NORSE STORIES RETOLD 
FROM THE EDDAS * * BY 
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE 

NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY 
DODD. MEAD AND COMPANY 
MDCCCCXII 

Chapter I 

The Making of the World 

EIGHT hundred years ago, when 
the galleys of the bold Norse- 
men were scudding through storm 
and mist far into the unknown west- 
ern seas, or, in the soft summer of 
the Mediterranean, riding at anchor 
in the ports of Italy and Northern 
Africa, the old stories of the battles 
of the gods and the giants that had 
been repeated for hundreds of years 
by Norse firesides in the long winter 
evening were brought together by 
some unknown man in Iceland, and 
were known henceforth as the Elder 

Edda; and a hundred years later 
Snorre Sturleson retold the same old 
stories, with others equally marvel- 
lous, in the Younger Edda. These 
ancient books, which a brave and 
noble race carried in its heart through 
all its wide wanderings and conquests, 
take one back to the beginning of 
time, and tell of the birth of the 
worlds and the coming of the gods 
to rule over them. 

Norway faces the sea with a line 
of cliffs so massive that their founda- 
tions seem everlasting. Islands with- 
out number rise out of the tossing 
waves ; the deep, tranquil waters of 
the fjords, overhung with fir-covered 
mountains, and bright at night with 
the quenchless splendour of the stars, 
flow through narrow channels to the 
outer ocean ; and against the sky 
great mountains stand vast and immovable, as if from eternity to eter- 
nity. No Norseman, steering his 
adventurous galley along these rocky 
shores, seeing, perhaps, the mighty 
rush of the polar seas against the 
North Cape, and hearing the long 
reverberation of Thor's hammer roll 
from mountain peak to mountain 
peak, would have believed that these 
things had not been as he saw them 
from the very beginning, if the Ed- 
das, wiser than any wisdom of man, 
had not told him of a time when 
even the gods had not begun to 
live, and in the vast space where 
no worlds hung and no heavens 
shone there was nothing but the un- 
seen spirit of the great All-father, 
solitary and silent in the depths. 

Not even the Eddas are able to 
reveal his thoughts or to describe his 
life in the awful solitariness of a silent universe ; they can only declare 
that in his own good time he began 
to build the worlds, and far in the 
north Niflheim rose out of the depths, 
the land of eternal winter wrapped in 
fogs and mists, and far in the south 
Muspelheim, the land of quenchlesr 
fire, glowing with unspeakable heat 
and overhung with clouds and fiery 
sparks, in the midst of whose blind- 
ing heat and light sat Surt, guarding 
the kingdom of fire with a flaming 
sword. Between the land of ice and 
the land of fire yawned the bottom- 
less abyss, Ginungagap, black and 
fathomless, and into it the rivers of 
Niflheim poured with soundless fury, 
and as the icy streams fell into the 
darkness they congealed and hung 
in great masses from the northern- 
edges of the abyss; and over the 
awful chasm and the silent cataracts 
icy fogs gathered and bitter winds 
swept. 

Against the whirling snows and 
shifting fogs of Niflheim glowed 
the wandering flames and floating 
fires of Muspelheim, throwing broad 
beams of light far into the sunless 
abyss, and sending a wide glow 
through the drifting snow. Glitter- 
ing sparks shot into the silent space 
above and floated far off towards 
the north like stars that had wandered 
from their courses ; and as the icy 
mist met the burning heat in the 
upper air, it hung motionless for a 
brief moment and then fell drop by 
drop into the abyss, and there, out 
of heat and cold, fire and fog, ip 
darkness and solitude, the giant Ym^r 
grew into life. To give him food 
the cow Audhumbla was made, and 
as she stood nourishing the giant 

with her milk, she licked the icy 
stones which were covered with salt, 
and straightway the head of a man 
began to take shape, grew larger, and 
on the third day the man stood up- 
right, feir of face and mighty of 
stature ; and his name was Bure. 
Now Bure had a son, whom he 
called Bor, and Bor, in turn, became 
the father of Odin, Vile, and Ve, the 
first of the gods. The giant Ymer 
also was the father of many children 
who were frost-giants and enemies of 
the gods. 

Ymer grew to such vast size, and 
was so full of evil, that Odin, Vile, and 
Ve could not live in peace with him, 
and at last they fell upon him, and 
slew him, and the blood poured in such 
torrents from his great body that all 
the giants, save Bergelmer and his 
wife, were drowned ; these two alone 
escaped on a chest, and from them the 
whole race of the frost-giants sprang. 
The gods dragged Ymer's body into 
the centre of the abyss, and there they 
fashioned the world out of it. They 
wrought with divine beauty and 
power, spreading out the great 
plains, cutting the deep valleys 
through the hills, filling the wide 
seas and sending the waters far up 
into the deep fjords ; and over all 
they stretched the bending heaven, 
and north, south, east, and west set 
a dwarf to keep it in place ; and they 
caught the great sparks that floated 
out of Muspelheim and set them in 
the sky, until the splendour of the 
stars shone over the whole earth. 
Around the world lay the deep sea, 
an endless circle of waters, and beyond 
it were the dreary shores of Jotun- 
heirh, the home of the frost-giants. 

To the giantess Night, and to her 
beautiful son Day, whose father was 
of their own number, the gods gave 
chariots and swift horses that they 
might ride through the sky once in 
every twenty-four hours. Night 
drove first behind the fleet Hrim- 
faxe, and as she ended her course at 
dawn bedewed the waiting earth with 
drops from his bit ; Day flew swiftly 
after his dusky mother, the shining 
mane of his horse, Skinfaxe, filling 
the heavens with light. There was 
also one Mundilfare, who had a 
son and daughter of such exceed- 
ing beauty that he called the one 
Maane, or Moon, and the other 
Sol, or Sun; and the gods were so 
angry at his daring that they set the 
one to guide the Sun and the other 
the Moon in their daily courses 
around the world. So day and night, 
summer and winter, seed-time and 
harvest, were established. 

In the very centre of the earth rose 
a lofty mountain, and on the top of 
It was the beautiful plain of Ida, 
overlooking all lands and seas. Here 
the gods came when their work was 
done, and looked upon all that they 
had made and saw that it was fair; 
the earth, green and fruitful, blos- 
somed at their feet, and the heavens 
bent over them radiant with sun by 
day and filled with the soft splendour 
of moon and stars by night. And 
they chose the plain of Ida for their 
home, and built the shining city of 
Asgard. In the midst of it stood a 
hall of pure gold, whose walls were 
circled with the thrones of the twelve 
gods, and they called it Gladsheim. 
There was a noble hall for the god- 
desses also, and homes for all the 
gods. They made ready a great 
smithy, and filled it with all manner 
of tools, anvils, hammers, and tongs, 
with which to forge the weapons that 
were to slay the giants and keep 
the world in order. From earth 
to heaven they stretched Bifrost, 
the rainbow bridge, over which they 
passed and repassed in their journey- 
tngs. 

When the work was done, and 
Asgard shone like a beautiful cloud 
overhanging the world, there came a 
time so peaceful and happy that it 
was called the Age of Gold. The 
gods had endless sport in games of 
skill and strength on the plains of 
Ida, and day and night the fires 
blazed in the smithy, as, with won- 
derful skill, they fashioned all kinds 
of curious things. There was no 
care nor sorrow anywhere; no clouds 
darkened the sun, no blights fell on 
the growing fields, no mighty tasks 
pressed on the hearts of the gods 
summoning theni out of ease and 
pleasure to great enterprises and aw- 
ful perils. At last the happy time 
came to an end, for one day the 
Norns, or fates, the three terrible 
sisters, Urd, Verdande, and Skuld, 
who determined the course of events 
and shaped the lives of things, took 
their abode at the foot of the tree 
Ygdrasil, and henceforth not even 
the gods were free from care. 

The earth was fruitful, but no one 
tilled its field or crossed its seas; 
the shouts of children at play and 
the ringing voices of the reapers and 
harvesters were never heard. So the 
gods took the earth-mould and out 
of it they made the dwarfs and set 
them to work in the veins of metal 
and in dark caverns under ground. 
It happened also one day that Odin, 
Hoener, and Loder were walking 
together along the shore of the sea, 
and they came upon an ash and an 
elm, two beautiful trees, straight and 
symmetrical and crowned with foliage. 
Odin looked at them long, and a 
great thought came into his mind. 

" Out of these trees," he said at 
last, "let us make man to fill the 
earth and make it fruitful, and he 
shall be our child, and we will care 
for him." 

And out of the ash and the elm 
the first man and woman were made, 
and the gods called the man Ask 
and the woman Embla. 

Chapter II 

Gods and Men 

A GREAT many hundreds of 
years after the creation of the 
world, there ruled in Sweden a wise 
king whose name was Gylfe; and 
the wisdom of this king, like all wis- 
dom, was in part knowledge and in 
larger part goodnes5. He knew how 
to give as well as how to receive. A 
wayfaring woman once found shelter 
at his hands, and, in return told him 
many wonderful stories; which so 
pleased the king that he gave her, as 
9. reward, as much land as four oxen 
could plough in a day and a night. 
Now this woman was of the race of 
the gods and her name was GeQun. 
She took four great oxen from Jotunheim, who were the offspring of a 
giant, and set them before the plough 
and drove them forth into the land 
which the king had set apart for her. 
And the plough, being drawn by 
giants, cut so deep into the soil, that 
it tore away a great piece of land, and 
carried it into the sea to the west, 
and there left it. Gefjun called this 
new country which she had taken 
from the mainland, Seeland; and 
the place from which the land was 
taken was filled by the sea and formed 
a lake which is now called Logrinn. 

This was but the beginning of 
King Gylfe's acquaintance with the 
gods ; for he was a seeker after wis- 
dom and he who searches for wisdom 
must go to the gods to find it. He 
saw the wonderful things which the 
gods did and the marvellous ways in 
which their will was done in Asgardj 
and upon the earth, and he thought 
much upon their power and wondered 
whence it came. He could not make 
up his mind whether these gods, of 
whom he had heard and whose 
mighty works he saw, were powerful 
by reason of the force in themselves, 
or whether they were made strong 
by other and greater gods. After 
thinking much about these things 
and finding that no man could 
answer the questions which he was 
continually asking himself, Gylfe 
assumed the form of a very old man 
and made the long journey to As- 
gard, thinking to learn the secrets 
of the gods without letting them 
know who he was. 

The gods know all things, and 

they not only knew that the old 

man who one day came to Asgard 

was Gylfe, but they knew that he 
was to make the journey long before 
he had so much as thought of it. 
They received him, however, as if 
they thought he was what he ap- 
peared to be, and he learned as much 
as he could understand ; which is as 
much as a man ever learns. 

The gods have often visited men, 
but men have rarely visited the gods, 
and the King's coming to Asgard 
was the beginning of a new wisdom 
among men. 

No sooner did he enter the home 
of the gods than he found himself in 
a great hall, so high that he could 
hardly see over it. And the roof of 
this hall was thatched with shields of 
gold in place of shingles: 

Thinking thatchers 
Thatched the roof; 
The beams of the burg 
Beamed with gold. 

When Gylfe came to the door of 
this great hall he saw a man playing 
with swords with such wonderful 
quickness and skill that he kept 
seven flashing in the air at one time. 
When this player with swords asked 
his name, the king speaking as an 
old man, answered that he was 
Ganglere, or the Walker, that he 
had come a long distance and that 
he begged a lodging for the night; 
and he asked, as if it were a very 
unimportant matter, who owned 
the hall. The man, who was a god 
in disguise, replied that it belonged 
to their king and that he would take 
Ganglere to him. 

"You may ask him his name 
yourself when you see him," he 
added. 

Then the man led the way into 
the hall and no sooner were they 
within its walls than the doors were 
shut. There were many rooms 
under the shining roof and every 
room seemed to be foil of people, 
some of whom were playing games, 
and some were drinking out of great 
horns or cups, and some were fight- 
ing with different kinds of weapons; 
and Gylfe did not understand half of 
the things he saw. He was not at all 
frightened by his ignorance, however, 
and he said to himself: 

Gates all. 

Before in you go. 
You must examine well ; 

For you cannot know 
Where enemies sit 

In the house before you. 

When Gylfe had looked about 
him he saw three seats or thrones 
and upon each of these a nun sat 
high above the throng which played 
and drank and fought. 

"What are the names of these 
kings ? " he asked. And the man 
who led him into the hall answered 
that he who sat on the lowest 
of the three thrones was the king 
and was called Har, and that he who 
sat on the throne next above him 
was called Jafnhar, and he who 
sat on the highest throne was called 
Thride. Now these three gods were 
as many different forms of Odin, 
and Gylfe was really seeing one god 
when he seemed to be seeing three. 

Then Har, or Odin, spoke in a 
deep and wonderful tone and asked 
Gylfe who he was, and why he had 
come there, and bade him welcome 
by inviting him to eat and drink as 
much and often as he chose. But 
Gylfe was so bent upon learning the 
secrets of the gods that he did not 
think of food or drink, nor did he 
stop to answer Har's questions. He 
replied boldly that he wanted to find 
a wise man if there were one. Then 
Har answered him, as the gods often 
answer men, in words which were so 
full of meaning that he did not under- 
stand them until long afterwards : 

" You shall not go from this place 
unharmed unless you go wiser than 
you came." 

It is dangerous to seek the gods, 
unless we profit by what they tell us; 
for it is better to be ignorant than to 
possess knowledge and not live by it. 

Then Gylfe stood boldly before 
Odin, — a man standing in the pres- 
ence of God and seeking for knowl- 
edge, — and asked many and deep 
questions about the gods and their 
ways and power; and about the 
giants, and their homes ; and about 
the making of the world and the crea- 
tion of man ; and about the sun and 
moon and stars ; and about thd sea- 
sons and the wind and fire. And 
Odin answered his questions and told 
him the things which men are eager 
to know, but cannot learn unless 
the gods teach them. 

When Odin had told Gylfe all 
that a man could understand of these 
deep mysteries he refused to answer 
any more questions and bade the 
questioner make the best use of what 
had been told him, and when Odin 
had spoken these words Gylfe heard 
a great noise and found himself stand- 
ing alone in a great plain, and the 
hall and Asgard had vanished utterly. 
Then, filled with wonder by all he 
had heard and seen, he went home to 
his own kingdom, and told of the 
marvellous things which had befallen 
him on his journey to the home of 
the gods ; and what he said was re- 
membered by those who heard the 
wonderful stories and told again to 
their children and their children's 
children to the latest generations. 

Now Gylfe was not the only man 
who talked with the gods ; for -^ger, 
who lived on the island called Hler's 
Isle and was also a man of great wis- 
dom, made the journey to Asgard 
and the gods knew of his coming be- 
fore he came and prepared a great 
feast for him. When the feast began 
Odin had swords brought into the 
hall and these swords were of such 
brightness that they lighted the hall 
without the aid of fire or lamps; 
and the hall was hung with glittering 
shields. The gods sat on their thrones 
and ate and drank with -^ger, and 
Brage told him strange and wonder- 
ful tales of the things which had be- 
fallen the gods. 

And this is the way in which men 
came to know the stories which are 
told in this book. 

Chapter III

Odin's Search for Wisdom 

THE wonderful ash-tree, Ygdra- 
sil, made a far-spreading shade 
against the fierce heat of the sun in 
summer, and a stronghold against the 
piercing winds of winter. No man 
could remember when it had been 
young. Little children played under 
its branches, grew to be strong men 
and women, lived to be old and weary 
and feeble, and died ; and yet the ash- 
tree gave no signs of decay. Forever 
preserving its freshness and beauty, it 
was to live as long as there were men to 
look upon it, animals to feed under it, 
birds to flutter among its branches. 
This mighty ash-tree touched and 
bound all the worlds together in its 
wonderful circle of life. One root 
it sent deep down into the sightless 
depths of Hel, where the dead lived ; 
another it fastened firmly in Jotun- 
heim, the dreary home of the giants ; 
and with the third it grasped Mid- 
gard, the dwelling-place of men. Ser- « 
pents and all kinds of worms gnawed 
continually at its roots, but were never 
able to destroy them. Its branches 
spread out over the whole earth, and 
the topmost boughs swayed in the 
clear air of Asgard itself, rustling 
against the Valhal, the home of the 
heroes who had done great deeds or 
died manfully in battle. At the foot 
of the tree sat the three Norns,wonder- 
ful spinners of fate, who weave the 
thread of every man's life, making it 
what they will ; and a strange weav- 
ing it often was, cut off when the pat- 
tern was just beginning to show itself

And every day these Norns sprinkled 
the tree with the water of life from 
the Urdar fountain, and so kept 
it forever green. In the topmost 
branches sat an eagle singing a strange 
song about the birth of the world, its 
decay and death. Under its branches 
browsed all manner of animals ; among 
its leaves every kind of bird made its 
nest ; by day the rainbow hung under 
it; at night the pale northern light 
flashed over it, and as the winds swept 
through its rustling branches, the mul- 
titudinous murmur of the leaves told 
strange stories of the past and of the 
future. 

The giants were older than the 
gods, and knew so much more of 
the past that the gods had to go to 
them for wisdom. After a time, how- 
ever, the gods became wiser than the 
giants, or they would have ceased to 
be gods, and been destroyed by the 
giants, instead of destroying them. 
When the world was still young, and 
there were still many things which 
even the gods had to learn, Odin was 
so anxious to become wise that he went 
to a deep well whose waters touched 
the roots of Ygdrasil itself The 
keeper of the well was a very old 
and very wise giant, named Mimer, 
or Memory, and he gave no draughts 
out of the well until he was well 
paid; for the well contained the 
water of wisdom, and whoever drank 
of it became straightway wonderfully 
wise. 

" Give me a draught of this clear 
water, O Mimer," said Odin, when he 
had reached the well, and was look- 
ing down into its clear, fathomless 
depths. 

Mimer, the keeper, was so old that 
he could remember everything that 
had ever happened. His eyes were 
clear and calm as the stars, his face 
was noble and restful, and his long 
white beard flowed down to his waist, 

" This water is only to be had at 
a great price," he said in a wonder- 
fully sweet, majestic tone. " I can- 
not give to all who ask, but only to 
those who are able and willing to give 
greatly in return," he continued. 

If Odin had been less of a god he 
would have thought longer and bar- 
gained sharper, but he was so godlike 
that he cared more to be wise and 
great than for anything else. 

" I will give you whatever you ask," 
he answered. 

Mimer thought a moment. " You 
must leave an eye," he said at last. 

Then he drew up a great draught 
of the sparkling water, and Odin 
quenched his divine thirst and went 
away rejoicing, although he had left 
an eye behind. Even the gods could 
not be wise without struggle and toil 
and sacrifice. 

So Odin became the wisest in all 
the worlds, and there was no god or 
giant that could contend with him. 
There was one giant, however, who 
was called all-wise in Jotunheim, with 
whom many had contended in knowl- 
edge, with curious and difficult ques- 
tions, and had always been silenced 
and killed, for then, as now, a man's 
life often depended on his wisdom. 
Of this giant, Vafthrudner, and his 
wisdom many wonderful stories were 
told, and even among the gods his 
fame was great. One day as Odin 
sat thinking of many strange things 
in the worlds, and many mysterious 
things in the future, he thought of 
Vafthrudner. "I will go to Jotun- 
heim and measure wisdom with Vaf- 
thrudner, the wisest of the giants," said 
he to Frigg, his wife, who was sitting 
by. 

Then Frigg remembered those who 
had gone to contend with the all-wise 
giant and had never come back, and a 
fear came over her that the same fate 
might befall Odin. 

" You are wisest in all the worlds, 
All-Father," she said ; " why should 
you seek a treacherous giant who 
knows not half so much as you ? " 

But Odin, who feared nothing, 
could not be persuaded to stay, and 
Frigg sadly said good-by as he passed 
out ofAsgard on his journey tojotun- 
heim. His blue mantle set with stars 
and his golden helmet he left behind 
him, and as he journeyed swiftly those 
who met him saw nothing godlike in 
him ; nor did Vafthrudner when at 
last he stood at the giant's doon 

" I am a simple traveller, Gangraad 
by name," he said, as Vafthrudner 
came gruffly toward him. " I ask 
your hospitality and a chance to strive 
with you in wisdom." The giant 
laughed scornfully at the thought of a 
man coming to contend with him for 
mastery in knowledge. 

" You shall have all you want of 
both," he growled, " and if you can- 
not answer my questions you shall 
never go hence alive." 

He did not even ask Odin to sit 
down, but let him stand in the hall, 
despising him too much to show him 
any courtesy. After a time he began 
to ask questions. 

" Tell me, if you can, O wise Gan- 
graad, the name of the river which di- 
vides Asgard from Jotunheim." 

'The river Ifing, which never 
freezes over," answered Odin quickly, 
as if it were the easiest question in the 
world ; and indeed it was to him, al- 
though no man could have answered 
it Vafthrudner looked up in great 
surprise when he heard the reply. 

" Good," he said, " you have an- 
swered rightly. Tell me, now, the 
names of the horses that carry day and 
night across the sky." 

Before the words were fairly spoken 
Odin replied, " Skinfaxe and Hrim- 
faxe." The giant could not conceal 
his surprise that a man should know 
these things. 

" Once more," he said quickly, as 
if he were risking everything on one 
question ; " tell me the name of the 
plain where the Last Battle will be 
fought." 

This was a terrible question, for the 
Last Battle was still far off in the fu- 
ture, and only the gods and the great- 
est of the giants knew where and when 
It would come. Odin bowed his head 
when he heard the words^ for to be 
ready for that battle was the divine 
work of his life, and then said, slowly 
and solemnly, " On the plain of 
Vigrid, which is one hundred miles on 
each side." 

Vafthrudner rose trembling from 
his seat. He knew now that Gan- 
graad was some great one in disguise, 
and that his own life hung on the an- 
swers he himself would soon be forced 
to make. 

" Sit here beside me," he said, " for, 
whoever you are, worthier antagonist 
has never entered these walls." 

Then they sat down together in the 
rude stone hall, the mightiest of the 
gods and the wisest of the giants, and 
the great contest in wisdom, with a 
life hanging in either scale, went on 
between them. Wonderful secrets 
of the time when no man was and the 
time when no man will be, those silent 
walls listened to as Vafthrudner asked 
Odin one deep question after another, ' 
the answer coming swiftly and surely. 

After a time the giant could ask no 
more, for he had exhausted his wisdom. 

" It is my turn now," said Odin, 
and one after another he drew out from 
Vafthrudner the events of the past, 
then the wonderful things of the race 
of giants, and finally he began to qucs^ 
tion him of that dim, mysterious 
future whose secrets only the gods 
know; and as he touched these won- 
derful things Odin's eyes began to 
flash, and his form to grow larger and 
nobler until he seemed no longer the 
humble Gangraad, but the mighty god 
he was, and Vafthrudner trembled as 
he felt the coming doom nearing him 
with every question. 

So hours went by, until at last Odin 
paused in his swift questioning, 
stooped down and asked the giant, 
" What did Odin whisper in the ear of 
Balder as he ascended the funeral 
pile ? " 

Only Odin himself could answer 
this question, and Vafthrudner re- 
plied humbly and with awe, " Who 
but thyself. All-father, knoweth the 
words thou didst say to thy son in the 
days of old ? I have brought my 
doom upon myself, for in my ignor- 
ance I have contended with wisdom it- 
self. Thou art ever the wisest of all." 

So Odin conquered, and Wisdom 
was victorious, as she always has 
been evefn when she has contended 
with giants. 

Chapter IV 

How Odin brought the Mead 
to Asgard 

BESIDES the gods who lived in 
Asgard and ruled over Mid- 
gard, the world of men, there were 
the Vans, who ruled the seas and 
the air. The greatest of these was 
Njord, who kept the winds in the 
hollow of his hand and vexed the 
seas with storms or spread over them 
the peace of a great calm. His son 
Frey sent rain and sunshine upon 
the earth and cared for the harvests, 
while his daughter Freyja was so full 
of love that she made the whole 
world beautiful with tenderness, and 
filled the hearts of men with the 
sweetest joys they ever knew. 

It happened almost at the begin- 
ning that the gods and the Vans 
went to war with each other, and 
long and fierce was the struggle be- 
tween them. When peace was made 
at last, Njord, Frey, and Freyja 
found homes for themselves in As- 
gard, and henceforth they were all as 
one family. 

While the council at which peace 
was made was being held, a great jar 
stood in the open space between the 
two parties, and when the meeting 
was over the gods were so glad to be 
rid of the troublesome war that they 
resolved to create something that 
should always remind them of the 
council. So they took the great jar 
and out of it they moulded the form 
of a man, and called him Kvaser. 

Kvaser was grown up when he was 
born, and a wonderful man h^ was 
too. In all the worid there was no* 
body so wise as he; ask him any 
question, and he could answer it. 
He knew how the gods lived, how 
the world was made, and what sort 
of places heaven and hell were. 
Kvaser was good, too, as all really 
wise men are. He was a great trav- 
eller, always going from place to 
place, and always welcome, because 
wherever he went he made men wiser 
and better. People sometimes think 
poets rather useless sort of men ; but 
that was not the opinion of the gods, 
for when they made the first poet 
they made the very best man they 
could think of. 

But poets cannot keep out of 
trouble any easier than other men, 
and sometimes not half so well. 
One night as Kvaser was travelling 
along through one of those deep 
valleys that run down to the sea 
in that country, he came to the 
house of two dwarfs with very queer 
names, Galar and Fjalar. They 
were not only little in size, but small 
and mean in nature, and like all 
other people of little nature, they 
were very envious and cruel, and 
they hated Kvaser because he was so 
much nobler than they. Galar had 
a dark, ugly face, which looked still 
uglier when he saw Kvaser coming 
towards the house. 

" Fjalar ! Fjalar ! " he called out, 
" here comes the wise man who al- 
ways talks in rhymes, and thinks he 
knows so much more than anybody 
else." 

And when Fjalar saw the poet 

walking across the fields, a black 

shadow came over his face like a 

thunder-cloud. "Galar," he whispered, looking around to see that 
nobody could hear, "we've got him 
alone ; let *s kill him, and see how 
much good his wisdom will do him/' 
Meanwhile Kvaser was slowly ap- 
proaching the house, and the sea, 
as it dashed against the rocks, was 
making a song in his mind. If you 
had heard him sing it, you would 
have heard the voices of the waves 
as they toss their white caps and 
chase each other foaming and roaring 
and tumbling on the beach. When 
Kvaser came up to the dwarfs they 
pretended to be very glad to see him, 
and told him he was the one person 
above all others they had wanted to 
see, because they had a question they 
had been waiting a long time to ask 
him. Kvaser was so noble himself 
that he never thought evil of any 
one, and when they asked him to 
go with them into a very dark and 
lonely part of the valley, so that 
nobody could hear their talk, he had 
no suspicion that they meant any 
harm ; but no sooner had they come 
to the place than they struck him 
down from behind. Having killed 
him, they caught his blood in two 
jars and a kettle, and mixed it with 
honey, and so the wonderful mead 
was made. It took not only sweet- 
ness but life to make true poetry. 

Not long after this Galar and Fja- 
lar killed a giant named Gilling, and 
were punished for it too; for the 
giant's son, Suttung, when he dis- 
covered how his father had been put 
to death, took the dwarfs out to sea 
and put them on a little rocky island 
where they would certainly be drowned 
when the tide came in, and rowed off 
to leave them ; but the rascals begged 
so hard to be taken off, that he final-* 
ly promised to let them live if they 
would give him the mead. Then 
Suttung took the mead home and put 
it in his cellar, and told his daughter 
Gunlad to watch it day and night, 
for he knew what a precious drink it 
was. So the mead passed out of the 
dwarfs' hands into the keeping of a 
giant. 

Now the gods were very fond of 
Kvaser, and when a long time had 
passed without any word from him, 
they asked Galar and Fjalar if they 
knew anything about him, and the 
dwarfs said he had been choked by 
his own wisdom ; but Odin knew that 
this was a false story. He kept his 
own counsel, and said nothing about 
what he was going to do, but one day 
the gods missed him, and knew he 
had gone on one of his long journeys. 

As he walked along nobody took him 
for a god ; he looked like a very hand- 
some labourer, and in fact that is what 
he really was. He had pretty much 
the whole world in his charge, and 
he had to work very hard to keep it 
in any kind of order. Words could 
hardly describe the beautiful country 
through which Odin took his way, — 
its deep, quiet green valleys, with 
the sparkling cold streams rushing 
through them ; its steep mountains, 
crowned with fir and pine ; its great 
crags standing out into the sea ; and 
its fjords breaking the coast into num- 
berless bays. Odin enjoyed it all, 
for the gods love beauty, but he was 
thinking all the time how he should 
get the mead out of the giant's cellar. 
He knew perfectly well that Suttung 
would never give it up willingly, and 
that he must get it either by force or by 
stratagem. Suttung was very strong, 
and the cellar was cut out of the solid 
rock; and the more Odin thought 
about it the harder it seemed to him. 
If he had been a man he would have 
given up, but that was not his way ; 
besides, he had loved Kvaser, and the 
mead was his blood, and he meant to 
bring it to heaven. 

Now Suttung had a brother named 
Bauge, who was a farmer, and one 
afternoon, as his nine thralls were 
mowing in the fields, they saw a 
stranger coming towards them. It 
was a very uncommon thing to see a 
stranger in that out-of-the-way place, 
and the men all stopped work to 
watch him. He was a farm labourer 
like themselves, but he was very large 
in stature, and had a very noble face 
and manner. 

" A fine meadow of grass," he said 
in a deep musical voice as he joined 
them, " but you find it hard work ; 
your scythes are dull." 

They certainly did look tired and 
overworked. 

" Hand me your scythes and I will 
whet them for you/' continued the 
stranger. The thralls were very glad 
to have anybody do that for them, 
so they gave him their scythes with- 
out saying a word. In a moment the 
valley rang with the quick strokes of 
the stone on the hard metal, and the 
sparks flew in showers around them. 
The men had never seen such a 
whetting of scythes before, and their 
astonishment grew greater still when 
they found that the grass seemed to 
fall like magic before them. The 
mowing, which had been so hard, 
was now the easiest thing in the 
world. 

" Sell us . the whetstone," they 
shouted, crowding around the stranger. 

" Well," said he very coolly, " I 
will sell it, but I must have a good 
price for it." 

Then each demanded it for him- 
self, and while they were quarrel- 
ling as to which should have it, the 
stranger threw it high into the air, 
and bade them fight for it, which 
they did so fiercely that each slew 
his fellow with his scythe, and the 
stranger was left alone in the field. 
He threw the whetstone away, walked 
off, and as the sun was going down, 
came to the giant*s house and asked 
if he might stay all night. Bauge 
was willing, as people were in those 
days, to give supper and a bed to 
the stranger, and asked him in. 
V After supper they talked together, 
and Bauge told the stranger that his 
nine thralls had been fighting in the 
field and had killed each other, and 
that he was in great trouble because 
he did not know where to get men 
to do his work. 

" I *11 do it," said the stranger. 

"Yes," said Bauge, "but you are 
only one." 

"That is true," he answered, "but 
try me and I *11 do the work of all 
nine." 

Bauge looked as if he did n*t be- 
lieve it, but it was one good man 
gained, at least, and that was some- 
thing. 

" What shall I pay you ? " con- 
tinued Bauge, determined to finish 
the bargain before the man had time 
to change his mind. The stranger 
thought a few moments as if he were 
uncertain what pay he wanted. 

" I *11 do the work," he said slowly, 
at last, " if you will give me a drink 
of the mead in your brother's cellar." 
Bauge was very much surprised ; he 
could not understand how the man 
knew anything about the mead. He 
was very sure, however, that Suttung 
would not give him a drop of it, and 
he thought it was a good chance to 
get his work done for nothing, 
"Well," said he, "I can't promise 
you that, for Suttung takes precious 
good care of the mead, but I '11 do 
what I can to help you get it." 

So the bargain was made, and the 
next morning the stranger was at 
work; and all summer, early and 
late, he was in the fields doing the 
work of nine men. Bauge often 
wondered what kind of a man his 
new farm-hand was ; but so long as 
the work was done he cared for 
nothing more, and he asked no questions. The stranger once said his 
name was Bolverk, and that was ail 
he ever said about himself. The 
months went by, winter came, the 
work was all done, and Bolverk 
demanded his pay. 

"We'll go and ask my brother 
about it," said Bauge ; so they both 
went to Suttung. Bauge told his 
brother the bargain he had made 
with his workman, and asked for a 
little of the mead. 

" No," said Suttung very crossly, 
and looking suspiciously at Bolverk ; 
"it's no bargain of mine, and not a 
drop shall you have." 

Bolverk seemed not at all sur- 
prised at his ill fortune, and Bauge 
thought that he had gotten his work 
done for nothing ; but after they had 
gone a little way together and were 
hidden from the house by the trees
Bolverk drew out an auger from 
under his clothing. 

" Bauge," said he, " you promised 
to help me get that mead. I am 
going into Suttung's cellar for it." 

Bauge smiled at the idea of cut- 
ting through a thick rock and getting 
into the cellar with that auger, but 
when it was handed to him he took 
it without saying a word and began 
to bore. It was an astonishing au- 
ger, for no sooner had he pressed it 
against the rock than it began to fly 
around with wonderful rapidity, the 
chips of stone fairly making a cloud 
about him. Once he stopped, for he 
was afraid he really would get into 
the cellar, and told Bolverk he had 
bored through, but Bolverk knew 
that couldn't be true, because the 
chips still flew out; so he told Bauge 
to go on. In a little time the au^ 
soger slipped through. Bauge looked 
around, but there was no Bolverk, 
and while he stared in every direction 
a large worm crept up the rock and 
into the hole. When Bauge caught 
sight of it he thrust the auger hastily 
into the hole, but Bolverk's voice 
answered back from the cellar, "Too 
late, Bauge ; you need n't bore any 
longer." 

Then Bauge suspected that a man 
who had done the work of nine men 
all summer, and suddenly changed 
himself into a worm, must be some- 
body more than common. Bolverk 
was actually in Suttung's house, but 
how was he to get out again with the 
mead? 

Gunlad, the young lady who had 
been charged by her father to watch 
the precious drink day and night, 
was sitting quietly beside it, when she 
was suddenly surprised, and not a 
little frightened, by the apparition of 
a young and beautiful man standing 
before her. What the handsome 
young man said to her nobody 
knows, but he probably told her he 
was very much exhausted, and hinted 
that she was very lovely; that he 
had never seen any one he admired 
so much before. At any rate, he 
persuaded her to let him drink three 
draughts of the mead, only three. 
They were certainly the most as- 
tonishing draughts anybody ever 
heard of, for with the first he 
emptied one jar, with the second 
he emptied the other jar, and with 
the third he finished the kettle. 

And now another wonderful change 

took place. Bolverk had entered as 

a worm, but no sooner had he drunk 

the mead than in an instant he became an eagle, and before Gunlad 
knew what had happened, with 
splendid wings outspread he was 
rising upward in broad, easy flight. 
Through the still air, faster and 
faster, higher and higher, in wide 
circles that swept far round the sum- 
mits of the mountains, in swift ma- 
jestic flight he rose until the earth 
had vanished out of sight, and his 
mighty pinions beat against the gates 
of Asgard. 

So Odin brought the mead to 
heaven, where it remains to this day, 
and only those whom the gods love 
are permitted to drink of it. 

chapter V 

The Wooing of Gerd 

FREY was busy enough in sum- 
mer, when the sunlight was to 
fall warm and fruitful along the moun- 
tain ridges and deep into the val- 
leys, and the gentle showers were to 
be gathered far out at sea and driven 
by the winds across the heavens, weav- 
ing soft draperies of mist about the 
hills, or folding the landscape in 
with blinding curtains of rain as 
they passed ; for the sowing and the 
harvesting and the ripening of the 
fruit were his to watch over and 
care for. But when winter came, 
Frey was idle day in and day out, 
and so it happened, in this long dull 
season, that he was wandering rest- 
lessly one morning about Asgard, 
when he saw that Odin's throne was 
empty. To sit upon it and look 
out over the world was the thought 
that flashed into Frey's mind and 
out again, leaving him more idle and 
restless than before. Neither man 
nor god, save Odin, had dared to sit 
in that awful seat, from which* noth- 
ing was hidden ; but when one has 
nothing to do, it is easy to do wrong. 
Frey wandered about a little longer, 
and then boldly mounted the steps 
and sat down on the throne of the 
world. 

What a wonderful view it was ! 
There lay Asgard beautiful in the 
morning light; there were the rol- 
ling clouds like great waves in the 
clear heaven ; there was the world 
with its steep mountains and tossing 
seas; and there was Jotunheim, the 
home of the giants, gloomy and for- 
bidding, — great black cliffs standing 
along the coast like grim sentinels. 
Frey looked long and earnestly at 
this dreary place where the enemies 
of the gods lived, hating the sun- 
shine and the summer, and always 
plotting to bring back winter and 
barrenness to the earth ; and as he 
looked he saw a massive house 
standing alone amid the hills. Dark 
shadows lay across the gloomy land- 
scape, cold winds swept over the 
stony valleys, and not one bright or 
beautiful thing was visible in all the 
country round. In a moment, how- 
ever, a figure moved out of the shad- 
ows, and a maiden walked slowly to 
the desolate house, mounted the 
steps, paused a moment at the door, 
and then raised her arms to loosen 
the latch. Straightway a wonder^ 
ful warmth and light stole over the 
hills. As she stood with uplifted 
arms she was so beautiful that earth 
and air were flooded with her loveli- 
ness, and even the heavens were 
radiant. When she opened the door 
and closed it behind her the shadows 
deepened among the hills, and Frey's 
heart was fast bound among the 
rocks of Jotunheim. He had been 
punished for sitting in the seat of 
Odin. 

For days Frey neither ate, slept, 
nor spoke. He wandered about, 
silent and gloomy as a cloud, and no 
one dared ask him why he was 
so sorrowful. Njord, Frey's father, 
waited until he could wait no longer, 
and then with a heavy heart sent for 
Skirner, whom Frey loved as his 
own brother, and begged him to find 
the cause of all this sadness. Skirncr 
came upon Frey walking about with 
folded arms and eyes cast gloomily 
upon the ground. 

" Why do you stay here all day 
alone?" he asked. "Where are 
the light and joy that have always 
been yours ? " 

"The sun shines every day, but 
not for me," answered Frey. 

" We were children together," said 
Skirner, laying his hand on Frey's 
arm ; " we trust each other's truth ; 
tell me your sorrow." 

And Frey told him how he had 
climbed into the seat of Odin and 
looked upon Jotunheim and seen 
the beautiful maiden like a sunbeam 
among shadows, like a sudden coming 
of summer when snows are deep, and 
that he could never be happy again 
until he had won her for himself. 

" If that is all, it is easily managed," 
said Skirner when he had heard the 
story. " Give me your swiftest horse 
that can ride through fire and flame, 
and the sword which swings itself 
when giants are opposed, and I will 
go to Jotunheim." 

Frey was too glad to get the desire 
of his heart to delay about giving up 
the horse and the sword, and Skirner 
was soon mounted and riding like the 
wind on his dreary journey. Night 
came on, the black shadows of the 
mountains lay across the fjords as he 
passed, and one by one the endless 
procession of the stars moved along 
the summits of the hills as if they 
would bear him company. All night 
the hard hoofs rang on the stony way, 
scattering showers of sparks at every 
step. Faster and faster the daring 
rider drove the faithful horse untiL his flight was like the flash and rua^ 
of the thunderbolt. 

" Rush on, brave horse," shouted 
Skirner; "we shall return with the 
prize or the mighty giant will keep 
us both." 

At last the long journey was over 
and the gloomy house reached. It was 
the home of the frost-giant Gymer, 
and the beautiful maiden who stood 
at the door when Frey was on Odin's 
throne was Gerd, the giant's daughter. 
Fierce dogs were chained about the 
gate and rushed savagely upon Skir- 
ner, barking furiously as if they 
would tear him limb from limb. 
So he turned aside and rode up to 
a shepherd sitting on a mound near 
by. 

"Shepherd, how shall I quiet these 
dogs and speak with Gymer's daugh- 
ter ? " he asked, 

The shepherd looked at him with 
wonder in his eyes. 

Who are you," he answered, 
and whence do you come? Are 
you doomed to die, or are you a ghost 
already? Whoever you are, you 
will never get speech with Gymer's 
daughter." 

" I am not afraid," said Skirner 
proudly ; " fate has already fixed the 
day of my death, and it cannot be 
changed." 

Skirner's voice rang clear and strong 
above the howling of the dogs, and 
Gerd in her chamber heard the brave 
words. 

"What noise is that ? " she called 
to her maidens. "The very earth 
shakes and the foundations tremble." 

One of the maidens looked out and 
saw Skirner. 

"A warrior stands without the 
wall," she answered ; " and while he 
waits, his horse eats the grass before 
the gates." 

*^ Bid him enter at once and quaff 
the pleasant mead, for I fear the slay- 
er of my brother has come." 

Skirner needed no second invita- 
tion, and, quickly springing to the 
ground, walked through the stony 
halls and stood before the beautiful 
Gerd. She looked keenly at him for 
a moment and knew from his bright- 
ness and beauty that he was from 
Asgard. 

" Are you god, or elf? " she ask- 
ed ; " and why have you come through 
night and flame to visit Gymer's 
halls?" 

" I am neither elf nor god," said 

Skirner ; " and yet I have come to your 

home through night and flame. Frey, 

beautiful among the gods and loved 

of all the earth, has seen your beauty 
and can never be happy again until 
he has won you for himself. I bring 
you eleven beautiful apples if you will 
go back with me." 

" I will not go," was Gerd's quick 
answer. 

" This wonderful ring, which every 
ninth night drops eight other rings 
as rich as itself, shall be yours," said 
Skirner, holding Draupner in his hand 
and gently urging her. 

Gerd frowned angrily, " I will not 
take your wondrous ring. I have 
gold enough in my father's house." 

" Then," said Skirner, casting aside 
his gentleness, " look at this flashing 
sword ! If you will not return I will 
strike your fair head from your body." 

Gerd drew herself up to her full 
height and answered, with flashing 
eyes, " I will never be won by force. 
As for your threats, my father will 
meet you sword for sword." 

" I will quickly slay him," said 
Skirner angrily. But Gerd only 
smiled scornfully ; she was too cold 
to be won by gifts and too proud to 
be moved by threats. 

Skirner's face suddenly changed. 
He drew out a magic wand, and with 
eyes fixed upon her and in a solemn 
voice, as he waved it over her, he 
chanted an awful mystic curse. 
There was breathless silence in the 
room while Skirner with slow move- 
ments of the wand wove about Gerd 
dread enchantments and breathed over 
her the direful incantation : — 

" If you refuse, may you sit in ev- 
erlasting darkness on some dreary 
mountain top; may terrors crowd 
round you in awful shapes «ind 
tears never cease to fall from your 
eyes; hated of gods and men, may 
you pass your life in solitude and des- 
olation ! 

** 'T is done ! I wind the mystic chann ; 
Thus, thus I trace the giant form ; 
And three fell characters below. 
Fury, and Lust, and Restless Woe. 
E'en as I wound, I straight unwind 
This fatal spell, if you are kind." ^ 

Skirner stopped, and an awful still- 
ness followed. Gerd, trembling under 
the terrible curse, stood quivering 
with bowed head and clasped hands. 
Her pride could not yield, but some- 
thing told her that to live with a god 
was better than to stay in the home 
of a frost-giant. A gentle warmth 
seemed to steal through and melt her 
icy coldness. She raised her face, 
and it was so softened that they hard- 
ly knew her. 

1 Andersen's Norse Mythology. 
" I greet you," she said, " with this 
brimming cup of mead, but I did 
not think that I should ever love 
a god." 

When Skirner pressed her to go 
back with him, she promised to meet 
Frey nine days hence and become his 
bride in the groves of Bar-isle. 

Skirner was soon mounted and rid- 
ing homeward as fast as his horse 
could carry him. He was so happy 
in the thought of Frey's happiness 
that the distance seemed short, and as 
he drew near he saw Frey standing be- 
fore his father's halls, looking anxious- 
ly for his coming. 

** She is yours ! " he shouted, urg- 
ing his horse into swifter flight. 

" When ? " said Frey eagerly. 

" Nine days hence, in the groves of 
Bar-isle," joyfully replied Skirner, 
who expected to be loaded with 
thanks. Frey, however, was so eager 
that he forgot what night and flame 
his friend had ridden through for love 
of him. 

" One day is long ; long, indeed, 
are two. How shall I wait for 
three ? " was all the thanks Skirner 
got. 

The days that followed were long 
enough for Frey ; but even the long- 
est day comes to an end, and at last 
the ninth day came. Never sun 
shone so brightly or south wind 
blew so musically as on the morning 
when at Bar-isle, under the branches 
of the great trees, Frey found the 
beautiful Gerd waiting for his com- 
ing, far lovelier than when she stood 
before her father's door. And the 
whole earth was happy in them, for 
while they stood with clasped hands 
the skies grew soft, the trees put on 
a tender green, the flowers blossomed 
along the mountain side, the ripening 
grain swayed in the fields, and sum- 
mer lay warm and fragrant over the 
land. 

chapter VI 

The Making of the Hammer 

ONE day as Sif, Thor's beautiful 
wife, was sitting in the palace 
Bilskirner in Thrudvang, or thunder- 
world, she fell asleep, with her long 
hair falling about her shoulders like 
a shower of gold. She made a very 
pretty picture as she sat there in the 
sunlight; at least Loke thought so 
as he passed by and saw her motion- 
less, like the statue of a goddess in a 
great temple, instead of a living god- 
dess in her own palace. Loke never 
saw anything beautiful without the 
wish that somehow he might spoil 
it ; and when he noticed that Sif was 
asleep he thought it was a good time 
to carry off her golden hair, and so 
rob her of that of which Thor was 
most proud. As noiselessly as he 
could, and more like a thief than a 
god, he stole into the palace, cut off 
the golden locks and carried them 
away, without leaving one behind as 
a trace of his evil deed. When Sif 
awoke and found her beautiful hair 
gone, she went and hid herself, lest 
Thor coming home should miss the 
beauty which had always been like 
light to his eyes. 

And presently Thor came; but 
no Sif was there to meet him, mak- 
ing him forget with one proud look 
from her tender eyes the dangers 
and labours of his life. She had 
never failed to greet him at the 
threshold before ; and the strong 
god's heart, which had never beat a 
second quicker at sight of the great- 
est giant in the world, grew faint 
with fear that in his absence some 
mishap had befallen her. He ran 
quickly from room to room in the 
palace, and at last he came upon Sif, 
hidden behind a pillar, her shorn 
head in her hands, weeping bitterly. 
In a few broken words she told 
Thor what had happened, and as 
she went on, Thor's wrath grew 
hotter and hotter until he was ter- 
rible to behold. Lightnings flashed 
out of his deep-set eyes, the palace 
trembled under his angry strides, 
and it seemed as if his fury would 
burst forth like some awful tempest 
uprooting and destroying everything 
in its path. 

" I know who did it," he shouted, 
when Sif had ended her story. " It 
was that rascally Loke, and I'll break, 
every bone in his thievish body;" 
and without as much as saying good* 
by to his sobbing wife, he strode off 
like a thunder-cloud to Asgard, and 
there, coming suddenly upon Loke, 
he seized him by the neck and would 
have killed him on the spot had not 
Loke confessed his deed and prom- 
ised to restore the golden hair. 

" I '11 get the swarthy elves to 
make a crown of golden hair for Sif 
more beautiful than she used to 
wear/' gasped Loke, in the iron 
grasp of the angry Thor ; and Thor, 
who cared more for Sif's beauty than 
for Loke's punishment, let the thief 
go, having bound him by solemn 
pledges to fulfil his promise without 
delay, 

Loke lost no time, but went far 
underground to the gloomy smithy 
of the dwarfs, who were called 
Ivald's sons, and who were wonder- 
ful workers in gold and brass. 

" Make me a crown of golden 
hair," said Loke, "that will grow 
like any other hair, and I will give 
you whatever you want for your 
work." 

The bargain was quickly made, 
and the busy little dwarfs were soon 
at their task, and in a little time they 
had done all that Loke asked, and 
more too ; for in addition to the 
shining hair they gave Loke the 
spear Gungner and the famous ship 
Skidbladner. 

With these treasures in his arms 
Loke came into Asgard and began 
boasting of the wonderful things he 
had brought from the smithy of 
Ivald's sons. 

** Nobody like the sons of Ivald 
to work in metal ! " he said. " The 
other dwarfs are all stupid little 
knaves compared with them," 
Now it happened that the dwarf 
Brok was standing by and heard 
Loke's boasting; his brother Sindre 
was so cunning a workman that most 
of the dwarfs thought him by far the 
best in the world. It made Brok 
angry, therefore, to hear the sons of 
Ivald called the best workmen, and 
he spoke up and said, " My brother 
Sindre can make more wonderful 
things of gold and iron and brass 
than ever the sons of Ivald thought 
of." 

"Your brother Sindre," repeated 
Loke scornfully. "Who is your 
brother Sindre ? " 

" The best workman in the world," 
answered Brok. 

Loke laughed loud and long. 

" Go to your wonderful brother 

Sindre," said he, "and tell him if 

he can make three such precious 
things as the spear, the ship, and the 
golden hair, he shall have my head 
for his trouble." And Loke laughed 
longer and louder than before. 

Brok was off to the underworld 
before the laugh died out of his ears, 
determined to have Loke's head if 
magic and hard work could do it 
He went straight to Sindre and told 
him of the wager he had laid with 
Loke, and in a little while Sindre 
was hard at work in his smithy. It 
was a queer place for such wonder- 
ful work as was done in it, for it was 
nothing but a great cavern under- 
ground, with tools piled up in little 
heaps around its sides, and thick 
darkness everywhere when the fur- 
nace fire was not sending its glow 
out into the blackness. If you had 
looked in now, you would have seen 
a broad glare of light streaming out 
from the furnace, for Brok was blow- 
ing the bellows with all his might, 
and the coals were fairly blazing with 
heat. When all was ready Sindre 
took a swine-skin, put it into the 
furnace, and telling Brok to blow 
the bellows until his return, went 
out of the smithy. Brok kept 
steadily at work, although a gad-fly 
flew in, buzzed noisily about, and, 
finally settling on his hand, stung 
him so that he could hardly bear 
it. After a while Sindre came back 
and took out of the furnace a won- 
derful boar with bristles of pure 
gold. 

Then Sindre took some gold, and 
placing it in the furnace bade Brok 
blow as if his life depended on 
it, and went out a second time. 
Brok had no sooner begun blowing 
than the troublesome gad-fly came 
back, and fastening upon his neck 
stung him so fiercely that he could 
hardly keep his hands away from his 
neck ; but Brok was a faithful dwarf, 
who meant to do his work thoroughly 
if he died for it, and so he blew 
away as if it were the easiest thing in 
the world, until Sindre came back 
and took a shining ring from the 
fire. The third time Sindre put 
iron into the fire, and bidding Brok 
blow without ceasing, went out again. 
No sooner had he gone than the 
gad-fly flew in, and settling between 
Brok*s eyes stung him so sharply 
that drops of blood ran down into 
his eyes, and he could not see what 
he was doing. He blew away as 
bravely as he could for some time, 
but the pain was so keen, and he 
was so blind, that at last he raised 
his hand quickly to brush the fly 
away. That very instant Sindre 
returned. 

" You have almost spoiled it/' he 
said, as he took out of the glowing 
furnace the wonderful hammer Mjol- 
ner. " See how short you have made 
the handle ! But you can't lengthen 
it now. So carry the gifb to Asgard, 
and bring me Loke's head." 

Brok started off with the golden 
boar, the shining ring, and the terri- 
ble hammer. 

When he came through the great 
gate of Asgard the gods were very 
anxious to see the end of this strange 
contest, and taking their seats on 
their shining thrones they appointed 
Odin, Thor, and Frey to judge be- 
tween Loke and Brok, as to which 
had the most wonderful things* 
Then Loke brought out the spear 
Gungner, which never misses its 
mark, and gave it to Odin ; and the 
golden hair he gave to Thor, who 
placed it on SiPs head, and straight- 
way it began to grow like any other 
hair, and Sif was as beautiful as on 
the day when Loke saw her in 
Thor's palace, and robbed her of 
her tresses ; and to Frey he gave 
the marvellous ship Skidbladner, 
which always found a breeze to drive 
it wherever its master would go, no 
matter how the sea was running, nor 
from what quarter the wind was 
blowing, and which could be folded 
up and carried in one's pocket. 
Then Loke laughed scornfully. 

" Bring out the trinkets' which that 
wonderful brother of yours has made," 
he said. 

Brok came forward, and stood be- 
fore the wondering gods with his 
treasures. 

'* This ring," said he, handing it to 
Odin, " will cast off, every ninth night, 
eight other rings as pure and heavy 
as itself. This boar," giving it to 
Frey, "will run more swiftly in the 
air, and on the sea, by night or by 
day, than the swiftest horse, and no 
night will be so dark, no world so 
gloomy, that the shining of these bris- 
tles shall not make it light as noon- 
day. And this hammer," placing 
Mjolner in Thor's strong hands, 
" shall never fail, no matter how big 
nor how hard that which it smites 
may be; no matter how far it is 
thrown, it will always return to your 
hand ; you may make it so small that 
it can be hidden in your bosom, and 
its only fault is the shortness of its 
handle." 

Thor swung it round his head, and 
lightning flashed and flamed through 
Asgard, deep peals of thunder rolled 
through the sky, and mighty masses 
of cloud piled quickly up about him. 
The gods gathered around, and 
passed the hammer from one to the 
other, saying that it would be their 
greatest protection against their ene- 
mies, the frost-giants, who were 
always trying to force their way into 
Asgard, and they declared that Brok 
had won the wager. Brok's swarthy 
little face was as bright as his brother's 
furnace fire, so delighted was he to 
have beaten the boastful Loke. But 
how was he to get his wager, now he 
had won it ? It was no easy matter 
to take the head off a god's shoulders. 
Brok thought a moment. " I will 
take Loke's head," he said finally, 
thinking some of the other gods 
might help him. 

" I will give you whatever you 
want in place of my head," growled 
Loke, angry that he was beaten, and 
having no idea of paying his wager 
by losing his head. 

" I will have your head or I will 
have nothing," answered the plucky 
little dwarf, determined not to be 
cheated out of his victory. ^ 

"Well, then, take it," shouted 
Loke ; but by the time Brok reached 
the place where he had been stand- 
ing, Loke was far away, for he wore 
shoes with which he could run through 
the air or over the water. Then Brok 
asked Thor to find Loke and bring 
him back, which Thor did promptly, 
for the gods always saw to it that 
people kept their promises. When 
Loke was brought back Brok wanted 
to cut his head off at once. 

" You may cut off my head, but 
you have no right to touch my neck," 
said Loke, who was cunning, as welV 
as wicked. That was true, and of 
course the head could not be taken 
off without touching the neck, so 
Brok had to give it up. 

But he determined to do something 
to make Loke feel that he had won 
his wager, so he took an awl and a 
thong and sewed his lips together 
so tightly that he could make no 
more boastings. 

Chapter VII 

Odin in Geirrod's Palace 

IT was as lovely a morning as ever 
dawned when Geirrod and Agnar, 
sons of old King Hraudung, pushed 
their boat out from the rocky shore 
for a day's fishing. The sky over- 
head was as blue as Odin's wonder- 
ful mantle ; and the sea beneath them 
as blue as the sky. They could see 
the mountain tops far off behind them 
and every rock along the beach for 
miles and miles away. It was happi- 
ness just to be out of doors in such 
weather, and as the rowers bent to their 
work there was such strength and joy 
in them that the boat skimmed over 
the water like a living thing. When 
they were fairly out where the wind 
blew freshly and the waves danced 
merrily, they let their lines into the sea 
and began to lay wagers on the luck. 
Geirrod, who was selfish and pushing, 
generally got the best of things, and 
was very certain that he would carry 
home more fish than Agnar. But be- 
fore they had talked much about it they 
were too busy to talk at all. Such luck 
befell them as they had never had be- 
fore. No sooner did the line touch 
the water than it was travelling off in 
the mouth of some hungry fish who 
was quickly landed in the bottom of 
the boat. All the morning the boys 
were so busy that they did not once 
look at the sky, and when the sun 
began to sink a little toward the west 
they took no thought of the dark 
clouds scudding along overhead nor 
of the rising wind whistling over the 
white caps. And while they let down 
and drew up their lines the sky grew 
darker and darker, until not a spot 
of blue was to be seen anywhere, and 
the wind rose higher and higher, 
driving the sea in spray before it. 
When at last the storm broke on 
Geirrod and Agnar it was too late to 
reach the shore. The waves ran so 
high that the boat was almost swamp- 
ed in the trough of the sea, and the. 
next minute the angry waters had 
snatched both oars out of the hands 
of the rowers and flung them far off 
to leeward. There was nothing to 
do but to sit still and be carried on 
by wave and wind. The boys were 
good Norsemen, and though they 
were drenched to the skin, and blind- 
ed by spray, they were cool and brave. 
The roar of the sea and the tempest 
was sweeter music in their ears than 
the melody of harp-strings in their 
father's palace. Holding on as best 
they could they watched the rushing 
clouds until darkness fell on the sea 
and they were alone with the tempest. 
They could not speak to each other, 
for the uproar of the wind and the 
waves drowned all other sounds ; they 
could do nothing; they could only 
wait ; and as they waited the night 
wore on. Suddenly there came a 
sound they both knew, and which 
made even their bold hearts beat a 
little faster, — the sound of the break- 
ers. They strained their eyes, peer- 
ing anxiously into the darkness, but 
not a thing could they see. They 
were driven on faster and faster, until 
a mighty wave lifted the boat a mo- 
ment in mid-air and then flung it 
broken and shattered on to the rocks. 
How Geirrod and Agnar got ashore 
they could never tell. They remem- 
bered nothing but an awful crash, a 
blinding rush of waters, and then, 
coming slowly back to life they found 
themselves bruised and bleeding on 
the shore of an island far off the coast 
they had sailed from. When morn- 
ing broke at last, clear and cold, as 
if the earth had been made over in- 
stead of torn to pieces in the night, 
they made their way slowly and pain- 
fully back from the shore. They had 
gone but a little way when they were 
overjoyed to see a thin column of 
smoke rising into the clear air, and a 
moment after they were at the door 
of a little farm-house. The farmer- 
was very poor, for the island was small 
and rocky, but he had a striking form, 
and a face more noble than any the 
boys had ever seen at their father's 
court. 

"We have been wrecked upon 
this island," said Geirrod, who was 
always the first to speak. " Can 
you give us food ? " 

The farmer looked at them thought- 
fully, as if he saw a great deal in their 
faces that was interesting. 

" Certainly we can," said he, in a 
deep, musical voice. " No man ever 
went hungry from Grimner's door. 
Here, wife," turning back to the 
open door, "set what you have 
before these young sailors." 

Geirrod and Agnar had sat at 
kings* tables all their lives, but they 
had never eaten at such a feast as 
the farmer's good wife spread for 
them on the plain table. Like her 
husband, she was very large of form 
and beautiful of feature, and she 
looked as if she might be the mother 
of half of the world, as indeed she 
was, and of the other half too. 
Breakfast over, the boys told the 
story of their parentage, their fish- 
ing, the storm and the wreck, the 
farmer glancing at his wife, from 
time to time, as if it greatly pleased 
him. 

" Boys," said he when the story 
was told, "the season changed with 
the storm which brought you here. 
Winter has set in, and you must 
stay under our roof until spring. 
The house is not very large, but it 
will keep us all, I trust." 

The good wife nodded approval, 
and the boys themselves were not 
sorry to stay, so great a fancy had 
they already taken to the pair. What 
a winter that was ! The days were 
so short that they could hardly be 
called days at all. The cold was 
bitter, the winds roared about the 
little island, and the sea rushed upon 
it as if it meant to sweep the little 
piece of earth out of sight forever ; 
but the boys cared for none of these 
things. Agnar spent all his time 
with the farmer's wife, and Teamed 
to love her as if she were his mother ; 
but Geirrod never left Grimner's 
side for an hour if he could help it. 
Never was there such a farmer be- 
fore. He seemed to know every- 
thing, and he was willing to tell the 
boy all he knew himself. He told 
him stories of the strong and valiant 
Norsemen who had made perilous 
voyages and performed mighty deeds 
of valour ; he described the wonders 
of the heavens and the secrets of the 
sea and the mysteries of earth ; he 
even once or twice spoke of the 
gods themselves, and of Asgard, 
where they dwelt a glorious com- 
pany of strong spirits ; and when h ♦ 
spoke of these things his eyes flashed 
and his form grew so large that he 
seemed to Geirrod no longer the 
island farmer, but a god in human 
guise. He spoke of courage too, 
and of honour, truthfulness and hos- 
pitality, until the boy's selfish heart 
grew generous for a little while, and 
he wanted to do some noble thing 
himself 

In such talks as these, and with 
short wanderings about the storm- 
beaten shores of the island, the 
winter passed quickly away, and be- 
fore the boys were ready to go the 
sky had grown soft and the water 
calm again. Grimner built a new 
boat for them, and one morning, 
when all was ready, they pushed out, 
with many farewells, from the home 
that had sheltered them so many 
months, and rowed swiftly home-, 
ward. Grimner's last earnest word 
to Geirrod was, " Be true and noble." 
But Geirrod was too selfish to carry 
away the great thoughts which the 
farmer had given him; the burning 
words, the stories of great deeds he 
had listened to had made him ambi- 
tious to be strong, but not to be 
good. No sooner were the boys 
afloat than evil thoughts took pos- 
session of him and held him until 
the boat touched shore on the main- 
land, and then they mastered him 
entirely, so that he sprang out on to 
the land and gave the boat a mighty 
lurch back into the sea, shouting to 
Agnar, " Go away and may the evil 
spirits seize you!" 

Then, without looking back, he 
hastened to the palace, where he was 
at once greeted as King, for his 
father was dead. Agnar, after many 
adventures, landed in a far-off part 
of the country, and ended by marry- 
ing a giantess. 

Years passed away, and Geirrod 
had almost forgotten the evil he had 
done his brother; but the Fates 
never let the sins of men go unpun- 
ished. It happened one day that as 
Odin, the father of the gods and of 
men, and his wife Frigg were sitting 
upon their throne overlooking the 
whole earth, they spoke of the boys 
who had been with them on the 
island; for the farmer Grimner and 
his wife were none other than the 
greatest of the gods. 

"Look at Agnar," said Odin, 
" whom you brought up, wasting his 
time with a giantess, while my foster 
son Geirrod rules his kingdom right 
royally." 

Now although Frigg was a god- 
dess, she had some weaknesses like 
the rest of us, and she was annoyed 
that her teaching had done so little 
for Agnar, and that Odin should 
notice it too, so she answered, " It 's 
all very well to talk about Geirrod's 
reigning right royally, but he is no 
true King, for he puts his guests to 
torture." 

Odin was indignant that such a 
charge should be brought against his 
favourite, and after much dispute the 
two laid a wager, and Odin said he 
would visit Geirrod in disguise and 
settle the matter himself. 

Now Geirrod was not really in- 
hospitable, but Frigg sent word to 
him to keep a sharp look-out for a 
dangerous wizard who was coming 
his way; and so it happened that 
one morning when a very old man, 
in a long robe of grey fur, stopped 
at the door and asked shelter, the 
King had him brought into the great 
council chamber, and began to ques- 
tion him. He asked him who he 
was, from what country he came, 
and what was the end of his journey, 
but not a word would the old man 
answer. Whereupon Geirrod, get- 
ting very angry and not a little 
frightened, had two fires built on 
the stone floor, and bound the 
stranger between them. Eight days 
the old man sat there in the awful 
heat, silent and motionless. No one 
gave him a thought of pity or a 
word of comfort save little Agnar, 
Geirrod's son, who brought him a 
cooling drink, and told him how 
cruel he thought his father was. On 
the last day the fires had crept so 
near that the for coat began to burn, 
and then suddenly the old man found 
his voice, and what a voice it was ! 
It filled the council chamber like the 
tones of some great organ, so sweet 
and deep and wonderful it was. 
Bound between the blazing flames 
that joined their fiery tongues above 
his head and beat fiercely against the 
vaulted roof, the old man broke into 
such a song as had never been heard 
on earth before. He sang the birth 
of gods, the glories of Asgard, the 
secrets of fate, such things as only 
Odin himself could know; and as 
the song deepened in its tone, and 
the awful secrets of the other world 
were revealed, Geirrod's throne trem- 
bled beneath him, for in the tortured 
stranger he saw now the mighty Odin 
himself He started up to break the 
bonds and scatter the flaming brands, 
dropped his sword, caught it by a 
swift thrust, slipped suddenly, fell on 
the glittering blade, and rolled dead 
at Odin's feet. His sin was pun- 
ished. Odin vanished, and little 
Agnar was King. 


Chapter VIII 

The Apples of I dun 

ONCE upon a time Odin, Loke, 
and Hoener started on a 
journey. They had often travelled 
together before on all sorts of errands, 
for they had a great many things to 
look after, and more than once they 
had fallen into trouble through the 
prying, meddlesome, malicious spirit 
of Loke, who was never so happy as 
when he was doing wrong. When 
the gods went on a journey they 
travelled fast and hard, for they were 
strong, active spirits who loved noth- 
ing so much as hard work, hard 
blows, storm, peril, and struggle. 
There were no roads through the 
country over which they made their 
way, only high mountains to be 
climbed by rocky paths, deep valleys 
into which the sun hardly looked 
during half the year, and swift-rush- 
ing streams, cold as ice, and treach- 
erous to the surest foot and the 
strongest arm. Not a bird flew 
through the air, not an animal 
sprang through the trees. It was 
as still as a desert. The gods walked 
on and on, getting more tired and 
hungry at every step. The sun was 
sinking low over the steep, pine- 
crested mountains, and the travellers 
had neither breakfasted nor dined. 
Even Odin was beginning to feel the 
pangs of hunger, like the most ordin- 
ary mortal, when suddenly, entering 
a little valley, the famished gods 
came upon a herd of cattle. It was 
the work of a minute to kill a great 
ox and to have the carcass swinging in a huge pot over a roaring 
fire. 

But never were gods so unlucky 
before ! In spite of their hunger 
the pot would not boil. They piled 
on the wood until the great flames 
crackled and licked the pot with their 
fiery tongues, but every time the 
cover was lifted there was the meat 
just as raw as when it was put in. 
It is easy to imagine that the trav- 
ellers were not in very good humor. 
As they were talking about it, and 
wondering how it could be, a voice 
called out from the branches of the 
oak overhead, " If you will give me 
my fill I '11 make the pot boil." 

The gods looked first at each 
other and then into the tree, and 
there they discovered a great eagle. 
They were glad enough to get their 
supper on almost any terms, so they 
told the eagle he might have what 
he wanted if he would only get the 
meat cooked. The bird was as good 
as his word, and in less time than it 
takes to tell it supper was ready. 
Then the eagle flew down and picked 
out both shoulders and both legs. 
This was a pretty large share, it must 
be confessed, and Loke, who was 
always angry when anybody got more 
than he, no sooner saw what the 
eagle had taken than he seized a 
great pole and began to beat the 
rapacious bird unmercifully. Where- 
upon a very singular thing happened, 
as singular things always used to 
happen when the gods were con- 
cerned : the pole stuck fast in the 
huge talons of the eagle at one end, 
and Loke stuck fast at the other end. 
Struggle as he might, he could not 
get loose, and as the great bird sailed 
away over the tops of the trees, i^oke 
went pounding along on the ground, 
striking against rocks and branches 
until he was bruised half to death. 

The eagle was not an ordinary 
bird by any means, as Loke soon 
found when he begged for mercy. 
The giant Thjasse happened to be 
flying abroad in his eagle plumage 
when the hungry travellers came 
under the oak and tried to cook the 
ox. It was into his hands that Loke 
had fallen, and he was not to get 
away until he had promised tc pay 
roundly for his freedom. 

If there was one thing which the 
gods prized above their other treas- 
ures in Asgard, it was the beautiful 
fruit of Idun, kept by the goddess in 
a golden casket and given to the 
gods to keep them forever young and 
fair. Without these Apples all their 
power could not have kept them from 
getting old like the meanest of mor- 
tals. Without these Apples of Idun 
Asgard itself would have lost its 
charm ; for what would heaven be 
without youth and beauty forever 
shining through it? 

Thjasse told Loke that he could 
not go unless he would promise 
to bring him the Apples of Idun. 
Loke was wicked enough for any- 
thing ; but when it came to robbing 
the gods of their immortality, even 
he hesitated. And while he hesi- 
tated the eagle dashed hither and 
thither, flinging him against the sides 
of the mountains and dragging him 
through the great tough boughs of 
the oaks until his courage gave out 
entirely, and he promised to steal the 
Apples out of Asgard and give them 
to the giant. 

Loke was bruised and sore enough 
when he got on his feet again to 
hate the giant who handled him so 
roughly, with all his heart, but he 
was not unwilling to keep his prom- 
ise to steal the Apples, if only for 
the sake of tormenting the other 
gods. But how was it to be done ? 
Idun guarded the golden fruit of 
immortality with sleepless watchful- 
ness. No one ever touched it but 
herself, and a beautiful sight it was 
to see her fair hands spread it forth 
for the morning feasts in Asgard. 
The power which Loke possessed 
lay not so much in his own strength, 
although he had a smooth way of 
deceiving people, as in the goodness 
of others who had no thought of his 
doing wrong because they never did 
wrong themselves. 

Not long after all this happened, 
Loke came carelessly up to Idun as 
she was gathering her Apples to put 
them away in the beautiful carven 
box which held them. 

" Good morning, goddess," said he. 
" How fair and golden your Apples 
are ! " 

" Yes," answered Idun ; ' " the 
bloom of youth keeps them always 
beautiful." 

" I never saw anything like them," 
continued Loke slowly, as if he were 
talking about a matter of no import- 
ance, "until the other day." 

Idun looked up at once with the 
greatest interest and curiosity in her 
face. She was very proud of her 
Apples, and she knew no earthly 
trees, however large and fair, bore 
the immortal fruit. 

" Where have you seen any Apples 
like them ? " she asked. 

" Oh, just outside the gates," said 
Loke indifferently. "If you care to 
see them I '11 take you there. It 
will keep you but a moment. The 
tree is only a little way off." 

Idun was anxious to go at once. 

" Better take your Apples with you 
to compare them with the others," said 
the wily god, as she prepared to go. 

Idun gathered up the golden Apples 
and went out of Asgard, carrying with 
her all that made it heaven. No 
sooner was she beyond the gates than 
a mighty rushing sound was heard, 
like the coming of a tempest, and 
before she could think or act, the 
giant Thjasse, in his eagle plumage, 
was bearing her swiftly away through 
the air to his desolate, icy home in 
Thrymheim, where, after vainly try- 
ing to persuade her to let him eat 
the Apples and be forever young 
like the gods, he kept her a lonely 
prisoner. 

Loke, after keeping his promise 
and delivering Idun into the hands 
of the giant, strayed back into As- 
gard as if nothing had happened. 
The next morning, when the gods 
assembled for their feast, there was 
no Idun. Day after day went past, 
and still the beautiful goddess did 
not come. Little by little the light 
of youth and beauty faded from the 
home of the gods, and they them- 
selves became old and haggard, 
Their strong, young faces were lined 
with care and furrowed by age, their 
raven locks passed from gray to 
white, and their flashing eyes be- 
came dim and hollow. Brage, the 
god of poetry, could make no music 
while his beautiful wife was gone he 
knew not whither. 

Morning after morning the faded 
light broke on paler and ever paler 
faces, until even in heaven the eternal 
light of youth seemed to be going 
out forever. 

Finally the gods could bear the 
loss of power and joy no longer. 
They made rigorous inquiry. They 
tracked Loke on that fair morning 
when he led Idun beyond the gates ; 
they seized him and brought him into 
solemn council, and when he read 
in their haggard faces the deadly 
hate which flamed in all their hearts 
against his treachery, his courage 
failed, and he promised to bring Idun 
back to Asgard if the goddess Freyja 
would lend him her falcon-guise. 
No sooner said than done ; and with 
eager gaze the gods watched him as 
he flew away, becoming at last only a 
*dark moving speck against the sky. 

After long and weary flight Loke 
came to Thrymheim, and was glad 
enough to find Thjasse gone to sea 
and Idun alone in his dreary house. 
He changed her instantly into a nut, 
and taking her thus disguised in his 
talons, flew away as fast as his falcon 
wings could carry him. And he had 
need of all his speed, for Thjasse, 
coming suddenly home and finding 
Idun and her precious fruit gone, 
guessed what had happened, and, 
putting on his eagle plumage, flew 
forth in a mighty rage, with ven- 
geance in his heart. Like the rush- 
ing wings of a tempest, his mighty 
pinions beat the air and bore him 
swiftly onward. From mountain 
peak to mountain peak he measured 
his wide course, almost grazing at 
times the murmuring pine forests, 
and then sweeping high in mid-air 
with nothing above but the arching 
sky, and nothing beneath but the 
tossing sea. 

At last he sees the falcon far ahead, 
and now his flight becomes like the 
flash of the lightning for swiftness, 
and like the rushing of clouds for 
uproar. The haggard faces of the 
gods line the walls of Asgard and 
watch the race with tremulous eager- 
ness. Youth and immortality are 
staked upon the winning of Loke. 
He is weary enough and frightened 
enough too, as the eagle sweeps on 
close behind him ; but he makes 
desperate efforts to widen the dis- 
tance between them. Little by little 
the eagle gains on the falcon. The 
gods grow white with fear; they 
rush off and prepare great fires upon 
the walls. With fainting, drooping 
wing the falcon passes over and 
drops exhausted by the wall. In an 
instant the fires have been lighted, 
and the great flames roar to heaven. 
The eagle sweeps across the fiery 
line a second later, and falls, maimed 
and burned, to the ground, where a 
dozen fierce hands smite the life out 
of him, and the great giant Thjasse 
perishes among his foes. 

Idun resumes her natural form as 
Brage rushes to meet her. The gods 
crowd round her. She spreads the 
feast, the golden Apples gleaming 
with unspeakable lustre in the eyes 
of the gods. They eat; and once 
more their faces glow with the beauty 
of immortal youth, their eyes flash 
with the radiance of divine power, 
and, while Idun stands like a star for 
beauty among the throng, the song of 
Brage is heard once more ; for poetry 
and immortality are wedded again, 

chapter IX 

Thor goes a fishing 

MIDWAY between Niflheim 
and Muspelheim lay Mid- 
gard, the home of men, its round 
disk everywhere encircled by the 
ocean, which perpetually rushed upon 
it, gently in still summer afternoons, 
but with a terrible uproar in winter. 
Ages ago, when the Midgard-serpent 
"had grown so vast that even the gods 
were afraid of him, Odin cast him 
into the sea, and he lay flat at the 
bottom of the ocean, grown to such 
monstrous size that his scaly length 
encircled the whole world. Holding 
the end of his tail in his mouth, he 
sometimes lay motionless for weeks 
at a time, and looking across the 
water no one would have dreamed 
that such a monster was asleep in its 
depths. But when the Midgard- 
serpent was aroused his wrath was 
terrible to behold. He lashed the 
ocean into great sheets of foam, he 
piled the waves mountain high, he 
dashed the spray into the very 
heavens, and woe to the galleys that 
were sailing homeward. 

It happened once that the gods 
were feasting with -^ger, the sea-god, 
and the ale gave out, and ^ger had 
no kettle in which to brew a new 
supply. 

" Thor," said ^ger, after he had 
thought a moment, "will you get 
me a kettle?" 

Thor was always ready for any 
hard or dangerous thing. 

"Of course I will," was his quick 
reply, "only tell me where to get 
one." 

That, however, was no easy thing 
to do. Kettles big enough to brew 
ale for Asgard were not to be picked 
up at a moment's notice. Every- 
body wanted more ale, but nobody 
could tell Thor where to find a ket- 
tle, until Tyr, the god of courage, 
spoke up : " East of the rivers Eliv- 
agar lives my father, Hymer, who 
has a kettle marvellously strong and 
one mile deep." 

This was large enough even for the 
gods. 

" Do you think we can get it ? " 
asked Thor, who always wanted to 
succeed in his undertakings. 

" If we cannot get it by force we 

can by stratagem," answered Tyr, 

and they started off at once, Thor 

taking the disguise of a young man. 

The goats drew them swiftly to Egil, 
with whom Thor left them while he 
and Tyr pushed on to finish the 
journey afoot. It was rough and 
perilous travelling, but they reached 
Hymer's hall without accident, and 
there Tyr found his grandmother, 
a frightfully ugly giantess, and his 
mother, a wonderfully beautiful wo- 
man, with fair hair, and a face so 
radiant that the sun seemed to be 
always shining upon it. The latter 
advised them to hide under the great 
kettles in the hall, because when 
Hymer came home in bad temper 
he was sometimes cruel to strangers. 
Late in the evening Hymer came 
home from his fishing. A cold wind 
swept through the hall a» he entered, 
his eyes were piercing as the stars 
on a winter's night, and his beard 
was white with frost. 

" I welcome you home," said Tyr's 
beautiful mother; "our son, for whom 
we have been looking so long, has 
come home, bringing with him the 
enemy of giants and the protector of 
Asgard. See how they hide them- 
selves behind that pillar yonder." 

She pointed to a pillar at the farther 
end of the hall. Hymer turned and 
looked at it with his piercing, icy 
glance, and in an instant it snapped in- 
to a thousand pieces ; the beam over- 
head broke, and eight kettles fell with 
a crash on the stone floor. Only one 
out of the eight remained unbroken, 
and from it Thor and Tyr came forth. 
Hymer was not glad to see Thor 
standing there under his own roof, 
but he could not turn him out, so he 
made the best of it and ordered three 
oxen to be served for supper. Thor 
had travelled a long distance and was 
very hungry, and ate two of the oxen 
before he was satisfied. 

" If you eat like that," said Hymer, 
" we will have to live on fish to-mor- 
row." 

Early the next morning, before the 
sun was up, Thor heard Hymer get- 
ting ready for a day of fishing. He 
dressed himself quickly and went out 
to the giant. " Good morning, Hy- 
mer," he said pleasantly. "I am 
fond of fishing ; let me row out to sea 
with you." 

" Oho," answered the giant scorn- 
fully, not at all pleased with the idea 
of having his powerful enemy in the 
boat with him, " such a puny young 
fellow can be of no use to me, and if 
I go as far out to sea as I generally 
do, and stay as long, you will catch 
a cold that will be the death of 
you." 

Thor was so angry at this insult 
that he wanted to let his hammer ring 
on the giant's head, but he wisely- 
kept his temper. 

" I will row as far from the land as 
you care to go," was his answer, " and 
it is by no means certain that I shall 
be the first to want to put in again. 
What do you bait with ? " 

" Find a bait for yourself," was the 
giant's surly reply. 

Thor ran up to a herd of Hymer's 
cattle, seized the largest bull, wrung 
off its head without any trouble, and 
put it in the boat. Then they both 
pushed off and were soon rowing sea- 
ward. Thor rowed aft, and the boat 
fairly shot through the water. . Hy- 
mer could pull a strong oar, but he 
had never seen such a stroke as Thor's 
before. The boat fairly trembled un- 
derthc force of it. In a few moments 
they reached Hymer's fishing-groundj 
and he called out to Thor to stop. 

"Oh, no, not yet," said Thor, 
bending steadily over his oars ; " we 
must go a good distance beyond this." 

Thor pulled with such tremendous 
power that they were soon far out to 
sea, and Hymer began to be fright- 
ened. 

" If you don't stop," he called out, 
" we shall be over the Midgard-ser- 
pent." 

Thor paid no attention, but rowed 
on until they were far out of sight of 
land and about where he thought the 
great snake was coiled in the bottom 
of the sea ; then he laid down the oars 
as fresh and strong apparently as when 
he got into the boat. It was the 
strangest fishing party the world ever 
saw, and the most wonderful fishing. 
No sooner had Hymer's bait touched 
water than it was seized by two whales. 
Thor smiled quietly at the giant's 
luck, took out a fishing-line, made 
with wonderful skill, and so strong 
that it could not be broken, fastened 
the bull's head upon the hook and 
cast it into the sea. The Midgard- 
serpent instantly seized it, and in a 
second the hook was fast in its palate. 
Then came a furious struggle between 
the strong god and the terrible mon- 
ster which was the dread of the whole 
earth. 

Stung by the pain, the serpent 
writhed and pulled so hard that Thor 
had to brace himself against the side 
of the boat. When he found that the 
snake had taken his hook his wrath 
rose, and his divine strength came 
upon him. He pulled the line with 
such tremendous force that his feet 
went straight through the bottom of 
the boat, and he stood on the bed of 
the ocean while he drew the snake up 
to the side of the boat. The monster, 
convulsed with pain, reared its terrible 
head out of the water, its glittering 
eyes flashing, its whole vast body 
writhing and churning the ocean into 
a whirlpool of eddying foam. Thor's 
eyes blazed with wrath, and he held 
the serpent in a grasp like a vise. 
The uproar was like a terrible storm, 
and the boat, the fishers, and the snake 
were hidden by columns of foam that 
rose in the air. No one can tell what 
the end would have been if Hymfer, 
trembling with fright and seeing the 
boat about to sink, had not sprung 
forward and cut the line just as Thor 
was raising his hammer to crush the 
serpent's head. The snake sank at 
once to the bottom of the sea, and 
Thor, turning upon the giant, struck 
him such a blow under the ear that he 
fell headlong into the water. The 
giant got back to the boat, however, 
and they rowed to land, taking the 
two whales with them. 

When they reached shore Thor was 
still filled with rage at the meddlesome 
giant, because he had lost him the ser- 
pent, but he quietly picked up the 
boat and carried it home, Hymer tak- 
ing the whales. Once more under 
his own roof, the giant's courage re- 
turned, and he challenged Thor to 
show his strength by breaking his 
drinking-cup. Thor sat down and, 
taking the cup, hurled it against a 
pillar. It flew through the air, crash- 
ed against the stone, bounded back, 
and was picked up as whole and per- 
fect as when it came into Thor's 
hands. He was puzzled, but Tyr's 
beautiful fair-haired mother whispered 
to him, " Throw it at Hymer*s fore- 
head ; it is harder than any drinking- 
cup." 

Thor drew in all his godlike 
strength and dashed the cup with a 
terrific effort at Hymen The fore- 
head was unharmed, but the cup was 
scattered in a thousand pieces over 
the floor. Hymer had lost a great 
treasure by the experiment, but he 
only said, " That drink was too hot. 
Perhaps you will take the kettle off 
now," he added with a sneer. 

Tyr immediately laid hands^ on the 
kettle, but he could not move it an 
inch. Then Thor took the great 
pot in his hands and drew it up. with 
such a mighty effort that his feet went 
through the stone floor of the hall, but 
he lifted it and, placing it on his head 
like a mighty helmet, walked off, the 
rings of the kettle clanging about his 
feet. The two gods walked swiftly 
away from the hall where so many 
troubles and labours had awaited 
them, and it was a long time before 
Thor turned to look back. When 
he did, it was not a moment too soon, 
for Hymer was close behind, with 
a multitude of many-headed giants, 
in hot pursuit. 

In one minute Thor had lifted the 
kettle off his head and put it on the 
ground, in another he was swinging 
the hammer among the giants, and 
in another, when the lightnings had 
gone out and the thunder had died 
in awful echoes among the hills, 
Tyr and Thor were alone on the 
field. 

They went on to Egil, mounted 
the chariot and drove the goats 
swiftly on to ^ger*s, where the 
gods were impatiently waiting for 
the kettle. There was straightway a 
mighty brewing of ale, Thor told the 
story of his adventures in search of 
the kettle, and the feast went mer 
rily on. 

chapter X 

How Thor found his Hammer 

THE frost-giants were always try- 
ing to get into Asgard. For 
more than half the year they held the 
world in their grasp, locking up the 
streams in their rocky beds, hushing 
their music and the music of the birds 
as well, and leaving nothing but a 
wild waste of desolation under the 
cold sky. They hated the warm sun- 
shine which stirred the wild flowers 
out of their sleep, and clothed the 
steep mountains with verdure, and 
set all the birds a-singing in the 
swaying tree-tops. They hated the 
beautiful god Balder, with whose 
presence summer came back to the 
ice-bound earth, and, above all, they 
hated Thor, whose flashing hammer 
drove them back into Jotunheim, and 
guarded the summer sky with its sud- 
den gleamings of power. So long as 
Thor had his hammer Asgard was 
safe against the giants. 

One morning Thor started up out 
of a long, deep sleep, and put out 
his hand for the hammer; but no 
hammer was there. Not a sign of it 
could be found anywhere, although 
Thor anxiously searched for it. 
Then a thought of the giants came 
suddenly in his mind ; and his anger 
rose till his eyes flashed like great 
fires, and his red beard trembled 
with wrath. 

" Look, now, Loke," he shouted, 
"they have stolen Mjolner by en- 
chantment, and no one on earth or 
in heaven knows where they have 
hidden it." 

" We will get Freyja*s falcon-guise 
and search for it," answered Loke, who 
was always quick to get into trouble 
or to get out of it again. So they 
went quickly to Folkvang and found 
Freyja surrounded by her maidens 
and weeping tears of pure gold, as 
she had always done since her hus- 
band went on his long journey. 

" The hammer has been stolen by 
enchantment," said Thor. " Will 
you lend me the falcon-guise that 
I may search for it ? " 

"If it were silver, or even gold, 
you should have it and welcome," 
answered Freyja, glad to help Thor 
find the wonderful hammer that kept 
them all safe from the hands of the 
frost-giants. 

So the falcon-guise was brought, 
and Loke put it on and flew swiftly 
out of Asgard to the home of the 
giants. His great wings made broad 
shadows over the ripe fields as he 
swept along, and the reapers, look- 
ing up from their work, wondered 
what mighty bird was flying seaward. 
At last he reached Jotunheim, and 
no sooner had he touched ground 
and taken off the falcon-guise than 
he came upon the giant Thrym, sit- 
ting on a hill twisting golden collars 
for his dogs and stroking the long 
manes of his horses. 

" Welcome, Loke," said the giant. 
" How fares it with the gods and 
the elves, and what has brought you 
to Jotunheim ?" 

" It fares ill with both gods and 
elves since you stole Thor's ham- 
mer," replied Loke, guessing quickly 
that Thrym was the thief; "and I 
have come to find where you have 
hidden it."' 

Thrym laughed as only a giant 
can when he knows he has made 
trouble for somebody. 

"You won't find it," he said at 
last. " I have buried it eight miles 
under ground, and no one shall take 
it away unless he gets Freyja for me 
as my wife." 

The giant looked as if he meant 
what he said, and Loke, seeing no 
other way of finding the hammer, 
put on his falcon-guise and flew back 
to Asgard. Thor was waiting to 
hear what news he brought, and 
both were soon at the great doors 
of Folkvang. 

" Put on your bridal dress, Freyja," 
said Thor bluntly, after his fashion, 
"and we will ride swiftly to Jotun- 
heim." 

But Freyja had no idea of marry- 
ing a giant just to please Thor ; and, 
in fact, that Thor should ask her to 
do such a thing threw her into such 
a rage that the floor shook under 
her angry tread, and her necklace 
snapped in pieces. 

" Do you think I am a weak love- 
sick girl, to follow you to Jotun- 
heim and marry Thrym?" she cried 
indignantly. 

Finding they could do nothing 
with Freyja, Thor and Loke called 
all the gods together to talk over the 
matter and decide what should be 
done to get back the hammer. The 
gods were very much alarmed, be- 
cause they knew the frost-giants 
would come upon Asgard as soon as 
they knew the hammer was gone. 
They said little, for they did not 
waste time with idle words, but they 
thought long and earnestly, and still 
they could find no way of getting 
hold of Mjolner once more. At 
last Heimdal, who had once been a 
Van, and could therefore look into 
the future, said : " We must have 
the hammer at once or Asgard will 
be in danger. If Freyja will not go, 
let Thor be dressed up and go in 
her place. Let keys jingle from his 
waist and a woman's dress fall about 
his feet. Put precious stones upon 
his breast, braid his hair like a 
woman's, hang the necklace around 
his neck, and bind the bridal veil 
around his head." 

Thor frowned angrily. " If I 
dress like a woman," he said, "you 
will jeer at me." 

"Don't talk of jeers," retorted 
Loke; "unless that hammer is 
brought back quickly the giants 
will rule in our places." 

Thor said no more, but allowed 
himself to be dressed like a bride, 
and soon drove off to Jotunheim 
with Loke beside him disguised as 
a servant-maid. There was never 
such a wedding journey before. 
They rode in Thor's chariot and the 
goats drew them, plunging swiftly 
along the way, thunder pealing 
through the mountains and the 
frightened earth bjazing and smok- 
ing as they passed. When Thrym 
saw the bridal party coming he was 
filled with delight. 

" Stand up, you giants," he shouted 
to his companions; "spread cush- 
ions upon the benches and bring in 
Freyja, my bride. My yards are 
full of golden-horned cows, black 
oxen please my gaze whichever way 
I look, great wealth and many treas- 
ures are mine, and Freyja is all I 
lack." 

It was evening when the bride 
came driving into the giant's court 
in her blazing chariot. The feast 
was already spread against her com- 
ing, and with her veil modestly 
covering her face she was seated at 
the great table, Thrym fairly beside 
himself with delight. It wasn't 
every giant who could marry a 
goddess ! • 

If the bridal journey had been so 
strange that any one but a foolish 
giant would have hesitated to marry 
a wife who came in such a turmoil 
of fire and storm, her conduct at the 
table ought certainly to have put 
Thrym on his guard ; for never had 
bride such an appetite before. The 
great tables groaned under the load 
of good things, but they were quickly 
relieved of their burden by the vora- 
cious bride. She ate a whole ox 
before the astonished giant had fairly 
begun to enjoy his meal. Then she 
devoured eight large salmon, one 
after the other, without stopping to 
take breath ; and having eaten up the 
part of the feast specially prepared for 
the hungry men, she turned upon the 
delicacies which had been made for the 
women, and especially for her own fas- 
tidious appetite. 

Thrym looked on with wondering 
eyes, and at last, when she had added 
to these solid foods three whole 
barrels of mead, his amazement was 
so great that, his astonishment get- 
ting the better of his politeness, he 
called out, "Did any one ever see 
such an appetite in a bride before, or 
know a maid who could drink so 
much mead?" 

Then Loke, who was playing the 
part of a serving-maid, thinking that 
the giant might have some suspicions, 
whispered to him, " Freyja was so 
happy in the thought of coming here 
that she has eaten nothing for eight 
whole days." 

Thrym was so pleased at this evi- 
dence of affection that he leaned for- 
ward and raised the veil as gently 
as a giant could, but he instantly 
dropped it and sprang back the 
whole length of the hall before the 
bride*s terrible eyes. 

"Why are Freyja's eyes so sharp?" 
he called to Loke. " They burn me 
like fire." 

" Oh," said the cunning serving- 
maid, " she has not slept for a week, 
so anxious has she been to come 
here, and that is why her eyes are 
so fiery." 

Everybody looked at the bride 
and nobody envied Thrym. They 
thought it was too much like marry- 
ing a thunder-storm. 

The giant's sister came into the 
hall just then, and seeing the veiled 
form of the bride sitting there went 
up to her and asked for a bridal gift. 
" If you would have my love and 
friendship give me those rings of 
gold upon your fingers." 

But the bride sat perfectly silent. 
No one had yet seen her face or 
heard her voice. 

Thrym became very impatient. 
" Bring in the hammer," he shouted, 
" that the bride may be consecrated, 
and wed us in the name of Van" 

If the giant could have seen the 
bride's eyes when she heard these 
words he would have sent her home 
as quickly as possible, and looked 
somewhere else for a wife. 

The hammer was brought and 
placed in the bride's lap, and every- 
body looked to see the marriage 
ceremony; but the wedding was 
more strange and terrible than the 
bridal journey had been. No sooner 
did the bride's fingers close round 
the handle of Mjolner than the veil 
which covered her face was torn off 
and there stood Thor, the giant- 
queller, his terrible eyes blazing with 
wrath. The giants shuddered and 
shrank away from those flaming eyes, 
the sight of which they dreaded more 
than anything else in all the worlds ; 
but there was no chance of escape. 
Thor swung the hammer round his 
head and the great house rocked on 
its foundations. There was a vivid 
flash of lightning, an awful crash of 
thunder, and the burning roof and 
walls buried the whole company in 
one common ruin. 
Thrym was punished for stealing 
the hammer, his wedding guests got 
crushing blows instead of bridal gifts, 
and Thor and Loke went back to 
Asgard, where the presence of Mjol- 
ner made the gods safe once more. 

Chapter XI 

How Thor fought the Giant 
Hrungner 

ONE bright summer morning, 
Thor, the God of Thunder, 
rode out of Asgard far eastward, 
fighting giants as he went and slaying 
them with his mighty hammer, Mjol- 
ner; but Odin, his beautiful blue 
mantle shining witH stars and his 
helmet of gold glittering in the clear 
air, mounted his swift horse Sleipner, 
and went to Jotunheim, the home 
of the greatest giant of them all. As 
he swept along every one stopped 
to look, for such a horse and such 
a rider were rarely seen on earth. 
Sometimes the swift hoofs clattered 
along the rocky roads across the open 
country, sometimes they struck quick 
echoes out of the mountain sides in 
the deep dells, sometimes they rang 
along the very summits of the hills ; 
and again, in an instant, horse and 
rider swept noiseless through the air 
like a strange phantom in the clear 
mid-day. 

When Odin reached Jotunheim he 
came upon Hrungner, the strongest 
of the giants. 

" Who are you, riding through air 
with golden helmet and flowing man- 
tle ? '* asked the giant. " You have 
a splendid horse." 

"None half so good in Jotun- 
heim ! " was Odin's answer. 

Odin*s boast made the giant angry. 
" None half so good ? " he repeated. 
" I '11 show you a better myself." 

Whereupon he sprang on Goldfax 
and off they both went like a rushing 
wind. Neither gods nor men ever 
saw such a race before as these ran 
over earth and through air, Sleipner 
dashing with foaming flanks ahead 
and Goldfax close behind with flam- 
ing eye and mane outspread. So 
eager was the chase and so full of rage 
and desire the mind of Hrungner 
that before he knew it he was carried 
within the gates of Asgard, where the 
welcome of the gods, as they gathered 
round the foaming chargers, almost 
made him forget that he was among 
his enemies. 

They led him into the great hall 
where the feasts were held, and after 
their usual manner set out the great 
tankards brimming with wine, and 
filled for him the hollow horns from 
which Thor often drank deep and 
long. As they were set before him 
the giant drained them one by one 
at a single draught ; and after a time, 
as horn after horn of sparkling wine 
was poured down Hrungner's capa- 
cious throat, he forgot his peril, and 
after the manner of drunken men 
began to boast of his mighty deeds 
and of the terrible things he meant 
to do against the gods. 

" Oho," he shouted, " I '11 pick up 
this little Valhal in one hand and 
carry it off to Jotunheim ; I '11 pull 
this high-walled Asgard down stone 
after stone, and knock the heads of 
all these puny gods together until 
none are left save Freyja and Sif, and 
they shall boil my pot and keep my 
house for me." And so this drunken 
giant disturbed the peace of heaven, 
and the gods were sorry enough that 
he had ever ridden within their gates ; 

but he was their guest, and the rites 
of hospitality must be respected even 
with a drunken braggart. So Freyja 
filled his horn again and again, until 
he roared out in a drunken fury, 
" I '11 drink every drop of wine in 
Asgard before I leave." 

This boast made the gods, already 
weary of his boasting, indignant, and 
they called on Thor to. rid them of 
the braggart. The God of Thun- 
der came striding into the hall swing- 
ing his mighty hammer, with anger 
on his brow and in his eye, to hear 
the gods insulted under the very roof 
of Asgard. 

" Why does this stupid giant sit 
here in Asgard drinking our wine as 
if he were a god ? " shouted Thor, 
glaring at Hrungner as if he would 
smite him on the spot; but Hrung- 
ner, full of drunken courage, glared 
back at Thor. 

" I came here with Odin," he 
growled, ** and the hospitality of the 
gods will suffer more than I if a hand 
is laid on me." 

" You may rue that hospitality be- 
fore you are out of Asgard," was the 
angry reply of Thor. 

" Small honour to you if you slay 
me here unarmed and solitary ; if you 
want to prove your boasted valour 
meet me face to face at Grjottungard. 
Foolish it was in me to leave my 
shield and flint-stone at home ; had I 
those weapons I would challenge you 
to fight me here and now, but if you 
kill me unarmed I proclaim you a 
coward in the face of all Asgard." 

" I will meet you, braggart, when 
and where you will," hotly retorted 
Thor, whom no giant had ever be- 
fore challenged to a holmgangy or 
single combat. And Hrungner got 
himself safely out of Asgard and 
journeyed as fast as he could to 
Jotunheim to make ready for the 
fight. 

When the news of these things 
spread there was nothing heard of 
among the giants but Hrungner*s 
journey and the holmgang he was to 
fight with Thor. Nobody thought 
or talked of anything else, for if 
Hrungner, the most powerful of 
them all, should be beaten, Thor 
would never cease to make war upon 
them. Long and earnest was the 
talk among the giants, for Thor's ter- 
rible hammer had often rung among 
the hills, and they dreaded the flash 
of it through the air and the crash 
of it as it fell smiting and crush- 
ing whatsoever opposed it. To give 
Hrungner courage they built an im- 
mense giant of clay at Grjottungard, 
but they could find no heart big 
enough for such a huge body, and 
so they were obliged at last to use 
a mare's heart, which fluttered and 
throbbed terribly when Thor came; 
for it is the heart and not the size of 
the body which makes one strong 
and great. The clay giant, when 
finished, was so vast that the shadow 
of him was like a cloud upon the 
landscape. When all was ready 
Hrungner stood beside the false 
giant ready for the fight, and a ter- 
rible foe he was, too ; for his heart 
was as hard as rock, his head was of 
stone, and so was the great broad 
shield he held before him. And 
swung on his shoulder was the huge 
flint-stone which he meant to hurl 
at Thor. 

Thor meanwhile was on his way 
to Grjottungard with his servant 
Thjalfe, and Thjalfe ran ahead, and 
when he saw Hrungner, called out, 
"You stand unguarded, giant; you 
hold your shield before you, and 
Thor has seen you, and will come 
violently upon you from beneath 
the earth." 

Then Hrungner threw his shield 
on the ground and stood upon 
it, grasping the flint-stone in both 
hands. 

In a moment the sky began to 
darken with rushing clouds, broad 
flashes of lightning blazed across the 
heavens, and deafening peals of 
thunder rolled crashing over the 
terror-stricken earth. Striding from 
cloud to cloud, swinging his terrible 
hammer in an awful uproar of light- 
ning and storm, Thor came rushing 
on in all his godlike might. The 
heavens were on fire, the mountains 
shook on their foundations, and the 
earth rocked to and fro as the god 
of strength moved on to battle. 

Poor Mokkerkalfe, the clay giant, 
was so frightened that the perspi- 
ration poured in streams from his 
great body, and his cowardly heart 
fluttered like an imprisoned bird. 
Then Thor, swinging the flashing 
hammer with all his might, hurled it 
at Hrungner, and on the very in- 
stant the giant flung the flint-stone. 
The two rushed like meteors and 
met with a tremendous crash in mid- 
air. The flint-stone broke in pieces, 
one falling to the ground and mak- 
ing a mountain where it lay, and 
the other striking Thor with such 
force that he fell full-length on the 
ground ; but the terrible hammer 
struck Hrungner in the very centre 
of his forehead, crushed his head 
into small pieces, and threw him 
with his foot across Thor's neck. 
Thjalfe meanwhile had thrown him- 
self on Mokkerkalfe, and the clay 
giant, like a great many other sham 
giants, fell into pieces at the very 
first blow ; and so Thor was victor 
of the holmgang. 

But how was Thor to get up? 
The dead giant's foot lay across his 
neck, and, try as he might with all 
his strength, he could not lift it off. 
Then Thjalfe came and tried in vain 
to set Thor free ; and when the gods 
heard of the trouble Thor was in 
they all came, and one by one tried 
to lift Hrungner's foot, and not one 
of them could do it; so although 
Thor had killed the giant it looked 
as if the giant had beaten him too. 
After a time Thor's little son Magne, 
or strength, came that way. He 
was only three days old, but he 
walked quickly up to his father, 
quietly lifted the immense foot and 
threw it on the ground as if it were 
the easiest thing in the world, saying 
as he did so, "It was a great mishap 
that I came so late, father ; for I 
believe I could have slain this giant 
with my fist." 

Thor rose up quickly and greeted 
his son as if he were prouder of him 
than of the slaying of the giant, and 
declared that he should have the 
giant's beautiful horse Goldfax for a 
reward ; but Odin would not listen 
to it, and so Magne had to content 
himself with his father's praise and 
the glory of his wonderful deed. 

Even now Thor's troubles were 
not ended, for the piece of flint-stone 
which struck his head so violently that 
it threw him to the ground remained 
imbedded in it, and made the strong 
god so much trouble that when he 
had reached Thrudvang, or thunder- 
world, he sent for the sorceress 
Groa, the wife of the wise Orvandel, 
that she might remove the unwieldy 
stone. Groa came with all her wis- 
dom and began weaving magic spells 
about Thor, and singing strange 
incantations to the most weird and 
mysterious airs in the world, until 
the flint-stone became entirely loose. 
When he felt the stone gradually 
loosened, and knew that Groa could 
take it out in a moment, Thor was 
so glad that he tried to think how 
he might reward her in some way 
for the good service she had done 
him ; and as even a god cannot give 
anything greater than happiness, he 
bethought himself of something which 
would make her very happy. So he 
began to speak of Orvandel, who 
had long been absent from her, and 
whom she greatly loved. He told 
her that he had entered Jotunheim 
from the north, wading the deep 
rivers, and had secreted Orvandel in 
a basket, and so borne him out of 
the giant's country, and that as they 
journeyed along in the bitter weather 
one of Orvandel's toes protruded 
from the basket and was frozen, and 
he, Thor, broke it off and threw it 
into the shining sky, where it had 
become the star called " Orvandel's 
Toe " ; and then he added that 
Orvandel would shortly come to his 
home again. 

When Groa heard this news of 
her husband she was filled with such 
joy that all her magical songs and 
wonderful incantations went straight 
out of her head and she could not 
get them back again, and the stone 
remains in Thor's head to this day. 
And this is the reason why no 
one must ever throw a flint-stone 
across the floor, because when this 
happens the stone in Thor's head 
moves, and the strong god is very 
uncomfortable. 

Chapter XII 

The Binding of the Wolt 

LOKE looked like a god and had 
many of the wonderful gifts 
which the gods possessed, but at 
heart he was one of those giants 
who were always trying to cross 
Bifrost, the shining rainbow-bridge, 
at the heavenly end of which Heim- 
dal kept guard day and night, with 
eyes so keen that in the darkness as 
easily as in the light he could see a 
hundred miles distant, and with ears 
so sharp that he could hear the noise- 
less blossoming of the grass in the 
deepest valley, and the growing of 
the wool upon the backs of sheep 
browsing along the hill-tops. Loke 
had the mind of the gods, who were 
always working to bring order and 
beauty into the world, but he had 
the heart of the giants, who were 
striving to undo the good and cover 
the earth with howling storms and 
icy desolation. After he had been 
in Asgard for a time he wanted to 
get back to Jotunheim, where his 
true home was. There he married 
a terrible giantess, and three children 
were born to him more repulsive 
than their mother, — Hel, the Mid- 
gard-serpent, and the Fenris-wolf. 
These monsters grew to be very 
strong and horrible to look upon 
before the gods thought of destroy- 
ing them ; but one day, as Odin 
looked over the worlds from his 
throne, a shadow fell upon his fece, 
for he saw how powerful the chil- 
dren of Loke were becoming, and he 
knew they would work endless mis- 
chief and misery for gods and men ; 
so he sent some of the gods to bring 
the monsters to Asgard. It was a 
strange sight when Loke's children 
were brought into heaven, — HeFs 
terrible face turning into stone every 
one who looked, unless he were a 
god ; the Midgard-serpent coiling 
its immense length into great circles 
over which the glittering eyes wan- 
dered restlessly ; and the Fenris- 
wolf growling with a deep, cruel 
voice. Odin looked sternly at 
Loke, the evil god who had brought 
such savage beings among men, and 
then with a dark brow he cast Hel 
down into the dusky kingdoms of 
the dead, and hurled the snake into 
the deep sea, where he grew until he 
coiled around the whole earth ; bat 
Fenrer, the wolf, was permitted to 
grow up in Asgard. He was so 
fierce that only Tyr, the sword-god, 
could feed him. He roamed about 
Asgard, his huge body daily growing 
stronger, and his hungry eyes flash- 
ing mojrc and more fiercely. 

After a time another shadow fell 
upon Odin's face, for Fenrer was 
fast becoming the*" most terrible 
enemy of the gods, and the oracles 
who could look into the future, said 
that at the last great battle he would 
destroy Odin himself So Odin 
called all the gods together, and as 
they came into the great hall the 
wolf crouched at the door, with; a 
look that made even their strong 
hearts shudder. 

" Our most dangerous enemy is 

growing stronger every day under 

our roof and by our hands," said 

Odin, "and we shall cease to be 
gods if we are so blind as to nourish 
our own destroyer." 

" Kill him ! " muttered some one. 

"No," said Odin; "although he 
is to devour me, no blood shall stain 
the sacred seats of the g6ds." 

" Chain him ! " said Thor. 

That was a good plan, they all 
agreed, but how was it to be done ? 

" Leave that to me," answered 
Thor, full of courage, for he had done 
many wonderful things, and there 
was nothing of which he was afraid. 

That night the fires in the great 
smithy blazed and roared so fiercely 
that the heavens far around were 
lighted with the glow, and in the 
dusky light the strong forms of 
the gods moved to and fro as they 
worked on the chain with which they 
meant to bind the Fenris-wolf. All 
night Thor's mighty strokes rang 
on the hard iron, and when the 
morning came the chain was done, 
and they called it Leding. Then 
the gods called Fenrer, spread out 
the chain, and asked him to show 
his wonderful strength by break- 
ing it. 

. The wolf knew better than the 
gods how strong he had grown, and 
that the breaking of Leding would 
be a very small matter for him; so 
he permitted them to bind the great 
links around his shaggy body and 
about his feet, and to rivet the ends 
so fast that it seemed as if nothing 
on earth could ever break them 
apart again. When it was all done, 
and Thor's eyes were beginning to 
smile at his success, the wolf got 
quietly upon his feet, stretched him- 
self as easily as if a web of silk were 
cast over him, snapped the massive 
chain in a dozen places, and walked 
off, leaving the gods to gather up 
the broken links. 

" He has grown terribly strong/' 
said Odin, looking at the great pieces 
of iron. 

"Yes," answered sturdy Thor, 
" stronger than I thought ; but I 
will forge another chain, which even 
he cannot break." 

Again the red glow shone in the 
sky over Asgard, the fires flashed and 
blazed, and the great hammers rang 
far into the night, and the next day 
the mighty chain Drome, twice as 
strong as Leding, was finished. 

" Come, Fenrer," said Thor, " you 
are already famous for your strength ; 
but if you can break this chain no 
one will ever be able to deny your 
strength, and you will win great hon^ 
our among gods and men." 

The wolf growled as he looked at 
the great chain, for he knew that the 
gods feared him and wanted to make 
him harmless. He knew also that 
he could break the chain which they 
had forged with so much toil to bind 
him with, and so he let them fasten 
him as before. When all was done, 
the gods began to smile again, for 
they had made the strongest chain that 
ever was or could be made, and now 
surely the wolf was forever harmless. 

But Fenrer knew better than they. 
He rose slowly, with the massive links 
bound closely about him, shook him- 
self fiercely, stretched himself, and then 
with a mighty effort dashed himself on 
the ground; the earth shook, the chain 
burst, and its links flew through the 
air and buried themselves in the 
ground, so tremendous was the effort 
with which the wolf freed himself 

A fierce joy gleamed in his eyes as he 
walked away with deep growls, leav- 
ing the gods to console themselves 
as best they might, for there were no 
more chains to be made. 

Long and anxiously they talked to- 
gether, but no one could think of 
anything which could hold Fenrer 
until Odin called to Skirner, Frey's 
swiftest messenger : " Go to Svartalf- 
heim as fast as the flash of Thor's 
hammer, and the dwarfs shall make 
us an enchanted chain which even he 
cannot break." 

Skirner was off almost before Odin 
had done speaking. Travelling over 
land and sea he soon came to the 
dark entrance of the under-world 
where the dwarfs lived, and in a very 
short time he was in the dusky home 
of the wonderful little workers in iron. 
They were rushing about with black 
faces and dirty hair when Skirner 
called them together and said, "You 
must make for the gods an enchanted 
chain so slight that Fenrer will be will- 
ing to be bound by it, and so strong 
that when he has allowed himself to 
be tied he cannot break loose again." 
The dwarfs whispered together for 
a few moments, and then scattered in 
every direction ; for they were going 
to make the most wonderful chain 
that was ever put together, and there 
were many things to be looked after 
before it could be done. Skirner sat 
in the darkness until the busy little 
workers had finished the band, and 
then he carried it quickly to Asgard, 
where all the gods were waiting 
anxiously for his coming and Fenrer 
was stealthily stealing from place to 
place through the city. Skirner 
spread the string out for the gods to 
look at, and they could hardly believe 
it was strong enough. It was very 
long, but so small and soft that it 
seemed no more than silken twine; 
it was made out of such things as the 
sound of a cat's footsteps, the roots 
of the mountains, the breath of a fish, 
and the sinews of a bear, and nothing 
could break it. 

The gods were so happy in the 
hope of being relieved of their enemy 
that they could not thank Skirner 
enough. They all went to a rocky 
island in a lake called Amsvartner, 
taking the wolf with them. Thor 
showed the silken twine to Fenrer. 
"You have broken Leding and 
Drome," he said, " and now you will 
break this also, although it is some- 
what stronger than one would think, 
to look at it." 

Then he handed the magic cord 
from one god to another and each 
tried to break it, but no one succeeded. 

"We cannot do it," they all said 
after it had been handed around the 
circle, " but Fenrer can." 

The wolf looked at it suspiciously. 

"It is such a slender thread," he 
answered, " that I shall get no credit 
if I break it ; and if it is made with 
magic, slight as it looks I shall never 
get loose from it again." 

The gods looked at one another 
and smiled. 

" Oh, you will easily break so 
slim a band as that," they replied, 
** since you have already broken the 
heaviest chains in the world; and 
if you cannot break it we will loosen 
you again." 

"If you bind me so fast that 1 
am not able to get myself free, I 
shall get little help from you," said 
the wolf truthfully enough. " I am 
very unwilling to have this twine 
bound about me ; but that you may 
not be able to call me cowardly, I 
will dp it if some one of you will lay 
his hand in my mouth as a pledge 
that there is no deceit about this 
thing." 

The gods looked at each other 
when they heard these words. Fen- 
rer had spoken the truth, there was 
no denying that. He must be 
chained now, however, or they would 
all be destroyed; but who would 
lose a hand to save the rest? Thor's 
hands were needed to swing the ham- 
mer against the giants, and every- 
body could think of some very good 
reason why his hand should not be 
lost. There was an awful pause, and 
then Tyr, the god of honour and 
courage, who had never stood still 
when he ought to go forward, 
stretched out his right hand and 
laid it in the wolfs hungry mouth. 
Then the gods bound the slender 
cord tightly around Fenrer, fold on 
fold, winding its whole length about 
him and tying the ends tightly 
together. It was so slight that it 
seemed as if it must break in fifty 
places as soon as the wolf began to 
stretch himself. So perhaps thought 
Fenrer himself; but the harder he 
strove to break loose, the closer the 
cord drew about him. He sprang 
from side to side, he threw himself 
on the ground, he stretched his 
mighty limbs with all his strength, 
but the twine only cut the deeper. 
Then a mighty rage filled the wolf 
because he had suffered himself to be 
deceived, his eyes flamed with fury, 
and the foam ran out of his mouth, 

The gods were so delighted when they 
found the wolf really fast at last that 
they began to laugh, all except brave 
Tyr, who lost his right hand. 

They took the wonderful silken 
chain and drew it through the middle 
of a rock and sunk the rock so deep 
in the earth that nothing but an 
earthquake could stir it. Fenrer, 
wild with pain and rage, rushed 
from side to side so violently that 
the earth rocked beneath him, and 
opening his tremendous jaws sprang 
upon the gods; whereupon they 
thrust a sword into his cruel jaws 
so that the hilt stood on his lower 
jaw and the point pierced the roof 
of the mouth. 

So the Fenris-wolf was bound and 
made fast to the rocky island, his 
jaws spread far apart, foaming and 
growling until the last great day. 

Chapter XIII 

Thor's Wonderful Journey 

THOR made many journeys and 
had many strange adven- 
tures; but there was one journey 
which was more wonderful than all 
the others, and which proves, more- 
over, that the strongest and truest 
are sometimes deceived by those who 
are weaker than themselves. The 
giants in old Norse times were not 
easy to conquer; but generally it 
was when they hid themselves be- 
hind lies and appeared to be what 
they were not that they succeeded 
for a time. Thor's strength was a 
noble thing because he used it to 
help men; but his truthfulness and 
honesty were nobler stilL 

One morning, just as the sun was 
beginning to shine through the mists 
that overhung the world, the gates 
of Asgard opened and Thor's chariot, 
drawn by the goats, rattled along the 
road. Thor and Loke were evidently 
off for a journey ; but Thor was 
always going ofF somewhere, and no- 
body who saw him now thought that 
he was starting out to try his strength 
with the most powerful things in the 
whole earth. Nor did he know it 
All day long the chariot rolled across 
the level stretches of meadow and 
through the valleys, leaving the echoes 
shouting to each other from the over- 
hanging mountains as it passed by. 
At night it stopped at the house of a 
poor peasant, and Thor stepped down 
and stood in the doorway. 

" Can you lodge two travellers 
over night?" he asked. 

"Certainly," said the peasant, "but 
we can give you nothing to eat, for 
we have nothing for ourselves/' 

" Give yourselves no trouble about 
that,** answered Thor cheerfully ; " I 
can provide for all/* 

He went back to Loke, who got 
out of the chariot ; and then, to the 
great astonishment of the people in 
the house, Thor killed both his goats, 
and in a minute they were ready for 
cooking. The great pot was soon 
sending savory odours through the 
house, and the whole family with 
their strange guests sat down shortly 
to a bountiful supper. 

"The more you eat the better 
I shall like it," said Thor, as they 
took their places at the table, " but 
do not on any account break the 
bones ; when you have done with 
them throw them into the skins 
which I have spread out on the 
hearth." 

The peasant and his wife and 
Thjalfe and Roskva, their two chil- 
dren, ate bountifully; but Thjalfe 
broke one of the bones to get the 
marrow. The next morning Thor 
was up with the sun, and when he 
dressed himself he took the hammer 
and held it over the goat-skins : and 
immediately the bones flew into place, 
and the skins covered them, and 
there were the two goats as full of 
life as when they started out the 
day before. But one of the goats 
limped ; and when Thor saw it he 
was so angry that he looked like a 
thunder-cloud, and his fingers closed 
so tightly round Mjolner that his 
knuckles were white. Thjalfe, who 
had been looking with the rest of the 
family in speechless wonder^ was 
frightened half out of his \^ts when 
he saw Thor*s rage, and would have 
run away if he could. The poor 
peasant and his wife were equally 
terrified, and besought Thor that he 
would not destroy them. Seeing 
them in such misery Thorns anger 
died out, and he said he would for- 
give them, but Thjalfe and Roskva 
must henceforth be his servants. So 
taking the two children, and leaving 
the goats with their parents for safe 
keeping, Thor and Loke set out 
again. 

Thor had decided to go to Jotun- 
heim, and all the morning they trav- 
elled eastward until they reached the 
shore of the sea. They crossed the 
wide waters quickly and climbed up 
on the further shore of Jotunheim. 
Mists floated over the land, and great 
rocks rose along the coast so stern 
and black from the wash of the sea 
and the fury of storms that thejr 
seemed like strong giants guarding 
their country against the giant-queller. 
Thor led the way, and they soon 
entered a deep forest through which 
they travelled until nightfall, Thjalfe, 
who was very fleet of foot, carrying 
the sack of provisions. As night 
came on they looked about for shel- 
ter, and came upon an immense 
building with a whole side opening 
into a great room oflT which they 
found five smaller rooms. This was 
just what he wanted, although they 
could not imagine why any one had 
built such a house in that lonely 
place. After supper, weary with the 
long journey, they were soon in a 
deep sleep. 

Three or four hours went by 
quietly enough, but about midnight 
they were suddenly awakened by an 
awful uproar, which shook the build- 
ing to its foundations and made the 
whole earth tremble. Thor called 
the others and told them to go into 
the further rooms. Half dead with 
fright they did so, but Thor stretched 
himself, hammer in hand, at the wide 
entrance. As soon as there was light 
enough to see about him Thor went 
into the woods, and had gone but a 
little way when he came upon an 
enormous giant, fast asleep, and snor- 
ing so loudly that the very trees 
shook around him. Thor quickly 
buckled on his belt of strength, and 
had no sooner done so than the giant 
awoke and sprang to his ket. The 
whole earth shook under him, and 
he towered as far over Thor, as a 
great oak does over the fern that 
grows at its foot. Thor was nevesr 
frightened, but he had never heard 
of such a giant before and he looked 
at him with honest surprise. 

"Who are you?" he said, after 
looking up to the great face a 
minute. 

"I am Skrymer," answered the 
giant, " but I don*t need to ask your 
name. You are Thor. But what 
have you done with my glove ? ** 

And stretching out his great hand 
the giant picked up his glove, which 
was nothing less than the building 
Thor and the others had spent the 
night in. 

"Would you like to have me 
travel with you ? " continued the 
giant. 

"Certainly," said Thor, although 

it was plainly to be seen that neither 

Thjalfe nor Roskva wanted such a 

companion. Skrymer thereupon untied his sack and took out his break- 
fast, and the others followed his 
example, taking care, however, to 
put a comfortable distance between 
themselves and their dangerous fel- 
low-traveller. After breakfast Skry- 
mer proposed that they should put 
all their provisions into one bag, to 
which Thor consented, and they 
started off, the giant tramping on 
ahead, and carrying the sack on his 
broad back. 

All day long he walked steadily 
on, taking such tremendous strides 
that the others could hardly keep up 
with him. When night came he 
stopped under a great oak. 

"There," said he, throwing down 
the sack; "take that and get some 
supper; I am going to sleep." 

The words were hardly out of his 
mouth before he began to snore as 
loudly as the night before. Thor 
cook the sack, but the harder he 
tried to loosen the string the tighter 
it drew, and with all his strength he 
could not untie a single knot. Find- 
ing he could not get into the sack, 
and hearing the giant snore so peace- 
fully at his side, Thor's anger blazed 
out, and grasping the hammer he 
struck the giant full on the head. 
Skrymer opened his eyes drowsily. 

" Did a leaf fall on my head ? " he 
called out sleepily, without getting 
up. " Have you had your supper 
yet, and are you going to bed ? " 

In a minute he was snoring again. 
Thor went and lay down under an- 
other oak ; but at midnight the giant 
began to snore so heavily that the 
forest resounded with the noise. 
Thor was fairly beside himself with 
rage, and swinging his hammer struck 
Skrymer such a tremendous blow 
that the hammer sank to the handle 
in his head. The giant opened his 
eyes and sat up. 

"What is the matter now?" he 
called out; "did an acorn fall on 
my head? How are you getting 
on, Thor?" 

"Oh, I am just awake," said 
Thor, stepping back quickly. "It 
is only midnight, and we may sleep 
awhile longer." 

Thor watched until the giant had . 
fallen asleep again, and just at day- 
break dealt him the most terrible 
blow that he had ever given with the 
hammer. It flashed through and 
buried itself out of sight in Skrymer's 
forehead. The giant sprang on his 
feet and began to stroke his beard. 

" Are there any birds up there ? " 
he asked, looking into the oak. " I 
thought a feather dropped on my 
head. Are you awake, Thor? It 
is full time to dress, and you are 
near the end of your journey. The 
city of Utgard is not far off. I 
heard you whispering together that 
I was a man of great stature, but 
you will find much larger men in 
Utgard. Take my advice, and when 
you get there don't boast very much, 
for they will not take boasting from 
such little fellows as you are. You 
would do well to turn back and go 
home while you have a chance ; but 
if you will go on, take the road to 
the eastward, — my way takes me to 
the north." And, swinging the sack 
of provisions over his shoulder, 
Skrymer plunged into the forest and 
was soon out of sight. 

Thor and his companions pushed 
on as fast as they could until noon, 
when suddenly a great city rose 
before them, on a vast plain, the 
walls of which were so high that 
they had to lean back as far as they 
could to see the top. A great gate^ 
heavily barred, stopped them at the 
entrance; but they crept between 
the bars. After going a little dis- 
tance they came upon a palace, and 
the doors being open went in, and 
found themselves in a great hall with 
long seats on either side, and on 
these seats rows of gigantic men 
larger than Skrymer. When they 
saw Utgard-Loke, who was the king 
of that country, they saluted him; 
but he sat for a long time without 
taking any notice of them. At last 
smiling contemptuously he said : " It 
is tiresome for travellers to be asked 
about a long journey ; but if I am 
not mi$tak^n this little fellow is 
Thor. Perhaps, however, you are 
really larger than you seem to be. 
What feats of strength can you show 
us? No one is permitted to stay 
here unless he excels in some diffi- 
cult thing." 

Hearing these words, in a very in- 
sulting tone, Loke answered loudly, 
" There is one feat in which no one 
can equal me, and I am ready to 
perform it at once. I can devour 
food faster than any one here." 

"Truly, that would be a feat if 
you could do it," said the scornful 
king ; and he called to a man named 
Loge to contend with Loke. 

A great trough full of meat was 
placed in the centre of the hall, and 
commencing at either end the con- 
testants began to eat voraciously, 
and so fast that it is disagreeable 
even to think of it. They reached 
the middle of the trough at exactly 
the same moment ; but Loke had 
eaten only the meat, while Loge had 
devoured meat, bones, trough and 
all. There was nothing left on his 
side, and Loke had to confess him- 
self beaten. 

Then the king, looking at Thjalfe, 
asked, "What can you do, young 
man?" 

" I will run a race with any one 
you will select," answered Thjalfe 
promptly. 

"If you can outrun any one I can 
select, it will certainly be a splendid 
feat," said Utgard-Loke; "but you 
must be very swift-footed to do it." 

There was a noble race-ground just 
outside the palace, and every one hur- 
ried out to see the race. The king 
called a slender young fellow named 
Huge, and told him to run with Thjalfe. 

There was never such running 
since the world began. Thjalfe ran 
like the wind; but Huge reached 
the goal first, and turned about to 
meet Thjalfe as he came breathless 
to the post. 

" You must use your legs better 
than that if you intend to win," said 
the king, as Thjalfe walked back ; 
" although you are the fastest runner 
that ever came here." 

They ran a second time, but when 
fluge reached the goal and turned 
around, Thjalfe was a full bow-shot 
behind. 

"Well run!*' shouted Utgard- 
Loke ; " well run ! a third race shall 
decide it." 

A third time they were at the 
starting-place and again they were 
speeding down the course, while 
ev^j^jJbody strained his eyes to look 
at them ; and a third time Huge 
reached the goal and turned to find 
Thjalfe not half-way. 

" We have had racing enough ! " 
cried the giants, and they all went 
back into the palace again. 

And now it was Thor's turn to 
show his wonderful strength ; but he 
did not dream that he was going to 
measure strength with the most tre- 
mendous forces in the whole earth. , 

" Your fame fills all the worlds, 
Thor," called out Utgard-Loke,^ 
when they had seated themselves on 
the benches along the great hall ; 
" give us some proof of your won- 
derful power." 

Thor never waited to be asked a 
second time. 

•*I will contend in drinking with 
any one you may select," was his 
prompt acceptance of the challenge. 

"Well answered," said the king. 
" Bring out the great horn." 

A giant went out, and speedily came 
back bearing a very deep horn, which 
the king said his men were compelled 
to empty as a punishment. 

" A good drinker will empty that 
horn at a single draught," said 
Utgard-Loke, as it was filled and 
handed to Thor ; " a few men need to 
drink twice, but only a milksop 
needs a third pull at it." 

Thor thought the horn not over 
large, although very long, and as he 
was very thirsty he put it to his lips 
without further ado, and drank so 
long and deep that he thought it cer- 
tainly must be empty, but when he 
set the horn down and looked into it 
he was astonished to find that the 
liquor rose almost as high as when 
he set his lips to it. 

" That was fairly well drunk,*' 
said the king, *' but not unusually 
so ; if anybody had told me Thor 
could do no better than that I would 
not have believed him. But of 
course you will finish it at a second 
draught." 

Thor said nothing, although he 
was very angry, but setting the horn 
to his lips a second time he drank 
longer and deeper than before. 
When he had stopped to take 
breath, and looked at it again, he 
had drunk less than the first time. 

" How now, Thor," cried Utgard- 
Loke, " you have left more for the 
third draught than you can manage. 
If there are no other feats which you 
can perform better than this you 
must not expect to be considered as 
great here as among the gods." 

Thor became very angry when he 
heard these words, and seizing the 
horn he drank deep, fast, and furi- 
ously until he thought it certainly 
must be empty ; but when he looked 
into it the liquor had fallen so little 
that he could hardly see the differ- 
ence ; and he handed it to the cup- 
bearer, and would drink no more. 

" It is plain," spoke up the king 
in a very insulting tone, " that you 
are not so strong as we thought you 
were ; you cannot succeed in this 
strife, certainly; will you try some- 
thing else ? " 

" I will certainly try something 
else," said Thor, who could not 
understand why he had failed to 
drain the horn ; " but I am sure 
that even among the gods such 
draughts would not be counted 
small. What game do you propose 
now ? " 

" Oh, a very easy one," replied 
the king, " which my youngsters 
here make nothing of; simply to lift 
a cat from the floor. I should not 
think of asking you to try it if I did 
not see that you are much less of a 
man than I have always supposed." 

He had no sooner said this than a 
?arge grey cat ran out into the hall. 
Thor put his hand under it and 
tried to lift it, but the cat arched 
its back as high as Thor stretched 
his hands, and, do his best, he 
could only get one foot off the floor. 

" It is just as I expected," cried 
Utgard-Loke in a loud voice ; " the 
cat is very large, and Thor is a very 
little fellow compared with the rest 
of us." 

Thor's eyes flashed fire. " Little 
as I am," he shouted, " I challenge 
any of you to wrestle with me." 

Utgard-Loke looked up and down 
the benches as if he would call out 
some one from the two rows of 
giants. Then he shook his head, 
saying ; " There is no one here who 
would not think it child's play to 
wrestle with you ; but let some one 
call in Ellie, my old nurse ; she- 
shall try her strength with you. 
She has brought many a stronger 
man than you to earth." 

An old woman came creeping into 
the hall, bent, wrinkled, and tooth- 
less. Thor seized her, but tha 
tighter his grasp became the firmer 
she stood. Her thin arms gripped 
him like a vise, her strength seemed 
to grow as she put it forth, and at 
last after a hard struggle, in which 
Thor strained every muscle to the 
breaking point, he sank on one 
knee. 

" That is enough," said Utgard- 
Loke, and the old woman crept 
feebly out of the hall, leaving Thor 
stunned and bewildered in the midst 
of the silent giants. There were no 
more trials of strength, and Thor 
and his companions were generously 
feasted after their defeats. 

The next morning, after they had 
partaken of a bountiful breakfast of 
meat and drink, they started on their 
journey homeward. Utgard-Loke 
went with them as far as the gate of 
the city, where he stopped. 

" How do you think your journey 
has turned out?" he asked Thor; 
" and have you met any men 
stronger than yourself? " 

" I have brought shame upon my- 
self," answered Thor frankly and 
honestly, after his nature, " and it 
vexes me to think that you will 
hereafter speak of me as a weak 
fellow." 

" Now that you are out of the 
city I will tell you the truth about 
these things," said Utgard-Loke. 
" If I had known how mighty you 
are I would never have allowed you 
to enter the gates, and you may be 
very sure you will never get in a 
second time. I have beaten you by 
deception, not by strength. I have 
been deluding you from the start. 
In the forest I tied the sack with a 
tough iron wire in such a way you 
could not discern the secret of the 
knot. Thrice you struck at me 
with your hammer, and the first 
blow, though the lightest, would 
have killed me had it fallen on me ; 
but each time I slipped a mountain 
between myself and the hammer, and 
the blows made three deep clefts 
in its stony sides. I have deluded 
you, too, in all the trials of strength 
and skill. Loke was very hungry, 
and ate voraciously, but he con- 
tended against fire itself, which goes 
like the wind and devours every- 
thing in its path ; Thjalfe ran as 
man never ran before, but Huge, 
who raced with him, was no other 
than my thought, and what man is 
so swift as thought ? The horn 
which you strove in vain to empty 
had its further end in the sea, and so 
mighty were your draughts that over 
the wide sea the waters have sunk to 
the ebb. Your strength was no less 
wonderful when you lifted the cat ; 
when we saw one foot raised from the 
floor our hearts sank in terror, for 
it was the Midgard-serpent, encir- 
cling the whole earth, which you 
really contended against, and you 
held it aloft so near heaven that the 
world was hardly enclosed by its 
folds. Most marvellous of all was 
the wrestling with EUie, who was 
none other than old age itself, who 
sooner or later must bring all things 
to the ground. We must part, I 
hope never to meet again ; for I can 
only defend myself against you by 
spells of magic such as these." 

Thor was so enraged when he 
heard these words that he swung his 
hammer high in air to crush the ly- 
ing Utgard-Loke, but he had van- 
ished, and when Thor turned to look 
for the city he saw only a beauti- 
ful plain spreading its blossoming 
meadows to the far mountains ; and 
he went thoughtfully back to Asgard. 

Chapter XIV 

The Death of Balder 

THERE was one shadow which 
always fell over Asgard. Some- 
times in the long years the gods al- 
most forgot it, it lay so far off, like a 
dim cloud in a clear sky ; but Odin 
saw it deepen and widen as he looked 
out into the universe, and he knew 
that the last great battle would surely 
come, when the gods themselves 
would be destroyed and a long twi- 
light would rest on all the worlds; 
and now the day was close at hand. 
Misfortunes never come singly to 
men, and they did not to the gods. 
Idun, the beautiful goddess of youth, 
whose apples were the joy of all 
Asgard, made a resting place for her- 
self among the massive branches of 
Ygdrasil, and there every evening 
came Brage, and sang so sweetly that 
the birds stopped to listen, and even 
the Norns, those implacable sisters 
at the foot of the tree, were softened 
by the melody. But poetry cannot 
change the purposes of fate, and one 
evening no song was heard of Brage 
or birds, the leaves of the world-tree 
hung withered and lifeless on the 
branches, and the fountain from 
which they had daily been sprinkled 
was dry at last. I dun had fallen into 
the dark valley of death, and when 
Brage, Heimdal, and Loke went to 
question her about the future she 
could answer them only with tears. 
Brage would not leave his beautiful 
wife alone amid the dim shades that 
crowded the dreary valley, and so 
youth and genius vanished out of 
Asgard forever. 

Balder was the most god-like of 
all the gods, Secause he was the 
purest and the best. Wherever he 
went his coming was like the coming 
of sunshine, and all the beauty of 
summer was but the shining of his 
face. When men's hearts were white 
like the light, and their lives clear 
as the day, it was because Balder was 
looking down upon them with those 
soft, clear eyes that were open win- 
dows to the soul of God. He had 
always lived in such a glow of 
brightness that no darkness had ever 
touched him ; but one morning, after 
Idun and Brage had gone, Balder's 
face was sad and troubled. He 
walked slowly from room to room in 
his palace Breidablik, stainless as the 
sky when April showers have swept 
across it because no impure thing 
had ever crossed the threshold, and 
his eyes were heavy with sorrow. In 
the night terrible dreams had broken 
his sleep, and made it a long torture. 
The air seemed to be full of awful 
changes for him, and for all the gods. 
He knew in his soul that the shadow 
of the last great day was sweeping 
on; as he looked out and saw the 
wprlds lying in light and beauty, 
the fields yellow with waving grain, 
the deep fiords flashing back the sun- 
beams from their clear depths, the 
verdure clothing the loftiest moun- 
tains, and knew that over all this 
darkness and desolation would come, 
with silence of reapers and birds, 
with fading of leaf and flower, a 
great sorrow fell on his heart. 

Balder could bear the burden no 
longer. He went out, called all the 
gods together, and told them the ter- 
rible dreams of the night. Every 
face was heavy with care. The 
death of Balder would be like the 
going out of the sun, and after a 
long, sad council the gods resolved 
to protect him from harm by pledg- 
ing all things to stand between him 
and any hurt. So Frigg, his mother, 
went forth and made everything 
promise, on a solemn oath, not to 
injure her son. Fire, iron, all kinds 
of metal, every sort of stone, trees, 
earthy diseases, birds, beasts, snakes, 
as the anxious mother went to them, 
solemnly pledged themselves that no 
harm should come near Balder. 
Everything promised, and Frigg 
thought she had driven away the 
cloud ; but fate was stronger than her 
love, and one little shrub had not 
sworn. 

Odin was not satisfied even with 
these precautions, for whichever way 
he looked the shadow of a great 
sorrow spread over the worlds. He 
began to feel as if he were no longer 
the greatest of the gods, and he could 
almost hear the rough shouts of the 
frost-giants crowding the rainbow 
bridge on their way into Asgard. 
When trouble comes to men it is 
hard to bear, but to a god who had 
so many worlds to guide and rule it 
was a new and terrible thing, Odin 
thought and thought until he was 
weary, but no gleam of light could 
he find anywhere ; it was thick dark- 
ness everywhere. 

At last he could bear the suspense 
no longer, and saddling his horse he 
rode sadly out of Asgard to Nifl- 
heim, the home of Hel, whose face 
was as the face of death itself As 
he drew near the the gates, a mons- 
trous dog came out and barked furi- 
ously, but Odin rode a little eastward 
of the shadowy gates to the grave of 
a wonderful prophetess. It was a 
cold, gloomy place, and the soul of 
the great god was pierced with a 
feeling of hopeless sorrow as he dis- 
mounted from Sleipner, and bending 
over the grave began to chant weird 
songs, and weave magical charms 
over it. When he had spoken those 
wonderful words which could waken 
the dead from their sleep, there was 
an awful silence for a moment, and 
then a faint ghost-like voice came 
from the grave. 

" Who art thou ? " it said. " Who 
breaketh the silence of death, and 
calleth the sleeper out of her long 
slumbers? Ages ago I was laid at 
rest here, snow and rain have fallen 
upon me through myriad years 
why dost thou disturb me?" 

"I am Vegtam," answered Odin, 
**and I come to ask why the couches 
of Hel are hung with gold and 
the benches strewn with shining 
rings ? " 

"It is done for Balder," answered 
the awful voice ; " ask me no more." 

Odin's heart sank when he heard 
these words; but he was determined 
to know the worst. 

" I will ask thee until I know 
all. Who shall strike the fatal 
blow?" 

" If I must, I must," moaned the 
prophetess. " Hoder shall smite his 
brother Balder and send him down 
to the dark home of Hel. The 
mead is already brewed for Balder, 
and the despair draweth near." 

Then Odin, looking into the 
future across the open grave, saw 
all the days to come. 

"Who is this," he said, seeing 
that which no mortal could have 
seen, — " who is this that will not 
weep for Balder?" 

Then the prophetess knew that it 
was none other than the greatest of 
the gods who had called her up. 

"Thou art not Vegtam," she ex-- 
claimed, " thou art Odin himself, 
the king of men." 

"And thou," answered Odin 
angrily, "art no prophetess, but 
the mother of three giants." 

" Ride home, then, and exult in 
what thou hast discovered," said the 
dead woman. "Never shall my 
slumbers be broken again until Loke 
shall burst his chains and the great 
battle come." 

And Odin rode sadly homeward 
knowing that already Niflheim was 
making itself beautiful against the 
coming of Balder. 

The other gods meanwhile had 
become merry again; for had not 
everything promised to protect their 
beloved Balder? They even made 
sport of that which troubled them, 
for when they found that nothing 
could hurt Balder, and that all things 
glanced aside from his shining form, 
they persuaded him to stand as a 
target for their weapons; hurling 
darts, spears, swords, and battle-axes 
at him, all of which went singing 
through the air and fell harmless at 
his feet. But Loke, when he saw 
these sports, was jealous of Balder, 
and went about thinking how he 
could destroy him. 

It happened that as Frigg sat 
spinning in her house Fensal, the 
soft wind blowing in at the windows 
and bringing the merry shouts of the 
gods at play, an old woman entered 
and approached her. 

" Do you know," asked the new- 
comer, "what they are doing in 
Asgard? They are throwing all 
manner of dangerous weapons at 
Balder. He stands there like the 
sun for brightness, and against his 
glory, spears and battle-axes fall 
powerless to the ground. Nothing 
can harm him." 

" No," answered Frigg joyfully ; 
" nothing can bring him any hurt, for 
I have made everything in heaven and 
earth swear to protect him." 

" What !" said the old woman, "has 
everything sworn to guard Balder? " 

"Yes," said Frigg, "everything 
has sworn except one little shrub 
which is called Mistletoe, and grows 
on the eastern side of Valhal. I did 
not take an oath from that because I 
thought it too young and weak." 

When the old woman heard this a 
strange light came into her eyes ; she 
walked off much faster than she had 
come in, and no sooner had she passed 
beyond Frigg's sight than this same 
feeble old woman grew suddenly erect, 
shook off her woman's garments, and 
there stood Loke himself. In a mo- 
ment he had reached the slope east of 
Valhal, had plucked a twig of the un- 
sworn Mistletoe, and was back in the 
circle of the gods, who were still at 
their favourite pastime with Balder. 
Hoder was standing silent and alone 
outside the noisy throng, for he was 
blind. Loke touched him. 

"Why do you not throw something 
at Balder?" 

** Because I cannot see where Balder stands, and have nothing to throw 
if I could/' replied Hoder. 

" If that is all," said Loke, " come 
with me. I will give you something 
to throw, and direct your aim." 

Hoder, thinking no evil, went with 
Loke and did as he was told. 

The little sprig of Mistletoe shot 
through the air, pierced the heart of 
Balder, and in a moment the beautiful 
god lay dead upon the field. A shad- 
ow rose out of the deep beyond the 
worlds and spread itself over heaven 
and earth, for the light of the universe 
had gone out. 

The gods could not speak for hor- 
ror. They stood like statues for a 
moment, and then a hopeless wail 
burst from their lips. Tears fell like 
rain from eyes that had never wept 
before, for Balder, the joy of Asgard, 
had gone to Niflheim and left them 
desolate. But Odin was saddest of 
all, because he knew the future, and 
he knew that peace and light had fled 
from Asgard forever, and that the last 
day and the long night were hurrying 
on. 

Frigg could not give up her beau- 
tiful son, and when her grief had spent 
itself a little, she asked who would go 
to Hel and offer her a rich ransom if 
she would permit Balder to return to 
Asgard. 

" I will go," said Hermod ; swift at 
the word of Odin Sleipner was led 
forth, and in an instant Hermod was 
galloping furiously away. 

Then the gods began with sorrow- 
ful hearts to make ready for Balder's 
funeral. When the once beautiful 
form had been arrayed in grave-clothes 
they carried it reverently down to the 
deep sea, which lay, calm as a summer 
afternoon, waiting for its precious bur- 
den. Close to the water's edge lay 
Balder's Ringhorn, the greatest of all 
the ships that sailed the seas, but when 
the gods tried to launch it they could 
not move it an inch. The great ves- 
sel creaked and groaned, but no one 
could push it down to the water. 
Odin walked about it with a sad face, 
and the gentle ripple of the little 
waves chasing each other over the 
rocks seemed a mocking laugh to 
him. 

" Send to Jotunheim for Hyrro- 
ken," he said at last; and a messen- 
ger was soon flying for that mighty 
giantess. 

In a little time, Hyrroken came 
riding swiftly on a wolf so large and 
fierce that he made the gods think of 
Fenrer. When the giantess had a- 
lighted, Odin ordered four Berserkers 
of mighty strength to hold the wolf, 
but he struggled so angrily that they 
had to throw him on the ground be- 
fore they could control him. Then 
Hyrroken went to the prow of the 
ship and with one mighty effort sent 
it far into the sea, the rollers under- 
neath bursting into flame, and the 
whole earth trembling with the shock, 
Thor was so angry at the uproar that 
he would have killed the giantess on 
the spot if he had not been held back 
by the other gods. The great ship 
floated on the sea as she had often done 
before, when Balder, full of life and 
beauty, set all her sails and was borne 
joyfully across the tossing seas. 
Slowly and solemnly the dead god 
was carried on board, and as Nanna, 
his faithfiil wife, saw her husband 
borne for the last time from the earth 
which he had made dear to her and 
beautiful to all men, her heart broke 
with sorrow, and they laid her beside 
Balder on the funeral pyre. 

Since the world began no one had 
seen such a funeral. No bells tolled, 
no long procession of mourners mov- 
ed across the hills, but all the worlds 
lay under a deep shadow, and from 
every quarter came those who had 
loved or feared Balder. There at the 
very water's edge stood Odin himself, 
the ravens flying about his head, and 
on his majestic face a gloom that no 
sun would ever lighten again; and 
there was Frigg, the desolate mother, 
whose son had already gone so far 
that he would never come back to 
her ; there was Frey standing sad and 
stern in his chariot ; there was Freyja, 
the goddess of love, from whose eyes 
fell a shining rain of tears ; there, too, 
was Heimdal on his horse Goldtop ; 
and around all these glorious ones 
from Asgard crowded the children 
of Jotunheim, grim mountain-giants 
seamed with scars from Thor's ham- 
mer, and frost-giants who saw in the 
death of Balder the coming of that 
long winter in which they should 
reign through all the worlds. 

A deep hush fell on all created 
things, and every eye was fixed on 
the great ship riding near the shore, 
and on the funeral pyre rising from 
the deck crowned with the forms of 
Balder and Nanna. Suddenly a gleam 
of light flashed over the water ; the 
pile had been kindled, and the flames, 
creeping slowly at first, climbed faster 
and faster until they met over the 
dead and rose skyward. A lurid 
light filled the heavens and shone on 
the sea, and in the brightness of it 
the gods looked pale and sad, and 
the circle of giants grew darker and 
more portentous. Thor struck the 
fast burning pyre with his consecrat- 
ing hammer, and Odin cast into it the 
wonderful ring Draupner. Higher 
and higher leaped the flames, more 
and more desolate grew the scene; 
at last they began to sink, the funeral 
pyre was consumed. Balder had 
sranished forever, the summer was 
ended, and winter waited at the doors. 
Meanwhile Hermod was riding 
hard and fast on his gloomy errand. 
Nine days and nights he rode through 
valleys so deep and dark that he 
could not see his horse. Stillness and 
blackness and solitude were his only 
companions until he came to the 
golden bridge which crosses the river 
Gjol. The good horse Sleipner, who 
had carried Odin on so many strange 
journeys, had never travelled such a 
road before, and his hoofs rang drear- 
ily as he stopped short at the bridge, 
for in front of him stood its porter, 
the gigantic Modgud. 

" Who are you ? " she asked, fix- 
ing her piercing eyes on Hermod. 
" What is your name and parentage ? 
Yesterday five bands of dead men 
rode across the bridge, and beneath 
them all it did not shake as under 
your single tread. There is no colour 
of death in your face. Why ride 
you hither, the living among the 
dead?" 

" I come," said Hermod, " to seek 
for Balder. Have you seen him pass 
this way ? " 

" He has already crossed the bridge 
and taken his journey northward to 
Hel." 

Then Hermod rode slowly across 
the bridge that spans the abyss between life and death, and found his 
way at last to the barred gates of 
Hel's dreadful home. There he 
sprang to the ground, tightened the 
girths, remounted, drove the spurs 
deep into the horse, and Sleipner, 
with a mighty leap, cleared the wall. 
Hermod rode straight to the gloomy 
palace, dismounted, entered, and in a 
moment was face to face with the 
terrible queen of the kingdom of the 
dead. Beside her, on a beautiful 
throne, sat Balder, pale and wan, 
crowned with a withered wreath of 
flowers, and close at hand was Nanna, 
pallid as her husband, for whom she 
had died. And all night long, while 
ghostly forms wandered restless and 
sleepless through Helheim, Her- 
mod talked with Balder and Nanna. 
There is no record of what they said, 
but the talk was sad enough, doubtless, 
and ran like a still stream among the 
happy days in Asgard when Haider's 
smile was morning over the earth 
and the sight of his face the summer 
of the world. 

When the morning came, faint and 
dim, through the dusky palace, Her- 
mod sought Hel, who received him 
as cold and stern as fate. 

" Your kingdom is fiill, O Hel ! " 
he said, " and without Balder, Asgard 
is empty. Send him back to us 
once more, for there is sadness in 
every heart and tears are in every eye. 
Through heaven and earth all things 
weep for him." 

"If that is true," was the slow, icy 
answer, " if every created thing weeps 
for Balder, he shall return to Asgard ; 
but if one eye is dry he remains 
henceforth in Helheim." 

Then Hermod rode swiftly away, 
and the decree of Hel was soon told 
in Asgard. Through all the worlds 
the gods sent messengers to say that 
all who loved Balder should weep 
for his return, and everywhere tears 
fell like rain. There was weeping in 
Asgard, and in all the earth there was 
nothing that did not weep. Men and 
women and little children, missing the 
light that had once fallen into their 
hearts and homes, sobbed with bitter 
grief; the birds of the air, who had 
sung carols of joy at the gates of the 
morning since time began, were full 
of sorrow; the beasts of the fields 
crouched and moaned in their desola- 
tion; the great trees, that had put 
on their robes of green at Balder's 
command, sighed as the wind wailed 
through them ; and the sweet flowers, 
that waited for Balder*s footstep and 
sprang up in all the fields to greet 
him, hung their frail blossoms and 
wept bitterly for the love and the 
warmth and the light that had gone 
out. Throughout the whole earth 
there was nothing but weeping, and 
the sound of it was like the wailing 
of those storms in autumn that weep 
for the dead summer as its withered 
leaves drop one by one from the 
trees. 

The messengers of the gods went 
gladly back to Asgard, for every- 
thing had wept for Balder; but as 
they journeyed they came upon a 
giantess, called Thok, and her eyes 
were dry. 

" Weep for Balder," they said. 

" With dr)' eyes only will I weep 
for Balder," she answered. " Dead 
or alive, he never gave me gladness. 
Let him stay in Helheim." 

When she had spoken these words 
a terrible laugh broke from her lips, 
and the messengers looked at each 
other with pallid faces, for they 
knew it was the voice of Loke. 

Balder never came back to Asgard, 
and the shadows deepened over all 
things, for the night of death was 
fast coming on. 

Chapter XV 

How Loke was Punished 

IN the beginning Loke had been 
the brother of Odin, and one 
of the foremost of the gods, but the 
lawlessness and passion that were in 
him had won the mastery, and in 
earth and heaven he was fast bring- 
ing ruin and sorrow. What the 
hard-hearted frost-giants had always 
tried to do and failed, Loke did ; for 
in the end the evil in him destroyed 
Asgard, and brought in the long 
winter of storm and darkness. It 
was he who stole Sif's hair and 
Freyja's necklace, who persuaded 
Idun to go into the woods that 
the giant Thjasse might carry off 
her apples, who stung the dwarf 
so that the handle of Thor's hammer 
was shortened, who induced Thor to 
go on his dangerous journey to Geir- 
rod ; but worst of all his crimes was 
the killing of Balder, and the refusal 
to weep for him when all the world 
was in tears. 

After bringing so much sorrow 
upon others, suffering at last came to 
him. Not long after Balder's death 
the sea-god JEgtr gave a great feast, 
and brewed ale for the gods in the 
great kettle which Thor had taken 
from the giant Hymer. All the 
gods were there save Thor, and they 
tried to be merry, although they 
were sad enough at heart. In the 
midst of them sat Loke, gloomy and 
silent, as if his terrible crime had 
drawn a black line around him. The 
feast went on merrily ; but he seemed 
to have no part in it, for no one spoke 
to him. Great horns of ale passed 
from hand to hand, and as they 
talked and feasted the gods forgot 
for a moment the sorrow that lay 
upon all the world. 

" jEger/* said one, " these are good 
servants of yours. They are quick 
of eye and foot, and one lacks noth- 
ing under their care." 

Loke was so full of rage that he 
could not endure that even the ser- 
vants of the other gods should be 
praised, and with flashing eyes and 
a face black with hate he sprang 
from his place and struck the ser- 
vant nearest him so violently that 
he fell dead on the floor. A silence 
of horror fell on all the gods at this 
new sin, and then with fierce indig- 
nation they drove him out, and shut 
the doors against him forever. Loke 
strode oflT furiously for a little distance, and then turned and came 
back. The gods meantime had be- 
come merry again. 

" What are they talking about ? " 
he asked another servant who was 
standing without, 

" They are telling their great deeds," 
answered the servant ; " but no one 
has anything good to say of you." 

Maddened by these words, Loke 
forgot his fear in a terrible rage, strode 
back into the hall and stood there 
like a thunder-cloud ; when the gods 
saw him they became suddenly silent. 

" I have travelled hither from a 
long distance," said he hoarsely, 
" and I am thirsty ; who will give 
me to drink of the mead ? " 

No one spoke or stirred. Loke's 
face grew blacker. 

" Why are you all silent ? " he 
cried ; " have you lost your tongues ? 

Will you find place for me here, or 
do you turn me away ? " 

Brage looked at him steadily and 
fearlessly. " The gods will never 
more make room for you/' he said. 

When he heard these words, Loke 

ceased to look like a god, for 

the fury and hate of a devil were in 

his face. He cursed the gods until 

every face was pale with horror. 

Like an accusing conscience he told 

tHem all their faults and sins; he 

made them feel their weaknesses so 

keenly that Vidar, the silent god, 

rose to give him his seat and silence 

him, but now that his fury was let 

loose nothing could stop him. One 

by one he called each god by his 

name, and dragged his weaknesses 

into the view of all, and last of all he 

came to Sif, Thor's wife, and cursed 

her; and now a low muttering was 
heard afar off, and then a distant roll 
of thunder deepening into awful peals 
that echoed and re-echoed among the 
hills. The gods sat silent in their 
places, and even Loke grew dumb. 
Great flashes of lightning flamed 
through the hall, and made his dark 
face more terrible to look at. Crash 
followed close upon crash until the 
mountains quaked, and the great hall 
trembled ; then came a blinding flash, 
and Thor stood in the midst swing- 
ing Mjolner, and looking as if he 
would smite the world into frag- 
ments. He looked at Loke, and 
Loke, cowering before Thor's ter- 
rible eyes of fire, walked out of the 
hall cursing ^ger as he went, and 
wishing that flames might break upon 
his realm and devour it and him. 

And now Loke, no longer a god in 
nature or in rank, became an outcast 
and a fugitive flying from the wrath 
of the gods whom he had insulted 
and wronged. He went from place 
to place until he came upon a deep 
valley among the mountains, so en- 
tirely shut in that he thought no one 
from Asgard could ever look into it. 
There he built a house in the hollows 
of the rocks, with four doors through 
which he could look in every direc- 
tion, so that no one could come near 
his hiding-place without his knowing 
it. He took on many disguises ; 
often in the daytime he took the 
shape of a salmon and hid in the 
deep waters, where he floated solitary 
and motionless while the gods were 
searching for him far and wide. 

Days and weeks passed away, and 
Loke began to think he was safe 
from the pursuit of his enemies. 

He began to busy and amuse him- 
self as he used to do before he was 
shut out of Asgard. He had always 
been a skilful fisherman, and now, as 
he sat alone in his house before the 
fire, he took flax and yarn and began 
to knit the meshes of the first net 
that was made since the world began. 
His eyes burnt at the thought of the 
new sport which he was going to 
have, and his cunning hand wove 
thread after thread into the grov/ing 
web. Odin, looking down from his 
lofty throne, «aw the busy weaver, 
and quickly calling Thor, the strong- 
est, and Kvaser, the keenest of the 
gods, was soon on the journey to 
Loke's home among the mountains. 
Loke was so busy with his net that 
he did not see them until they were 
close at hand; then he sprang up, 
threw the net into the fire, and run- 
ning to the river changed himself into 
a salmon, and dove deep into the 
still waters. When the gods entered 
the house Loke was nowhere to be 
found, but the sharp-eyed Kvaser 
found the half-burnt net among the 
glowing embers. He pulled it out 
and held it before Odin and Thor. 

" I know what it is," he said in a 
moment; "it is a net for fishing; 
Loke was always a fisherman." 
Then, as if the thought had suddenly 
come to him, he added, "He has 
changed himself into a fish and is 
hiding in that river." 

Odin and Thor were rejoiced to 
find their enemy so close at hand, 
and they all began to work on the 
half-burnt net and quickly finished it. 
Then they went softly down to the 
water, threw it in, and drew it slowly 
up the stream from shore to shore. 
But Loke swam between two large 
stones in the bed of the stream and 
the net only grazed him as it passed 
over. The gods finding the net 
empty hung a great stone on it, and, 
going back to the starting place, drew 
it slowly up stream again. Never,, 
since the beginning of things, had 
there been such fishing before ! The 
noisy river rolled swiftly down to 
the sea, the steep mountains rose 
on either side and shutout the sun 
so that even at mid-day it was like 
twilight. When Loke saw the net 
coming a second time and found that 
he could not escape, he waited until 
it was close at hand, and then with a 
mighty leap shot over it and plunged 
into a waterfall just where the river 
rushed into the sea. 

The gods saw the great fish leap 
into the air and fall into the water, 
and they instantly turned around and 
dragged the net toward the sea, 
Thor wading after it in the middle 
of the stream. As the net came 
nearer and nearer Loke saw that he 
must either swim out into the sea 
or leap back again over the net. 
He waited until the shadow of the 
net was over him, and then with a 
mighty leap shot into the air and 
over the net; but Thor was watch- 
ing, and his strong hand closed round 
the shining fish. Loke managed to 
slip through Thor's fingers, but Thor 
held him by the tail, and that, as the 
story goes, is the reason why the 
salmon's tail is so thin and pointed. 

Then the gods, glad at heart that 
they had caught the slayer of Balder, 
changed Loke into his natural shape 
and dragged him to a cavern in the 
mountains near at hand, where they 
fastened three great rocks, having 
pierced them first with holes. Loke's 
two fierce sons. Vale and Nare, they 
also seized, and changed Vale into a 
wolf^ and immediately he sprang 
upon his brother and devoured him. 
Then the gods bound Loke, hand 
and foot, to the great stones, with iron 
fetters, and, to make his punishment 
the more terrible, they hung a ser- 
pent over him, which moment by mo- 
ment through ages and ages dropped 
poison on his face. Loke's wife, 
Sigyn, when she saw his agony, stood 
beside him and caught the venom in 
a cup, as it fell drop by drop ; but 
when the cup was full and she turned 
to empty it the poison fell on Loke, 
and he writhed so terribly that the 
whole earth trenibled and quaked. 
So Loke was punished, and so he 
lay, chained and suffering, until the 
last great battle set him free. 

Chapter XVI 

The Twilight of the Gods 

ALTHOUGH Loke was bound, 
and could do no more harm. 
Balder could not come back ; and so 
Asgard was no longer the heaven it 
used to be. The gods were there, 
but the sunshine and the summer 
had somehow lost their glory, and 
were thenceforth pale and faint. At 
last there came a winter such as 
neither man nor god had ever seen 
before. The days were short and 
dark, blinding storms followed fast 
upon each other and left mountains 
of snow behind, fierce winds swept 
the sky and troubled the sea, and the 
bitter air froze the very hearts of 
men into sullen despdn The deepest rivers were fast bound, the fiercest 
animals died in their lairs, there was 
no warmth in the sun, and even 
the icy brightness of the stars was 
dimmed by drifting snow. The 
whole earth was buried in a winter 
so bitter that the gods shivered in 
Asgard. 

The long nights and the short, 
dark days followed fast upon each 
other, and aS the time drew near 
when summer would come again 
men's hearts grew light with hope 
once more. Each day they looked 
into the sullen skies, through which 
clouds of snow were whirling, and 
said to each other, " To-morrow the 
summer will come;" but when the 
morrow came no summer came with 
it. And all through the months 
that in other days had been beautiful 
with flowers the snow fell steadily
and the cold winds blew fiercely, 
while eyes grew sad and hearts heavy 
with waiting for a summer that did 
not come. And it never came again; 
for this was the terrible Fimbul-win- 
ter, long foretold, from which even 
the gods could not escape. In 
Jotunheim there was joy among the 
frost-giants as they shouted to each 
other through the howling storms, 
"The Fimbul-winter has come at 
last." At first men shuddered as 
they whispered, " Can it be the 
Fimbul-winter?** But when they 
knew it beyond all doubting a blind 
despair filled them, and they were 
reckless alike of good or evil. Over 
the whole earth war followed fast 
upon war, and everywhere there were 
wrangling and fighting and murder. 
It hardly snowed fast enough to 
cover the blood-stains. Mothers 
forgot to love their little children, 
and brothers struck each other down 
as if they were the bitterest enemies. 

Three years passed without one 
breath of the warm south wind or 
the blossoming of a single flower, 
and three other years darker and 
colder succeeded them. A savage 
joy filled the hearts of the frost- 
giants, and they shook their clenched 
hands at Asgard as if they had mas- 
tered the gods at last. On the earth 
there was nothing but silence and 
despair, and among the gods only 
patient waiting for the end. One 
day, as the sun rose dim and cold, 
a deep howl echoed through the sky, 
and a great wolf sprang up from the 
underworld and leaped vainly after it. 
All day long, through the frosty air, 
that terrible cry was heard, and all 
day the giant wolf ran close behind^ 
slowly gaining in the chase. At last> 
as the sun went down over the snow- 
covered mountains, the wolf^ with a 
mighty spring, reached and devoured 
it. The glow upon the hills went 
out in blackness ; it was the last sun- 
set. Faint and colourless the moon 
rose, and another howl filled the 
heavens as a second wolf sprang 
upon her track, ran swiftly behind, 
and devoured her also. Then came 
an awful darkness over all as, one by 
one, the stars fell from heaven, and 
blackness and whirling snow wrapped 
all things in their folds. The end 
had come; the last great battle was 
to be fought; Ragnarok, the Twi- 
light of the Gods, was at hand. 

Suddenly a strange sound broke 

in upon the darkness and was heard 

throughout all the worlds ; on a lofty 

height the eagle Egder struck his 
prophetic harp. The earth shook, 
mountains crumbled, rocks were rent, 
and all fetters were broken. Loke 
shook off his chains and rushed out 
of his cavern, his heart hot with hate 
and burning with revenge, the terri- 
ble Fenris-wolf broke loose, and out 
of the deep sea the Midgard-serpent 
drew his long folds toward the land, 
lashing the water into foam as he 
passed. From every quarter the 
enemies of the gods gathered for the 
last great battle on the plain of 
Vigrid, which was a hundred miles 
wide on each side. Thither came 
the Fenris-wolf, his hungry jaws 
stretched so far apart that they 
reached from earth to heaven ; the 
Midgard-serpent, with fiery eyes and 
pouring out floods of venom ; the 
awful host of Hel with Loke at their 
head; the grim ranks of the frost- 
giants marching behind Hrym ; and, 
last of all, the glittering fire-giants 
of Muspelheim, the fire-world, with 
Surt at the front. 

The long line of enemies already 
stretched across the plain when 
Heimdal, standing on the rainbow 
bridge, blew the Gjallar-horn to call 
the gods. No sooner had Odin 
heard the terrible call to arms than 
he mounted and rode swiftly to 
Mimer's fountain, that he might 
know how to lead the gods into 
battle. When he came, the Norns 
sat veiled beneath the tree, silent 
and idle, for their work was done, 
and Ygdrasil began to quiver as if 
its very roots had been loosened. 
What Odin said to Mimer no one 
will ever know. He had no sooner 
finished speaking than Heimdal blew 
a second blast, and out of Asgard 
the gods rode forth to the last great 
battle, the golden helmet and shining 
armour of Odin leading the way. 
There was a momentary hush as the 
two armies confronted each other, 
and then the awful fight began. 
Shouts of rage rose from the frost- 
giants, and the armour of the fire- 
giants fairly broke into blaze as they 
rushed forward. The Fenris-wolf 
howled wildly, the hosts of Hel 
grew dark and horrible with rage, 
and the Midgard-serpent coiled its 
scaly length to strike. But before 
a blow had been struck the shining 
forms of the gods were seen advanc- 
ing, and their battle-cry rang strong 
and clear across the field. Odin and 
Thor started side by side, but were 
soon separated. Odin sprang upon 
the wolf, and after a terrible struggle 
was* devoured. Thor singled out his 
old enemy, the Midgard-serpent, 
and in a furious combat slew him ; 
but as the monster died it drew its 
folds together with a mighty effort 
and poured upon Thor such a deadly 
flood of venom that he fell back nine 
paces, sank down and died. Frey 
encountered Surt, and because he 
had not the sword he had given long 
before to Skirner, could not defend 
himself, and he too was slain. The 
dog Garm rushed upon Tyr, the 
sword-god, and both were killed, 
Tyr missing the arm which he lost 
when the Fenris-wolf was bound. 

And now the battle was at its 
height, and over the whole field 
gods, monsters, and giants were 
fighting with the energy of despair. 
Heimdal and Loke met, struggled, 
and fell together, and Vidar rushed 
upon the wolf which had devoured 
Odin, and tore him limb from limb. 
Then Surt strode into the middle of 
the armies, and in an awful pause 
flung a flaming firebrand among the 
worlds. There was a breathless 
hush, a sudden rush of air, a deadly- 
heat, and the whole universe burst 
into blaze. A roaring flame filled 
all space and devoured all worlds, 
Ygdrasil fell in ashes, the earth sank 
beneath the sea. No sun, no moon, 
no stars, no earth, no Asgard, no 
Hel, no Jotunheim ; gods, giants, 
monsters, and men all dead ! Noth- 
ing remained but a vast abyss filled 
with the moaning seas, and brooded 
over by a pale, colourless light. Rag- 
narok, the end of all things, the 
Twilight of the Gods, had come. 

Chapter XVII 

The New Earth 

AGES came and went, and there 
was no one to count their years 
as they passed ; starless and sunless, 
the sea rolled and moaned in the 
great abyss of space. How long 
that dim twilight lasted no one will 
ever know, for who, save the All- 
father, numbered the ages or kept 
reckoning of their flight ! Invisible, 
unmoved, the eternal Spirit who had 
ruled over all things from the begin- 
ning, and whose servants the mighti- 
est of the gods had been, kept watch 
over the starless spaces of the uni- 
verse, sowing in the measureless 
furrows the seeds of a new world 
and a new race. 

At last the hour was ripe, and a 
faint glow stole through the dusky 
space and spread itself over the sea. 
It was so dim at first that the waves 
were hardly coloured by it, but it 
deepened and deepened until it lay 
rose-red across the waters, and made 
all the upper air rich and beautiful. 
Moment by moment the sky kindled 
and sent its new glory deep into the 
heart of the sea, until at last, though 
there was no song to welcome it, no 
grateful eyes of men and women to 
watch its coming, a new sun stood 
at the threshold of a new day and 
filled the hollow heavens and the 
great deep with light and warmth. 
All day the splendour of the new 
time bathed air and water in its 
glow, and when the sun sank at last 
in the west, and the old darkness began to steal back again, one by one 
the stars found their places and set 
their silver lamps swinging in the 
restless waves. 

Day followed day, and night fol- 
lowed night, and yet sun and stars 
looked down on a wide waste of waters. 
But there came a day at last when 
the waters were parted by a point of 
land, and hour by hour it widened 
as a new earth rose fresh and beauti- 
ful out of the depths of the sea. 
Over it the sun poured such a glow 
of warmth that life stirred under 
every sod ; trees shot from the rich 
soil and made new forests for the 
wind to play upon ; the grass spread 
itself softly over the barren places, 
and with deft fingers wove a garment 
for the whole earth ; flowers bloomed 
along the hillsides and opened their 
fragrant leaves deep in the forests; 
birds broke the stillness of the woods 
and made circles of song in the upper 
air; the rivers flowed on silently to 
the sea; the fjords caught once 
more the shadows of the mountains ; 
and the waterfalls were white with 
foam of rushing streams. 

And when all was ready, and the 
blue sky once more overarched a 
world of peace and joy and fruitful 
fields. Balder came back more fair 
and beautiful than in the old days at 
Asgard. With him came his brother 
Hoder, who had killed him, and 
they were not long alone ; for one by 
one Hoener, Vidar, and Vale rejoined 
them. The flame had not touched 
so much as the hem of their gar- 
ments, nor had the floods destroyed 
them. Thor's work was done, but 
his sons, Magne and Mode, brought 
back to earth the wonderful hammer 
which had so often flashed over frost- 
giants and rung in their ears. More 
wonderful than ail, out of Mimer's 
forest, where the fountain of memory 
once stood, and through which the 
feet of Odin had so often gone in 
search of knowledge, came Lifthraser 
and Lif, the one man and woman 
who had escaped the ruin of the 
world. And they drank the dew of 
the morning and grew strong and 
beautiful. They plucked the sweet 
new flowers and turned the furrows 
of the fresh earth, and the harvests 
waved for them abundantly in all the 
fiiture years until their children and 
their children's children filled the 
whole earth. 

The beautiful plain of Ida lay 
green and bright all the year and 
bordered with perennial flowers as 
the suns circled around it ; and the 
gods were , at peace at last. No 
frost-giants invaded the new heaven 
or darkened the new earth. Through 
the long bright days Balder and 
Hoder often sat together and talked 
of the olden time, of the Midgard- 
serpent, and the wolf Fenrer, and of 
Loke's misdoings. Through earth 
and heaven there was unbroken 
rest; for often when the gods met 
to take counsel together the voice of 
the unseen All-father spoke to them 
with infinite wisdom, appeasing quar- 
rels, pronouncing judgment, and es- 
tablishing peace for ever and ever. 
And so through all the ages the new 
world will move to the end. Trees 
will wave, flowers bloom, stars shine
rivers flow, men toil and reap in the 
fruitful fields, the gods look lovingly 
down from the plain of Ida upon 
their labours ; for the hand of the 
great All-father will lift men through 
obedience and industry to himself.