that ye will call me a person of little worth.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Utgard-Loki, \"it behooves me to tell thee the truth,\nnow thou art out of the city, which so long as I live and have my\nway thou shalt never enter again. And, by my troth, had I known\nbeforehand that thou hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst\nhave brought me so near to a great mishap, I would not have\nsuffered thee to enter this time. Know then that I have all along\ndeceived thee by my illusions; first in the forest, where I tied\nup the wallet with iron wire so that thou couldst not untie it.\nAfter this thou gavest me three blows with thy mallet; the first,\nthough the least, would have ended my days had it fallen on me,\nbut I slipped aside and thy blows fell on the mountain, where thou\nwilt find three glens, one of them remarkably deep. These are the\ndints made by thy mallet. I have made use of similar illusions in\nthe contests you have had with my followers. In the first, Loki,\nlike hunger itself, devoured all that was set before him, but Logi\nwas in reality nothing else than Fire, and therefore consumed not\nonly the meat, bat the trough which held it. Hugi, with whom\nThialfi contended in running, was Thought, and it was impossible\nfor Thialfi to keep pace with that. When thou in thy turn didst\nattempt to empty the horn, thou didst perform, by my troth, a deed\nso marvellous that had I not seen it myself I should never have\nbelieved it. For one end of that horn reached the sea, which thou\nwast not aware of, but when thou comest to the shore thou wilt\nperceive how much the sea has sunk by thy draughts. Thou didst\nperform a feat no less wonderful by lifting up the cat, and to\ntell thee the truth, when we saw that one of his paws was off the\nfloor, we were all of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest\nfor a cat was in reality the Midgard serpent that encompasseth the\nearth, and he was so stretched by thee that he was barely long\nenough to enclose it between his head and tail. Thy wrestling with\nElli was also a most astonishing feat, for there was never yet a\nman, nor ever will be, whom Old Age, for such in fact was Elli,\nwill not sooner or later lay low. But now, as we are going to\npart, let me tell thee that it will be better for both of us if\nthou never come near me again, for shouldst thou do so, I shall\nagain defend myself by other illusions, so that thou wilt only\nlose thy labor and get no fame from the contest with me.\"\n\nOn hearing these words Thor in a rage laid hold of his mallet and\nwould have launched it at him, but Utgard-Loki had disappeared,\nand when Thor would have returned to the city to destroy it, he\nfound nothing around him but a verdant plain.","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XXXIX","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2597}