THE TRAGEDY
       OF   
   
 THE NORSE GODS     
   
    
    
    
    
      BY     
 RUTH J. PITT
    
    
    
ILLUSTRATRED BY
   G. P. JACOMB-HOOD AND J. A. J. BRINDLEY   
    
    
    
   London     
    T. FISHER UNWIN
  PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
    1893      
    
    
    







     TO THE MEMORY OF 
THE FRIEND OF MY CHILDHOOD AND GIRLHOOD, THE  
REV. JAMES BALDWIN BROWN,      
   ACROSS THE YEARS OF
        CHANGE, AND DEATH, AND TIME,    
     I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK, AS A  
   TOKEN OF UNDIMINISHED REVERENCE AND OF     
    UNFALTERING LOVE. 












  
        PREFACE. 
The ancient religion of the English race is still to
most Englishmen untrodden ground. We owe more  
than perhaps we are aware of to the belief of our       
forefathers. As the light and air around us, that       
form, and strengthen, and purify our bodies without     
our knowing it, their most effective work being unconscious work, so is if with religion; and we are      
incapable of judging a man, or a nation, or of knowing anything important about either, until we are       
informed what was his attitude towards the great        
forces which he was bound to discover first of all in   
nature, and afterwards in his own life and spirit.      
The old Norseman, in his hard and stern heroism,        
in his contempt tor cowardice, in his reverence for     
home, and in the honour in which he held steadfastness to duty, obedience, truth, and trust---virtues on  
which our family and national constitutions are
founded---was led by something more than his own        
irresponsible ideas; he was informed, and upheld, 
. and influenced by his religion, that is to say, his conception of, and relationship to, the invisible spiritual   
and moral world. What that religion was, on what  
lines he formed his life, what were the ideas that
braced him for warfare and death, and all the solemn       
issues of a life which he, at least, cannot be blamed      
for taking in anything but a gravely serious light, I      
have tried to show in a shape likely to appeal to a class  
of readers who, with no time for study themselves,
may care to trace back to their roots some of the 
characteristics and habits that have made us a great       
English nation to-day.     
The stories in this book, here connected and
gathered together as a whole, are almost all taken
from the Poetic and Prose Eddas. It appeared
to me that the grim and awful prophecies of the   
Vala in the beginning of the Voluspa, and which   
were only too surely fulfilled at the close of the
poetic Edda, should be looked at as a whole, and not       
as we are accustomed to regard them as separate   
traditions. The fulfilment of every one helped to 
the final overthrow of the gods, of which we have 
grim hints in the prophecies relating to Ragnarok.
It is therefore one story, and not several, which is       
told in this book.
As closely as possible, I have followed the Eddas both in the relationship the stories bear to each    
other, and the incidents in each; but having often   


only a line or a verse to indicate the narrative, I  
have had to expand, although I have nowhere    
departed from what I considered to be the probable   
drift and meaning of the tradition. So far as I
have been able to make it, I believe the whole to be 
reliable, and where I have added anything of my
own, it has been to fill up the picture of the original.      
The collated facts on which I have gone are mostly   
to be found in the Index. The outline of all the     
stories is to be found, more or less, in the Poetic or        
the Prose Edda.
- The important moral and spiritual truth of this ’  
narrative will not. be hard to trace. It is a truth  
lying at the root of almost every religion of which  
we have the relics; but nowhere, I believe, is it    
more clearly expressed, more forcibly and gravely    
treated than in the old Norse religion. In fact, the 
Norse were the very last men to play, in any sense,  
with the outward life of action, or the inner life of
thought. The old, old fight of good and evil, of light        
and darkness, of spirit and matter, variously represented from earliest Aryan times down to the   
Bunyan of our childhood, and later, is here told     
again in the traditions of our forefathers.    
The headings to the chapters, which will be found  
to be as full of suggestion as anything in the book,     
have all been taken from Mr. Benjamin Thorpe’s     
  
translation of the Poetic Edda.   
For the form which the story of Baldur has here    
taken I am largely indebted to Mr. Matthew
Arnold’s poem on Baldur. The greater number of     
my mythological facts have been drawn from that    
rich mine of knowledge, Grimm’s " Deutsche
Mythologie." Following is a list of the other books
that have been consulted 
Translation of the Poetic Edda, by Benjamin        
Thorpe; translation of the Prose Edda, by Dasent; Wiborg’s “ Mythologie des Nordens ”;       
Keary's “Outlines of Primitive Belief”; Tylor's “ Primitive Culture ”; Piggott’s “ Scandinavian    
Mythology ”; Thorpe’s “ Northern Mythology ” ;     
Maurer’s “ Islandische Volkssagen der Gegenwart.”  
Bath,     
May, 1893.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
  CONTENTS.
   

I.    IN GIANT-LAND......9
II.    ASGARD......  22  
III.    THOR’S ADVENTURE WITH GEVRUTH .    .   32  
IV.    LOKI's CHILDREN •     .     .     .     •       42
V.    BALDUR .......48   
VI.    HERMOD's JOURNEY.....58    
VIL    THE FRAILTY OF GODS .   ...   .  71
VIII.    ODIN      .......90      
IX.    ODIN THE AVENGER .    . ' .    .    • IO1   
X.    SUTTUNG’s MEAD .    .    .    .    .     108 
XL FREYIA’s SIN AND SORROWS • . . .120    
xii. thor’s adventure with utgardsloki •    131    
XIIL GIR’s FEAST......148
Gx1 RECOVERY OF THOR’S HAMMER .    .    .    155   
XV.    THOR AND THE DWARF ALVIS .   .    .164      
XVI.    THE HERO OF THE GIANTS    .    .    .     177    
XVII.    IDUNN AND THE APPLES OF YOUTH .    . 189  
XVIII.    A PROMISE FULFILLED . . . .     197      
XIX.    THE BUILDING OF THE BURG .    .    .212    
XX.    RAONARdK......... 
XXI.    THE RESURRECTION .       ... 230  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.   
  
  
  
I.    IDUNN AND THE APPLES OF YOUTH . Frontispiece       
2,    HERMOD’s FAREWELL TO BALDUR .   Fadng page 70      
3.    ODIN AT THE BROOK MIMIR .    .    ,,    „    93    
4.    ODIN ENTERING MIDGARD BEFORE        
RAGNAROK222 
  
  
  
  
    
 From drawing by G. P. Jacomb-Hood.   
       
       
I.   
   IN GIANT LAND.      
With insult or derision
Treat thou never     
A guest or wayfarer. 
They often little know 
Who sit within       
Of what race they are who come.”      
Tha High On’s Lay, Poetic Edda,
A great common stretched from north to south,        
from east to west, and seemed limitless as the sky   
itself. It was a heavy bog country, where black      
deeps of water absorbed the light and gave back      
none; a treacherous land, where the unwary footstep might be beguiled astray, and the traveller     
sunk in a hopeless sea of mud. There a man     
might wander for days, and come no nearer human      
habitation, no nearer a human voice. Now and 
again a mass of ancient rock raised itself above      
the surrounding dead level, and cast black shadows,   
in which queer things, awful semblances of life,      
which seemed to own nothing but a grimace and a       
whisper, dwelt. Very silent was that land; no
bird’s voice broke the stillness, not even a frog     
could be heard to croak; a land of nothingness,       
of emptiness, and dreariness. Only the wind .
howled across it in a ceaseless whine of melancholy.  
In the midst of the surrounding horror of desolation a being was picking his way with doubtful,       
wandering footsteps. He looked anxiously around,      
trying to pierce the thick twilight that was fast     
gathering.   
“I think Heimdall might send some light and  
show me the way to Bifrost Bridge,” he muttered       
half angrily to himself; “ it is not as though I did  
not intend, nay, want to go back to Asgard, though,   
of course, when there is fun to be had among the      
giants, nobody could be expected to like staying      
among the stately gods always. What is the good       
of being a god if I cannot do what I like ? ” ,       
His brow gathered into angry knots, and -there        
was a gleam of hate in his eyes. It was a hand    
some face with clear-cut features, but it had a look  
of restlessness and dissatisfaction which somewhat
spoilt the effect its beauty might have produced. 
He was tired now, and would fain have lain down   
in the shelter of one of the tall rocks had he not
feared the dwarfs and other powers of nature and  
of night which might overtake him in his sleep.   
So on he trudged for many another weary mile,     
till the slow, dull sound of breaking waves reached        
his ear. In another instant he turned a comer and 
saw the straight line of sea-coast and the stretch of      
yellow sand over which the sea-gulls flew, flapping        
their grey wings, and uttering their hoarse cries.
Here Loki stood still, doubtful of his next movement. Rest seemed to be nowhere. His only hope    
was that over there in the far West might come the
light from Asgard to lead him home. But, either   
the gods were busy, or the ever-watchful Heimdall 
had left his post of station; certain it was that,
though Loki’s eyes scanned the entire sky, there  
was no break in the clouds, no sign of the Rainbow
Path.       
" Will you come in and rest with us, fair sir ? ” 
Turning, he saw on the sand before him, a tall    
woman, finely built, with the broad shoulders of a
man. She bad a sort of scarf rudely wound around  
her, and her black hair fell almost to her feet.  
“ Who are you ? ” asked the god.   
 
“ I am Geyruth’s daughter, of the race of giants,”      
she answered. " We dwell here on the sea-strand

in caves and holes. Though a poor place to ask a        
god to, we will receive you with kindness.”    
" Many thanks, but I should prefer returning to
Asgard.” 
She laughed scornfully, and stretched out a long        
hand across the sea, already illuminated by the
glow of the setting sun.
“ Do you see the sun ? It is going fast. Soon  
there will be darkness on the face of the earth ; and   
when the light of the gods is gone, and thick shadows   
lie where the sunshine of Odin played, then, Hurrah I   
for the play-time of the giants. But as for you,        
little god, the path to Asgard is closed, so you may    
as well be happy with us. Come, and round our  
fire we will spin you the most wonderful stories you    
ever heard, and,” she laughed slyly, " we will tell     
you of the fate of the gods when the twilight comes     
that will never go, and we conquer Asgard.”    
She approached nearer and nearer as she said this,      
till her giant form towered over the small god, her     
black hair fell around him, and she almost hissed       
the last words in his ear. His face grew crimson        
with wrath, and, turning, he sprang on to her  
shoulders, and pulled her hair until she screamed       
with pain.     
 
“ You conquer Asgard I You great monster of
darkness! You have no power against the might   
and truth of the gods. Twilight of the gods    
indeed! ” 
" And twilight there shall be, and that at once if       
you don’t leave off pulling my hair.”     
Giving herself a shake, she tossed Loki into the
sea, and the next wave dashed him, trembling in 
helpless fury, and with the water streaming from
him, at her feet.        
“ Come and have supper, you foolish little god.”
He rose shivering and mortified, and followed   
the giantess through the opening of the cave,   
which was guarded by fierce dogs, and surrounded
by palisades, from each of which grinned a dead 
man’s head, to a dark cavern beyond. Here the noisome odour diffused from walls and floor, the
slippery adders crawling beneath and over his feet,      
made it difficult for him for a few moments to stand     
upright. When he had a little regained control of        
his senses, he perceived a large fire, round which       
the giants were disporting their huge limbs, eagerly     
watching a big cauldron from which came a savory        
smell. .  
"Something more for our pot ?" asked one young  
giant, stretching out a lazy hand towards Loki.       
" You would not eat a god, would you ? Make    
room for him; he has had a bath more than he   
bargained for."
Loki at once found himself the centre of the giants'    
interest and ridicule, till, regaining his courage, he  
returned joke for joke, and joined in the laugh
against himself. Song followed jest, and story 
followed song, and then the giants were fairly 
launched on their favourite amusement---the narration of tales intended to go far to prove their       
own shrewdness, cleverness, and strength.
“You may be clever and strong, but you are     
feeble compared to Thor.” 
“ And who may Thor be ? ” 
“ Thor is the strongest of any, be he god, or giant     
or man. He brings confusion to the wicked, and is       
always ready to defend truth with Mjolnir his Hammer. He is perfectly true and perfectly strong. He      
is the Defender of Men. He is called the Crusher,       
and Thunder and Lightning herald his approach. 
He is the Weapon of the World, the Conqueror of
the Serpent, the Enemy of Giants and all forms of       
Falsehood, and the Friend of Man.”       
“ Dear me I a wonderful person I Could he, think        
you, fight and conquer Fomiot or Hrungnir ? " asked     
the giants, contemptuously.     
“ He would have no need to fight; he would slay
them by the breath at his lips."
  
"Let him try then. Put him into my hand/'
shouted Geyruth. He took Loki and shook him.      
“ Promise.”       
" No, I won’t”    
" Put Thor into my power and I will let you go.”  
" No,” roared the small god.     
" Well, then, in with you,” and Loki was thrust   
into a cage, and the door shut on him.   
" Now, my pretty little god, sing us a song," and 
the giant took up the cage, and violently swung it
backwards and forwards in the air. '     
" Oh, please don’t. It makes all my bones ache.”  
"Sing us a song of Asgard, then.” And Loki        
trembling, sang a song about the beauties of Asgard,    
and the strength, goodness, and loveliness of the 
gods; all the time fearing that he would be Set   
swinging again.   
" H’m---a pretty song. Why should not we live     
in Asgard ? ”'.  
"You are too wicked,” said Loki, regaining his    
courage under approbation.       
’ A scream of laughter greeted his words..     
" Have you women as fair as ours in Asgard ? ”    
" We have Frea, and Freyia, and Nanna, and Sif,   
and many others who do not need giants to vouch   
for their fairness.” '.   
" But whose daughters giants shall wed."        
, “Yes, when the gods stoop to marry giantesses,       
        
and that will be never.”  *    
“ You are very wise, young Loki; but you know 
as little of the Future as you do of the Past.”        
. “ Let me out,” pleaded the prisoner.     .  
“ Not I---except on two conditions: first, that you    
put Thor in my power, and, secondly, that you show     
me the way to Asgard.”  .      
“ Well, I suppose I must promise; only be quick,       
for I am dreadfully cramped.”  
Loki jumped out as soon as the door was 
opened, and then hopped on one leg round the  
room, crying plaintively all the time.  
“ Promise.”   
“ All right, I will; but oh the pains and aches in     
my limbs 1 Kind giants, wait awhile, and I will tell   
you. Thor will come through the Iron Wood the 
next dark night before the new moon, when you can      
get him in your power. And as to the way to   
Asgard---next time there is a dark cloud shedding      
rain on one side of the sky, and a silver cloud        
letting through the sun's rays on the other, look      
out, and you will see a path of divers colours, and    
shining with an exceeding great light, stretching      
away into the depth of heaven. Lo I this is Bifrost     
---the road to Asgard. But beware I for Heimdall       
the Sleepless guards it.” .    
  
As the words left Loki’s lips a great whirlwind   
shook the house, and made it tremble, and the god 
 
turned deadly white---for was it not a warning from     
Asgard ? But the giants only laughed, for now they
had the knowledge they had waited for.   
Then the door opened, and a young giant strode    
in, and the others left Loki to crowd round the   
new-comer, where they listened open-mouthed to    
the boastful stories he told of what he had seen  
and done.
" I have come from Gymir’s Court. A wild cold     
place it is I Two dogs jumped on me and nearly    
tore me to pieces, till Gerde came out and quieted •    
them with a look. I do not know who would not     
be obedient to her look. She is as beautiful as   
summer in Asgard. She told me her father had      
gone down to the shore where he had driven a     
ship on the strand, and he and his nine daughters 
were despoiling it. Hler did his best to get it away,   
but he is a feeble god. Then coming home I passed 
on the mountain the abode of the two sisters,     
Orboda and Olmoda. When I had passed I looked     
round. Then you should have seen them stretch     
out their lean hands and clutch a poor unwary     
traveller on his homeward way. I wonder these     
feeble men dare to be abroad at night, when the   
power of the giants and dwarfs is greatest. They          
are queer people---these men. Who caused them to be first?" .   
The others shook their heads. There was silence  
for a minute or two; then an old giant with long 
white hair, sitting apart in a comer, said, in a slow,    
shaking voice:   
“ How should any of you know how they came to    
be ? You saw not Ginnnga-Gap nor the planting    
of Yggdrasil; you know nothing of the origin of the       
ice of Niflheim, nor the fire of Muspellheim which        
filled the world in the beginning of time. How   
should you know how men began ? But I know,
for I helped, to cause the earthquake which let out       
the fire to melt the ice. I set the great icebergs        
moving, and made the glaciers crash. There were  
always giants in the land.

     " Once was the age   
      When all was not    
     Nor sound nor sea    
      Nor cooling wave    
    Nor earth there was   
       Nor sky above.     
     Nought save a void   
     And yawning gulf;    
     But verdure none.    

 And when the fire melted the ice, then from those       
 drops of melted ice arose Ymir, the progenitor of       
 your race and soon after came Audhumla, the cow
that fed Ymir. For the giants were before either  
gods or men. One day when the cow was licking     
   
some stones covered with hoar-frost and salt there
came forth a man’s hair; the second day, a man’s  
head; and on the third day the whole man was
there. And the man was very fair and great and    
mighty, and he was named Buri. Of his son there   
were bom Odin, Vili, and Ve, who slew Ymir, and   
from his flesh they formed the earth, from his blood       
the seas, from his bones the mountains, from his  
hair the trees, from his skull the heavens, from his       
brains the clouds. And those three, Odin, Vili, and        
Ve, also made Asgard, where Odin the Mighty One   
dwells for ever, at least till Ragnarok, and there
from his high place rules the worlds. But not     
always, not always, my sons.”
The old giant lifted his head and looked round    
with fiery lightnings in his eyes, which made some
of the young ones shrink back in fear.      
“ Who will rule when Odin does not ? ”      
" Some son of man like unto Baldur the White.     
But then the old days will be past---the days of  
reckless adventure and brave fighting---and the   
giants will be gone, and men will have crept to their      
chimney corners, and the joy of life will be over.”        
" But you have not told us yet, father, bow these 
men came to be who are going to change the face of
the world ? ” asked one audacious young giant,        
striding forward to the centre of the group. 
     
     
" Who made man as a whole being, I do not    
know, but the grandsons of Buri helped. Odin gave     
them thought, Vili, will and soul, and Ve gave them   
the most difficult gift of all---love and the sense of
beauty. They are a queer mixture are men, though      
they think themselves the better for it. But I know   
otherwise."  
There was a long pause, and then the old giant        
said slowly and with emphasis:---    
" Thought, soul, and love, when united, bring
more suffering and sorrow and strife than ye can      
wot of or understand. Never crave them of gods        
or men, for he who has them shall not go painless     
through the days of his life."       
“ And what will happen to these men ? ’’     
“ They will grow and grow in wisdom and cunning       
till they are equal to gods. Then will come the       
twilight of fate on gods, and sorrow and pain on      
men.”
" And when will that be ? " 
“ When the Nomen begin to spin the web of    
fate.” 
“ There is no fate for gods,” boldly exclaimed        
Loki, who had for a long time been silent.   
“ Who is that small being ? ” asked the old giant.
   
" One whom they call Loki, who has sought  
shelter with us for the night.”   
  
"Let him abide then, but be silent in the presence of those wiser than himself.”        
One by one the giants dropped asleep; and at     
last Loki crept to the cave door to see if morning        
had come.  
The sun was just ascending over the line of the  
sea, and all the sky was bright with rosy light. 
There was the quietness of a divine life about sky        
and sandy shore and cliff and sea. All the ghastly        
shapes and sounds of the night seemed departed   
for ever; all the weight of unintelligible mystery        
and foreboding dread was lifted, and left his spirit      
free and light as of old ; and Loki gladly cast  
behind him every evil dream of giants, their sayings      
and doings, and mounted to Asgard on the path of rosy light 
   

II.  
       ASGARD.
      
. “At tables played al home; 
Joyous they were;    
To them was naught   
The want of gold,    
Until there came     
Thurs-maidens three,   .     
All-powerful
From Jotunheim."
 
Far up on the wind-swept hills where sky and
earth meet, and where the long shadows tell of the   
presence of the gods stood Asgard, the home of       
the Asen. Clouds girded it round to the north and    
the south and the east and the west. The roof •      
was the blue of heaven where the stars waited        
as servants on Odin’s bidding. There, too, was the   
moon, in which, as in a boat, the gods might be      
seen on windy nights careering along the sky, and    
sometimes the music of their songs, as they sailed,  
might be heard by mortal ears, and sometimes the     
sweep of their white garments might be seen; but     
their faces were invisible, for men may not easily 
look on gods.
    
Here in Asgard were wealth, and peace, and joy;    
the wealth of the most gorgeous summer, the peace  
of the most quiet Sabbath evening, the joy of the  
rapturous spring. Here dwelt the gods, dealing     
out good gifts to men till the evil days came when 
falsity entered the land. The story of the on-coming        
of those days, and the after-fate of the Asen, I want       
to record before men forget the kind gods, and all 
they wrought for men. It was afternoon, and there  
was silence in Asgard; except for the whirr of a   
bird’s wing, the dropping of a leaf, or, far away, the      
voices of the young gods playing at golden bowls in
the shade of the trees, there was no sound to greet
the ear.     
“ How happy the children are,” said Frea, with     
an involuntary sigh, and a sadness in her tone which        
aroused Odin’s attention. She was leaning back,    
half reclining on a mossy bank, her lap full of wild        
fruits and flowers, while she fingered lovingly some        
ears of golden corn. Her blue eyes, generally filled        
with such quiet depths of rest and love, were now  
troubled, and a shadow rested on the pure white    
brow.        
Ah 1 how beautiful she was, the World-mother I     
hair and eyes, form and colour---how describe all 
that went to make up a dream of beauty which has        
bewitched almost to madness the imaginations it

has arrested ? And yet it was not on hair or eyes,      
or form or colour that the gaze of men has loved to     
stay; not on the perfect grace of perfect womanhood ; not on the majesty and sense of power   
expressed by every movement; but rather on the 
pity, tenderness, and love that looked out from her     
eyes---on the self-contained thoughtfulness of the      
broad, white forehead. From her all young lovers        
were to learn the ways and words of love; from 
her musicians, and painters, and poets would drink      
in the passion and divine energy of their art; 
from her mothers would get the tender touches, 
words, and songs with which they speak to their
own babes. It is she who will spin the thread of        
love over the homes and lives of men, touching 
many a common deed, many a common relationship, into something divine and holy. And when 
men wonder at dreams and visions that come to  
them by the way; when they are surprised into  
reverence for the sacred influences attending birth,    
and marriage, and death, lo I it is Frea, the dear      
Earth-mother, with her passion of tenderness, who       
is there. But these were the days of her youth,
when as yet trouble had not entered Asgard, and she     
did not know all the secrets of love and sorrow she      
learned later. But even now there was the sound
of tears in her voice when she said---   
“ How happy the children are.”  
" And why should they not be happy, dear 
heart ? ” asked Odin, who sat above her, one   
large hand resting on her golden hair.   
" Because---because---Ah 1 I don’t know. Because        
there are shadows among the trees.”      
But he who loved her was not to be put off so. 
His brow darkened as he drew her to him, and   
lifted up the flower-like face till he could look       
straight into the troubled eyes.
“What is it, Frea?”     
She put her head down on his shoulder, and, to 
his alarm, sobbed, with deep-drawn breaths between.     
By and by she said, with the tears still there---       
“ Evil is coming on us and on men; and, oh I it
will be through our own sin. Odin, why cannot we        
always live this beautiful peaceful life here ? Why     
should evil come ? ”    
“ It cannot come---if we are strong,” exclaimed
Odin, energy and resolution ringing in his voice.       
A rustling in the leaves made them look round, 
and from the trees Niord, the priest of holiness,       
appeared. He was dressed in white, and his eyes
were fixed to the ground. When he came near    
Odin and Frea he lifted his head; but though         
he paused as he passed to do them reverence,  
        
his thoughts were far away, still absorbed in the      
prayers he had just been saying. His brow was 
clear and untroubled, and his whole attitude spoke     
of deep inward happiness, and of a soul wrapped in       
reverence and prayer.  
“ Where is Thor ? ” he asked, his voice sounding       
strange and distant.   
" He went away this morning, and has not re-  
turned," replied Odin. 
" Then evil will come upon us all if Thor be not       
here." And he went on with bowed head, his bare        
feet making no sound on the green sward.
" Let us see what the others are doing," and Odin      
got up, hoping thereby to divert Frea's thoughts.      
They went side by side across the soft grass, under    
the long branches of the trees ; and the birds came    
and nestled on the Earth-mother's shoulders, and       
perched on her golden hair. Every now and then
through the foliage a brook might be seen bubbling     
over the stones with a murmur of subdued joy, 
reflecting as it went the yellow daffodils on its      
banks. And as Odin and Frea passed, a robin came       
and perched on a twig beside them, and, opening        
his tiny throat, gave vent to a full burst of song in  
greeting to the lords of Asgard. For nought was        
troubled or frightened in these first days of the
world, which is now so old and grey and painstricken. As they came through the wood and on    
to the lawn, from which could be seen far down the
rippling expanse of sea, where sounds of gently-  
breaking waves made a slow and sweet accompaniment to the merry voices above, a child with bright        
gleaming hair, a child with all the laughter of all        
the summers in her eyes, sprang to Frea, and
exclaimed---
“ Loki and I won, mother. See how straight I
can bowl.” And she lifted in one small hand a large        
golden ball, poised it in mid-air, and then rolled it      
over the soft pink tips of her fingers, and it sped        
swiftly and rapidly to its goal.   
" Splendidly done; quite worthy of my queen 
among the gods.”  
Idunn knotted her pretty brows, and turned  
away somewhat contemptuously from the last  
speaker. The petted child of Asgard, reverenced,  
and almost worshipped as holding in her small     
grasp the much-coveted and desired gift of youth, 
realising as yet only the general sunshine of love
surrounding her, which had bound no fetters on    
her liberty-loving spirit, scarcely appreciated the        
tone of appropriation in Bragi’s words. He seemed 
by no means disturbed by her petulant displeasure,
for well he knew how by honeyed words to win back 
Idunn’s childish friendship. During the game at   
which he had been only an onlooker, no movement   
 
of the agile young form had escaped him, for some 
day he hoped to marry this little girl. But at    
present such thoughts were foreign to the small   
head; she was too simple, too beautifully naively 
childlike to have any self-consciousness at all.  
“ Oh I mother, look. There are three such funny   
people coming along Bifrost. Where can Heimdall   
be to admit them ? "    
A dark shadow came over Frea’s face, a fore*      
boding shadow of sorrow, clouding the joy and     
pride of Motherhood in Idunn's beauty and youth., 
In a moment the world had grown grey and chill. ' 
She knew the days were drawing nigh when the 4    
peace of Asgard and the sanctity of the gods were •     
to be cruelly shaken.   
“ Call all the gods together in the Council Hall, 
and let us see what this intrusion means," shouted
Odin, and then he strode away rapidly towards the 
three giant maidens who were now standing wonderingly in Asgard, for the first time going on its  
unequalled glory and loveliness. 
A few hours after, all the gods were gathered     
together in their great hall. Light from the setting    
sun streamed through a high window at one end     
from which could be seen Midgard, the world of         
men ; at the other end stood Odin’s lofty throne, on        
which the mighty father of gods sat, Frea beside   
him. The other Asen stood or sat round; Thor at    
the Father’s right hand, with the light of restful 
truth in his eyes, and his brow not drawn and
lowering as afterwards, for there was peace in those        
days, peace from doubt, from oppression, from dull 
tyranny and duller prejudice. Near him was Freyr,  
the son of Niord, with perpetual sunshine in his   
face, and ready gifts for all who asked. At Odin’s 
feet sat Baldur the Beautiful, his fair hair streaming      
back from a face that had in it' even now the sadness       
presaging his grievous lot; but a face so loving, so        
sweet, so strong and tender that every one who gazed        
on it turned aside to weep for very love. Baldur   
the Pure, Baldur the White, who stayed not to see  
the evil days come, but hid his face in Niflheim for        
very shame.  
In a deep window seat, with their arms twined
round each other, were Bragi and Idunn, reconciled 
already; but Idunn was inclined to be fidgety and  
restless, with a fast-growing desire for something 
more entertaining than seemed likely to be had     
here in this atmosphere of unusual seriousness and 
gravity. Vidar the Silent cast many a reproving    
glance at the irreverent child, which passed by un-
heeded, while she looked across to the opposite
window where Loki sat and made glad response to  
his encouraging winks and smiles. But Loki was        
a little more depressed than usual, for he knew that  
it was he who had brought this trouble on the gods    
by revealing to the giants the way to Asgard, and     
now he was afraid that he would be found out. The     
causes of all the commotion stood before Odin,        
entirely unabashed by the lowering of the divine      
brows, which could bring such confusion and woe       
to mankind.  
" Who sent you to Asgard ? ” asked Odin.     
" Thiassi,” was the sullen answer.     
" If we give you a free pass, will you go as quietly  
as you came ? '*      
" No, we are not going yet, for we are tired.
When one of you came to us we treated him well,       
and gave him food and rest and shelter.”     
"And was it from him that you learned the way
to Asgard ? ”
“ Yes.”
“Who was that ? ” thundered Thor, looking   
terrible in his wrath, and making the walls shake     
with the might of his voice.  
“ It was I,” said Loki, and he jumped down into       
the middle of the hall and fled out of the door, and  
it was many many days before he was seen again.       
Odin stroked his long beard thoughtfully for a few    
minutes, and then he lifted his head so that every      

one in the room could see him, and said---     
" What say you, sons ? Shall we give them the  
rest and food they ask ? or shall we, according to an   
old law of Asgard, turn away the doubtful stranger      
and the unbidden, unknown guest ? Not willingly
would I have our fair hospitality impeached, still      
less willingly would I break a law of Asgard. Lo 1      
ye know. Judge ye."     
With one united uplifted voice the gods shouted---      
" Let them stay, they are women."        
And a great feast was made for them, and the   
young gods vied to do them honour. Those who   
had been most ready to strike the sword for Frea,       
or wait in attendance at her palace, were now daily     
in the train of the beautiful daughters of the giants,  
bewitched by them away from duty, away from    
every brave deed, or noble enterprise, seeing and       
hearing nothing beyond the ensnaring looks and 
beguiling words of the strangers. And when they
left to return to Jotunheim, the flower of the Asen     
race accompanied them to the boundary, and then
went back to Asgard, carrying in their breasts the      
fatal seeds of evil, whose fruit would be disaster,     
ruin, and death.        
 
     THOR'S ADVENTURE WITH GEYRUTH. 
    
    
" All doorways.   
Before going forward,       
Should be looked to ;       
For difficult it is to know,
Where foes may sit 
Within a dwelling.'        
*  Tha High Ones Lay Poetic Edda)  
Odin and Thor and the other elders were not  
ignorant of the pestilent poison that was contaminating the minds of the younger gods, nor had it     
failed to wake uneasiness and anxiety. But the     
giantesses once got rid of, Odin and Frea trusted 
that the restless hearts would settle, and the daily        
routine of warfare and duty would once more harden 
the young spirits, and bring them into obedience,  
good-will, and discipline, that, in fact, with the 
causes of disturbance the disturbance itself would 
disappear. But not so, Thor. He was of too   
strong a mind, too versed in the opposite ways of
truth and evil, to take quite so optimistic a view.    
Thus did it come to pass that he was found    
wandering in a meditative and sternly thoughtful       
mood outside Asgard when evening had already  
fallen. How to avert the danger now that
threatened those he loved he did not know. For
once he was foiled, unbalanced; and doubt and 
darkness beset his steps. Willingly would he  
have wielded his hammer and fought all the giants      
rather than that this thing should have come on his     
brothers; but strong as was his right arm, easy as     
victory was to him to gain, here there was something intangible, untamable, not to be expressed in   
ordinary terms of ordinary language; yet none the      
less real, subtle, with an awful telling power, that   
seemed superior even to his strength. And Odin was     
blind to it; Odin the Wise, Odin, always capable,      
always prudent, far-seeing, and skillful, was now       
found wanting. His judgment was clouded. His  
gentleness and hopeful love and calm benignity
were all insufficient for the present need; and this   
in itself disturbed and altogether unhinged Thor.      
What was going to happen if even Odin failed to be     
equal to a new emergency, a new want that old laws     
and precedents could not reach ?        
A sudden noise interrupted the tenour of his  
thought, and made him look round, when he met 
the mischievous eyes of Loki fixed on him with a        
look of curiosity and interest mingled with fear. The   

little god was sitting on the fence, having evidently   
emerged from the dark wood beyond. Thor’s face 
at first darkened with wrath at this meeting with       
Loki after his disgrace, but its expression gradually   
softened. Might not here be the help he had    
sought, the clearness of insight, the readiness of      
resource, in which his own mind had so signally
failed ? Who so likely to help him as Loki, touched     
as he must needs be now with keenness of remorse        
and humble contrition at having thoughtlessly  
brought this suffering on Asgard; Loki, whose  
sharp wit, and quick understanding, and skilful
dealing had so often assisted the gods out of  
difficulties in the past ? Loki saw his opportunity, and seized it. He jumped down and grovelled at Thor’s feet.  
" Will Odin forgive me, and let me return to   
Asgard ? Indeed I did not know those giant women        
would have found the way. And even if they did,
you could have turned them out again. It was   
not my fault that Odin bid them stay, nor that the      
other gods should have been so weakly silly over        
their coarse beauty. Surely it is these who are
more deserving of Odin’s wrath than I, the     
harmless, unwitting cause. Come, be just, Thor.
Do not make me always the scape-goat of the 
gods.” 
“ I dare say you are right,” Thor replied with        
a half-sigh, feeling his mind too unstrung and perplexed just then to strike the difference between     
right and wrong.      
“ But, Loki, will you help us out of the difficulty,  
now you have assisted to put us in it ? ”    
"Yes, I think I can help you, or send you to 
some one who can--- But possibly you would   
rather not go through the iron wood at night?
Thor would rather wait till daylight ? " He looked    
up half-deprecating, and as if concealing under a     
gentle manner a contempt for Thor’s strength,
which he was far from feeling.
" Take care, Loki. You have had enough of the
anger of the gods.”   
" Oh, well; if you will go to-night, I know you       
would find a shrewd councillor in Geyruth, a giant    
who usually sits near his house on a grey rock        
in the sea with his back bent nearly double with      
warfare and weight of age. But he lives on the        
far side of the iron wood. Are you going so  
soon ?”        .      
"Yes, you can go back to Odin, and say Thor  
sent you.”    . .    
Loki stood and gazed after the mighty figure of  
the red-bearded god in thoughtful silence for a      
moment Then he took three flying springs into        
the air, and bounded off like an arrow in the        
opposite direction. Meantime Thor pursued his        
way under the trees, which never budded into any     
spring. Their black branches, dark and drear,        
stretched up into the sky which could not win        
from them any response of colour or light. Every     
now and then the wind shrieked through the wood,     
and made the iron boughs creak as it passed. Black   
ravens croaked at him from the trees. The howl of    
wolves dogged his steps, every one of whom he        
knew to be akin to the witches who haunted and       
inhabited the wood. Every now and then he felt,      
and half saw, a shrivelled form pass of some witch   
seeking an evening’s diversion. But though the       
cries, and shrieks, and noises of uncanny creatures  
were horrible, they left him alone, perhaps respecting even there the might of Asgard’s strongest  
god. When he reached the centre of the wood, he      
saw before him what looked like a contorted and      
bent ash tree; but as he drew closer, the ash tree   
transformed itself into the long haggard form of a   
witch, who stood across his path, and stretched      
out, as he approached, a lean hand.   
" Let me pass,” said Thor, peremptorily.    
'* Is that the way you speak to your friends ?       
You seek Geyruth. Beware of him. His cunning  passes all knowledge, and he has already laid his      
trap for you.” ’    
“ Thank you, I am not afraid.” 
" You need not be if you will do what I tell you.      
He will pretend to give you comfortable lodging        
in the house next to him. When, however, you  
sit down, your seat will instantly begin to rise       
to the ceiling, through which you will pass to his     
daughters, who stand ready to knock your life out      
of you. But take these,” and she handed to    
him a staff, a girdle, and a pair of iron gloves.      
“When this happens, strike with all your might
against the top of the cavern; you will hear  
screams, but the witch brood will do you no   
more harm. The girdle will make you invisible 
in case of need, and with the gloves you can safely    
wrestle with any one who attacks you.”  
Thor thanked her. Not often was that evil     
race inclined to courtesy where gods were concemed.  
Presently he came to Vimur, the largest river in       
the world. The night was dark, and he would not        
have known its nearness but for the sound of its       
flowing water. It was not very deep, though wide,      
and Thor was very tall. He plunged, therefore,
into its cold depths, eager to get to the other side,  
but hardly had he reached the middle than the  waters began to rise---over his hands, up to his        
breast, until at last they were over his shoulders.     
All was dark around, and now he heard no sound 
but the ominous rumbling of water in his ears. At       
last, through the surrounding gloom, he saw standing    
right across the stream a great black form which        
brought out into stronger relief the depth of darkness  
around. Gazing at it with eyes keener because of        
the dire peril.in which he stood, he perceived that     
the figure was that of a gigantic woman, whose 
head seemed almost to cleave the sky. Plainly  
it was she who was causing the water to rise.  
With a last effort, Thor stooped to the bottom of       
the river, and drew thence a stone, which he threw      
with all his might at the giantess, exclaiming---       
“ The river must be stopped at its spring."    
Startled by the suddenness and directness of aim,       
she sprang to the shore, and ran to her father’s        
house, when instantly the water sank to its habitual    
calm level, and Thor waded safely to land. Geyruth’s dogs barked fiercely at him; but he did not      
fear them, seeing they were chained. Their master,      
sitting, as the witch had said, on a rock partly out    
at sea, his back bent double, and his long grey beard   
sweeping the shell-covered surface of the stone,        
silenced them by a word, and the dogs slunk   
back to their kennels. He scarcely looked at the       
stranger, but at once got up, waded to land, and       
led Thor to his cavern, saying only---  
“ I expected you. You are welcome.”     
Thor followed him past the palisades, from which       
leered the dead men's heads which had startled
Loki.   
“Will you rest here for the remainder of the  
night ? ” pushing open the door of the cavern next     
to his own.   
“ My house is rather small and noisy at this time,     
and, to tell you the truth, my three daughters are     
scarcely ready for your reception. You must be
tired also after such a long journey.”  
Thor entered carelessly, shut the door, and then       
sat down on the stool that the witch had indicated.    
Instantly it began to ascend ; at first with a gently  
swaying movement, and then very quickly, till Thor's head touched the ceiling. Whereupon the       
god lifted his staff, and struck it violently three    
times against the loose stones of the ceiling. There   
were three shrieks, a moan, and then all was silent.   
Thor put his head through the hole he had made,        
and perceived a dark, low attic, and three forms       
huddled together in a heap, from each of which
came a groan as he tried to move them. These  
were the three daughters of the giant who had 
been lying in wait, hoping to catch the hero oi
Asgard, and once for all put an end to him.    
Geyruth heard the screams of his daughters, and
guessed that his visitor had not fallen so easy a       
prey as he had fondly imagined. He therefore   
invited him into his room, and made him sit down        
opposite to him on the other side of the fire, and      
conversed affably on the subject of his journey and     
his adventures in the wood. Thor answered amicably, and led the old giant on to speak of Jotunheim,   
and any possible future connection with Asgard;
and then the god went on to show how unlikely  
it was that such a connection could be permanent;       
that a god or two might be won over to the wrong        
side; but it was much better to leave things as they    
were, and not strive after a relationship which, after  
all, could only be unreal, and purely external. While   
he talked Thor’s eyes were fixed on a wedge of iron     
stuck in the fire, which was rapidly getting red-hot,   
and as he conversed, he drew on his iron gloves---the   
gift of the witch. Suddenly, his host seized the        
glowing iron, and threw it with all his might at        
Thor; but Thor caught it in his iron gloves, and        
cast it back with such force at Geyruth that it
struck in his breast, where it may yet be found.        
On a rock by the sea might be henceforth seen  
by the passing traveller three withered old women  
whose broken backbones bear testimony to the       
strength of Thor's right arm. Beside them is an    
old grey-headed giant with an iron wedge piercing  
his breast.        
     
     
     
IV.  
   LOKI'S CHILDREN.     
      
      
     “ Brand bums from brand 
     Until it is burnt out;  
 Fire is from fire quickened.**    
 The High One's Lay.   

The impossibility of union between Asgard and        
Jotunheim---between good and evil---would have       
impressed the gods, and quieted foreboding and       
fear more but for one incident so far back  
in their history that some had almost forgotten      
it; but its effects in these days were as vivid and  
real and actual as they had ever been before. We     
have already spoken of Loki and his tendency to      
affiliate himself with the giants. This was no       
freak, no sudden mood of a capricious, volatile      
nature, but far back in the generations that had     
preceded him, one father of his race had once        
wedded a giantess, and he himself, with the 
hereditary taint emphasized in his own character,   
had also, long before the beginning of the present  
history, fulfilled his instincts and taken to him-  
self during a long sojourn in Jotunheim a giant     
witch-wife called Angrbode. For many long years     
he did not set foot in Asgard, but lived with his   
gruesome wife, who never let him go from her  
sight, and worked him constant pain and torment,    
both of them always mutually growing in every 
hideous kind of cruelty and sin. But Loki was 
never wholly bad, and longed often to return to     
Asgard.  '    
Their three children, Jörmungand, Fenrir, and 
Hel, were brought up to be more evil than their     
witch-mother, though Asgard was ignorant of their   
existence, and the gods went on in their calm, pure,
and joyous life, unconscious of the brood of wicked-
ness growing up beyond their own gates. At last     
one brought news of Loki's family, and Odin,  
disturbed in mind, went far, till from a lofty hill 
he could look straight down on Jotunheim and  
on the home of this only depraved among all his     
sons. There before the door he saw Jormungand, a    
huge serpent, flapping his tail in the afternoon sun.        
In the doorway sat the wicked witch-mother, with    
Fenrir, her wolf son, on one side, and on the other,
Hei, so monstrous and awful that not even giants   
dared to look on her; but they said that her glance   
alone brought on them the terrors of death.     
 
“These must not stay there, or their evil will  
contaminate the world,” said the mighty father, 
and with one flash of his will Jormungand was   
cast into the depths of the sea, where he grew and    
grew till his body encircled the world, and his 
movements produced what men, in later days,     
called earthquakes. Hel he banished to the ice  
kingdom of Niflheim, where no light penetrates, 
and no living thing grows, and there set her to 
rule nine worlds, and gave her power to receive 
into her kingdom, at their death, all cowards, all    
those who die of sickness or old age,---which are a   
dishonour,---all women and children; but warriors     
killed in battle, or by wounds received in combat,    
or women dying in child-bed---because these, too,     
have fought their fight with mortal pain---all these  
pass to Valhalla, to rest with heroes and gods. 
All who dwell with Hel dwell alike under the    
shadow of a great darkness and a great silence; 
not the silence of Asgard, which is full of deep and  
beautiful and peace-giving thoughts; but the silence  
of suspense, remorse, and anguish too bitter and
too great for words.  
Fenrir was bidden by Odin to follow him to      
Asgard, where he was to be chained, and kept as a    
    
warning to gods. But when they came to bind him   
no fetter strong enough could be found. Still the 
wolf broke like silk every bond laid on him, till the      
gods were in despair. Even Tyr, strongest of any, 
except Thor, whose aid men have invoked in battle,
even he could find no means to fasten him. Ashamed
of his failure, he wandered away sad and hopeless,
and lay down under the shadow of a cliff. As he   
lay there, half asleep, he heard laughing inside the       
cliff, and a voice said--- 
“ They do not know how to bind the wolf. If 
they could get Gleipnir they could do it."  
Tyr jumped up. “ Gleipnir," what was that ? 
So he went on, and. when he came to a brook, he   
said, " Brook, brook, what is Gleipnir ? ”  
But the brook murmured on and said nothing. 
He then turned to a horse, who turned its intelligent      
eyes towards him, put his nose into his hand, and 
gently neighed.   
“ What is Gleipnir, O Horse ? and where is it to  
be found ? ”     .  
But the horse only sorrowfully shook his head.    
Then he saw some rooks cawing on a tree, and he   
went, and stood underneath, and asked---    
“ What is Gleipnir ? and where is it ? ”.
“ It is made of six things," cawed an old rook:   
sinew of bear, breath of fish, and spittle of
bird.” 
So glad once more, Tyr, after collecting together     
all these things, returned to Asgard, and found the   
gods still trying to catch and bind Fenrir, who       
glared at them with his cruel eyes.    
" See, these will bind him fast enough, I know,”      
and he threw down on the grass the foot-fall of cat,  
the beard of woman, the root of stone, the sinew of   
bear, the breath of fish, and the spittle of bird.    
” What queer things I They are of no use,” said       
Bragi, contemptuously. “ I could have found something better than those.”     
But Tyr fetched a big cauldron, put the things in,    
and then with some clear water from a stream, made    
a thick paste, which he pulled out in rope-fashion,   
and approached Fenrir to bind him. But none  
could keep the wolf still.    
” How are we to hold you, you wretched creature?”     
exclaimed Tyr.        
“ If one of you is brave enough to hold his hand      
in my mouth while I am fettered, I will stand
still."
The gods shrank back, but Tyr boldly stepped up,      
and placed his hand in the wolfs open mouth. And      
so they bound Fenrir, till the Twilight and Ragnarok  
came, when he was let loose on the world.    
But Tyr lost his hand, wherefore he is called Tyr 
the Handless to this day.  
But all this happened long, long ago, and is only 
told here that the gods, and their thoughts, and  
doings may be understood, for these are all linked to      
that day when Odin captured and bound the children
of Loki; yet could he never destroy them.   
     
     
 V.  BALDUR. 
        
        
    " Then shall another come, 
     Yet mightier,       
  Although I dare not    
      His name declare."-

The strife of evil was hushed, the vexation of gods    
was stifled in the swift on-coming of a deeper sorrow  
which covered Asgard with the darkness of night;       
for that time had arrived when the light of Baldur's   
face was to be taken away. He was the second son       
of Odin, and was beloved by men and gods, and all      
creeping and flying things. Beautiful as the day,      
there was beyond mere outward beauty that in the       
radiance and holiness of his expression which 
dazzled the eyes that looked on it, and its light      
was like the sun’s light, too strong for the naked     
gaze, but yet gladdening and warming all on whom       
it fell. He was beyond praise for goodness, and        
honour, and truth, and love, and all the virtues that  
men hold most dear. Frea and Odin cherished him   
above all their children, for none were, to be compared to him for beauty of face or beauty of
soul.       
Now it happened one night when Baldur lay down    
by the side of Nanna his wife, his little dimpled baby     
son nestling in his mother’s breast, and every tender      
influence closing him round and inducing softest  
slumber, that the god was disturbed by evil dreams.        
The wind was howling through Asgard, and the rain 
was beating against the walls of Breidablik, Baldur’s      
home, and both wind and rain haunted his dreams.  
He tossed, and turned, got up, and looked at the  
stormy night, bent over Nanna, and lovingly fingered       
her bright hair; but all in vain---directly his head       
touched the pillow his evil dreams returned. He   
was away alone on a vast sheet of ice, he heard the        
imploring voices of his brothers; but a huge wall of       
ice stood up between him and them, and though he  
battered at it with his poor, sore, and aching hands,      
it never moved. Then looking round, he saw an     
iceberg floating by, and from it the evil face of Loki     
grinned at him. He slept, and dreamed again that  
he was sinking down, down, in unutterable darkness,        
gasping for breath; but there was none to deliver.
Then a lurid light suddenly showed him the face   
of Hel, half blue and half white. Morning found   
him troubled, weary, and anxious, so that Nanna 
asked him tenderly---    
 
" What is it, dearest ? "
Almost roughly he put aside both inquiry and    
caress, rose up and went out.    
The Asen were assembled in their big Council    
Chamber, the sun shining in cheerfully after the
wild tempest of the night, when Baldur entered, 
and strode up to Odin’s throne. His face was white       
and pain-stricken, and haunted by a great dread, so      
that the gods stopped their talk and gazed in startled   
surprise at their beloved Baldur.
. “ What is it, my son ? " asked Odin.    
“ I am to go forth by the cruel sport of Death to        
dwell with Hel, go, forever shamed and disgraced,       
to take my lot among sick cowards.”       
” It cannot --- it must not be I ” exclaimed    
Odin.     
" It shall not be I ” cried all the gods. “ But 
what can we do ? "       
" Let us ask Frea.”      
So Odin, followed by Thor, and Heimdall, and    
others, filed out of the great gates of the Hall,        
along the streets of Asgard, till they reached the       
sandy, rocky shore where stood Fensalir, Frea's 
house.    
When she saw Odin coming, she rose up, and with 
quiet stateliness and bowed head she waited the
command of her lord.    
“ We come seeking thy counsel, fair wife. Some 
evil threatens Baldur, and how to avert it we know      
not.”    
“ Baldur, my Baldur ? ” she exclaimed, dazed by a       
great fear which had seized her heart in its chilly     
clasp.   
" Dreams and prophecy say he is to die and take
up his abode with Hel.” 
A momentary look of anguish and dread showed in
her eyes, then she covered her head, and went back      
swiftly, sat down in her chair, and covered her face    
with her hands.
There was a great silence in Pensalir while the
World-mother considered how to save the innocent        
Baldur, whose death meant such loss and degradation to the gods. Odin stood before her, leaning        
both arms on his stick, his eyes bent sadly and
tenderly on his wife. Kneeling behind him were
his followers. 
Then Frea broke the silence, and lifted her royal       
head. There was a clattering of swords, and all the     
gods stood straight before her looking at her eagerly.  
"Take an oath of every living and non-living   
thing to do Baldur no hurt. Plead with all nature       
to join in his protection, and lol it shall be that     
he shall be safe.”        
Odin stooped, and kissed her hand gratefully, and    
then he and his followers marched out of the 
hall.  
A private messenger was sent speeding round the       
world, to crave from everything that had or had not   
life an oath not to hurt Baldur, and of all was the   
oath taken but of the mistletoe. That being so        
frail and weak a plant, and as it were, only living   
by the strength of another, it was omitted from the   
oath.  
And the sunshine came back into Nanna’s sweet
face, for now her loved one was safe. And all
honour was paid to Baldur, and he was merrily
made the aim of every shaft, for the gods knew that   
each weapon was powerless against the vaunted immortality of Baldur.  
Then Loki, now once more restored to favour, and      
forgiven all his wrong by the kindly gods, got into   
his wicked head to be jealous of the love showered    
on Baldur, and his immunity from injury and death.    
So he assumed the dress of a woman and sped to        
Fensalir, where he asked to see Frea, saying that he  
brought her greeting from the gods.    
“What are the Asen doing?” she inquired.     
“They are having fine sport. They are throwing        
metals, and stones, and trees at Baldur, for nothing  
can hurt him.”        
" No, nothing can hurt him, for I have taken an 
oath of all things to do him no injury.   
" All things ? ” asked Loki.     
"Yes; all but the mistletoe, and that is such a 
feeble thing that it has to cling to the apple-tree for  
support. It could not hurt Baldur.”       
Loki fled away. Here was his opportunity to     
take vengeance for many a slight he considered he        
had received at the hands of the gods. Assuming 
his proper form, he went down to an orchard which        
was just getting pink with blossom, and going up
to an old tree, he plucked some of its mistletoe,        
and then hurried back to Asgard with it in his  
hand.     
The gods were still at their sport. Baldur stood
at a little distance, his golden hair streaming in the   
wind, and an amused kindly smile on the beautiful        
face. Nanna stood looking on, clapping her hands
with childlike glee when missile after missile missed    
him. Loki was hardly noticed as he pushed his way        
through till he stood beside Hodur, Baldur’s blind       
brother.  
" Are you not playing, Hodur ? ” 
“ No; what is the use ? I cannot see where to   
throw. But I like to hear the shouts and the    
laughter, and so I share the fun, though I cannot        
do anything.”   
" Try and throw this,” and Loki pressed the  
mistletoe into his hand. "I will direct you.”
So Hodur took it, and threw it with all his might.    
It struck Baldur, and he fell, and the blood flowed   
from a wound in his brow, staining the flowers on     
which his dear head lay.    
A great wail went up to heaven. Nanna fled to
her darling's side, and took his head on her lap;     
but when she saw that life had sped she fell back     
swooning. And all the gods gathered round with        
bitter cries for Baldur the Beautiful and Pure.       
Loki escaped, and hid himself out of Asgard, 
for he knew how this sorrow had come. Odin   
alone shed no tear; but he went away with stern       
step, and sat down at the far extremity of the cliff, 
gazing over the sea and sky and all the worlds,       
thinking not of them, but of his own loss. And        
the birds came and perched on his shoulder, and       
clustered at his feet, gazing at him with sad eyes.   
And the wild deer and the beasts of the forest        
gathered round, and every one wept for sorrow at      
the death of Baldur; for there was not a living thing 
that did not love him of all things that live in air, or    
sea, or wood.
In the madness of his remorse and grief the blind     
Hodur wandered away, unable to bear the reproachful   
looks of the gods. He, the useless, and ugly, and     
unloved, had slain the desire of all eyes, the most    
        
cherished and beautiful of all gods.    
What should he do with his hated life? How    
show his sorrow for this evil he had wrought ?
Henceforth all living things would fly in horror       
from him. He would never dare to face either gods      
or men. Had the earth no refuge safe enough for        
him, no hole dark enough to hide him for ever from     
the dear light of the sun ?    
Then better thoughts prevailed. Perhaps---the 
idea came as a flash of light in a densely dark sky    
---perhaps Baldur could be fetched back. He had        
reached the sea-shore, and the waves broke sadly at    
his feet as if in sympathy with his pain and trouble,  
and the wild sea-fowl screamed around his head.        
Suddenly something brushed past him, then returned     
and stood beside him.  
" Where are you going ? ’* asked a voice, which for    
the moment he did not recognize.        
" I do not know. I have killed Baldur, and there       
is no help and no place for me in Asgard.”    
” Poor Hodur I I am Ona, Frea's messenger.    
Shall I take you to her? She may perhaps help 
you, for she too loves Baldur, the most cherished of   
all her sons. Come ! ” 
Before he realized where he was going, she had
taken his hand, led him up the steep cliff path,     
     
and ushered him into the presence of Frea, who sat 
with covered head mourning the dead. When Hodur    
    
heard her sobs, he rushed wildly up, threw himself 
at her feet, and took hold of her hand.      
" Mother, mother I I could not help it. Why, 
oh I why did you give me birth only to bring this  
misery on the universe ? With blinded eyes and     
blinded witless mind I was ill-starred from my     
birth. Why was it my fate to take the twig from    
Loki and strike Baldur with the only living thing  
that could hurt him ? Now tell me how I may  
best escape this curse of life with which you gifted      
me. Or may it be that Hel will accept me in  
exchange, and give back the beloved life ? ” 
“ That cannot be, Hodur, my unhappy son. Many
beside thee would die to bring back Baldur, for what        
is life worth without him J But there is a way---a 
dark and lonely and painful way---along which he   
must go who would bring back Baldur. If any could  
penetrate that lonely icy road, perchance Hel would
relent and give back her prey. That way leads
over rocks, and ice, and past dismal precipices, till it    
reaches the extreme north, where there is no light 
either of sun or moon. There is Niflheim, the abode
of Hel, and of all the dishonoured dead.”    
“ But how should one blind and weak as I go  
along this icy way ? ”      
   
"Thou canst not go, my son, but he shall go
whom first thou meetest in Asgard, and I will be 
his guide."
And Hodur departed, going along the streets on   
which twilight had already descended; and as he  
went he brushed against his brother Hermod, the  
fleetest of the gods, and he took hold of his arm,        
and detained him, when as yet Hermod had not seen
his face.  
" Go, seek Baldur in Niflheim. Take Sleipnir,    
Odin’s horse, ride swiftly up the road that lies to       
the north, and Frea will be thy guide.”    
And Hermod disappeared in the darkness.    
Then came the sound of many footsteps, and the   
light of swinging torches, and Baldur was borne  
through the dark streets by the loving hands of the       
gods to his home where the silence of death reigned;      
and, laying him on his bed, they swung their torches,     
and sang dirges far into the night. Then they de-
parted, and Nanna and her maidens came, and,     
kneeling round, said soft prayers and sang sweet 
low hymns. Nanna alone said nothing, but held    
her lord’s head on her lap, wrapped in silent    
sorrow, and so fell asleep; and Frea, kind and   
tender, by a swift stroke separated her spirit from       
her body, and set it free that it might follow its        
beloved.      
  VI.    
    HERMOD'S JOURNEY.      
 
    " All the horrors      
Thou wilt not get to know  
     Which Hel’s inmates suffer. 
      Pleasant sins        
End in painful penalties:  
    Pains ever follow pleasure.” 
  The Song of tho Sum.     
   Then Hermod, filled with the inspiration of Frea,     
   went and saddled Sleipner, Odin's horse, for the      
     long and -perilous journey. For nine days he        
    journeyed far from the haunts of gods and men,       
    down deep gorges, over rocky hills, and through      
   valleys where lurk miasma and the cold mists that     
    strike death to the heart of man. He guided his      
  horse by hot lava streams, felt the flames of volcanoes whirl around his head, but still on he went till  
  he penetrated that land where there is no cheer of     
 the sun, and where ice stretches for miles and miles,   
  and the snow lies always. Here a swift, dark river    
ran too fast to be frozen, full of murky depths and  
foul vegetation, and over this was a bridge, " Giall,"        
which led to Niflheim. On this bridge was stationed  
a damsel, and as Hermod passed on Sleipner his 
steps made the bridge ring, and. ring again, and she 
questioned him---    
" Whence come you that my bridge shakes ? It   
was never known to move but when feet from the 
home of the gods passed over. Baldur trod it lately, 
and it swayed backwards and forwards under the 
steps of the beautiful and innocent god. But who     
are you ? "    
“None like to Baldur, but a god all the same.  
I too come from Asgard, and claim entrance to  
Niflheim."     
“ None come forth again who enter here,” said  
the damsel.    
“ You cannot hold immortals, and I claim to    
pass.”
“ Go, then, foolish one.”     
And Hermod passed over and came into that      
dark land where there is no light of the sun or
star, and he heard the rivers of Hel roaring.  
White ghosts flitted past, some with aspect of 
wild despair, too engrossed with their own pain to   
notice the stranger; others with a settled sadness   
and mild melancholy glanced pityingly at Hermod; 
some hugged treasure to their breasts in the place       
 
where none could buy or sell; some flourished their      
arms about as if fighting with a sword, in mad  
mimicry of the combat they would never enter more.       
Each face, as it passed, turned to Hermod in wonder      
at what had brought him there. Sometimes the    
ghosts fluttered by in crowds, and their garments        
swept against him, making him shiver. The teeth 
of all chattered with the terrible cold.  
At last he came to where Hel sat on an icy
throne, a black smelling pool at her feet, and the air   
was so thick and noisome that Hermod could
scarcely breathe. One side of HeL was blue, and 
the other side white. A lurid light came from her        
eyes and seemed to scorch him who had just now  
been so cold.   
" Poor, foolish, unhappy one I why hast thou left        
that upper land of sunshine to descend to these 
cheerless regions ? ”    
" Have pity, Hei; it is for Baldur I come, for  
Baldur, the light of our eyes, and the joy of our life.  
- What has he to do with thee and thy miserable 
subjects ? Set him free, and the Asen are bound in       
gratitude to thee against that day when thou shalt       
require our help."       
“ Will your gods wage war for me in the Twilight
which quickly draws near? Your own days are
reckoned, and will you help me? And what help 
and what kindness have you ever shown me
and my kin ? Go back to those who sent you,   
and tell them that I hold Baldur in hostage for        
Jormungand, my brother, who is bound by the gods       
in the depths of the sea; for Fenrir, chained 
by the gods until his day of vengeance comes; 
for myself, a wretched prisoner in realms that
have never known light of sun nor joy of life. Lo I    
these are the works of the gods; canst thou undo       
them, or reprieve my kin ? Then leave me and my        
prisoner to our fate." 
" The whole world grieves for Baldur."  
" Doth it ? If thou canst make everything living       
shed tears for Baldur, then shall Baldur go free.      
Fail anything to weep, then Baldur must stay  
here."  
Final was that decree, well Hermod knew; so,  
bending low in obeisance to the Queen of the Dead,     
he mounted Sleipnir and rode back the desolate,        
dreary way he had come. As they went on, suddenly      
his horse stopped, and lifted his head and ears as if  
he saw or heard something.     
" What is it, Sleipnir ? "     
But before the words were out of his mouth he 
perceived a white figure coming towards him, which     
stopped as he reached it.
“ Hennod !"        
" Hodur, poor miserable, what brings you here ? '* 
" Make no more complaints against me. If you       
all grieve over the death of Baldur, I more, its hapless cause. I know you must hate the very sight of 
me, and so by my own hand I have taken my life,    
and follow Baldur, though unworthy of such honour. 
Therefore I have drawn near to say * Farewell ’ to 
my brother. Hermod, we both had one mother,        
will you not give me one farewell of passing kind- 
ness ? ”  
“ Poor Hodur I go thy way in peace. The Asen       
will only think of thee in pitying love.” 
Then Hodur disappeared along the road to  
Niflheim, and was seen no more.   
And Hermod went on and up till he reached the      
light, and found the gods gathered in their great  
hall, having finished their sad and silent meal. All     
eyes turned eagerly to the newcomer. Odin looked   
stem in expectant sorrow, the others half started  
from their seats in the anxiety of love and hope.  
“ What news, my son ? ”  
" Baldur will come back, O my father, if everything in nature consent to weep for him. If aught  
fail to shed tears then is he lost, and must remain
the prey of Hel.”  
There was silence among the gods; then Thor   
rose, and looked round on all the lifted faces, the    
light of clear truth and wise strength in his eyes.    
“ Let us go to Yggdrasil, the tree of life, and there  
consider Hel’s decree."
" So let it be," was shouted in chorus by eager        
voices. ’     
On the morrow early the clatter of horses in  
Asgard announced to all the world that the gods were   
bent on great business. Odin, Thor, Tyr, Heimdall,     
Freyr, Bragi, and others, came forth with their long   
hair hanging, their swords dangling at their sides,    
as brave, and beautiful, and fearless, and strong, as  
any heroes the world has ever seen.     
Odin rode first on Sleipnir, not forgetting, even in   
his sorrow and burden of thoughtfulness, to stroke     
and pat the neck of his favourite. Thor walked
beside him, his hammer in his hand; on his brow        
was no weight of care, in his eyes no anxiety; the     
light in his face was reassuring, faith and strength   
inspiring to all who looked on it---and many looked    
that day, for Thor was the strength of their life.     
Behind followed Heimdall, and Freyr, Tyr, and 
Hermod, and last of all, Bragi, and Niord, the
priest. 
Frea and her maidens looked from Fensalir to see       
them go, and uttered a prayer for the safety of the    
dear son Baldur.       
It was springtime, and buttercups were springing 
in the long grass, and daffodils were nodding their       
yellow heads. Here and there the tender tears of 
the dew still lingered on the tall spikes. Apple trees,   
lilacs, and laburnums shed a shower of pink, blue,        
and yellow blossom'on the scented air. The birds 
sent forth a full melody of song, unabashed by the        
presence of divinity.     
The great ash tree, called Yggdrasil, stood clothed       
in its first green, its top reaching heaven, its roots    
penetrating to the extremity of the worlds. Three
brooks flowed from the foot of the tree---Hvergelmir,     
going to the Kingdom of Death; Mimir, reaching   
back to all past ages, and carrying in its waters the     
experience of men; and Urd, in which the Nornes  
washed their thread before they sat down to spin 
the web of fate. The tree had also three mighty  
roots, which had the appearance above ground of  
three great ridges; one went to Asgard, along the
road by which the gods had now travelled; one to 
Ginnunga Gap and Jotunheim, the abode of the     
giants; and one reached along that desolate road 
which leads to the Kingdom of Death. Stags 
browsed around the tree, making it shrivel with  
suffering as they ate of the opening buds; then the       
Nornes came and poured on it pure white water,   
again making it fresh and green. At the foot of  
Yggdrasil was a crystal lake, the source of the three  
brooks, whose clear surface reflected the form, and      
motion, and light of the tree, the grass, and the        
surrounding mountains. Two swans swam on it in  
quiet, solitary stateliness, who fluttered their wings,  
and uttered hoarse cries at the sound of the    
approaching tramp of horses and men resounding  
in the distance. Then through the trees came Odin,       
the great Father of all, followed by the other gods,     
all walking with their eyes bent on the ground, their    
lips moving in a slow chant, their white garments        
sweeping the trees and the grass. The Nome
maidens arose in reverent silence, then advanced to      
Odin's feet, sank on their knees, and humbly kissed      
the hem of his garment.  
" Wherefore art thou come, O Father ? ”   
“To consult concerning Baldur's sad fate and    
Hel’s decree, my daughters.”     
So the Nornes stood aside, and in majesty the   
divine and awe-inspiring procession moved on, and        
when at rest beneath the tree Odin laid one hand on      
a branch, and thus spoke---
“ You have heard the decision of Hel. Shall we  
accept it, or refuse it ? Accepting it, we run the       
tremendous risk of failure; in refusing it, we may       
get no other; in either case, Baldur may be for ever     
a prisoner in the hands of Hel.” 
Refuse it I and let us make war on Niflheim       
and get Baldur back by force,” said an imperious
young god. 
” Accept it I ” shouted another, " none can fail to 
weep. The thought of Baldur would draw tears        
from stones.”       
“Some things and men are too hard to weep  
though a god were to sing a song of ruth.” 
“But all loved Baldur, all will weep. He did        
nought but good in his life to every living thing.  
Do you remember how he carried a little bird in his 
breast for many days and nights to keep it warm     
when it broke its leg ? and how he took food every  
day to a hungry lioness who could not leave her cubs
to fetch it, even though, when she first saw him,   
she nearly tore him to pieces ? or how, at night, he
would go down to Midgard, and wherever there was    
a man’s child without a mother, he would tenderly   
tuck it up, sing it a lullaby, and put it to sleep ?
And little sick children watched for him, for they  
knew he would come when every one was asleep and    
soothe their pain, and turn their pillow, and put   
them to rest. Baldur was beautiful and loving       
and good; all the world will weep for him, and then 
he will come back.” -.    
“ I doubt it,” said Thor. “ This is some wicked     
trickery of Hel's. Could one of Loki’s family propose what was fair and possible ? Believe me, there   
       
is treachery lurking here.”   
“ What do the Nornes say ? ” asked Odin, turning      
to the three maidens, who were filling their vessels  
from the lake, preparatory to watering the tree.      
They put them down at the word of the Mighty 
Father, and sat down, each taking her golden 
spinning-wheel with the wonderful thread. Their       
long hair swept the ground as they spun, and they     
accompanied the spinning with a mystical song---      
11 Tell us where will Baldur be        
Through the long eternity.    
When the golden plates are found       
Hidden in the holy ground,    
When the yellow cock shall crow,       
Herald to a brighter day,     
And the flowers again shall grow       
Where the fires burned yesterday.**--- 
Swiftly the thread sped, watched by the gods and      
guided by the deft, white hands of the Nornes.        
But the faces above it grew dark, dark with hopeless pain, dark with unfilled yearning, dark as the   
faces of those who watch their best-beloved slip      
away for ever from their grasp. Then the thread       
snapped, and the Nornes got up from their spinning-wheels, and disappeared among the trees. '   
" You have heard, and seen, my sons. What is 
your decision ? ” 
" We will get Baldur back at all costs. We will
compel everything to weep.”    
Then the procession of white-robed gods wound 
away up the mountains, and the swans were left
once more to solitude. There was no sound;    
nothing broke the deep stillness; till, at last,       
beginning very faintly, there came a noise of drip,    
drip, drip in the far distance, which at every
moment drew nearer, and increased in volume, till      
at last nothing could be heard, not the rustle of a    
leaf, nor the bleating of a sheep, nothing but the     
sound of. tears, tears, tears, which seemed to come    
from the heart of the earth, and spread through all    
creation.     
But in the opening of a great cave there sat an        
old hag who spread out her lean hands to catch the     
dripping tears from the rock, and every now and        
then a chuckle of laughter came, which had an ugly     
sinister sound, almost drowned in the universal        
weeping.
Then along the sea-shore came Hermod, cheered 
by the tears of a million, million creatures. 
“ Mother, mother, the whole earth weeps to-day
for the loss of its well-beloved Baldur. Art thou not  
weeping ? ”.  
“ Not 11 " she answered, mockingly, " wherefore        
should I weep ? I care not.” 
" You will give me a few tears if I ask you ? See    
will you, if I kiss you ? ” 
He bent forward, and for the first time on her       
ugly, wrinkled forehead lay the kiss of a god. She   
coloured with ill-concealed pleasure, but shook her  
head. 
“ I will not weep, I hate Baldur. Hel has him,       
let her keep him. She is a friend of mine, and I     
could not defraud her."
Not all Hermod’s efforts could prevail, so, cursing  
her in his wrath, he returned to Asgard, whence a    
wail went up which seemed to shake the sky. 
And Hermod mounted Sleipnir once more, and  
went along the desolate road which leads to the      
Kingdom of Death. As he entered its shadowy 
dominions two figures hovered near as if expectant;  
and he saw they were Baldur and Nanna. Their
arms were tenderly wound about each other, and a     
smile of peace was on Nanna’s face as her head lay   
on her beloved’s breast.     
" Asgard has failed, Baldur. I come to bring
thee Odin’s blessing, and to tell thee how he will   
ever miss the dear face of his cherished son."       
" I thank thee, Hermod, for all thy great love and   
kindness. But do not too sorrowfully leave us to     
our fate. We have each other, and we are happy,      
are we not, Nanna ? And there are many who need    
us here, who need the tender, gracious influences of  
       
       
Asgard, which we can give them. All are good to       
us, and even the shades pay us that respect which     
Asgard expects to be rendered to her sons.”  
The gods, embraced, and then Hermod rode away,        
and when he turned to look back, Nanna’s head had     
again sunk on her husband’s breast, and as he bent    
over her there was that in his eyes which told        
Hermod that he did not miss the splendours of
Asgard, but was content in the possession of love.    
  
VII   
 THE FRAILTY OF GODS.   
       
       
       
“ The mind only knows 
What lies near the heart,     
That alone is conscious of our affections.   
No disease is worse   
To a sensible man     
Than not to be content with himself.” 
The High One’s Lay.      
Life was never the same in Asgard after Baldur’s      
death. Order was broken, the licence of self-will     
was abroad. Odin’s commands and counsels came
overshadowed by sadness and gloom, and given with     
a hesitation and want of confidence in himself which  
almost ensured disobedience. Frea hid her face in     
Fensalir, and none of her children dared intrude on   
the greatness and bitterness of her grief Thor went   
about with head straight and lifted as of yore, but   
the light had gone from his eyes and the speech       
from his tongue. Silence and depression settled       
down on everything; even Idunn, perplexed and
awed, crept away to her own little room, where, in    
secrecy, she played with, and counted her rosy 
apples. None had asked her for these lately. Now        
Baldur had gone it seemed better to grow old and        
die than live without him, better to finish with life   
than keep it deprived of innocence, than keep it        
open, as now, to every evil wind that blew, to every    
seed of pestilence, and growth of corruption.  
But there were some gods---too young to care for        
Idunn's apples---who rejoiced greatly in the relaxed    
discipline of Asgard, and who liked well enough to      
wander beyond the gates, consort with the dwarfs        
among the mountains, or make new friendships with       
the giants and their daughters in far-off Jotunheim.    
Often their places were vacant at the evening meal,     
but Odin, preoccupied and dejected, took no note;       
only Thor frowned, and stored up reproof to be 
administered later. Everything was changed;    
kindly greetings, friendly converse, were among the     
things of yesterday; one god looked darkly on the       
other, or each was too engrossed in his own thoughts    
to be moved by or interested in those of other people.  
A spirit of unrest, of disquietude, of dissatisfaction  
was abroad, and there was none to create or restore     
peace.   
And Niord, did Niord fail in these days of need ?       
Had Niord no warning, no comfort, no peace ? It   
was to him that the gods had looked for all spiritual     
counsel since the time when he had come with his 
two children, Freyia and Freyr, as hostage from  
Vanaheim to Asgard after the first war of the gods        
with the sons of Vanen. Since then, as Priest in 
Asgard, he had directed the prayers of the people,        
and stood before them as a high example of untarnished holiness even in those days when all were 
holy. Had he failed with the rest ?        
Alas I Niord's heart had wandered far from the   
worship that had hitherto called forth his best  
energies. A great change had passed over him     
since that day when the Giant Maidens first entered       
the home of the gods; and now he could not warn  
or control the children of Asgard because he him-
self had been the first to fall. When Freyr, his son,     
climbed into Odin’s high seat, Hlidskialf, that he        
might catch from afar the gleaming beauty of Gerde        
when she opened her father’s door, Niord had no  
word to say; for had he not, on the previous evening,     
crept out under cover of a wall that he might hold        
the stolen intercourse that is so sweet with Skadi,       
the daughter of Thiassi ? Skadi had bewitched his
soul; the magic of her dark eyes had penetrated to        
what, till then, had been the one reality of life to      
him, his divinity, and reached the greater, unrecognised reality beyond of his humanity.    
Niord, the Holy, was pointed at as one fallen and      
gone astray; he, a Priest, was loving and worship*    
       
ping the beauty that he saw rather than that which    
is beyond all sight. Between him and his prayers      
rose ever the same face; and passionate penitence,    
the misery of a haunted conscience, could not conquer a fluctuating will. What would he not give to    
be free, untouched as before earthly passion took     
hold of him with deadly grip ? Weary and unhappy, he woke one morning to hear the great bell     
of Asgard ringing, and calling out her heroes and     
warriors to warfare. Shouts and busy talk, launching, and loading of boats, sharpening of swords,      
clash of armour, all betokened the approach of some   
important event, and echoed through Niord's open      
windows, and possessed his waking dreams with
invigorating promise of active days, and change of    
scene, and opportunity of leaving behind things       
unwelcome and difficult Quickly rising, he went       
along the crowded, sunny street to the shore, where   
Odin stood giving rapid instructions to those who     
were loading the boats or counting out provisions.    
The Father turned and smiled pleasantly when he       
saw him.     
“ Wilt thou come, Niord ? We want thee to    
calm the sea and hold the winds while we go to        
fight against the giants. Their daring impudence    
knows no bounds!" and Odin knit his brows with an        
 
ominous frown.  
" I will come gladly and thankfully."     
" What I so ready to leave thy quiet worship and
peaceful church for the noise and bustle of a field of   
war ? ”   
Niord coloured, and answered---  
''Where Odin commands, there is his servant's   
place, which he should fill with gladness and thankful praise that Odin stoops to accept his service."      
But the Father of All looked keenly with penetrating eyes at Niord, who turned away, and pretended to be interested in the sharpening of weapons     
which was going on all around.   
At noon the boats were finally launched, and they        
ploughed across the sea, guided by the hands of the      
heroic gods. Niord sat in one of the bows, his  
hands folded on his knees; and as he gazed across        
the rippling expanse of water, for the first time for    
many months peace came to his passion-stricken  
soul.     
Skadi, at any rate, was far away with all her   
witchery and temptation, and the hours stole on 
unnoticed till evening, when the full moon guided        
them to safe anchorage near the shore of Jotunheim.      
Then in the early morning the gods crept quietly
where Thiassi was sleeping in a cave. At the    
noise of the steps of heroes, the giant jumped up,       
shaking the ground, and called to his followers to       
rush on the gods. A great fight ensued, in which it      
was difficult to say who were the conquerors. Niord      
stood close to the fray, but entered it not because of   
his priest’s office. Suddenly something hurled him       
to the ground, his head came against a stone, and        
he lay insensible,' unconscious of what passed  
around. When he opened his eyes the sands were  
quite quiet, there was no sound of life but the flutter  
of the gulls’ wings and their cries as they flew in      
and out of the cliff above him. He tried to rise,        
but groaned in the effort, and as he fell back he felt   
that his head was not on the hard rock, but on  
some one’s knees, and then he was lifted up, and
supported, as if he had been a baby.      
“You ran away from me, Niord, but here I am,    
and you want me now.”    
The face bending over his was Skadi’s, who nodded        
in reply to his look.    
” Yes, here I am. You did not know that in
trying to run away from me you were running to  
me; that the gods came on purpose to fight against       
my father ? May Hel have them all I they have killed     
him; but I will have my revenge yet. In the meantime I have you. Come, Niord, why did you run away from me ? You can sing your little hymns 
even if I am with you. Niord, I love you,” she
added, in a low voice, tremulous with tenderness,   
her whole manner changing from the half-contemptuous, half-patronising tone it had a moment    
before into one humble and submissive as that of    
a little child.     
" You came here to kill my father, and I could
now deliver you into the hands of the giants, when  
they would soon make an end of you; but I will not. 
For your sake ? nay, for my own, for I love you, and
you are mine, mine now. Come, let us fly before     
the giants find us, and we will make a home in the  
quiet woods far from god or giant.”  
Niord was too weary and too ill to remonstrate;     
so, lifting him in her arms, she bore him rapidly away       
beyond the sands, and rocks, and sea, up the hills  
and into the woods, where, with deft fingers, she   
made a tent of trees, and ferns, and there laid her 
invalid. Tenderly, lovingly, as if he were a child, 
she nursed him, day by day, night by night, with    
unwearying watchfulness. When he slept she sat
at the door to ward off every fly, every bird, every
creeping thing, that threatened to disturb the slumberer; and when the sun poured burning rays even    
into that cool and green retreat, she chose the     
brow with untired hand till evening brought the welcome shadows. Her joy knew no bounds when,  
at length, the summer passed, and the trees already     
beginning to put on the red and yellow tints of
autumn, he was able to wander forth by her side,        
and share in all the simple joys that contented her.    
But he, he was only half satisfied. Day by day 
he became more restless, more difficult to please.      
Skadi, with all her tenderness, was not sufficient      
for him, and with the keenness of love she saw it.      
When the first snows fell he grew altogether dis*       
contented. He said he hated the wood, hated still       
more the snow, and hated having only Skadi to  
speak to. But with the grand patience of love she       
bore with him, and when, one day, he exclaimed that     
he could bear it no longer, that he must go back to     
Asgard, she said nothing, let him go, and she was       
left alone.    
After a time Skadi returned to her people; but 
they scorned her, scorned her love for a god, and       
scorned still more her want of zeal in seeking revenge  
for the death of her father. She, the tallest and       
strongest of their women, had borne in silence an       
injury that should have roused the tamest spirit;       
why did Skadi meekly bow beneath, and bear, such        
hurt and insult ? Where was her pride, where the        
fierce recklessness, the hot temper, that were associated with Skadi’s name ? But Skadi had no word  
to offer in her own excuse; she simply turned her        
back on the scoffers, and went and sat down on the       
verge of the sea, and spent long hours in gazing,        
with sad, dreamy eyes, to the distant horizon.  
“She is still in love with a god," shrewdly re- 
marked a giant. “ No good ever came of these    
philanderings with the gods. There's Skadi done 
for now when I thought she would have been
more than a match in her energy and strength for
any mortal or immortal. Look here, Skadi "---and
he went over and shook her shoulders---"all the 
giant brood are inclined to riot because thy father,     
Thiassi’s death, has been unavenged, and, as thou        
knowest, it is a law of Jotunheim that revenge can       
only be sought by those next of kin. Arouse thee,        
therefore, and get thee to Asgard, and claim that        
which is thy due.”       
Skadi raised such weary, heavy eyes to his that he       
felt a little compunction for the sharpness of his       
manner, and he went on more gently---     
“ I am afraid, my lassie, that thou canst not stay       
here if thou hast made up thy mind to withhold thy       
hand and ask nothing from Asgard.”        
" Well, I will go,” she answered, rising slowly;
"for if my people refuse me a home, then indeed 
I have none.”     '   .    
In a few moments she had pushed off a boat, and    
her companion stood on the shore, and watched the
young giantess, mighty in height and strength, skilfully shoot her way across the water, her black hair      
falling around her, and almost concealing the splendid beauty of her form.   
When she reached Asgard, her heart beating a     
little faster as she stood amid the familiar surroundings, to which so many memories' clung, she was  
ushered at once into Odin’s presence, and stated her      
errand.    
" You come seeking revenge for the death of your 
father ? Do you wish to fight one of my heroes, or        
will you accept something in exchange ? You may, 
should it please you, wage warfare with a warrior;        
but there is that in your face which tells me that        
you care not for hot combat, but rather desire the        
fruits of peace.”
“ My life, O Mighty One, is of small account, and
right willingly will I. fight, if that be your decision.  
Revenge, my people command me to seek : though   
revenge can scarcely restore to me my father’s love       
nor the joy of the former days.”  
" I would leave fighting to those less gentle than        
yourself, fair maid. But hearken 1 and I will propose something less distasteful that will surely 
satisfy the demands of your people. You know somewhat of gods---if I mistake not, once loved one.  
You shall therefore choose a husband from among 
 
them ; but you shall choose from the feet, not from   
the face.”     .      
Skadi could hear her own heart beating violently,     
and she cast her eyes to the ground that Odin should  
not see the wild light in them as she acceded to his  
proposition. For among the number of faces turned     
towards her some were cynical, some kind and    
friendly; but there was only one whose eyes met 
hers with direct understanding gaze, and those were   
the eyes of Niord. In a long line the gods stood,     
veiled by a curtain suspended from the ceiling, below 
this appeared their feet. Skadi walked slowly down    
the room, till she stopped before the feet she knew   
belonged to him she loved. All the gods laughed 
with a glad sense of relief, and a little amusement   
that a giantess should choose their priest. But 
Niord’s honour had fallen, fallen as hopelessly, as   
fatally as the spiritual life he represented had fallen        
from among the gods, and it was no longer con-  
sidered unfitting that he should go away the affianced
husband of a giantess. And as he went shamefaced,     
and painfully conscious how his honour had been 
dragged in the dust and stained, Odin’s eyes followed 
him full of sadness and reproach. Alas I the reign    
of weakness, of error, and of sin had indeed begun 
Niord and Skadi went back to the woods among   
the mountains. Neither was happy. Amid the     
peaceful things of nature they lived a life devoid of   
peace. Niord craved after Noatun, his home by the       
sea; he said he could not sleep without the lull of     
the sea-waves, nor exist without the strength and       
salt of the sea-wind. Skadi, on the other hand,
declared that the noise of the water maddened her,      
and she was never warm in the chilly sea-breeze ; so    
they agreed to pass nine days in the wood for every     
three that they spent by the sea. But when both still   
grumbled, they decided to part, and Niord returned      
to Noatun, where he ruled the waves, though he had      
lost his rule over the spirits of gods.  
Skadi remained in the wood; and often, in after
days, she was met running and hunting in snow- 
shoes. She never loved again ; but whatever bitterness, whatever pain there had been in the one love      
of her life, she confessed it to none.   
The vanity, and illusion, and dissatisfaction of love   
having no centre beyond itself, the pain that for the   
first time became linked to its experience, the restlessness that followed even its fulfilment, were to be  
exemplified in other lives beside those of Skadi and    
Niord. Freyr, too, that most sunny and healthful        
of gods, had fallen a prey to the subtle enslaving  
influences abroad. His thoughts had gone out to 
Jotunheim in a great indescribable longing, and day   
by day he mounted Hlidskialf that he might catch
a distant gleam of the beautiful Gerde. Ready,  
usually, with open generosity, to pour, on all who    
came within touch of him, the intensity, and vigour,  
and brightness, and sympathy, which belonged to his   
nature, and made him so loved and welcome a friend    
to young and old, Freyr learned to sulk, to be  
cross, and wayward, and self-engrossed, till all Asgard        
grew ill-tempered with itself because Freyr had lost  
his sunshine. Niord watched him wistfully, but  
dared not approach him, till at last, able to bear it 
no longer, he sent Skirner, his son’s servant, to find
out the cause of this depression and distaste of life.
He made his way with some fear and hesitation into    
the great god’s presence. 
" Tell me, Freyr, prince among gods, why do you 
look heavily, and turn your face from the light of    
day, and sit alone, away from your fellows ? ”  
" How can I tell you, young man, my great       
sorrow of heart ? Can you restore to me rest and
the joy of living ? Lo I my own little elves of light 
come about my steps, watching my grief with tender    
sadness; but they can bring me no gladness; how 
should I open my heart to you ? ”  •   
" Since the days of childhood we have played   
together, and you have ever trusted me. Make 
a sharer of your grief, I pray you, for no comfort     
can reach to him who hides within his own soul.”       
“ Well, Skirner, be it so. I will unfold to you the  
counsel of my heart, and you shall give to me 
advice. I love a maiden, Skirner, the daughter of      
Gymir, Gerde by name. But only from afar may I
see her. She will not listen to my wooing, and her     
father now has closed her round with a great wall of   
flaming fire, so that no one can get at her.” 
“ Give me your horse and your sword, and I will        
woo her for you. No flame of fire shall shut me        
out.”   
Freyr willingly assented, and Skrymir took his way     
over the misty mountains to the land where the
giants lived; and his sight quickly guided him to      
where the hedge of flame shut Gerde from the  
approach of any suitor. Putting spurs to his horse,    
and encouraging him by soothing words, Skrymir
closed his eyes, and jumped manfully through the       
fire. On the other side, was the gate of the court     
guarded by savage dogs, and on a hillock near sat a    
young herdsman, who asked Skirner with rude words      
what was his errand.   
" Wooing have I come. My master would wed     
with Gymir’s daughter.” .
. Hardiest of fools, and most foolish of beings!   
know you not that Gerde weds none ? Lost and  
dead already is he who has the audacity to ask her.’    
     
" Audacity have I shown already, and more will
not be lacking should occasion serve. In the mean-  
time get me speech of Gerde."
" That can I never. But I will pitch you into the   
hedge of fire by force.”.    Hearing the noise of voices raised in strife from 
without, Gerde sent a maiden to ask the cause of    
the tumult, and learning that a stranger had come   
craving hospitality, she bade her invite him in, and.        
set food and drink before him. 
“ Are you of the elves, or the vanen, or the gods,  
that you surmounted without hurt the hedge of 
fire ?” she asked.  
" I am of neither, fair maid; but rather am somewhat of the same race as yourself. My master, 
Freyr, is, however, a god, and has sent me to ask   
you in marriage, for he dies for love of you."
6 Go, tell him Gerde wants not his love,” she 
answered quickly, with a frown.
“ Freyr sent you these,” he said, producing from    
his breast eleven golden apples. “They are precursors to many another gift the god can bestow."   
“ Take them whence they came, and tell. Freyr 
that he and Gerde can never live together."   
*' Will this soften your hard heart ? ” And Skrymir reached to her Odin’s ring, which possessed       
many enchantments and magic powers.    
" I need it not, and need Freyr’s love still less,”   
she answered. “Now will you go and tell him so,       
or my father may return, and then woe betide you I”   
“ Do you see this flaming sword ? The old giant’s     
head shall fall beneath it, and you, should you continue obdurate, a harder fate still shall be yours;   
for you shall go and dwell in a dark cavern where     
none can see your beauty, and there shall it be       
changed/ till: what was a by-word among men for       
loveliness, shall become a by-word for ugliness. All  
shall loathe you, Gerde, and avoid the sight of so    
hideous a monster. Solitude and disgust, impatience and bondage, tears and ever-gnawing grief      
shall be your portion for ever. All giants and gods   
and men shall shun you with a deadly hatred.”
Gerde's face grew white, her lips trembled, and       
resolution gave way.  
" Terrible are your threats, and that the gods can    
fulfil them I know right well. I never thought to     
wed against the will of my father the god Freyr,      
who tried to steal my heart in Asgard. For long       
I supposed that he must have forgotten me. But        
see I you have offered me golden apples and a
treasure-ring as the price of my consent. Go, tell    
Freyr if he will give me his sword as a pledge    
that he will fight no more against the giants, I 
will meet him three moons hence in the wood that is called Barri.”
" That I promise he shall do,” vouched Skrymir,  
and then he rode slowly home.     
Outside the door, pacing up and. down in hot     
haste, he met Freyr, who laid a detaining hand on
his bridle.
"Tell me quickly, before thou unsaddlest, how    
has it fared with thee ? " In the wood Barri, three moons hence, Gerde     
will meet thee, and demand thy sword in return for        
her love.” 
"Long is one day, yet longer two, unendurable    
will be three. Often a whole month has seemed    
shorter than half such a day of expectant love.” 
     
"Lean closer, Freyr, let me whisper in thine     
ear. I love thee now, Freyr, because thou didst  
give up thy sword, and sacrifice thy manhood for 
me. Dost remember the old days of wooing? the    
sweet old days ? First, in Asgard thou didst tell
me how thou didst love me; and I, though I was   
flattered that thou shouldst wish to marry me, a 
giant maiden, even in the radiance of Asgard, and
though I liked well enough for all the gods to   
see thee worshipping at my feet, yet I would not        
promise to wed thee. To speak truth, life in Asgard was a little irksome, and I was glad once        
more to escape to my father’s house, and then I
thought my god-lover would forget me.”   
" Once to have seen thy face is to be bewitched
for ever, like him who has heard the Nornes* song.      
But thou wouldst not be wooed, Gerde I How often        
I sent Skrymir to thee, and thou didst only send back   
scornful messages. And I sighed after the old  
Gerde who wandered with me on the shady lawns  
of Asgard, ever ready with sweet words and sweeter      
smiles, till my mind lost count of days, and forgot     
old friends, and forsook old haunts. Thou art an        
intoxication, Gerde, to the man who loves thee.”        
"As thou dost. And yet thou sayest that it     
shames thee to have given up thy sword, the    
only gift Gerde asked’ of thee I ”  
“ My manhood was the best gift I had,” Freyr   
answered. "The gods despise me now, and I
dare not lift up my head in Asgard.”     
" Let us go away, then. I shall never live with
thee in peace among the gods.”  
Freyr’s face clouded, bitter words sprang to his        
lips, and were held there; reproaches surged up
from the depths of his spirit, but dared find no        
utterance in the harder accusations he was making   
against himself. Mated with this fierce and rest-  
less nature, which sought after pleasures unknown  
to gods, how could he stay in Asgard shamed before 
the eyes of his fellows ?   
“ What is the matter, Freyr ? Do not be angry.”    
The voice and caress broke in on his thought 
with irritation. He sprang up, recoiling from her  
touch as if in pain.        
" We will go,” he said passionately. " I will
look no more on Asgard till the day she calls me   
to fight against Surt, then welcome the defeat     
which shall end an inglorious life.”
     
        VIII. 
        ODIN. 
      
      
" A better burden    
No man bears on the way
Than much good sense ; 
That is thought better than riches    
In a strange place;  
Such is the recourse of the indigent.*'     
The High One's Lay,  
On winter nights you can still hear Odin going past  
to his wars like a whirlwind, shaking the homes of   
earth with his steps; or as you stand in the
deep stillness of a pine forest, you may hear him    
coming from afar, first like the breaking of gentle  
waves on a summer shore, then like guns going        
off in the tops of the crashing trees. But you       
only stand still in a moment’s curiosity, and then   
pass on; for you have no reverence for Odin 
---Odin's wisdom and almighty power belong to a      
day long, long dead. Even now, looking through       
the trees to the sky, where the moon is careering
along like a boat in a gale, you may catch faint  
glimpses of the white wings of his warrior maidens
   
following him to battle as they did in that past time      
when they chose brave warriors who were slain to  
carry to Valhalla. But they excite in you no
interest. “ It is only the clouds,” you say, " blown       
by the wind, which is going too fast to bring down
the rain.”  
But it was not thus that gods and men were  
used to speak of Odin the Mighty. They worshipped him in his strength; they loved him 
when he trod the earth with friendly steps, and   
entered in gentle guise the homes of men, but     
they reverenced him also---a reverence bom both   
of fear and love. When he came and took the 
chimney corner, and the children gathered awestruck around, listening to the voice of the Great
Father---that strange voice which thrilled through
men’s spirits, and held them spell-bound---the gods        
were not afar off, but near, in those days. Now   
they are gone from sea and shore, from rock and   
mountain; the places that knew them know them     
no more. The gods grown frail, how should men     
lean on them, and not rather turn to One no Sin   
can corrupt, nor Darkness overthrow?        
When Baldur died, Odin knew a shadow had    
fallen that no light could lift; when Niord went 
away disgraced, he felt the foundation of his kingdom quiver; but when the glory of Freyr’s youth

and sunshine suffered eclipse, then was the great    
Chiefs spirit broken, then his strength went from    
him, then old impulses, old influences moved him     
no more; then the old joy and rest in infinity of    
wisdom too high for question, and too deep for 
doubt, disappeared into the black night which  
closed his spirit around, and shut him up to himself, and held, him fast as with a grip of iron. If  
he could have gone away from Asgard, into whatever pain, whatever disgrace, away from the sight,   
or sound, or touch, of any of his children, he would 
not have cared so much; but leave them, these  
young sons, fighting too---ay, and being worsted in  
the fight---against the same unseen enemies, leave   
these who looked to him for strength and guidance ?  
Impossible I And yet, how could he help them,  
when he could not help himself? Thinking these 
sad thoughts, he wandered away one afternoon,  
scarcely knowing whither he went, till he found
his steps had carried him to the place he had not    
seen since that sorrowful day when the world wept    
for Baldur, to the tree of Yggdrasil. Here he sat    
down, his head in his hand, and at his feet the little        
brook seemed to say, " Drink me, drink me, and you  Will know. Drink, drink, drink”   
“ Would you drink ? ” asked a voice, and looking  
up he saw Mimir, a giant whose knowledge was
feared through the nine worlds, for Past, Present,
and Future were all within his ken.
“ A drink of my water will show you all things,   
and their limits. You will know the bounds of the 
universe, the experience of.the past, its wickedness,      
its falsehood, its secrets, and its triumphs, and the      
Counsels of the Fates. Will you drink ? Then  pledge me one of your eyes, and you shall be the  
All-knowing as well as the All-wise. Your present 
difficulties will be cleared away, and you will see        
how to save your sons.”    
“ All the spiritual wisdom of Asgard cannot save  
them now,” murmured Odin, sadly. ” But why  
should I shorten my power of vision at a time when
I need it more than ever ? ” 
” You are a baby in knowledge of the world and    
its evil. Go back to your contemplations; but your
sons will be lost. Yet if you will trust me, and  
give me what I ask, you shall drink of my brook,  
and experience shall teach you how to act.” •     
" Stay, Odin,” said a voice behind him, and a     
Nome maiden stood there stern and resolute. 
” Make haste, Odin, and learn the secrets of
knowledge,” said the voice of the giant.    
“ For the sake of my sons, then.”  
    
He cast his eye into the brook, and drank of 
water, and as he rose again and passed the Fates at   
their wheel, he noticed that they were spinning with  
two threads instead of one. To his questioning look   
a Nome said---        
“ This other thread is that of the gods, who now,   
like men, are no longer immortal, but subject to the  
changes, the pains, and the death of a mortal life.   
Lo ! there is an end of all things, even of gods.”    
And Odin knew that he had forfeited eternal and       
spiritual life, and that his hand would not hinder    
that Twilight which was coming on apace. What
remained to him but to confess his failure, and ask   
that another should sit on Hlidskialf and rule the    
worlds ? A command went forth, therefore, for all     
his sons to meet him in council, to confer on the     
prospects of the gods, and to form plans for future   
protection. When they were assembled, he came
‘in, leading by the hand Frea, who was greeted        
with loud acclamations. Women were not usually        
admitted to the Councils of the Most High ; but       
Odin was now baffled, perplexed, and careworn, and    
needed the mother-wit, wisdom, and keen insight of    
his wife. When the heroes were seated, Odin  
said---     
" My beloved sons, I feel that I have little claim    
now to the power you gave me. I am neither wise   
nor strong. I have miserably failed in what I     
aimed at, and in what was right."  
He stopped short, for his voice was trembling,    
and his head sank on his bands. When he again     
lifted it, clearness and strength had returned to 
his face; never had it looked nobler, nor more    
beautiful, nor more divine, than in that moment   
when he owned his fault and failure.        
“ I desire now to lay down the power that was     
given me. Let a better than I guide you and teach 
you. When I let go spiritual force to get that    
cunning knowledge possessed by giants, when I     
gave up being content with the old peaceful life and       
the satisfaction which fed it, I worked my own ruin,       
and, what is worse, yours.' I gave up the light of
vision for your sakes, my dearly loved sons, but, 
alas I it has been for little use. Henceforth, I pray      
you to let me be the hand which works rather than 
the head which guides."    
" No, no, Odin. Who can guide us if you do not?   
The giants are dark, and evil, and cunning, and we
know not how to fight them.” 
And then they all turned with one accord to the   
gentle Frea, who put her hand lovingly on the head
of her hero, and said---   
" Thou must not renounce, Odin, a work and  
power which have been laid on thee by a high and  
holy law. Even if failure, defeat, distress, and evil  
come, we, as gods, are not released from doing our     
utmost to uphold Truth and Right. These live, 
though perchance we may have to die. But let us be     
brave, and abide the day of Ragnarok with calm and     
fearless minds After the Twilight shall come One       
mightier than thou, with Peace in one hand and
Truth in the other, and he shall carry to a glorious   
completion thy work. But lest the giants should be     
unduly elated at their victory at Mimir," said Frea,   
turning to the gods, " let Odin the Mighty go forth,   
and bear testimony in contest with the wisest of the   
giants, that he still possesses a wisdom deeper than   
the worlds. But let him go disguised, that by 
wicked trickery they do not defeat our purpose.”       
'* It is well said,” exclaimed Odin. “ Tomorrow       
as a poor wanderer I will seek Vafthrudnir, the        
wisest of all the giants, and question him on ancient  
things.”
" Go in safety, my beloved, and in safety again        
return. May thy wit teach thee all things.”   
So forth Odin fared, and after a day’s journey he      
reached the giant’s house, boldly opened the door,     
and stood at the bottom of a long hall, at the other   
end of which sat the giant at a raised table. 
" Good day, Vafthrudnir; I have come to enjoy a        
talk with you, for far and wide do men boast of your   
cunning and your wisdom.”    
“ And who are you that dare to enter my house     
and address me by name ? Do you know, audacious   
stranger, that he goes not forth again who is worsted      
in talk, and proved lacking in knowledge ? But if 
you can beat me, so much the better for you.”     
" Gagnrad1 is my name. I am quite willing to
engage in contest with you, but first, I am hungry
and thirsty, and expected a kind reception from   
you.”       
"If you come as guest, why do you speak from
the floor ? Come up here, take a seat with me, and
we will see who knows most, the guest or the
ancient talker.”  
" A poor man should speak humbly when he ad-
dresses the rich. Let me, I pray you, speak from  
my fitting place, the floor.”
" Well then, Gagnrad,” began Vafthrudnir, "what   
is that horse called who draws forth the shining day       
in his chariot when he comes to lighten the eyes of        
men ? ”     
" Skinfaxi is his name; he is the best of all     
horses, and his mane scatters light as he goes.”  
" And what is the name of that horse who draws    
forth from the Bast the dark night over the heads of »»       
" Hrimfaxi is his name. From his bit in the grass."   
“Tell me, Gagnrad, what that plain is called    
where Surt the fire-giant will meet in fight the gentle  
gods ? "  
“ Vigrid the plain is called, measured on every 
side one hundred rasts." 
“Wise are you, guest. Come up to my table,
and we will pledge each other for wise utterance.        
Then shall you question me."     
“ Tell me, Vafthrudnir, whence first came the earth      
and the skies ?"
“ Earth was formed from the giant Ymir’s flesh, 
the sea from his blood, the hills from his skull, and    
the clouds from his brains."     
“ Why come the day and night with their waning  
moons?"   
“ To count the years for men."   
“ Do you know whence came winter and summer,    
the delight of men ? ”   
“ They were bom, one of Vindsval, and the other 
of Svasud; and together shall they both journey on       
till the years are passed away.” 
“ Can you tell me whence came the first giant ? "        
“From the cow, Audhumla, who licked the stones  
till Ymir arose."        
“ Tell me, if you are so wise, whence came the  
wind which blows over all the earth, and dashes   
ships to pieces, and yet is so soft that it can rock a     
babe to sleep ? *'
" From a giant in eagle’s plumage who sits at     
the end of heaven, and shakes his wings to make   
the wind.”  
“ If you are so wise, tell me, who is Niord ? ”   
" Niord belonged to the Vanen, and was given in   
hostage to the gods. At the end of the world he   
will return to the Vanen. He began by being holy, 
and knowing the secrets of gods; but he married a 
giant maiden, and lost his power over his fellows.
It is fitting that he should return to the Vanen who       
teach men morals and nothing else.”
“Tell me, all-knowing Jotun, what will happen     
before Ragnarok ? ”’
“ A long, long summer in which everything will    
be burned, and then a long, long winter, called   
Fimbultyr." 
“ Much have I journeyed and much known, yet 
I never heard which gods should inhabit the holy  
fanes when Surfs fire shall be quenched ? " 
“ Vidar and Vali will inhabit the holy fanes, and 
the sons of Thor will possess Midllnir, when war- 
fare shall for ever cease.”
" Far have I journeyed, but have not heard what   
will be the end of Odin when all the powers perish ?”    
“ The wolf will devour the great Father, and Vidar   
      
      
will avenge him.”    
" I have journeyed long, but have not heard what     
will be the last words that Odin will utter ? ”      
“ No one knows what you, O Odin, will say with       
dying mouth. I have uttered my wise sayings, but     
who could contend with you, O wisest of the 
gods ? "    
With that Odin drew his sword, and cut off the       
head of the giant, and carried it away triumphantly  
to Frea in token of victory. 
       
      
       
       

IX.   
  ODIN THE AVENGER.     
       
       
“ Fire I thou art hot.  
 And much too great;    
     Flame, let us separate.  
My garment is singed,   
 Altho’ 1 lift it up,   
 My cloak is scorched before it.”   
 The Lay of Grimnir.    
It has been said that Odin sometimes walked  
among men, and took their children under his protection. After the incident at the brook Mimir he     
was to be seen oftener in Midgard, for by forfeiting  
the fullness of divine wisdom that had been his, his   
fate, with that of the other gods, was more closely   
bound up with that of the sons of men. As a  
warrior on horseback constantly was he visible in     
the front ranks of the battle, leading on the right   
side to victory; or in the whirl of the storm would   
he hold up with sustaining hand the little boat       
tossed by many waters, and guide it to safe anchorage. There was no human need, no human desolation, to which the Father of gods did not draw near,   
and bring satisfaction and help. He was present to     
reward the good and punish the evil, as shown in       
the history of Agnar and Geirrod, the loved adopted    
children of Frea and Odin. These two were the 
sons of a king, and when they were infants, Frea       
took Agnar, Odin Geirrod into special care and love.   
One day the two boys went out in a boat, and  
were soon so absorbed in catching small fish that      
they did not notice how the wind had risen till the    
- sky grew dark with big clouds, and when they tried   
to put to land, both tide and wind were against        
them. Farther and farther they drifted out to sea,     
till night drew her curtains round them and shut off   
even the distant view of home. And Odin looked
down and saw them in their frail little boat, but      
stretched out no arm to save them, till, towards       
morning, he came himself in a wind, and beat them      
on a rocky shore, far from their own land, and there   
the waves took their boat and dashed it in a thousand  
pieces. In the morning twilight they made their        
way up the beach, though the wind nearly blew 
them over. But no man and no house were to be 
seen. The country spread around them a vast   
stretch of sandy fields, separated each from each
by narrow dykes of water. Poor little Agnar was 
almost crying for weariness and hunger and desolation when, suddenly, they saw a house in front of        
them. Running towards it, they knocked at the   
door, and in a few minutes they were drying themselves before a large fire, unconscious, in the delight  
of the warmth, of the shrewd inspection of a    
weather-beaten fisherman, who stood looking down
on them from his superior height.
“ What are we to do with them ? ” he asked.     
“ Let them stay, at any rate, for the present,” 
replied his wife. " Are not the roads already getting barred by snow, and the sea by tempestuous 
winds ? " 
So the little lads settled down in their new home,       
and chopped the wood, and swept away the snow,  
and fed the cows, and won a place in the old folks*      
heart, and forgot that they were king's sons. But        
when Spring burst on the land, and all the brooks        
gurgled down into the valley, the memory of their        
father returned with force, and they wished to go        
back to him.    
The old couple who had befriended them accompanied them to the strand, and they started in the       
boat the fisherman provided.     
Now on the way, as they went swiftly before a fair       
wind, an evil thought entered Geirrod’s-head.   
" We cannot both be king. If I go home alone,  
every one will think Agnar is dead, and I shall be      

accepted by all as my father's heir."    
When, therefore, they reached the land, Geirrod
leapt on shore, carrying the oars with him, and
pushed the boat, with his brother in it, out on the     
dark sea, and then went home alone to the town.
The people received him with loud acclamations of       
welcome, and proceeded to make him king, for his        
father was dead.        
And he became very great and famous, and the   
past was as a dream whose power grew weaker amid        
the active scenes of life. But vengeance ever waits     
to slay the wicked.     
Odin, with Frea at his side, looked down on Midgard from the heights of Asgard, and grieved to see     
the sin of Geirrod.     
" Geirrod deserves punishment. He was cruel    
and merciless to his only brother, and now, they say,   
he tortures every stranger who comes."   
" He is not as bad as that, I think,” said Odin.        
" It would ill become the hospitality of a king.”       
" It was only the other day that he tortured a 
guest till he died in agony.”   
“ I can hardly believe it, Frea, although you say       
it.”     
" Well, go and see for yourself, Odin.”  
 So Odin disguised himself in a long blue cloak,

and wrapped a covering about his head, and went 
to Geirrod.    
But Frea sent on first her maiden, Fulla, to   
warn Geirrod that a trollman was coming who    
might do him harm, and he would know him by the
token that no dog, however fierce, would bark at him.   
Geirrod took little note of the warning, although       
by-and-by a trollman in a blue cloak came up the        
yard in front of the king’s house, and knocked at       
the back door, asking alms. No dog barked at him,       
and even the servants were respectful, and bowed        
before the hidden majesty of the beggar. But Geirrod    
sent word that he was to be seized and questioned.      
He said his name was " Grimnir,” and not another        
word would he utter, no, though they tortured him to    
answer. Then the king commanded that he should 
be placed between two fires moving ever closer to       
him, and so questioned. The fires approached   
nearer and nearer for eight days till his cloak was     
scorched, and still not a word would he say. On
the eighth day came Geirrod’s little son, called Agnar  
after his uncle, and looked with pity in his big wondering eyes at the poor stranger between the fires.     
Then he ran away, and came back holding in both
hands a horn of ale.    
“ Are you thirsty, poor man ? ” 
 
"Ay, that I am.” And he eagerly seized the     
horn, and emptied it. ” Little son, the fire is very    

hot, my cloak is scorched. Eight nights have I 
sat here, and none has offered me food or drink,        
but Agnar, the son of Geirrod. Blessed be thou,
Agnarl Better recompense shalt thou never get  
for any gift of thine than for this one draught which   
thou hast offered to the god of men. Much
knowledge could I give thee, little boy, of all the     
hidden things of the nine worlds I ”     
“ You speak strangely, and yet I like you. Let 
me fetch my father to hear your words.”  
Then Geirrod came, and sat in a remote corner, 
almost concealed in shadow, his sword, half drawn       
from its scabbard, lying across his knee. He   
listened in trepidation while the unknown beggar        
talked of all things in earth and heaven.
” Who is this who speaks of the dwellings of the        
gods, and knows the secrets of Valhalla ? he who        
speaks familiarly of Yggdrasil ? ”       
" When I lift my head to Asgard, all the gods will      
come to my aid,” exclaimed the stranger. " Who 
am I ? Grimnir am I called at Geirrod’s, and at
Asmund when I drew a sledge was I Jalk; by     
Svidur, and Svidrir do men often know me; Ygg  
was I called before; the gods name me Ofnir and
Svafnir; but Odin am I first and last to thee, 
     
Geirrod the Faithless whose life is now run  
out.”   .    
The king started, and rose hurriedly to remove     
the great god from between the fires, when his     
sword slipped and fell with its hilt to the ground,
and on its blade, upheld by the invisible Hand of  
Justice, the king stumbling fell, and the sword    
pierced and killed him. Whereupon, Odin vanished.  
        X. 
 SUTTUNG’S MEAD.    
   
" Potent songs I learned, 
And a draught obtained    
Of the precious mead
Drawn from Odhoerir.
Then I began to bear fruit,        
And to know many things.  
To grow and well thrive : 
Word by word      
I sought out words, 
Fact by fact      
I sought out facts. 
Runes thou wilt find,     
Very explained characters,
Very large characters,    
Very potent characters,   
Which the great speaker depicted.” 
   Odin's Song.     
There was gladness among the gods when Odin       
conquered in the contest of wisdom with Vafthrudnir, and perhaps they were prouder than they   
would have been without that incident at Mimir’s  
brook which had filled them with distrust and     
misgiving for the future. Reverence for a mighty
 
god of vengeance flowed back in a strong steady 
tide when they beheld him humiliated, self-con- 
trolled, stern, and immovable in conscious power,        
bringing down on Geirrod the just punishment for
sin. But gladness was to be increased, reverence
to be deepened, by Odin’s next exploit, which has        
caused him to be spoken of gratefully throughout the     
worlds. This was, as all know, the gaining possession, for the use of gods and men, of the golden
mead of song, sometimes called Suttung’s mead.  
It was won in strife with the evil giants, and all       
that it has yielded of inspiration, and pleasure, and    
thought, in latter days, bears the stamp of that strife  
and the glory of the victory. Wherever this divine       
and beautiful gift of verse has come, won by the
hand of Odin, it has carried inevitably, as it flowed    
forth from the deep soul of man, echoes of that old,     
old struggle, so often pacified, so often renewed, yet   
giving to the: song a strength of beauty and tenderness of pathos that it would otherwise have lacked.      
The story of the origin of the mead is wrapped in        
mystery. We hear of a man, Kvasir, wiser than   
the wisest of gods and men, who was much sought 
after, and much esteemed. He travelled through  
all lands, setting difficulties to rights, answering     
questions, and giving a rich fullness of wisdom to   
all who asked. And the gods, who knew the  
worth of wisdom, and how to use it, received him 
gladly, men doubtfully; but the dwarfs, with brains       
too big for their bodies, with intellects quicker witted for not being balanced by souls, were jealous      
of his wisdom, and eager to possess it for them- 
selves. So they seized Kvasir and killed him; and
as his life-blood flowed forth, lo 1 it turned into       
golden mead.     
“This is his wisdom," quoth the astonished 
dwarfs; “ let us gather it up and keep it."
Then with eager hands they fetched three stone   
jars, and stored it away; but as they did so, the
ugly, crooked-limbed creatures put down their    
mouths, and sucked it up greedily; and behold,   
each one, as he drank, rolled over in a stupor, and       
then, recovering, they began to grin, and mutter,
and shout, and contort their visage with all sorts        
of grimaces, horrible to see. They jumped about, 
and tore at the rocks, and scratched up the earth,        
all the time sending forth noises senseless, terrible,    
but wildly beautiful. Then their chiefs, Fialar and       
Galar, snatched up their caps, and marched, with 
unsteady, undignified steps, forward, followed by the     
other pigmies. Whither they were going, in their 
drunken excitement, they knew not, till they came
on a giant lying asleep on the banks of Ifing, the   
ceaseless, silent river which separates Jotunheim 
from Asgard. With brains aglow with mischief,     
and inflamed by a sense of newly acquired superiority to the giants, who had so long tyrannized 
over them, they all united to push the sleeping   
giant, whose name was Gilling, into the water, and
drowned him.      
" We have killed a giant I Hurrah I how clever    
and strong we are I ” they shouted.
But suddenly the earth shook, and a great dark*   
ness overshadowed them; wild excitement died      
down into a chilly feeling of fear, as a big hand 
lifted them like a swarm of bees, and cast them   
out to a rock in the sea, up which the tide was   
slowly creeping.  
" We shall all be drowned I We shall all be       
drowned I " they called piteously. But Suttung,   
the giant, brother of Gilling whom they had killed,     
gave them no heed, but went away, and sat on the  
cliff, and dabbled his feet, and played with the grey   
seagulls, who shrank from his rough touch.        
And the sun went down, and the tide crept up,     
and the dwarfs huddled themselves together, and   
shivered with cold, and wet, and abject terror.   
“ What shall we give to Suttung to set us free ? ”
they asked.       
“ Shall we make him a sword in our smithies      
beneath the mountains? Shall we give him our   
pick-axes, or our lanterns ? Shall we promise him       
the help of our cunning next time he is in difficulty ? "
But Suttung smiled at their offers.      
" You will all be drowned, drowned, -drowned,  
little folks I" and he laughed good-humouredly.
“ Offer him our golden mead, Kvasir’s blood,"  
suggested one of the dwarfs.    
“ Will you have Odhoerir ? ’’ they shouted.    
“ And what is:Odhoerir ? ” asked Suttung.
" Sweetness and/wisdom," answered, the dwarfs. 
" All the songs of the world will flow from it."        
“ Well, give it to me then: and in future,     
wretched pigmies," giving them a shake as he   
tossed them on to the shore, " keep out of mischief."   
And Suttung strode away, the three jars of     
Odhoerir under his arm, which he gave into the 
charge of his daughter Gunnlod, bidding her shut        
it fast within a rock, and guard it from gods and       
men.
An icy chilliness went through the worlds, and 
the hearts of all waxed cold within them. What 
was to comfort and gladden them now through    
days of gloom and weariness?    
And Odin looked down, sad at heart, and mused  
how he could recover the lost treasure. Then he
wandered forth, and none knew whither he went, on and on, till he came to Jotunheim.  
It was a bright summer morning, for summer 
comes even to Giant-land, and the sun shone hotly   
on a vast hayfield. Here Odin paused, and, leaning over the gate, watched nine thralls mowing      
the hay. But the work was progressing but slowly,   
the weather was warm, and they were tired. 
“ Shall I sharpen your scythes ? ” the god called   
out. 
“ Ay, Master, if you will," they responded,
eagerly.   
Whereupon Odin whetted their scythes, so that       
they cut ten times better than they did before.     
" How much will you sell the hone for, Master ? "   
“ For a cart-load of silver.”        
“That is a little much, but still it is worth it.   
I will try and get the silver, so give me the       
hone.”     
But they all said the same, and then began to       
quarrel, and to knock one another over. Odin then   
took the hone, threw it up into the air, and as it  
came down every thrall stretched out his arm to     
see if he could not secure it, and they scrambled   
for it till they brought their scythes down on      
each other’s necks, and every one lay dead on the   
field.    
Odin picked up his hone, and went on, feeling  

grieved for the death of the clamorous silly thralls,   
till he came to the house of a giant called Baugi,      
Suttung's brother. Baugi was standing in a dejected attitude, leaning against the post of his door,  
while his arm rested on the top branch of a fine        
pine tree.     
“ What news, Baugi ? Is anything wrong ? "     
asked the Father of gods. 
“ Everything is wrong,” Baugi replied. “ It is 
only to-day that the sun has shone with sufficient      
warmth to warrant our gathering in the hay, and
now my stupid thralls have been fighting, they 
have all killed one another, and there is not one       
left."   
“That is sad indeed. They must have been 
foolish fellows. But can I help you ? I think I
could do the work of nine thralls as quickly as they    
did."    
“ I should like to see you I But still I do not
mind your trying. What is your name, and what  
wages do you want ? "   
“ My name is Balverkr, and as hire wages I want
one drink of Suttung’s mead."   
“That is nonsense! I cannot get the mead.
Suttung has it, and will give it to none.”     
Then, good evening," and Odin moved on.
     
" Stop, Hey I do you think you can really do my    
work ? ”     
“ I am sure of it,” replied Odin.   
“ Well, get on, and try. When you have done  
I will do what I can to get the mead.”       
“The sun is setting, work is over for to-day;
but to-morrow I will start.”
“ Come in, then, and bide the night with us.”
So Odin went in, and spent the night with the
giant, and early next morning he started on his    
work. Steadily and quickly he moved through the    
fields with his scythe, and cleared them one after 
the other. And when the mowing was done, fresh     
work was found for him till the harvest, when his  
scythe cut the corn. All wondered, but none  
penetrated the mystery surrounding the solitary    
labourer. Alone he worked through the day, accomplishing more than had any one before. And
when the evening came, and he rested on his scythe,
a majestic figure with long-flowing hair, standing 
out against the crimsoning sunset sky, his head    
lifted to Asgard, invisible presences seemed to float       
around him, and speak with him, and no giant 
dared ask him whence he came. 
But when the last leaf had fallen, and the song    
of the last bird had gone, and the air was keen    
and sharp with the coming cold of winter, Odin
 
shouldered his scythe, and went away to Baugi, and      
reminded him of Suttung’s golden mead.   
“ But why do you want it ? ”    
“ Because it will gladden men’s hearts, and ever        
after they will praise this gift of song as Odin’s      
best gift to the worlds.” 
" Let us go and ask Suttung, then.”      
But Suttung stoutly refused to give up a drop of        
the mead.
“ Will nothing else do ? ” asked Baugi of Odin.
” No, nothing else,” replied Odin.       
“ Then what we cannot get by fair means we will
get by stratagem.”      
So they went forth, and crossed a moor till they        
came to the high rock where Gunnlod had in     
keeping the precious mead. Swinging himself up,
Odin inserted, in a small crack Rati, his rock-drill,   
and bored a hole through to the room beyond. He
stooped down, and blew into the hole, and put his       
eye down and looked through, when he could see 
the precious jars.      
Then changing himself into a worm, he crept    
through, at the other side taking his proper form       
again. Here he paused, and almost forgot his mead       
in the vision of beauty before him. On a couch,
asleep, lay Gunnlod, most perfect in loveliness of      
any of the daughters of the giants. Odin drew his
breath hard, and gazed, and gazed with such     
 
intensity that the maiden felt it, and awoke, woke       
for the first time with the eye of a god upon her,       
and every thought was lost in the overwhelming  
sense of the mastery of the love that sprang into        
life within her soul. But as she awoke, he, he only      
remembered his errand, and craved her for a drink        
of the precious mead. And Gunnld brought the    
jars, and offered them to him on her knees, for she      
perceived that he was a god. Then Odin put his  
lips to Odhoerir, and took a long deep draught, and      
his spirit was stirred to its depths, and shaken in its  
innermost recesses, and he felt Power as he had 
never felt it before;, next, he drank of the second      
jar, Sohn, and as he did so Love seemed to flow 
from him in a measureless stream which reached  
to the farthest abysses of the world, and made every*    
thing bend before it; but Bohn brought back fulness      
of peace and quietness of satisfaction, which lulled     
his spirit into rest, and he knew that he had tasted     
the golden mead of the inspiration of song. The 
air seemed to be tuned into rhythmic harmony;   
beautiful visions floated near, and translated themselves into sound ; dreams of daring and achieving,      
dreams of an unstained, untroubled existence, which      
should have no Past and no Future, moved within 
him; and without a thought of her who had 
bestowed the gift, Odin, with the precious jars,       
        
crept through his hole, and when he reached the        
free air beyond he changed himself into an eagle,      
and mounted on strong, unstaying wings to Asgard’s     
gate.   
But Gunnlod ? Day was changed into Night, and 
Joy into Sorrow, and she sank down beside her 
couch, and wept bitter remorseful tears for the god    
who had taken both her treasure and her love, and      
left both hands and heart empty.        
But not without a struggle was the god yet to 
secure his spoil. As he flashed across the sun by      
Suttung’s castle, the latter, from the battlements,    
heard the rush of wings, and instinct told him that    
this was Odin. Changing himself also into an  
eagle, he flew rapidly after him, and tried to upset   
the golden mead as he almost touched him. All 
the gods in Asgard crowded to watch the race  
between the two eagles, and placed vessels ready       
to catch Odhoerir. Would Odin be beaten even  
now on the brink of success ? Would the powers
of evil get back the gift of song so that it would     
never gladden the heart of man ? Surely not I 
With brave yet failing wing the divine bird fluttered  
down into Asgard, and then poured forth such a
flood of melody that the dwarfs heard it beneath the   
mountains, Hei heard it on her throne, the Nornes   
heard it beside Yggdrasil, and men heard it as they     
went with bowed backs about their daily toil.  
" It is a gift for gods shouted all the asen.
“ And a gift for men,’ said Odin.       
 
 
 
XI.   
    FREYIA'S SIN AND SORROWS. 
       
" Steeped in joys     
I seemed to men;      
For litile did I see before me.”       

When Odin returned to Asgard in triumph with 
Odhoerir his joy was short-lived, as the joy of the   
gods was apt to be at this time ; some shadow
always fell after light, some pain after every glad-  
ness. So now when he came back, his spirit uplifted   
by the completeness of his victory, his heart light   
with the happiness of the long-looked-for return to   
Asgard, his cup of joy was dashed to the ground by    
the tidings of sorrow that had befallen Freyia the    
daughter of Niord, in his absence. She had been       
forsaken by her husband, Oddur, and had gone in       
search of him through all the universe, but never,    
the gods believed, would she find him again. 
Weeping had she gone forth, and weeping would
she return. But Odin, as he listened, knew that       
       
there was more than this to tell. Not for nothing     
would Oddur have left his home and the wife  
whose very footsteps he had worshipped. Their
mutual love, the sanctity and beauty of their home,   
had been the joy of Asgard; for though not an
Immortal, Oddur had been accepted by the gods as      
a son and a brother, and they had given to him        
gladly the fairest of their goddesses. 
Now what had broken up the home Odin had left
in security, happiness, and peace? Ashe listened to   
the story told by the frightened gods, his face grew  
darker and darker, until they feared that he would    
not help Freyia.      
" She suffers, and is broken-hearted. Father 
Odin.” 
" Let her suffer. None can help her now; ” for        
the one sin Odin never fully forgave was faithless*   
ness in love. Now Freyia had been very happy 
with Oddur; but she was set up by all the worship     
he gave her, especially as through him other 
men sought her shrine, and brought her offerings.     
So she began to think herself superior even to        
Frea, and spoke haughtily to all the other young      
goddesses who were not so loved and honoured as       
she. And Frea trembled for this wayward adopted      
love as a right, and not with reverence of soul, and,  
as it were, with lifted hand and bended knee. And
Freyia grew careless, and sacred things were no  
longer sacred to her, and she wandered seeking   
unlawful pleasures and excitement beyond her own 
home. One day she found herself in the heart of  
a mountain, in the midst of all the little men who     
there with pick-axes get the brilliant jewels hidden   
in the stone. They gathered round her jabbering, 
wild at getting the beautiful goddess to themselves.   
If she would stay among them a few days they     
would make the most wonderful and lovely neck*   
lace that ever gladdened the heart of woman. And 
they took the most exquisite stones of all shades of   
dazzling light and colour, and fitted them together,   
and so made Brising of ancient fame. She held it 
in her hands, and fitted it round her neck, and her    
heart leapt with delight at the possession of such     
a treasure. Then her face sank, and became       
covered with blushes.  
“ What will Oddur say ? Will he ever give me     
back his love when I have been faithless to him ? "    
“Brising can preserve to you any love. It is     
a charm that can be used to fulfil any wish.”    
And Freyia lifted her head, and went back to     
Asgard, a little ashamed, but confident in herself     
and Brising.     
But alas! emptiness and dreariness reigned in
       
Folkvang---Oddur was gone I None had seen him
go; none knew whither he went. What use
was Brising now? Freyia was overwhelmed with 
grief. She sat down in her empty hall whose walls     
echoed mockingly her sobs, and shed tears till she    
nearly washed away her beautiful eyes. But that       
did not bring back Oddur. Then she rose, determined to seek him, and she wandered through all       
countries and cities, shedding tears which turned     
into gold as they fell, and enriched the world. But   
nothing eased her heart of its anguish, nothing       
soothed its bitter pain.
“Where is Oddur?” she asked of the happy     
women thronging the market place, their babies        
on their backs. But they shook their heads, and       
looked astounded on the beautiful weeping goddess.    
" Where is Oddur ? ” she asked at many a king’s       
palace---thinking that there must be her princely     
husband. But every face was strange, none like        
that loved face her heart was seeking. '     
" Where is Oddur ? ” she asked of the birds  
fluttering about her path; but they flew away
twittering, and could not lift her pain.     
“Where is Oddur? Have you drowned him?”
she asked as her feet drew nigh the sea, and brought  
her to Tyr, the great sea-god.
" I have him not, but I know that you seek in  

vain, that never again will your eyes rest on the face  
of Oddur your beloved." Then Freyia stretched out       
her hands to the pitiless blue and sparkling waves      
with an exceeding bitter cry, and fell down senseless   
by the water-side. And Odin came and carried her        
gently home, and the gods did what they could to        
restore joy to her long-suffering, humiliated, and      
chastened spirit.       
And Freyia ripened into maturity, not less     
beautiful, but more so than in her youth, and  
more willingly did all men bring to her their  
offerings and their adoration. The passions, and        
vanities, and restless ambitions of youth were subdued ; there was the crown of peace on her clear,       
unwrinkled brow, and her eyes looked far away into      
a future of eternity where things and people are        
not distorted and disjointed as now, but each finds     
its fitting place and fitting work. And when her        
eyes turned earthwards, because they had thus been      
filled with heavenly visions, and there was none of     
the world in her heart, she had the leisure of perfect  
love for the smaller things of her younger brothers     
and sisters. They all adored her, and it was a 
pretty sight to see them clinging round her, looking    
up to the calm and beautiful face above them.  
Idunn would creep to her feet, and put her little    
hands in her lap while the sweet child-face was up- .   

lifted eagerly to that of the majestic goddess. Even    
Bragi would be more than usually subdued, and all       
his latent chivalry was called forth to do honour       
to the noble Freyia. But of all the youth who  
gathered round her, young Ottar, with his poet face     
and curling brown hair, was her favourite; perhaps      
he recalled the memory of Oddur; perhaps he best        
soothed the numb ache of her empty heart. He   
never came very near when the others were there;        
but would throw himself under an apple-tree at a        
little distance, his large moon-like eyes fixed on her  
face. But when the rest of his companions dis- 
persed, some to play, some to wander over the  
hills, others simply to laugh and talk in noisy
circles, he would spring up, and with one bound
was by her side, at her feet, while she turned to him   
with a sigh of relief, and drawing the brown head       
to her breast, murmured, " My own dear little son."     
One day when she said this he kept his face    
hidden, and made no response, except a slight  
shiver. She lifted his head, and looked searchingly     
into his troubled eyes. 
“ What is it, Ottar ? ” 
“ You called me son; but I am not your son.    
Where are my mother and father ? Why should    
I be nameless ? A pedigree is required of every one     
brave, be he man or god. Can you tell me aught of       
my family ? "  
Then Freyia's face grew grave, for well she knew        
the difficulty wherewith she was confronted, and she    
was silent for some three quarters of a minute; at      
last she said slowly---
“ No pedigree can I give thee, Ottar, dear to me        
as a son ; thy beginning and ending know I not, nor     
what thy work will be in this world; but I know
one who does know, even Hyndla, a Vala of great
prophetic wisdom.”      
“ Does she really ? Can we go to her at once ? ”        
all the boyish brightness coming back into face and     
voice.   
" We will go now," and Freyia called for horses,        
and she and Ottar rode away quickly, and spoke no       
word till they stood outside Hyndla’s dark cavern.      
" Wake, maid of maids I Wake, friend and sister,        
who dwellest in the dark I Ask the eternal Father       
to show us good. Victory, riches, and eloquence
does he give to those he delights to honour; thee       
perhaps he will hear. Take thy wolf with the runes      
inscribed on his rein, and let us see what the gods     
prophesy of Ottar."     
False Freyia, thou art tempting me. Does thou
not know that Ottar shall tread but one road, that      
dark road which leads to Valhalla ? ”   
“ That cannot be. Thy evil thought comes from     
thy own evil heart. Tell me quickly of young
Ottar’s family and what his own future shall be." 
The prophetess fixed her eyes on the distant
horizon, and said slowly---
“ I see one walking along a road; his head is     
bent, and there is a mortal wound in his breast. . . .     
He goes to Valhalla, and his name is----”   
Freyia turned pale, and hastily exclaimed---
" Get on, Hyndla, and tell us of Ottar’s parentage.        
Which noble family does he belong to ? To Skioldung        
or Skilfing ? to Odling or Ylfing ? ”       
" Innstun is his father’s name, descended from    
Svan the Red.’’   
" And my mother ? ’’ asked Ottar, with breathless 
eagerness.  
But the Vala did not immediately answer; when     
she did, her voice was sad.
"Your mother was a young priestess, Hledis by     
name; but more she cared for necklaces than 
prayers, and for your father more than all’’
” That was right,” stoutly exclaimed Ottar. 
" No, young, sir, it was not right. It would have 
been better for her if she had said her prayers rather     
than have run away in the dress of a knight to follow      
your father to the wars; wherefore Odin avenged   
himself, and she died in giving you birth. You will           
find her in Valhalla when you go. She came of a       
       
noble race. The blood of the sea-kings is in thy      
veins, young Ottar Heimski, and that of many 
another mighty race, allied to princes and strong in  
power and name. But the mightiest of thy family       
has yet to come; his name I may not declare. First    
come Ragnarok and Odin's fight with the wolf, and     
further may no man look."     
" Reach to Ottar the memory cup that he may  
remember all your discourse." 
“ That will I, if you will both get quickly hence,    
and leave me to sleep. Here is the memory cup;        
drink of it, for it is mixed with malediction. Evil   
and short shall his days be I ”        
Hastily Freyia stepped forward and put her hand       
on the cup.  
• Blessed be this cup and he who drinks it. All       
the gods I pray to favour Ottar."      
Ottar rode away, lifting his bare head proudly in     
the sunshine at the thought of a certain and speedy   
entrance into Valhalla. What was death compared       
with that final victory and the glorious award ? A    
dreamy absent look came into his eyes, and he
seemed to forget Freyia, who rode silently beside     
him, a great pang at her heart. That brave young      
form dragged in the dust, the light of his eyes put   
out, and the wound, that terrible wound that Hyndla had spoken of, in the breast she loved so well ! She   could have cried aloud in the agony of her soul. 
Just then she could not take in the honour of such
an early entrance to Valhalla. He was so young     
and so dear I Let the triumph of Valhalla be reserved for veterans, for men grown grey in conflict,        
but not for such as he. And so silently they rode to        
the entrance of Asgard, and then Ottar turned and  
said quickly, a dazzling light on his face, and looking     
so beautiful in his young strength that it sent another     
pang through her heart---   
“It is splendid, isn’t it, mother? I shall see     
her, too, my real mother. Will it be soon, do you  
think?”      
Just then some of the gods galloped by on horseback. They shouted to Ottar, “Come, Ottar, we
are going to fight a giant. Come with us.”   
The wind brought their voices back to the listening
young ears. Instantly he put spurs to his horse, and        
galloped after without one look back at Freyia, who
stood clenching her hands in agony. She threw
herself on the roadside and waited. Hours passed,  
and evening came, and with it advancing steps and  
excited voices. Nearer and nearer they came, and   
as they passed, Freyia, blind with tears and pain, 
stretched out her hands towards them and said,     
questioningly, “ Ottar ? ”  
" Ah I poor Ottar I here he is. He is gone to    
  
Valhalla. You were always proud of him, Freyia,  
and he fought right bravely.’*    
The steps went on, and the goddess sank back in  
the dark on the roadside.
   
  
 XII.   
   THOR'S ADVENTURE WITH UTGARDS-LOKI.

Cattle die.  
Kindred die,   
We ourselves also die.  
But the fair fame       
Never dies     
Of him who has earned it.**  

The barriers were being broken down between the
gods and giants, and intercourse became more   
frequent. There was still enmity, but instead, as       
in ancient times, of avoiding conflict, the gods began  
to court it with as much eagerness as the giants        
themselves. Now about this time the oldest and 
most evil of the giants, Utgardsloki, destroyed a       
temple dedicated to Odin, and all Asgard was roused     
to vengeance at the insult offered their chief When     
the news came, Thor brought his fist down with 
angry force on the table, and vowed to start off
 
immediately, and rest nor day nor night till he had      
met Utgardsloki face to face.    
Early the next morning he harnessed his goats,  
and, taking the reins in his hand, started with Loki     
as his companion. He drove with such impetuous  
fury that the streets of Asgard shook, the wheels of     
the car flashed up sparks, and Heimdall came forth       
to know who would pass over Bifrost in this stormy       
fashion. He smiled when he saw it was Thor, for 
well he knew the ways of the Thunder-god. And   
Thor’s car rattled along up and down the mountains       
till nightfall, when he drew near a lonely hut standing  
on the edge of a wood, and here the god stopped, and     
asked a night’s lodging. In a low dark room dwelt        
the peasant, his wife, and two children, Thialf and      
Rska.     
“ We can give you shelter, but we have no food to        
offer you,’’ the man said politely. " We are poor        
folk, and finished our last piece of meat to-day.”       
“ That can easily be remedied,” Thor replied.   
So saying, he took his two goats, killed them, and       
cut them into joints, which he set before the fire to    
cook. The skins he spread out on the floor, and 
when they sat down to supper he begged everybody
to put their bones on these without breaking them.       
Thialf, however, broke one of his in order to get the    
marrow, and then hid it among the rest, hoping that    
Thor would not discover his misdeed. No misgiving      
troubled his mind through the long hours of the        
night; what use could there be in a heap of bones ?    
But when the morning dawned, and the household
rose betimes, Thor went to the skins containing the    
bones, swung his hammer over them, muttered some       
runes, and lo I immediately the goats sprang up, and   
ran across the room out of the door as if no hurt had  
touched them, except---that one limped in his hind     
leg. Then Thialf trembled, and terror beset the        
whole family when they saw Thor’s anger. The  
very house seemed to shake with the fierceness of      
his passion. But Thialf was a brave lad, and con*      
fessed what he had done, and asked the great god’s     
pardon. And Thor’s brows relaxed their frown, a        
gentler look came into his face, and his heart went    
out to the boy.        
“ Let him come with me, and I will test his will       
to atone for his fault. Nay, I will not leave thee     
behind either,” he added, laying his hand on Roska’s   
shoulder, and seeing trouble in her face. "It were a   
pity to part such a bonny pair. Trust them to me,      
and they shall come back to their parents as whole     
and safe as they went from them, with experience to    
boot.”  
So forth they fared, and much did those twain 
learn and see before they again felt their parents’      
embrace.  
 
 
They first came to the Iron Wood, and in its    
limitless paths they lost their way and found it
again, watched by all the creatures of the forest with   
curious eyes. All lightness and joy had gone from        
the still air; the atmosphere hung heavy, misty, and     
cold over all the land. Then they began to fall 
victims to the enchantments of the wood. The trees       
took all sorts of curious shapes. Sometimes a table      
seemed to be spread for their repast with cakes and      
meats and wines; but when they drew near there  
was only an old ash bending over the path. Some-
times beautiful forms and smiling faces met them,        
and then resolved themselves into the nearest clump      
of ivy. Little crystal brooks ran at their feet, which   
they longed to drink of, but as they drank their
senses grew heavy, and they yielded more and    
more to the enchantments which surrounded them. 
They longed for sleep, their eyelids drooped, and        
their heads nodded, and they saw before them    
what appeared to be a large airy hall with cool 
shadows, promising rest to weary travellers.    
“ Let us enter, and lie down,” Thor said, and   
gladly they all went in, and perceived that the one      
hall had opening out of it five smaller rooms, which     
promised still quieter repose. But in order to be   
cool they lay down on the great floor of the outer     
        
hall, and were soon fast asleep. Night came on
with its darkness, and they still slept peacefully,    
when suddenly the ground shook, and they were 
awoke by a loud strange noise which made Thor 
tremble, and tighten his clasp on his hammer. They     
were in an enchanted land, whose ways and inhabitants were alike unknown. The rumbling and    
roaring began afresh, shaking the whole house, and     
then the nerves of even gods gave way, and helter-skelter they rushed outside, and lay huddled together  
till morning. When the light at last came, they saw    
that they had been in close company with a giant       
all night, who still lay sleeping beside them, and it  
was his snores that had frightened them. "But gods     
are not to be frightened in the day, so when the       
giant rose heavily from slumber Thor went up and       
confronted him, and asked him who he was.     
" My name is Skrymir. I trust you have found   
my glove comfortable ? ” 
And they perceived that what they had thought to -     
be a house was the glove of a giant in whose thumb     
they had slept the previous night. They looked at      
one another a little shamefaced, for gods do not like  
to own that they are not so very big after all I       
" My glove has never been honoured before by  
the presence of gods," continued Skrymir, good
naturedly. “ Is there anything else I can do for       
you ? ” 
        
“We want to go to Utgardsloki city,” replied  
Thor; “ perhaps you can show us the way ? ”   
“ Come with me; I will take you there.” 
So they journeyed on together, while Thor, who
scarcely appreciated the giant’s patronage, tried to   
impress on him that he was something more than
a weak mortal. When evening came, they rested 
by the side of a stream, and the giant being very      
tired lay down to sleep, telling Thor that he would    
find supper in his wallet.     
“ But be careful in undoing it that you do not
break the string.”     
They were very hungry, and so began to prepare
for their evening meal; but when they went to take     
the food from the wallet, nobody could open it.        
Thialf and Roska, Loki with his cunning, and Thor      
with his mighty strength, all strove in vain to        
unfasten the cord.     
“ It is trickery,” thundered Thor, wrathfully; so      
saying he rose, and with his hammer aimed a great      
blow at Skrymir's head. 
Skrymir stirred in his sleep, and muttered, “ Did       
a leaf fall ? ” and then he turned round, and 
slumbered again. A second time the god lifted 
his hammer, and hurled it at the giant’s head till     
it pierced his skull, and Thor had to pull it out.     
Half waking and rubbing his eyes, the slumberer    
said in a dazed tone, “ Dear me ! I think an acorn    
fell on my head. I am not sleeping very comfortably. How are you getting on, Thor ? " 
" I am just settling to rest. The moon is hardly      
up yet. Sleep again, Skrymir." 
Then Thor rose, and with a .desperate stroke,
mightier than the last, brought the hammer down       
on the giant’s head. This time the giant sat up and   
looked curiously up to the trees.      
" Why do not the birds go to sleep ? I thought        
they dropped something on my head."    
So Thor gave in, and settled to sleep; Skrymir
was impregnable. The next morning they journeyed on till they reached Utgardsloki city, where    
they were received with shouts of welcome, for        
every guest was expected to contribute something      
to the general amusement by testing his strength      
against the strength of the men of the place. A       
trough filled with food was standing on the floor,    
and the new-comers were challenged that one of their  
number should empty it in competition with a giant.   
Loki was therefore matched with one Logi. But        
after Loki had eaten as fast as ever he could, he     
could not beat Logi, who ate bones and flesh and      
trough as well.    
“ Why, you have no appetite at all,” quoth    
Utgardsloki, scoffingly. ” But we will set this man    
        
to run a race; he looks as if he could run.”  
So Thialfi was called forth to try his running
powers against a stripling.    
“ Off you go."
Three times they ran, and three times was Thialfi      
vanquished miserably.  
" Well, Thor, I suppose you can do better than
this. We will give you one or two tests,” and the      
giants laughed mockingly. A horn of mead was  
brought, which he was commanded to drain.     
“ A strong man can drain it at one draught, but        
the weakest can do it in three.”        
Thor put the beaker again and again to his lips,       
but after the third trial there was no apparent        
decrease in its contents.
" Well, I am surprised, and a little sorry that you    
should be so humiliated in my house. But see, the      
children sometimes play at lifting my cat from the     
ground. It is but a trifling achievement, but you      
are not the man we took you for. Do you try it.”       
Then Thor put both strong arms round the cat, 
but do what he would he could only lift one paw        
from the ground.       
" You are a bit of a humbug, I am afraid, Thor.        
It seems silly to propose to a god that he should   
wrestle with an old woman; but suppose you try it.       
It is rather unfair on her; still, it will be amusing."  
A very old wrinkled woman came hobbling up,     
and Thor, in contemptuous wrath, took hold of her        
to throw her; but lol her feet were set firmly on        
the ground, and there was no loosening of her grip.      
The harder the struggle, the more firmly she stood,      
till at last Thor himself was brought with one knee      
on the floor. An ironical laugh went through the
room.     
" We will turn from our games, and have supper, 
and wish Thor better success next time."  
So the giants and Thor and his companions sat   
down to a feast that lasted till long after midnight.    
The next morning Utgardsloki accompanied his    
guests to the outside of the town, and when there        
he said---
" We are glad to get you safely away, Thor, for I        
trow that one mightier in strength than you there        
has not been.”  
Thor looked surprised, and quoth---       
“ Methinks I have but miserably shown it."
“That was the cunning of the giants. Do you     
remember the three blows you gave Skrymir in the 
wood ? Look up, and see the result. Three valleys        
lie there, of which the last is deepest. Those are       
your three blows, for you hit not Skrymir‘s head,        
but a mountain which I interposed. The lightest 
of your blows would have killed the biggest giant.    
And the tests, too, to which we put your strength.    
When Loki strove with Logi to devour the food in      
the trough, he could not keep pace, for Logi was      
fire; and what can devour faster or more effectually  
than fire? When Thialfi ran a race, it was with       
my Thought, and what can outstrip thought for
swiftness? The horn you tried to empty was the        
sea. When you reach it you shall see an ebb, 
which men will know as Thor’s ebb even to the
later days. The cat you tried to lift was Midgard's   
worm, which lies coiled round the heart of the        
world. We indeed trembled, and were afraid when       
we saw that you had succeeded in lifting one paw      
from the ground, for great would be the catastrophe   
if Midgard’s worm were freed. And the old woman       
with whom you wrestled was no woman at all, but       
Time, which can never be shaken nor moved till        
the days when a White God greater than you shall      
bear sway from sea to sea, and from shore to shore.”  
Then Thor was wrath, and lifted his hammer to
strike, but Utgardsloki had disappeared. He turned    
to take revenge on the city, and Io I before him      
stretched a beautiful plain radiant in the morning    
sun, but the city was gone.   
It was not long after this that opportunity again    
served Thor to test his strength in collision with the      
giants. About this time the gods were very friendly
with Tyr, the Mighty One of the sea, because he    
had helped them when they fought against Thiassi,  
and on many another occasion. They would come
down, and sit at the opening of his cave, admiring 
the great rocks, and the soft bright sand, and the 
waves rippling to their feet, and indulge in a quiet        
chat. And often Tyr would launch his boat and
they would all go out with their lines to fish. One
stormy night they had filled their boat with flat fish,     
and returned at noon tired and thirsty to find Tyr 
sitting on a rock in the morning sunshine, glad as 
a child in the brightness of the day.        
" Brew us some beer, Aegir," called out Thor,  
before their boat touched the shore.
Aegir nodded, went into the cave, and came back
shaking his head. There were no kettles for the    
brewing ! 
" Fetch me a kettle, and I will brew you beer fit  
for gods,” said Aegir.        
" Nay, that we cannot do; we do not know where there are any kettles."       .     
" My father, Hymir, has a kettle," said Tyr, "and he dwells eastward on the road to Niflheim." 
" Let us go there quickly, and on our return, Aegir, you shall feast us.”   
     
  
So Thor harnessed his goats, far-famed for height,       
and beauty of horn, and swiftly he and Tyr drove
to the abode of Hymir. There Thor stalled his   
goats, and they entered Hymir’s big hall. Pillars        
supported the roof, the walls were hung with skins,      
and right across from end to end ran a beam, from        
which hung pots, and pans, and several kettles. 
The table was laid for the giant’s supper, and his       
golden-haired beautiful wife, who was one of the
gods’ kindred, had just set the tankard for her lord’s   
use, when the door opened, and her son and his  
companion entered.       
“ Is it thou, Tyr ? Come home at last ? Well    
would it be if thou didst stay at home instead of        
trying to court favour in Asgard---favour that will      
never be bestowed on the son of a giant.” 
" Come, mother, give us a welcome,” and the tall
young fellow bent down, and kissed her on the forehead, and then put his arms round her, and drew her      
to him, the fair mother, with her lineage stamped on     
her face, and the black-haired, black-eyed boy---boy     
still, though of giant stature---forming a strange       
contrast. 
“ This is Thor, bravest and greatest of the gods,”       
he said, indicating his companion. “ Hast nothing        
for us, mother ? ”       
Wherewith she filled up the high tankard, and   
bore it to the visitors. 
" Hymir cares not for guests, nor to entertain them,” she said, “ so see, I will hide you before he  
returns.”    
She placed them both behind a large pillar, where     
they were completely concealed from view. .  
Then there was a sound as of breaking icebergs,       
and a cold wind rushed with a roar against the        
door till it flew open, and even the kettle froze on  
the fire, and Thor and Tyr in their hiding-place      
shivered. Hymir had returned from chase. He  
was covered with snow from head to foot; even his     
beard was frozen, and his breath seemed to chill      
everything in the room. 
"Good evening, Hymir. Dost know what good    
luck hath befallen thee? Tyr has come home,  
and brought with him Thor, the Thunderer. See,        
they sit yonder behind the pillar.”    
The giant looked with flashing eyes, and instantly    
before his glance the pillar shivered in pieces, and  
brought down with it part of the beam and the
kettles, all of which were broken except one very     
large and strong, of which Thor took instant note,    
so anxious was he for that beer of gir’s brewing.     
" Come out, both of you, and let me look at you.      
Two brave men hiding in a giant's house I Art
ashamed of thyself, Tyr ? ”   
"Not I,” replied the young giant, tossing his
  
head; “ I know too well thy ways, Hymir the     
Fierce. Is there any supper for us? We have     
 
journeyed far.” 
“There are three oxen killed for supper, so we  
shall not starve. Your god will not eat more than        
a good-sized child. Come, let us take off their 
heads, and have our supper.”     
So they sat down, and Hymir’s wife filled their 
tankards, and merrily the talk flowed. Thor was 
the gayest of all, and kept the giant listening openmouthed. He cleared bone after bone, till two oxen       
had disappeared under his hands alone.    
“ Hast no more to offer us, Hymir ? Two oxen is 
but a child’s portion.”  
“But it is more than you have left for me,”     
grumbled the giant.      
“ We shall not have enough for to-morrow.”
“ Then we will go fishing,” said Thor, lightly. 
The next morning early the Thunderer went out   
to look for bait, and returned with a horned ox's        
head, which he proceeded to fasten on his line. 
The giant rowed some little way out, and then   
stopped to fish, and caught two whales, at which he      
looked a little triumphantly at his companion, who       
was sitting in the stern, apparently oblivious to        
everything, and absorbed in baiting his line. Then a     
flash of cunning mischief came into Thor's eyes. He   
seized the oars, and began to row rapidly far out to      
sea.       
" Here, stop 1 What are you doing I What are     
you made of? Stop, I say! We shall get near
Midgard’s worm.” And Hymir’s face grew white     
with fear. 
“Just what I want,” said Thor, coolly, and then  
he let down his line. The boat lurched, Hymir    
screamed, as the mighty god bent over the side, and       
with both hands tried to draw in his line. The   
whole earth quivered, rocks were heard to fall, and       
all round the coast, through every cave, resounded        
the loud howl of the monster. Then slowly up the 
side Thor drew the glistening head of the serpent,        
and, seizing his hammer, he struck three powerful
blows on the ancient enemy. 
“ Let go,” cried Hymir, and with his knife he cut
the line, and the creature, with a splash which made      
the inland rivers overflow, fell back to his old resting  
place.     
“ You daring, fool-hardy god, what next will you 
do ? ” And, fearful of further evil, he took the oars,    
and put in swiftly to land. 
“ Will you carry the whales, or draw up the boat?”
the giant asked. 
Scarcely had he spoken, when Thor stooped, took  
the fishing-boat and all its belongings on his back   
and carried it quickly up the beach to the   
       
house. 
The giant frowned, not liking to be beaten on his     
own ground.  
“ I will believe no man strong till he can break      
my cup.”     
But Thor took it, and threw it between the   
pillars, and dashed it in pieces before all the       
servants' eyes; yet when they went to pick it up, it  
was whole as before.  
“ Strike it at his head,” whispered his wife. And     
Thor lifted his hand, strong with all the divine      
might of the gods, and took aim at Hymir, who
remained unhurt, but the wine cup was broken on       
the floor, and none could restore that which had      
fallen by the strength of Thor when opposed to the    
resistant force of a giant. A wail of despair came    
from the Evil One’s lips.     
" Now is my strength broken and my power     
gone, in that my wine cup is hurled from my knees.    
Thor, I would have you gone before you do more        
harm. Go, and take your kettle.”       
Tyr tried to lift the kettle, and carry it forth,     
but twice he failed. The kettle stood fast. Then      
Thor approached, flung the kettle over his head, and  
went out with it jingling about his ears. He and      
Tyr journeyed far, and when at last they looked      
back towards Hymir’s dwelling, they saw a sight that     
might well have made a bold heart tremble. From 
the cavern issued a motley crew of many-headed  
monsters, led by Hymir, who rushed wildly down  
the road, after the departing heroes. Thor stood
still, put down the jingling kettle, and flung Mjolnir   
into their midst with his whole might. With     
savage yells they turned to flee, but none escaped       
save Hymir, and he ran away home with the 
hammer in his hand. The heroes, however, journeyed on quickly that they might not be too late for     
Aegir's feast, concerning which we will now begin 
to speak. 
 
 

 
        XIII.  
    AEGIR'S FEAST.      
       
       
     “ I will go        
   Into Aegir’s halls     
     To see the Compotation.  
   Strife and hate      
    To the sir’s sons I bear. 
And will mix their mead with bale.  
  Aegir; Computation.     
Now I will further tell of the wonderful feast given  
with so much splendour by Tyr that harvest   
time to the gods. Nothing was spared to make it a     
glorious occasion, but the one thing it lacked was    
Thor's presence. Nevertheless, a goodly company       
was there, even those who, like Niord and Freyr, had  
not dared hitherto to present themselves with their   
wives before Odin, remembering his displeasure and    
their own humiliation. The beautiful young Idunn      
with Bragi in her wake ; Sif, Thor’s wife, with her   
more matured loveliness; Vidar, with his iron shoes, 
from the ancient stillness of the forest; Heimdall
with his horn ; and Frea and Odin at the head of all.      
And the place was worthy of so distinguished a    
company. It was a great sanctuary hung with gold  
shields, and these, with the gold plates and dishes,       
shone with so much brilliance that no light of fire or     
torch was required ; the light was the light of gold.      
But where could feasting continue with peace and  
joy in Loki’s presence ?      "    
The guests began to congratulate their host on    
the excellent waiting of his two servants, Fimafeng        
and Eldir. This so aroused Loki’s jealous anger,  
who liked not that any should be praised but him* 
self, that he stole up to where Fimafeng was sitting,      
and struck him a blow which stretched the poor    
youth lifeless on the floor. The gods surrounded  
Loki with angry faces and threatening words, and  
then chased him far out into the forest like some 
naughty little cur that has dared to bite. Then   
they sat down again to feast, and partially forgot
Loki’s wickedness as they jested and laughed.     
Without stood Eldir, sad because of Fimafeng's    
death, and unable to join the merry company inside.        
She was leaning against the door-post, her eyes so
full of tears that she did not perceive Loki creeping      
out from the shadow of the trees, till he shook her        
by the shoulder, and said roughly---  
"Tell me, Eldir, of what are the gods talking ? "  

"Of what should they talk, but of their heroic 
deeds, their martial fame, and all the honour that      
will be theirs when they have conquered the giants,     
and such a wretch as thou art pollutes the world no     
more ? ” 
" That is nonsense, they never will conquer the
giants. I shall go in and hear their talk; some
harm I may yet do them, for I hate them every  
one.”    
"Nay, nay, thou shalt not go. The gods will    
only turn thee out with scornful threats.”     
" Which they will never execute! Knowest thou  
not, Eldir, that thou hast no chance against my
retorts ? Leave me, I say, and let me go.”     
And Loki broke away, and burst into the hall,  
where the stately gods lifted their heads in proud,     
contemptuous wrath, and looked at him in silence.       
Even Loki a little trembled, for the displeased faces   
of gods are not pleasant to meet.        
" I am thirsty,” he said, in the querulous voice of     
a naughty child anxious to be readmitted to favour.     
" I do beseech the gods to give me a drink of their     
bright mead. Why so silent ? ” He stamped his  
small foot with annoyance. " Will you not let me        
join your feast ? ”     
“ That will we not,” retorted Bragi, always first in   
speech. "Get hence with you, you insolent little       
half-caste.”  
Loki turned his cunning eyes round the company
till they rested on Odin, then he went quickly up,     
laid one hand on the father's knee, and said  
pleadingly--- 
" Odin, dost thou not remember how in the days
of old we were oft together, alike joined in play and  
feasting, so that thou wouldst refuse to drink till    
thou hadst put the cup first to my lips ? Is this the  
regard that thou hast for early friends ? ”   
“ Vidar, give him to drink that this father of
serpents and wolves may not utter words hard to be     
heard in our host’s hall.”     
The god with the iron shoes rose at Odin’s bidding, and, lifting the cup, bade him drink in honour   
of the gods.  
" Hail to the mighty and the fairl---except that       
Bragi, who sits yonder with the lugubrious countenance.”  
” I would advise thee not to further provoke the       
gods, Loki. See, if thou wilt refrain I will give      
thee a horse, and a falchion, and a ring.” *  
” Keep thy horses and rings I I would not accept       
them from such a coward as thou art.”        
" If I had thee outside, where no one’s peace could  
be disturbed, I would take thy polluted head from
thy wretched body, and stifle thy noise forever.”    
“Come and fight then, Bragi, the pride of the
bench on which thou lovest best to sit. Brave men     
stay not considering in comers.”       
“ Hush, Bragi,” and Idunn took hold of his arm        
caressingly; “ risk not rash words. Remember that     
this day thou art a guest.”   
Instantly Loki turned maliciously round to her.       
“ You need not speak, Idunn, else the reproach        
of the gods will rest openly on you. False and fair,  
do you remember when in your arms your brother’s      
murderer found a refuge ? "   
“ Say what you like, Loki, it does not hurt me,       
only I would protect Bragi from your wickedness.”     
“ Why will you all stop to quarrel with Loki ? ”      
interrupted Gefion, a goddess on whose pure white     
brow rested the beauty of peace.       
M You had better be silent, Gefion, or I will tell    
somewhat concerning you.”     
“ You are mad, Loki, to provoke the wise and far*     
seeing Gefion, seeing that over the lot of men she    
shares the sway.”     
“ Be silent, Odin. You are not blameless in that      
you have often given victory to cowards, and withdrawn it from brave men.”     
“ How do you know ? I have in mind when you  
lived on earth first as a cow, and then as a woman,      
and bore children, showing how base is your nature.”     
“ It is said, Odin, that you went from house to 
house as a Vala telling people’s fortunes. That 
surely betokened a base nature.” 
" Gods should be silent on the days of yore,” interrupted Frea ; " blameless were they then as now.”     
" Be silent, Frea, your birth was not from heaven,       
but from the lowly earth. Ill can you boast.”   
“If Baldur were here you would not dare to talk 
so.”      
“ Baldur would have been here but for me. Shall 
I confess ? It was I who placed the fatal twig in        
Hodur’s hand.”-   
“Loki, you are mad I" exclaimed Freyia. “ Why   
try to provoke the holy mother? She knows all   
that happens, although she does not say so.”    
“ Be silent, Freyia. Where is Oddur, whom you   
drove away by faithless love ? ”'
“ It is a wonder that a wretched god who has    
base children should be allowed to enter here.” 
“ Silence becomes you, Niord. You married a     
giant’s daughter, and were banished from among  
the gods. And you too, Freyr, where is your sword,       
which you gave up to marry one of giant race ? In        
the days of Muspell swordless shall you ride."  
But Loki’s words were cut short by the swift    
opening of the door, and Thor, the Defender of gods,        
and the mighty Thunderer, stood there, with lifted 
arm, and brows drawn in anger.
" Silence, thou imp of impurity, stop thy prating, 
or thy head will quickly seek the earth whence it  
came."       
" Hey-day, Thor, what a to-do! Thou art very 
brave, we know, but wilt thou be as brave on the   
last day when thou hast to fight the wicked wolf ? 
Dost remember, Thor, when like a dwarf more  
than a god, thou didst sleep in a giant’s glove ? ”
“ Silence, thou shalt be cast down to hell beneath 
the gratings where the dead dwell. Wilt thou go of 
thine own free will, or shall I force thee to depart ? '*   
“ Perhaps for thee I will go. I have had my say    
to the gods, and will now leave them to swallow my 
words.”      
“ Tyr," be said, turning to his host, “ never more 
shalt thou feast beneath these ancient walls."     
He then turned and went down the hall, followed    
by the angry looks of the gods, to where Thor stood
in threatening aspect. There he stopped and looked 
half-pleadingly in the majestic face, but there was no      
mercy in it, and no pardon, only unbending sternness,       
and absolute truth and righteousness.        
So he went on, out into the darkness of the night, 
with the displeasure of the gods resting upon him. 
     
 
XIV. RECOVERY OF THOR'S HAMMER. 
        
        
    " A wary guest,      
Who to refection comes,  
     Keeps a cautious silence, 
With his ears listens,   
   And with his eyes observes ;
  So explores every prudent man.     
The Hig Lay-  

Thor had only arrived just in time to protect the      
gods from the malicious Loki. The spirit had  
gone from the feast, and full wearily the guests       
arose, and retired, each one to fetch healing for the  
wounds of pride from the House of Poppies. Not
so Thor; for long hours he tossed about thinking       
bitterly of his lost hammer, and trying to form some   
plan by which to recover it. When at last he  
fell asleep, his dreams were troubled and haunted      
by Hymir, who seemed to be flourishing the    
hammer above his head. He awoke and made
another fruitless search, still dazed by dreams,       
for his missing treasure. But the hammer was    
gone.   
" Ah ! my hammer, my Miolnir, what were life  
without thee ? "       
“ I can get it, exclaimed a voice; and, there        
sitting on the window-sill, was Loki, his eyes
shining with mischief, and coolly oblivious of his     
own disgrace. Thor sprang up, and hurled him  
from the window.       
" Let me see thee no more."    
But a minute after, imperturbable as ever, he 
was perched at the window again, peeling a stick,      
and singing the while of all he knew of the missing    
hammer. 
“ Hymir hath it not, Thrym hath it, a gift from        
friend to friend. I saw where he buried it, deep       
beneath the ground. Shall Thor see it again ? ”        
“ Tell me how to get it," said Thor, opening the       
window. 
" Will you win me favour with the gods, if I  
help you to recover it ? "     
" Yes, only tell me what we must do."   
" Go to Freyia, and borrow her feather dress."
" What use will that be ? ”    
" You will see." And so together they went to the      
house of the goddess.  
" I have lost my hammer, Freyia, wilt thou lend


me thy feather dress that thou dost wear as swan        
maiden, to help me to recover it ? ”     
" That will I gladly, I would lend it to thee were      
it of fine gold,” answered Freyia.       
Loki clothed himself in the feathered garment, 
and spreading its wings flew to the land of shade       
and ice, where the rivers run mournfully, and only      
a fir tree now and then lifts its solemn head above     
the surrounding level. Here he sank with a bird’s       
slow and graceful movement to the ground, and  
scanned the country. On a mound in front of his
house sat Thrym, the giant, his greyhounds lying        
at his feet, while he plaited gold bands for the        
necks of his favourites. His horses stood round
him, waiting a word or a glance from their master.      
He looked up in surprise as Loki drew near.    
“ How is it that you are here, Loki ? Anything 
wrong at Asgard ? How goes it with the gods ? ”
” Ill enough, Thrym, great sorrow is threatened.        
Hast thou heard that Hymir hath Thor's hammer?”
" That has he not, for he gave it me as a gift 
six days ago. And now thou wilt have to dig deep        
for it. Under eight rasts of earth it lies, and no man  
shall get it but he who gives me my heart’s desire.”    
“ And that is?”
“ Freyia, Freyr’s sister, to wife.”  
“The gods will scarce approve of that. They
think much of Freyia. Still the hammer must be
recovered at any sacrifice, so I will ask them, and    
bring thee back word." 
Then Loki spread his wings, and returned to   
Asgard, where eager voices greeted him. 
“ Hast thou had success, Loki ? ”       
“ Tell us quickly,” exclaimed Thor. “ We who  
sit at home hear little news, and that little uncertain, and oft untrue. Tell us quickly then of thy      
labours.”     
“ Well, Thrym has thy hammer buried deeply in 
earth. No man shall have it till Freyia consent to     
wed Thrym.”   
The gods' faces fell; hard was it to think of 
giving up one of themselves to a giant of evil
breed.  
“ We can but ask her,” said Loki. “ I will see
what she says.”        
Loki led the way, and the others followed, to 
Freyia’s house, where she sat spinning among her       
maidens. She raised her sweet face at their sudden     
intrusion, with surprise in her brown eyes, and        
rose to meet them, her hand still holding her 
distaff.
So royal was her look, so majestic her attitude, that even Loki, with small respect for divinity  
in any shape, fell down before her feet and kissed       
them.     
 
" Freyia, most noble and most beautiful, forgive
our bold intrusion, but we have a request to make        
of thee.” 
Then with trembling voice Loki told the story   
of the hammer, and the price at which it would be        
restored. Still she failed to understand so audacious an insult, and Loki, waxing more courageous,       
to the utter astonishment of all, burst out with
"Go, dress thyself in bridal robes, and thou and
I will drive to Jotunheim.”
Then the beautiful eyes flashed, and the beautiful       
brow darkened, in anger and scorn, and the necklace, Brising, in its resting-place broke asunder        
with the passionate heaving of her breast.
" Who am I that I should have this shameful     
thing suggested to me ? Am I of no account,     
lower than the beasts of the field, that I should be     
so treated ? What do you take me for that you   
come with your offers and conditions to me ? My 
maidens, do you sit silent while this insult is 
offered to your mistress ? Will you not rise and
defend me? Let the gods go, and not thrust
themselves on our privacy with rash words.”     
One maiden opened the door, and the others
stood in a line, looking with reproachful eyes  
as the unwelcome visitors went forth abashed and  
crestfallen. 
Outside they again took counsel how to recover        
the hammer. Suddenly, a bright idea struck   
Heimdall.    
Let us disguise Thor as a bride, clothe him in      
bridal raiment, put a necklace at his neck, and       
keys at his side. Adorn him with precious stones,     
place a neat coif on his head, let petticoats dangle  
about his feet, and he shall be Thrym’s bride, and    
recover the hammer."  
A burst of merriment came from the gods; but 
Thor exclaimed---     
“That is all very well. But I will not be    
laughed at by the gods, and called " womanish,' and   
wear women’s clothes."
“ Don’t be foolish, Thor. The giants will come        
and conquer us unless we get back thy hammer."        
So Thor consented, and submitted while bridal
robes were brought forth, and he was adorned in all   
things as a woman and a bride. Loki was to go
with him as waiting maid. Speedily the goats 
were called from browsing and quickly harnessed,      
and then bride and maid drove so fast along the       
road that the rocks shivered, and the stones of the   
ground struck fire, for Thor, the son of Odin, was    
passing on his way to Jotunheim, Thrym met them joyously.
       
" Rise up, O Jotuns, and deck the benches, for        
Freyia, Niord’s daughter, is come to be my bride.     
Bring the golden horned oxen, and the black oxen,     
and roast them to make a fitting feast for my
bride. Bring forth my treasures, treasures of gold    
and jewels and necklaces, and adorn my bride; for     
one thing I lacked in the midst of plenty, Freyia as  
my wife.”    
Early that evening they made a great feast, and       
the table groaned beneath its weight of beef, and     
salmon, and ale, and suited to a bride there were     
sweetmeats such as women love. And great honour       
was paid her.
But never had woman such an appetite ! A whole ox disappeared, eight salmon, sweetmeats        
in plenty, and more mead than any giant could
have drunk. Every one laid down their knives,
and gazed at her with surprise. Did ever bride        
eat so much ? But the crafty waiting maid made        
answer---    
"Freyia has eaten nothing for eight days, so 
eager was she for Jotunheim." 
Then her intended spouse, pleased at her wish
to come to him, stooped and kissed the brow of his    
bride-elect. But suddenly he sprang back startled     
to the end of the hall. Why do Freyia’s eyes burn like coals ? ”   
“ Freyia is restless and excited. It is eight days    
       
since she slept, so anxious was she for Jotunheim,"    
quoth the ever-ready waiting maid.     
Then the uncomely form of Thrym's sister     
entered the supper-hall, and advancing to the pretended bride, said--- 
“ If you wish to have favour here, and win love,      
give me a bride-gift. See, these will do,” and she    
roughly laid hold of the bride’s hand to draw from    
them the beautiful rings wherewith the giant had      
adorned her; but she also sprang back frightened      
when Thor lifted his veil and looked at her with      
burning, piercing eyes. 
" A queer bride this, to be sure,” she muttered.      
“ Bring the hammer in,” called out Thrym.    
" Lay Miolnir across her knees to consecrate the      
bride.”
Loudly beat Thor’s heart. Fierce was his exultation when he recognised his hammer. When 
they came, and laid it across his knees, he threw     
back his veil, seized his beloved hammer in his       
hand, and struck it to right and to left amid
the shrieks of the terrified Jotuns. None escaped     
that fearful hammer. Thrym was the first victim,      
and the insolent would-be sister-in-law the next,     
Thor, Odin’s son, then departed, carrying off in  
triumph his hammer against that day when he       
would need it to defend Asgard against the        
giants.  
    
   
XV THOR AND THE DWARF ALVIS.


 “ The Sun I saw,
 And it seemed to me,     
 As if I saw a glorious god :   
 I bowed before her,      
 For the last time        
 In the world of men.1'   
 'Tht Song oftht Sun,       

Down in the deep places of the earth live a race
feared by men, and hated by gods. These are     
dwarfs, of evil fame. From the recesses of the  
rocks their hammers may be heard as they forge  
many a quaint and curious thing, and full skilfully      
do they work. But if a man, belated on the high 
road, hear their hammers, he looks not behind, but       
runs as fast as he can, and never stays till he 
stands white, and shivering, and exhausted at his        
own fireside. Once or twice has it been told that        
a boy, full of the courage and curiosity of youth, has 
crept towards the sound, till, overpowered, he could  
not turn back, but had to creep on along the edge      
of the dangerous rocks to where he caught a   
glimpse of the furnace beneath, and the little huge*   
headed dwarfs at their work.   
But no boy ever lived to tell the tale. 
At night the dwarfs put down their hammers, and        
come out into the darkness, and enjoy themselves.      
The giants’ playtime is also theirs. This was the      
time, and the only time, when men could hold converse with them, when they would be seen sitting       
astride the rocks, talking and laughing, and ready     
to tease any one passing along. But most men  
would rather have gone six miles out of their road     
than meet one of them, albeit he who was brave
enough to talk to them would learn many a wise
and useful thing. Necessity sometimes drove both       
gods and men to ask their advice, or procure from      
them some of their choice work; and the dwarfs were    
ever ready to give of their best to those of gods or   
men whom they liked for sociability, wit, or courage.  
Many a difficult rune, many a dark dream, was 
brought to the dwarfs to be solved. Many a    
daughter was given or withheld in marriage, according to the advice of the dwarfs. Many a   
maiden would steal to the rocks at the still midnight hour to entreat the goblins of the earth to    
reveal the fate of her lover. Many a maiden has 
been stolen from the arms of her mother to serve
as bride to a dark chief of the dwarfs.   
But the ambition of these pigmies of ugliness   
and deformity was not satisfied by the fair daughters    
of the sons of men. To have a wife from Asgard, a        
real goddess, one of Odin’s own children, that was       
a game indeed worth playing; and many were the  looks directed to the Thunder-god’s house, Thrudheim, which stood near them on the top of a dark
mountain. Round it the mists hung heavily all   
day, and deepened at night. The only light that 
ever shone was when Sif, Thor’s wife, came and  
walked up and down the rocky path on the height 
of the mountain. Then the sun struggled to get  
through, and it touched her golden head, till the        
shine of it sparkled and glittered far down to the       
haunts of the dwarfs. By her side sometimes was 
a young daughter, and then the sparkle and
gleam and glitter were greater as they penetrated        
the darkness of the underground workshops, whose
only light was the glow of the yellow furnace fire.      
But in the heart of the girl was born from these
walks wonderment at her own home perched so     
near the clouds, and still greater wonderment at
the world she saw stretching out on every side. At       
pne end of the mountain path was a bower, wherein,   
when the mists were wet and blinding, Sif and her        
daughter Lora often sought shelter, and here the
girl loved to be. Often in the late evening, and
even at night, she would creep to this secluded 
spot, and, hanging over the fence at the end,   
long for something to break the tedium of life, long     
almost for Ragnarok itself.
“If my father would only let me go to Asgard    
and sometimes be with Frea, it would not be so  
dull. O rocks, O trees, O mountain paths, will  
you not send something or some one to amuse me ? ”       
Creeping up, nearer and nearer, up and up on his
hands and knees, never slipping on the slippery 
rocks for ail he had a deformed back, came Alvis the     
Dwarf from his dark home beneath the rocks. The 
maiden leaned over trying to see what or who    
might be this quaintest of beings who had come at        
last to relieve the tedium of her solitude. But not      
till he had swung himself over the bar, and stood        
before her did she perceive that the intruder was a      
dwarf.    
“ The dwarfs send you greeting, fair maid, from 
their mountain fastness’s, and ask you to accept
this chain wrought in their furnaces for your adornment."    
He reached towards her a gold chain so beautifully       
worked that even Brising could not compare with it.  
But the girl shuddered as she took it, so hideous        
 
was the face of the dwarf. 
" None know the secrets of the earth, nor how   
curious are the things wrought there. The wisdom
and cunning of the dwarfs are past finding out. I        
could show you things more wonderful than Odin's       
ring, Draupnir, and Thor's hammer, Miolnir, and 
you should have them for your own, fair maid, would      
you but once visit our hidden dwellings. Who would       
know ? The night is fair, the descent is easy.  
There is merriment down there to-night, much    
laughter, and singing, and feasting, and we want a       
maiden to be queen of our joy."  
" Seek one amongst your own dark brood then.”   
" I wonder why Thor shuts you up here on these  
mountain heights ? You are dull, you know you   
are. We sometimes look up in the gaiety of our  
work, and catch the gleam of your golden hair, and       
we are very sorry for you. Thor knows that if you        
were once seen beyond these bounds, Odin would  
make you one of Frea’s maidens, and then you would       
wed some god, and have a son that would be stronger      
than he, for now Thor is the strongest of any. But       
if you won’t, you won't. Shall I sing you a song ? "     
He jumped on a table, and, swinging his legs, began      
in a low, rich, full, voice, the like of which Lora had  
never heard, to sing of all the wonders of heaven and 
earth, before gods, or dwarfs, or man disturbed the    
great silence.  
“ Do you like it ? ”     
The girl’s eyes were sufficient answer, for somehow      
she could not talk to this strange being. 
“ Then I will sing you another.” 
And he began to sing of the sorrows, and struggles,      
and loves of men and their baffled, defeated efforts to  
reach to the heights of the gods.
Lora was strangely moved. Of men she knew 
nothing, but in the depths of her nature a responsive    
chord was struck, and she could have wept for the        
troubles of the sons of men.     
" Now I must go,” said the dwarf.
"No, not yet, not for a minute,” and the fair   
daughter of the gods stepped forward, and put a 
detaining hand on the deformed shoulder of the  
dwarf, which brought a triumphant smile to his  
sinister face.  
” I must go, for the nightly feast is waiting for        
me. But I will come some other night if you like;        
shall I ? ”     
“Ah I yes, do. Will you come to-morrow ? ”
He nodded; he was already beyond ear-shot, far  
down the mountain side, leaping from crag to crag,       
over waterfalls, and springs, which intercepted his      
course, until he disappeared among the rocks. Lora  
 
looked after him a little wistfully. She forgot his     
ugliness in the pleasure he had brought. All night, 
and all the next day, her eyes never lost the  
dreamy, far-off expression that the songs of the        
dwarf had brought there.  -     
The moon had hardly risen on the next night    
when, with eager step, she ran along the path to the    
bower, and strained her gaze far down among the
rocks and herbage to try and discover the large
round head of the dwarf. At last he came, the  
moonlight bringing into clear relief the deformity      
and hideousness of his outline. He did not appear       
to notice the girl, but settled himself on a rock a     
little beneath her, and began to sing in his entrancing voice. The very stones and stars seemed        
to listen.     
“ Come here, do come here, dear dwarf.”  
“ My name is Alvis.”    
“ Well, then, dear Alvis, will you come, and sit        
with me in my bower ? ” 
“ I will come, since you wish it, for a little while,   
just till the moon touches the tops of the trees.”      
“ No, for longer than that. Stay and sing to me
till the Dawn drives out his horses.”    
“ I will, if you will kiss me first.”    
“ Yes, anything, only come.”     
enchanting song, till Lora forgot his birth, forgot his
ugliness, forgot her own descent, forgot everything    
in the magic influence of the dwarf.    
" If I asked you now to come down with me to see 
my home, would you still refuse, Lora, dear, dear
Lora?”  
She hung her head, and the swift colour came,    
and she did not refuse when he took her hand and 
drew her to him. 
“ Lora, if you married me, you should be a happy 
wife. Say you will.”   
But she rose, and pushed him from her, startled  
and indignant.   
“ Marry you, marry a dwarf 1 ”  
“Yes, marry me. Lora, in the bitter day of       
judgment, in the dark day of Ragnarok, when all the    
powers will fight against the gods to destroy them,    
the dwarfs will help them, if one of the daughters of  
the gods should have wedded a dwarf When that    
day comes, you will wish in vain for ability to help   
your father; now you can. Will you ? say you will ?    
No ? Well then, good-bye, good-bye forever.”    
" No, not good-bye, not good-bye, I cannot bear  
it.” •  
“Will you be my wife, then, Lora, daughter of    
Thor?”  
“,Yes, if you will but stay and sing.”  
  
" I cannot now, but I will come to-morrow.
Farewell I "    
 
The next night with beating heart, and drawn    
by an uncontrollable impulse, Lora sought .her  
bower. She had not to wait long. Alvis soon     
appeared, bringing in his hand a bracelet of exquisite   
workmanship, which he gave her with the words---
“ For my promised bride.”
But she let it slip from her hands, and then, with       
something of Thor’s own rage, she lifted her small       
foot, and trampled it among the stones of the path.      
“ When will you go home with me, my sweet 
Lora ? ” he continued, without noticing her action.      
" I am anxious to introduce my bride to my own  
people.”  
The girl rushed to the far comer of the bower, and       
cowered down, her face between her hands. What  
had she done ?  
But all further words were stayed by an awful   
pea! of thunder, which made the walls shake, and
the girl and dwarf tremble, and a flash of lightning     
revealed their white scared faces and Thor standing      
at the door.    
The dwarf looked round for means of escape; but 
finding none, he tried to stifle his alarm and meet      
Thor like a brave man.   
• A pretty sort of fellow you are, with your great
ugly head which betrays your Thurser descent, to    
come courting a goddess with your witchcraft. 
     
Away with you! while there is breath still in 
you.”
" Not so, till I have the fulfilment of my promise. 
This fair maid has promised herself to me as bride,        
and even now the tables are being decked for the    
wedding.”     
" Wedding, indeed I You look more fit to keep 
company with dead men’s bones than for a bride.     
What is your name ? ”        
" My name is Alvis. I dwell beneath the earth,
and thither would I take your daughter.”      
'* If her father consent, ay ? You would not wed a '
fair maid without her father’s consent ? And that   
you will never have, so away with you I ”     
'‘The maid is mine by every solemn promise and
by her own will.”   
” No one but I has a right to promise her, and I    
gave no promise.”   
"The snow-white maid I cannot give up, so great     
is my love for her.”
“ Alvis* is your name ? Well, all-wise one, you     
shall have the maid if you can answer all my  
questions.”  -
"That can I soon enough, for I have travelled 
   • Alvis -all. wise.
through the nine worlds, and know all their     
secrets.” 
 
” Tell me, then,” began Thor, “ do men speak as 
gods? Do they give the same names to sun, and   
moon, and stars ? ”      
“ Very different is men’s speech, and they speak
not all alike. Various is their language and their       
thought.” 
" I have heard that men find their end soon in   
death. Is this so ? or if not, how speak they in the     
world whither they go ? ”
" In the world whither men go after their brief 
sojourn in Midgard, the language is the same for all.    
' All so-called " Spirits of the dead ’ speak alike,     
though none really die. Words they use not in the        
spirit-land, the language is the language of sympathetic souls.”  
“Tell me, Alvis, what communication with each   
other hold the genii of the fire ? ”      
“They hold communication by means of the  
transmission of light, and its varying hues.”   
"Tell me, Alvis, truly named All-wise, what     
speech do the Vanen hold ? ”     
“ The Vanen speak a strange language, and they  
use light as a medium again, but it is the light of      
intelligible and intelligent eyes.”       
“ Tell me, Alvis, how do dwarfs know each other’s        
thoughts ?”     
" They make signs with their lips which are   
        
        
signs of things, very like the speech of men, but      
they have fewer sounds, and those fewer, rougher,      
coarser than those of men, and expressive alone of     
things and matter.”    
” Tell me, Alvis, what does the moon see when 
she sails through the sky on a quiet frosty night in   
November ? ”  
" She sees Vidar’s house, Landvide, glittering
under its silver roof; she sees the gods drinking out  
of their golden cups, and she sees Midgard spread      
out beneath her in silent impenetrable stillness.”     
“ Tell me, Alvis, what is the constellation called     
which belongs to my house, this Trudheim among
the mountains ? ”      
” Taurus is the constellation which watches over       
the fortunes of your home.”    
"Tell me, Alvis, what makes the tides of the  
great ocean ? ”        
" Jormungand makes the tides by the force of his       
Breath” 
"Wisely hast thou answered, Alvis. But look   
up, the night is spent, and day is already breaking.   
See, where the sun comes I ”   
The dwarf clutched the wall of the bower with 
terrified hands, his face grew white with coming
doom, and as the sun cast its first ray over the       
        
threshold of Lora’s bower, its light, ruddy, golden,   
beautiful, illuminated a large stone at the entrance,  
which was all that was left of the dwarf.     

  
XVI.THE HERO OF THE GIANTS.  
       
       
“ Hard is it in the world,   
Great whoredom,       
An axe age, a sword age,
Shields shall be cloven,
A wind age, a wolf age, 
Ere the world sinks." 

The dwarfs were very angry when they heard of
the fate of their chief. Some few blamed Alvis for    
his ambition in wishing to marry out of his own       
race. Most were furious with Thor for his artifice    
in detaining his enemy till after the sun had risen,  
so that he met his fate, and lost his bride. Who      
were these gods that they should rule from their      
high places, and fulfil their own will ? Had dwarfs   
no rights, no privileges ? Were all the best things   
always to go to gods ? Had they not hidden Idunn      
away in Asgard, the most beautiful of all the dwarf   
race ? and now when the dwarfs asked in return a  
fair goddess they were met with insult, derision, and  
the slaying of their chief. Was it not time for all    
the enemies of the gods to unite, and in one great     
effort destroy them forever from the face of the      
universe ?    
" Let one of our number go,” they said, " and 
seek advice and help from the giants, and as truly as  
the cocks shall crow at Ragnarok, not one god shall    
be left in the days to come to defeat our purpose.”    
" Let me go, I hate the gods.” 
All eyes turned towards the voice, which quivered      
in the vehemence of the speaker’s feeling. Its
owner was an old dwarf with an ugly wrinkled face      
and sunken eyes from which the light had long died,    
but now a returning gleam, brought by hate, not        
love, gave them a momentary brightness. As he 
spoke, his hands moved restlessly as if already he     
saw his enemies struggling at his fet.  
" They robbed me of my child. Let me go.”     
“ Let Ivalldr go.”     
So Ivalldr rose from his place, and shouldered his     
hammer by which to pick his way, and departed, all     
the dwarfs clapping their hands, and shouting to him   
in hoarse notes, till he was beyond hearing. Through   
the dark shapes of the night, past the shadows that    
lurked across his path, with the bats frequently       
beating against his face, and the moans and cries of   
the creatures of the night in his ears, Ivalldr went  
his way, bent on deeds of darkness, bent on his long* 
delayed vengeance on the gods. The moon, struggling from behind the clouds, revealed the queer
little figure, with its humped back and its big 
head, climbing over rocks, hanging with its long
monkey-like arms to the branches by which he    
swung himself over the streams; and of all the  
things of the night, none were darker, none more
hideous than he. When the slow rumble and beat  
of waves smote his ear, he knew himself to be near    
the dwellings of the giants, and the sound of their   
boisterous merriment came through the still air.
He drew near the cavern, and put his head in at the   
opening.        
“ You are gay to-night, my friends.”   
" Ivalldr, I declare I Well, little imp of darkness,  
what do you want ? Come and sing to us.” And a  
great giant stretched out a finger, and lifted the    
dwarf, and put him on the table. A wild light came    
into Ivalldr’s face, as he looked with sharp, penetrating glance at the huge, stupid faces surrounding him.         
“ Sing ? Yes, I will sing."    
Whence in that shriveled and ugly form came the
voice? Had some spirit found its way into that  
evil tenement, and now would testify its presence by  
these enchanting strains of melody? How the 
vibration of the voice as it rose and fell filled the  room! What suggestions and sights of untold   
mystery, of undreamed of terror, held the minds of     
the giants in a vice as the song moved on I How        
they felt roused to battle, and braced for victory 1   
The voice of coming doom was in it, the threatening    
of a breaking world, the triumph of---what was it ?    
The triumph notes were so mixed, so mingled, that      
none could tell whether they were born of god or       
giant, of heaven or earth. And then it ceased. The     
dwarf relapsed into sullen silence, but the giants     
broke into uncontrolled, hilarious merriment. 
" Hurrah for the days when the gods are no    
more I ”
“We will feast in Asgard, and Sif, and Frea, and       
Freyia shall smile on us."     
“The gods are beginning to feel so weak, that 
perhaps they would sell us Freyia, and then we
should have the joy and light of Asgard.*’    
“ They are afraid of the giants invading Asgard.”  
“ Shall we send a builder who shall offer to build     
a castle of defence on the boundary, and demand        
Freyia in exchange ? ” 
“ The poor gods I nothing can really save     
them I ”
“ They have been defeated on every hand lately.  
I have heard that Odin is very down-hearted and        
sad, and I do not wonder, after the strange behaviour of Niord and Freyr."   
“ Yes, of all the gods, for Niord and Freyr to
come over to us! ”     
“But that is not worse than the misfortunes   
that have befallen Thor in Jotunheim, according to     
all accounts."
“ The gods are cowards at their best. ’Tis    
giants that have the brave heart. Never has a 
giant been defeated yet. The universe was made
for giants I ”
“Will you get my daughter Idunn back for
me ? ” asked Ivalldr. “ The giants know with  
what cruel treachery she was taken from me."  
" Help thee to get the fair maid back ? Ay, if one     
of us may marry her."  
Ivalldr chuckled as he thought of Bragi. “ That        
may you with my very willing assent."   
“We have worked subtly, though successfully,  
against the gods as yet. Is it not time now for        
real open warfare ? ”  
“ Open warfare I So bejt." And all the glasses
clinked, and elbows came down on the table with        
a noise which made the poor little dwarf jump.
“ Hush 1 some one comes."
The sound of a horse’s hoof on the hard sand  
reached their ears, and some of the giants sprang     
       
       
up to see who might be the new-comer.  
The long blue cloak and form and bearing betrayed the Father of the gods.
" All hail, Odin I whither do you ride so fast and    
so late ? ”  
“ I ride to Asgard, but my good Sleipnir is weary     
and hungry. May I crave corn and water for my
companion ? ”
The beautiful creature lifted his head to look at     
his master, and then pushed his nose gratefully into  
his hand.    
" There is not another horse to equal my Sleipnir."   
At that instant a wild yell from behind made the      
animal rear on his hind legs, his eyes starting from  
their sockets, and his ears thrown back in wrath and  
fear.  
“ Steady, Sleipnir, steady, boy I What is it ?        
And Odin turned, and saw the great stony head of      
Hrungnir, the most stupid and evil of all the giants.
“ It was you, was it ? you mean-spirited clumsy       
clown 1 You must frighten even a horse from behind." 
" Your horse should not be so easily frightened.      
It has a mare's heart like its master. You should  
see the steadiness and pluck of mine. It is perfectly trained and bred."
“ Your’s !” exclaimed Odin, angrily. “ Do you  
mean that lanky beast, who has to walk with a   
jump because his fore-legs are too long ? I tell
you, I would not use him for fish-bait."  
“ He is better than that beast of yours, who    
kicks at a fly-bite. But like master like horse I        
Why do you gods shut yourselves up in Asgard if you are not afraid of the giants ? You take pretty  
good care that none shall see and test your strength     
at home." 
" You can come when you like, if your long-legged        
brute can carry you fast and far enough. We are 
not afraid of bodies that have no minds." 
And Odin touched his steed, and away they went  
through the night as fast as the wind towards Asgard.   
Hrungnir, meantime, sat down with his stupid    
stony head resting on his knees, thinking out painfully the meaning of Odin's words; then he rose,
leapt on his horse, and went, not gracefully, but        
quickly, after the mighty god. He could grasp but        
two ideas: see Asgard, and show forth his strength in    
advantage against Thor. When he reached Bifrost,
Heimdall opened the gate and let him pass in with        
as much politeness as if he had been Odin himself,  
which made Hrungnir gaze at him in stolid, sleepy     
surprise. Were people ever courteous to their
enemies ?    
“ Welcome, Hrungnir, with whatever object thou        
mayest have come,” shouted the gods, as they 
made room for him at an upper place at their table.   
Every minute surprised him more. There was   
no sign of the failure, of the weakness, of the       
despair, he had heard of in connection with the       
gods, as he looked round on the serene faces about    
him. They spoke to him with the quiet manner 
of men who know their own strength, and are not       
thinking of themselves, nor of their own advantage.   
He was puzzled, and confounded in speech. He 
could rail and sneer; but how talk to gods on an      
even friendly footing ? He began to wish himself      
at home. Then the consciousness of making a  
fool of himself eclipsed everything else, and he      
broke into idle boastful talk, which was met by       
the same genial equable courtesy, and he went on      
from story to story, eager to shine before these      
gods, who, after all, were pleasant companions.       
" I suppose you gods do not happen to remember        
the fight of the giants of the mountain with the      
giants of the plain ? That was a fight I Every bit    
of land was contested as far as the river, where I    
held the bridge. Our side would have been beaten    
but for me. They pelted me with stones to make   
me run away; but not I. They had to sue for 
peace at last.
" That was wise. Peace is always best," Odin said in his quiet voice. " You doubtless did well,        
Hrungnir." 
“ Ah! I have done more than that. I once   
split a mountain open by only knocking my head   
against it. I assure you, I am not to be trifled 
with. Now I suppose there is none as strong as I,
nor ever will be."        
" How about Thor ? ” thundered forth a young     
god.       
" Well, I would not be the one to say that Thor  
is not as strong as I; but stronger I dare vouch he       
is not."   
“ Would you like to try, you stony lubber ? "    
" Bragi, remember where you are, and the privilege of guests," interrupted the Father, and the 
young god sulked into silence, while Hrungnir went        
on, unheeding the interruption.   
“ You are polite to me now, perhaps, because     
you know that I intended to destroy Asgard, and  
crush the gods like flies; yes, like flies," he said,     
emphasizing his words by bringing down his heavy 
hand with a bang.
" But I would not kill Freyia and Sif," he added,    
looking round on them with a stupid smile, which     
changed to terror as the hall where they 
sitting quivered to its foundations. The door was    
flung back, and Thor stood there.     
“Stand out, and say why you are here,” ex-  
claimed the Thunder-god in a stern voice, pointing   
his Anger at the unwelcome guest.     
“I came because---because---Odin asked me,” 
replied Hrungnir, shaking from head to foot.
“ Then you shall speedily repent the invitation.     
Know you not what it costs to intrude into Asgard,   
where no one wanted you ? ”  
“ Don't kill me I I have nothing to Aght with.”      
“ Then go home, and get your weapons. Think 
you, I will kill an unarmed man ? Begone quickly     
to your preparations, and I will follow you to       
Jotunheim.” 
Hrungnir slunk away. He had gained his wish,
but he did not look forward to the firmament with    
either satisfaction or equanimity. Wind of the       
coming combat between their own hero and that        
of the gods reached from end to end of Jotunheim,    
and all the giants crowded anxiously to watch the    
issue. It was a curious scene.        
A great plain stretched away to the horizon and      
the sea, and on this stood the giant combatant,      
a stone club on his shoulder, and his face expressionless in the greatness of his fear. Beside 
him---oh, absurdity of giant imagination I---was  
a huge clay man, his head reaching to the clouds, 
and calculated, the giants thought, to strike any 
warrior, howsoever brave, with terror. In his clay
hands they placed a club; and then, realising that
he could not use it because he was not alive, they
killed a mare, and placed its heart inside the sham        
man. But when Thor drew nigh, the heart beat so   
quickly with fright, that all the giants heard it,
and saw the shaking of their clay man. Then 
‘Thialfi, who accompanied Thor, laughed, and he   
ran up to Hrungnir, who was 'also trembling, and  
said---     
" Thou foolish giant I thou art standing heedlessly        
with thy shield lifted. See, Thor will attack thee
from beneath.”    
So Hrungnir lowered his shield, and as he did     
so there came the crash of thunder and the flash  
of lightning, and the rapid descent of Thor's     
hammer. The giant lifted his club, and hurled     
it against the attacking hammer; the two met in   
the air, and the club was dashed in pieces, one of
which struck Thor in the forehead, causing him to 
fall. Millnir, at the same time, smote Hrungnir,  
crushing his skull, and bringing him to the ground,        
with one foot over Thor’s neck. Even in the 
midst of their grief over the death of their own 
hero, the giants could not refrain from clapping      
their hands, for none was strong enough to rescue     
Thor. Thialfi tried, the gods came from Asgard        
and tried, but none could move the evil one's foot;   
till, at last, came Thor's infant son, who put his    
tiny hands to the giant’s huge body, rolled it over,  
and freed his father. Triumphantly Thor lifted his    
baby boy on to his shoulder, and carried him 
home, leaving the giants greatly discomfited and      
vexed. 
But the stone remained in Thor’s forehead, and        
none ever succeeded in removing it.    
        
 
        XVII. IDUNN AND THE APPLES OF YOUTH.    
       
       
     From the eye's delight 
    Few are disposed to hurry.

  
The leaves of the dying year lay tossed by every      
passing wind; for them rest there was none, not       
even in death, which is said to bring rest to every   
son of man. The signs of the glory of death were on   
everything that still late autumn day, on everything  
but on Idunn, the darling of the gods, the chiefest   
treasure of Asgard. She had a charm that neither      
time, nor age, nor death could touch; the radiance    
of health, the calm, triumphant, self-completed       
strength of youth was about her as she moved,
treading down the red and yellow leaves, breaking     
off, and throwing aside the dead boughs that checked  
her progress, with an unthinking remorselessness      
that older and sadder women know nothing about.       
But how beautiful she was I Eyes and cheeks 
seemed to have caught and kept the glow of the  
golden day, the last beams of summer were imprisoned in her streaming sunny hair, which,    
escaping, could have made bright the gloomiest  
and darkest day of dull December. Every movement was rhythmic, every sound of her voice like
the flute of some god piping on a green hill-side, and   
when she turned round with a laughing retort to 
her companion who stumbled after her, her eyes  
flashed, and danced, and glowed with the merriment and joy of her young life. She stopped at  
last under the shade of a huge gnarled apple tree,       
and, reaching up, took the most laden of the    
boughs, and shook its ruddy burden to the ground.        
Bragi sprang forward, and made a lap to catch   
the fruit, yet not thinking of the fruit, but with       
soul on fire with love for the beautiful maiden 
who owned it. It was three years since he had   
played ball and romped with the child Idunn, and
if he loved her then, he loved her still more now        
in these early days of opening womanhood. 
“Stay, Idunn,” he exclaimed, as shower after    
shower of fruit came down, “if you squander all,
there will be none left."
• Enough to last,” she answered, with one of    
her matchlessly sweet smiles. “ See, here comes 
one of the gods."
 
The boughs were pushed hastily on one side,    
and Hermod appeared, who threw himself breath* 
lessly on the ground at Idunn’s feet. His face 
was white, his hair tossed and tangled as of one        
who has been striving long and hard. He stretched       
himself on the grass, and faint with weariness,
could scarcely lift up his hand to take the rosy        
apple that Idunn held out to him, while her eyes        
grew softer with womanly compassion as she put 
her small hand on his heated brow, and pushed  
back the tangled hair.  
Poor Hermod grow strong again, and renew  your manhood.” 
Reaching down a large leaf, she fanned him     
while he ate the apple, till the colour returned, and   
the light came back to his face, and then the god       
sprang up, and stood renewed in health and     
strength.
“Thank you much. Now I must on to Asgard.
How many of the gods, think you, Idunn, sigh for        
the time before they needed such fruit, before their    
natures were impaired and aged by toil and thought      
and time ? It is a little humiliating to have to        
submit to be renewed in strength after every paltry     
combat, though the renewal comes from so fair  
and dear a hand as this.” 
So speaking, he lifted the child-like hand to his      
lips, and then dropping it, he sprang through the
brushwood with but one thought, to be ready for        
the conflict, and to be strong among the gods of Asgard. 
“ Impetuous one I" exclaimed Bragi, impatiently.        I wonder any man can prefer the noise of useless     
warfare to this place of peace with thee.”    
" Hush ! Some one else comes.” 
The trees again divided, and this time it was 
some of the elder gods, who came pacing slowly
with the heavy inelastic step of those tired, not      
simply with the mere weight of bodily fatigue, but     
weighed down in spirit by uncontrollable thought,      
the step of those who have been checked, and  
hindered, and held back by things too big for them,    
by a strength of antagonism threatening to crush and   
overwhelm that strength of their own opposed to it.    
Very different their tread to that of the gay 
young warrior, quite otherwise their mien as they      
took their stations near the tree, some sitting, some  
standing in waiting attitude, their snowy beards       
making strange contrast with the brightly coloured     
leaves, the brilliant green of the grass, and the      
golden fruit. Their eyes seemed fixed on futurity,     
lost to that dazzlingly beautiful present which lay    
stretched about their feet. The stern, set brow of     
each god, and the lines and wrinkles of the face,   
the gravity and tenderness of eye and mouth, bore mute witness to many a struggle and defeat of  
thought and spirit. Idunn's face softened into a        
sweet seriousness as she gathered in her white 
dress the ripest and ruddiest of her fruit, and
offered it with the shy confidence of love to the       
ancient gods. Then the brows relaxed, the flush
of youth came back, and those old, old eyes, that       
had gazed on such strange, mysterious, and hidden       
things, took all the rapture and worship there is       
in a young man’s look, as they rested on the   
youth and winning beauty of their much-loved   
child.   
" There, is that right ? ” she asked, as she   
watched them eat the apples, and saw that their
hearts were getting light, and glad, and young.
" Now shall I sing to you ? ”   
And she stood beneath the tree, bending over her        
with its burden of fruit, and sent her voice out into   
the clear air, up into the depths of the sky, till all  
the birds seemed to be joining in sweetest chorus;      
then the song changed, and she sang as children
sing, light-hearted, at their play; and then she sang   
a deeper song that she did not herself understand,      
not less sweet, but more subdued: the song that
gods and men sing as they move on through defeat        
and darkness to the dawning of that brighter day  
after the sorrows of Ragnarok. And when the old 
gods too turned, and went away, they went with  
youth renewed. Hope and strength had alike
returned, and in their faces might have been seen        
some of Idunn’s young joy. 
“ Now, come, Bragi, there must not be one apple 
left unplucked by sunset, and I want you to help me      
carry them home.”        
So the two, once more left alone, gave themselves        
up to stripping the tree, and many a gay jest or
tender gesture mingled with the falling fruit. But       
Idunn cast anxious looks to the fading glow of the       
sky; for if she were out after sunset, her father        
Ivalldr, from the realm of dwarfs beneath the rocks,     
might come and take her away from her bright life        
in Asgard among the gods.
“ Make haste I oh, make haste, dear Bragi I ”   
“ All right, there is nothing to be afraid of if I am    
with you.”
But the last apple was gathered as the shadows  
lengthened, and, picking up the basket, they carried     
it, singing as they went, to the gate of Asgard, and     
along the quiet streets, till its contents were safely   
stowed in the chest that stood in Idunn’s little room    
in the roof.    
And the shadows lengthened into night, and then 
from every rock and crevice, sliding and tumbling   
came the dwarfs, peering with their small eyes
among the grass to see if perchance Idunn had left     
a single apple. Some of them clambered like   
animals, long arms and short legs, to the height of    
the tree, which they shook in vain.     
Ivalldr stood on one side; it was not for apples he    
had come. He peered through the darkness to try        
and catch the distant glimmer of the white dress,      
the golden gleam of the hair of the little child, now  
grown a woman, who had once been taken away   
from him, and had never come back. Then a fierce       
look of hatred came into his ugly eyes, and he
exclaimed with a violence that made the other 
dwarfs pause, and gaze at him---        
" I will get her back.”
“And we will help you,” they all shouted in   
hideous chorus. “ Come, Ivalldr, what will you give    
to him who gets your daughter back ? ” '
“ He shall have her to wife.”  
“ Then Z will do it”   
The dwarf started, and looked up. The voice was        
strange, and the shadow that darkened the little       
group of pigmies told them it was not one of themselves but a giant who spoke.  
• I will do it to-morrow, but if you make one effort   
to recall your promise, Ivalldr, there shall be no     
breath left in your deformed body.”
So saying he seized the unfortunate dwarf and  

threw him to the top of a tall fir tree, and then left  
the whole troop making night horrible with their        
screams of wrath.       
 
 
XVIII. A PROMISE FULFILLED.     
 
 
   " A third will I sing to thee*
  If the mighty rivers     
To thy life's peril fall,  
      Horn and Rud,        
     May they flow down to Hell, 
  And for thee ever be diminished."    

That evening, after Idunn had carried home her  
apples, and stowed them safely away, Odin and   
Thor sought her little room, and asked to eat of
her fruit, as the next day it was their intention to go  
forth on a journey of joy and adventure to see how       
the sons of men fared.   
" We shall take Loki with us,” they explained,  
" for we dare not leave the mischievous god without      
us in Asgard.”  
So they ate of Idunn’s fruit, and then, secure  
from weariness or injury, they started, speeding
quickly from the cloudland on the height of the 
mountain to the green shades of the valley,     
and then again from the depths to the heights,  
 
through ancient forests, over prairie lands, and
across wastes of wilderness, till the pangs of  
hunger---which pursue even gods---compelled them
to pause, and consider how they should get some 
food. Far below, forming a part of the soft land*        
scape, was a herd of oxen browsing on the short 
grass. The travellers quickly descended, killed one      
of the animals, and then, having lighted a fire, the     
elder gods left Loki to superintend the cooking,
while they went on further.
Loki sat down beside the fire, peeling a stick, and      
singing one of his songs, which seemed to have in it     
the inspiration of both gods and devils, at one time     
lifting thought in half*maddening rapture to some        
dizzy height, then dashing it, chilled, stifled, dead,   
in malicious triumph to the ground. Hope, despair;       
inspiration, suicide; eager life, heavy, dreamless,      
motionless death; these were contrasts suggested
by, and ringing mockingly through the song, which        
was too awful to be beautiful, too beautiful not to      
enslave.  
But in the meantime his work was making no
progress: the ox was not being cooked. Pile up as        
he might the fire beneath, assiduous as he was in        
turning the animal, it continued raw as before the 
kindling of the fuel. Enraged, he took his stick,   
and stirred the fire till the flames reached the tops        
     
of the trees ; but they scarcely warmed the ox.     
“There is witchcraft here,” at last he shouted,     
"some of those giants have been at their pranks     
again.”       
A flutter of wings made him lift his head; and
there on a tree sat a huge eagle pluming its feathers,       
and putting on the most careless look in the world. 
Loki took up his stick to kill it.   
"Nay, don’t do that, my friend. I am only     
hungry. Ask the gods to let me share your meal,     
and I will gladly help to cook it.”  
" When it is cooked you shall have some; but it     
is hardly warm yet,” grumbled Loki.  
" Look again,” said the eagle. And lo! behold I     
the ox was cooked, and sent forth a delicious savour
to the hungry god’s nostrils.
" Is it ready ? ” asked the eagle; but without
waiting for a reply he flew down, seized hold of    
the shoulders of the ox, and began to devour it     
all. 
" Stop I what are you doing ? Get away with   
you.”
And the angry god brought down his stick with 
all his strength on the centre of the eagle’s back. 
But instead of being killed the bird mounted with
strong wing high up in the air, the stick fast in his "
back, and alas I alas I the other end equally fast in  

the luckless Loki's hand. In giddy flight away they    
went, these two so uncomfortably yoked together, 
away over trees and hills, away towards Niflheim,
till Loki's brain swam, and his body ached. At   
last, with a long wheel in mid-air, the eagle turned   
right round, and alighted on a ledge of rock.    
" You don't look as though you liked it,” he     
remarked, surveying the white and trembling little     
god. “ I will let you go now if you like.”       
" Will you ? Oh, that is kind I ” 
" Well, not for nothing, of course. But the truth
is, I want Idunn. She has been promised to me for
a wife.”
. “Idunn! why, there is none the gods love and   
cherish as they do Idunn I What would happen to  
us all if you took Idunn ? We should grow old and
die. Besides, I have no power over her.”
“ Do you think the giants are always going to let
the gods keep that beautiful maid and her apples ?     
She belongs to the dwarfs, and is akin to ourselves,   
and when your gods took her, they took what was not    
their own, and what they never would have wanted 
but for their own weakness and evil. There was a 
day when the gods would have scorned Idunn's     
apples.'
u As I told you, I cannot give her up. Go and    
ask Bragi."      
“ Bragi is infatuated, you are not. You can get  
neither skill nor cunning from a man in love. And
how could he give her up when she is his own?    
No, Loki, it is you who must do it. You hall     
belong to us already. Come, say you will do it; or     
shall we try flight again ? It would make a striking   
example of you to perch you on the highest pinnacle    
of Helheim, and then for ever after you could hold     
ghostly communion with the grim shadows."        
" Let me go, and then I will help you." 
" As the words left his lips for the second time in    
his life, there came the sound---not the substance---  
of a mighty whirlwind. He heard the crashing oi  
the rocks, the uprooting of the trees, he heard the    
whole of nature take up the awful reverberation, and   
his whole being shook. Cold perspiration dropped 
from his face. He fell on his knees, and stretched     
out his hands to all the mocking shapes of evil  
which appeared to start from every rock and every
crevice.
Alas, Loki, the gods are at last rejecting thee I
As the sound of the rushing wind ceased, he      
turned and fled down the mountain-side, treading on    
rolling stones, but never stopping till he stood at    
the gate of Asgard.    

There he stayed to regain his breath.        
A little later he entered that part of the garden    
    
    
where the young gods were playing at their golden    
bowls on the shady lawn. No one looked up, or
took any notice when Loki crossed the grass, and     
took his place at Idunn's feet. She had retired from 
the game in something like a pet, because, as
she said, full justice had not been done her ball.   
Perhaps because of this she welcomed Loki    
with a smile; for though he sometimes teased, he     
? was always amusing, and conciliating, and good-tempered.  
“ What mischief have you been up to now ? *' she     
asked.       
The sudden question made him change colour, but
he answered coolly---
“ You know my usual good-nature. I found this
coming along, and thought you might like it.”
" What is it?" .     
He put into her hand a large and most perfectly
beautiful apple, far more beautiful than any she had 
ever seen.   
" Where did you get it ? It is not one of    
mine.”       
” No, certainly it is not. It is more beautiful
than yours. They are lying in the wood. Sh I 
quietly in your ear---just outside the gate of Asgard.        

No one has found them yet. When they do, your  
power is gone.”
The girl’s face grew white and tearful.        
“ Ah ! Loki, dear Loki, it must not be, they must    
not find them.”
“ Then you had better go at dusk, when no one  
can see you, and get them.”   
“ You know I must not be outside Asgard after  
dusk.”
“ Well, you would most certainly meet some one 
now, and, as you are aware, Idunn is not allowed to  
pass without question, so anxious is the whole world 
to preserve you, dear maid I No, best go when  
Asgard is quiet, and the gods are feasting, not after
dark, but between sunset and twilight There will     
be time enough then for so short a distance.”  
“ And will you come too ? ”   
“ I ? No, I cannot. I have promised to feast in
the High One’s hall to-night. Good-bye. I would
not go into the wood if I were you---that is, not    
without some one to take care of you. I am glad I    
am not a girl.”
Loki had taken a few flying jumps across the lawn,   
and just before he disappeared behind the trees, he  
turned round with that irritating, sweet, and fatuous
smile of his, and uttered the last words in a smooth 
voice, that was in itself exasperating.   
“ Your apples are not worth wasting my time over,”      
she retorted; and then, woman-like, turned to  
scheme how she might procure them.       
Loki, like his fellow of a Christian day, understood human nature.   
That evening, when the gods were feasting in their      
hall, and talk went round, and loved wives were
toasted, and Idunn’s name was on many a lip and in      
many more hearts, a very different scene was being      
enacted outside, and Loki's eyes, as he thought of it,  
twinkled in malicious triumph.  
Along the low belt of wood which separated     
Asgard from the rest of the world crept the slight      
figure of a girl, sometimes motionless with lifted      
head like an arrested bird, sometimes creeping on so    
stealthily that the only evidences of movement were     
the distance traversed and the slight flutter of her    
white dress as it was lifted by the evening breeze.     
Then she disappeared into the thick wood below. The     
clouds rolled away, and the glimmer of the rising       
moon revealed to her on the ground, lying amid last     
year’s leaves, the golden and ruddy apples she had      
come to seek. Eagerly she gathered them up in her       
dress, and was preparing to fly, when she was startled  
by the flutter of huge wings immediately above her      
head. They swooped down on her with the swift- 
ness of lightning, and as she let her apples fall and   
sprang aside, she was caught up by a monster eagle, 
and borne rapidly through the air. She gasped with  
fear and loss of breath, and then unconsciousness   
came to her aid, and she knew nothing till she woke 
in a cavern, the sound of the sea in her ears, and a
giant standing over her. In reply to her bewildered 
look he said---     
" Yes, you are mine now, but I shall not be unkind  
to you, though, perhaps, not spoil you as much as   
the gods, who are so afraid of getting old. I hope you       
will like your new house. The sea washes it every   
morning, so you will have no trouble."        
“ How can I be yours ? I say I will not."     
“ But, my fair maid, you will have to say you will. 
Your father gave you to me. Do you remember   
your father ? Would you like to see him ? ”   
“ I know no father but Odin," she answered,   
stamping her foot impatiently. 
“Well, you soon will. Ivalldr will be here    
presently to see his daughter, and teach her the    
obedience she has not learnt with the gods."  
With this he went out, and Idunn, tired and   
frightened, crept away to a comer, and there fell   
asleep on some sea-weed.     
Very wearily and heavily the days dragged on. 
Idunn's back had to bend to many an unwonted  
burden, her hands to be hurt over many a rough
task. The child of idolizing love, who had been watched over, and waited on, and cared for by  
hundreds who would have died to shield her life
from harm, had to submit to the hard, coarse treatment of a clumsy, evil-minded giant.     
Could Ivalldr be worse ? But Ivalldr did not   
come. One friend she made, and that was the sea,        
the strange creature whose wail was always in her       
ears whether sleeping or waking. Nevertheless, it       
soothed her, and she would try to fancy she heard in    
it the controlling voice of Odin, the thunder of Thor,  
or the low musical love-notes of her own Bragi.
What were they all doing without her ? . Were they      
very, very weary, perhaps dying from the burden
and hoplessness of life ? 
Ah I to be free I free as the gulls, the only living    
creatures who ever came within call I And Idunn
sat down on the sea-shore, covered her face with her    
hands, and cried bitterly as she thought of her lost    
Paradise of Joy.        
Suddenly she started, let her hands fall, and forgot    
her tears as she gazed in bewildered astonishment       
at a small figure sitting at her feet, and watching     
her’intently. His legs were drawn up so that his        
knees could support his huge head. His blinking
eyes were staring at her at first apparently with no    
expression at all; but as they gradually took in the   
bent girlish figure with the traces of tears still on    
 
her face, they perceptibly softened, which Idunn,        
not brought up in the tender ways of love for   
nothing, was not slow to discern. She suddenly  
lost her fear of this dreaded father, and, with a quick  
movement putting her hand on his shoulder, said,
“ Are you Ivalldr ? ”    
Before he had time to grunt a reply, she went on
swiftly---
“Then you will help me. I knew you would  
when you came, for fathers always help their    
children.”
Still the little dwarf said nothing; but as he  
watched the beautiful face, and heard the clear 
notes of the girl's voice, he trembled with agitation,   
and fell down at her feet, stretching out his hands      
towards her, and in utterance broken by sobs,   
exclaimed---    
“ My little Idunn I '*   
“ Are you glad or sorry to see me ? ” she asked,
perplexed. “ Have you wanted me then, Ivalldr ? "        
a new conception of life slowly dawning on her. 
“Wanted thee? The years have grown weary  
over my search for thee, and now at the end when I       
see thy face, and hear the music of thy voice, dost      
ask if I wanted thee ? Child, life has had but one       
thought---the thought of thee and thy beauty; and if I have grown more evil without thee, was the fault mine ? But now thou art unhappy,” he exclaimed,
springing to his feet. " Tell me, is he kind to thee ?  
Nay, do not cry again. I will help thee, though I       
die for it, and it will mean death,” he added, sadly,   
in a tone so low that only the sea caught it.  
" I hate him, and he is cruel, cruel,” she said,        
clenching her small hands. “ He forgets that I am       
a goddess, and heaps every day full of torment,
misery, and insult. Let me free, Ivalldr, and then      
I will believe thou dost love me.”       
“ So be it then,” he said, slowly. " Is Hrym   
out? Then come now while there is time. Yet    
stay---one thing before we go. Idunn, thou didst        
kiss me as a child. Nobody has done it since.  
Wilt thou kiss me again as thou didst in thy baby       
days?”   
Full tenderly the fair young goddess stooped,  
and her tears fell fast as she embraced the little      
dwarf. They would have fallen faster had she   
known the sacrificial price at which he purchased       
her release.   
Taking her hand, he guided her gently up the   
rocks to the heights of the cliffs above, and led her   
along the steep stony paths by the edge of precipices that made her giddy to look down, till they       
had left the giant's cavern far behind. Not a word
did either utter. Idunn was thinking out all the
 
 
intricacies of her strange fate, and of the approaching  
happy moment that would re-unite her to Bragi;  
Ivalldr was possessed by a strange calmness and 
satisfaction. He defied fate as he thought that he had   
at last found his child, and that it was his hand that   
was bringing her good. But the silence was rudely        
broken. Loud hoarse shrieks came through the    
night, and every rock on every side of the solitary      
travellers was alive with the hideous forms of  
dwarfs.   
“ Ivalldr is a traitor I Ivalldr has deceived us I       
He is letting the fair go free I He is cheating Hyrm     
of his wife I ’*
The dwarfs face turned a shade yellower than    
usual, but he took firm hold of Idunn's hand, and        
said---   
" She is mine. Can I not do what I like with my 
own ? ”   
"Stone him! stone him!” shouted the dwarfs.     
" He is a traitor."      
Idunn shrank back, and covered her face with her
hands, as the pigmies crowded round, and dragged
Ivalldr to the edge of the precipice, and placed him     
on a point where he could go neither backwards nor       
forwards, and  
“ Stop I stop I I will go back and be Hyrm’s wife, 
but spare Ivalldr !'  
And Idunn clasped the rock against which she   
was leaning in an agony of terror and sorrow, till its  
sharp edges cut into her hands. But Ivalldr smiled      
as he heard.   
" You cannot go back now. The gods want you,   
and I have come to fetch you,” said a voice in her      
ear, and looking round she saw a hawk sitting beside    
her with the eyes of Loki. Before she could utter a     
sound, he had transformed her into a swallow, taken     
her in his claws, and flown away with her. When
she turned back to look at the ugly little figure she   
had learnt to love, a stone bigger than the others      
hurled him from her sight over the precipice on to      
the rocks beneath. Down to the depths of the sea        
below reached a long note of pain from the throat of    
a swallow, and penetrated to the ears of a giant        
rocking in his boat. Hyrm looked up with sudden
curiosity at the passing birds, and then, as the truth  
dawned on his mind, he changed himself into an 
eagle, and swiftly followed them to Asgard.    
But on the walls of Asgard were gathered all the        
gods eagerly watching for the return of their beloved   
Idunn. When they saw the hawk with the swallow 
in his claws, and the eagle following, they made a      
fire of chips, and lighted it as the pursuing bird of
prey flew over it. The flames mounted up and burnt 
his wings, so that he fluttered, and fell to the ground,  
where the gods soon made an end of him.    
And so Idunn was brought back to Asgard ; but    
in her absence the gods had grown hopelessly old 
and grey, and not even the apples of youth could 
make them young again.    
   

   
XIX. THE BUILDING OF THE BURG. 
       
       
   To thy enemies     
  Trust thou never,     
 Although they speak thee fair.*'   
The Seng of the Sun.  
While gods grew feeble, the power of giants waxed     
strong. Not in vain had Ivalldr roused the envy,      
passion, and hate of the evil race. Once awakened,    
they did not slumber again, but, mindful of their     
compact with their dwarf kinsfolk, they set themselves assiduously to win Freyia, and bring further   
shame, loss, and discouragement, on the already unnerved gods. 
“ Let us play on their weakness," said they; so       
in the guise of a builder a giant went forth, and on  
arriving at Asgard demanded speech of Odin. He        
was admitted into the presence of the Great Father,   
and, after making obeisance, asked---  
“ In that day when the giants and powers of evil   
war against the gods, what defence is Odin prepared     
to make ? ” •    
A shadow passed over the god’s face, but there 
was no trembling in his voice as he exclaimed with      
a vehemence which startled his visitor---
"" In that day when skill and bravery shall be 
demanded of the gods, they will not be found   
wanting.”      •        
" Most holy and most mighty I None doubt the   
wit or courage of the gods, but he who would war        
with success must prepare with success. Since you       
think yourself strong enough without preparation,       
my errand is vain ; so, farewell.”       
“What further preparation is there to make?    
We have nerved our spirits, and strengthened our        
walls, what more remains to be done ? ”  
“ That is what I purposed to unfold, did you deign      
to bestow on me, the most humble and devoted of
your servants, the light of your countenance.” 
“ Well, say on.”        
” I could build a castle that should withstand any      
attack, and, in case of need, would be large enough     
to contain all the gods. Placed on the boundary
line, it would successfully defend Asgard, and make     
her enemies to tremble. Thus would victory be  
ensured to the gods, for none of their opponents        
possess such a place of defence. At present, not 
victory, but defeat, absolute and disgraceful defeat,   

faces the gods."        
“ And your price ? for people like you do not  
work without a price."  
" Is the goddess Freyia, and the sun and moon."
- “ It is too much, you wretched builder."     
- Nevertheless Odin rose, went out hastily and 
asked counsel of his sons.
“ All our joy will go if Freyia goes."   
"And the light of Midgard with the sun and     
moon."   
" What can we do ? All the protection and
defence we can get we must have. But at this   
price I" 
"If it please, Father Odin, shall I arrange the
matter ?" And Loki rose up before the gods.    
" You can try."
So Loki went out, and, after converse with the 
builder, returned with a cunning smile on his face.     
" He will do it; but unless he can build it in one      
winter, without help from any hand or weapon save       
his own and the assistance of his horse, he fails, and  
cannot demand Freyia. Does this please the     
mighty gods ? ”
" He cannot possibly do it."    
" No, he cannot; it is beyond the possibility of        
giant or god." 

Nevertheless, it was with some secret uneasiness    
that through the long winter the gods watched the   
work of defence being thrown up for their own 
protection. With marvellous speed, in the silence   
and darkness of the midnight hours, the building    
advanced. With no noise of blasting, huge stones    
were dragged from the heart of the mountain, and    
on the backs of man and horse carried silently to   
the place where they were laid together, and  
cemented with firmness and skill. In the day-time   
the work stood still and the builder rested; and    
then some of the young gods would try to hinder the 
work, in defiance to all command, by pulling down   
what had been set up; but their hands were powerless to make even a stone quiver in its place.
Through the long dark winter nights, when the snow  
made the stillness almost audible, the gods could see        
from the windows of Asgard a tall, dark figure
striding across the plain, with a rock as big as a  
cart on his back.   
But the dwellings of Ullr, Freyr, Vale, and Saga    
were passed by the sun in its* steady, onward 
progress. One by one, Ydale, Alfheim, Velaskialf,   
and Scequabeck, the mighty homes of the mighty
gods, were glorified and irradiated by the light of 
the sun, but as the chariot wheels drew near  
Gladsheim, the home of Odin himself, a sign to all  
the inhabitants of Asgard and Midgard that winter 
was passed, the hearts of the gods quailed, for the       
castle stood lifting its walls to the sky, and, with the  
exception of one gate, complete from bulwark to moat.     
“Three days, and our share of the bargain will   
have to be paid,” groaned the gods. “ We may as  
well die as give up Freyia.”
Then Thor turned round fiercely on the cunning   
god---     
“ I believe you foresaw this.”    
" No, indeed. How could I dream that the 
builder would have so much power? But if   
they will trust me, I will extricate the gods from        
their difficulty. In two nights the castle will be        
finished, and the last stone laid ? Be satisfied: that    
stone shall never be laid.” 
It was the night before the end of the contract. 
The moon rose in a perfectly cloudless sky. The  
gods retired to rest in much trepidation of mind.
Loki alone was up, restless, excited. When all was        
quiet he crept out of the gate of Asgard, seen only       
by Heimdall from his high post on Bifrost. Seeking        
the shadows, and watching where the builder and  
his steed were hurrying to place their last stone with    
malicious exultation, Loki sped to where the bushes       
gave him a short hiding. Here he took off his coat,       
sprang high in the air, and alighted again in the
   
form of a beautiful mare. Away in the moonlight        
he gambolled, kicking up his heels, and rolling on     
his back on the soft turf. At first he did not go      
near the castle, although he could see how the
builder’s steed lifted his ears, and turned his eyes   
towards his unexpected neighbour, and began to be      
restive under the demands of his master. But  
gradually the mare drew nearer and nearer with
more engaging gambols, till the other could stand it   
no longer. With one bound he broke away, jumped        
the wall and bush which separated him from his
new companion, and in an instant both were beyond      
pursuit. The builder stood rooted to the ground        
with despair, grinding his teeth with rage. To do      
the work alone was impossible. In vain he strained     
back and limbs, and tore his hands in dragging from    
the quarry, and transporting the huge blocks of        
stone. In vain he piled them together, one more        
seemed always to be wanting. The next morning when the gods came with triumph in their  
hearts to announce the end of the contract, the        
builder, standing before them in his true giant form,  
had to confess that one more stone was still lacking   
to the gate of the castle.     
Thus were the gods saved, and had their burg to        
protect them in that swift on-coming day of sore       
need.   


XX.  
  RAGNAROK      
      
      
  “The sun darkens,    
Earth in ocean sinks,  
  Fall from heaven     
  The bright stars,    
Fire’s breath assails  
    The all-nourishing tree, 
* Towering fire plays  
  Against heaven itself.” --- The Völva's Prophecy
    
The shadows bad deepened round the once happy        
home of the gods. From the windows of Asgard
could be seen in clear outline against the sky a     
constant reminder of their humiliation and their     
danger. And as day by day the gods met in the        
ancient halls, and from their number were missing    
all those who from sin or weakness had gone over     
to the giants, feast and song and game were forgotten, and on each one's shoulders rested the same  
burden of sorrow that was crushing the life out of   
Odin. No stretch of years, no weight of toil, could      
thus have made his step drag heavily, and his head
hang low. Old fears, old doubts, old griefs that, 
conquered once, had long been laid aside, now     
returned to vex and age his soul beyond all possible       
restoration by the apples of youth.
The Twilight was at hand, and beyond that no
eye could look. And Odin knew it, and in quiet    
restraint and patience had nerved his strength for
the final conflict. Not advice but warning did he 
give through these last days. Every god for himself        
must see to his own preparation and the equipment 
of his own forces, and alone meet the disasters and        
ruin of Ragnarok. " Be ready, my sons, be ready,” 
was all he could say in broken speech as he moved 
among them all. And not only to gods was the
command of preparation to be given. Odin meant    
to ride to Midgard to rouse the sons of men to do 
their best. Early one morning Sleipnir was brought
saddled, and Odin mounting him, rode away, while  
the gods stood round in a silence of dread and awe.        
“Come back soon, Odin,” Bragi said, his face
whiter than the robe he wore. Thor, who stood     
behind them all, turned abruptly, and went away   
into the darkness of the hall. The others watched 
and listened till the last reverberation of Sleipner's     
hoofs had gone. Then they too dispersed, and a    
great silence settled down on Asgard.    
     
Odin rode on, his head sunk in his breast, and       
taking no note of anything he passed. 
" There goes the great god,’* people said as he      
went by; “ we know him by his blue cloak. The        
storm is coming on apace, Odin; get thee to 
shelter.” But the Father smiled, and only wrapped    
his mantle more closely around him. Now he had       
reached the great plains far from human habitation.  
The birds in low flight circled around his head as if
seeking protection from him from the wild storm      
that was about to descend. But Odin heeded none      
of it. The rain fell in heavy drops on his bare head,
the wind, creeping up, howled in the ears of the     
solitary rider; Sleipnir stood still and neighed, but
Odin’s thoughts were otherwhere. Storms of  
nature? There were wilder storms than these 
about to overthrow the foundations of human 
lives, and make wandering and homeless human
spirits. But the wind still crept up in ever
gradually increasing force; all nature waited expectant ; then the trees bent, the branches creaked, 
the streams rushed down in noisy volume, and the     
storm had come. Heaven, and earth, and sea struggled in uncontrolled rage. The Furies of nature,     
that hide under the sunniest summer landscape,       
were set free, and earth was lifted to heaven, and   
heaven was dragged to earth, and the sea fought   
them both with a passion that was terrible to 
witness and to hear. Clouds and ocean, trees and    
hills, meadows and forests were indistinguishable   
in the mad wrestling of the universe. But the end   
was not yet.  
The traveller now awoke to the terrible forces
that had become active and alert. He tried to keep  
on his horse by bending almost level with the 
animal; but the wind lashed against him; he   
struggled and gasped for breath; Sleipnir reared    
with fear, and refused to move a step forward, and  
then Odin slipped off, reeled to the side of the road,       
and there lay, his head buried in his hands to abide
the passing of the storm. He must have slept, for   
when by the rubbingof something cold against his neck        
he became again conscious, he found that the wind had        
spent itself, and the rain had changed to snow,     
which was falling in a steady, silent, white sheet. The      
landscape was blotted out, and the road gone, only  
Sleipner stood beside him to remind him of his
identity and the object of his journey.       
“ Can we go on, my Sleipner ? ” he said.      
The horse pawed the snow for answer, so       
mounting, once again the god turned his face to     
Midgard. When he reached his journey’s end the
snow had ceased. The sky hung leaden and lifeless   
above him, and the streets of Midgard were silent   
as the grave, and almost as dark. But as his eyes  
grew accustomed to the gloom he saw that in every       
comer and on every step were huddled the forms 
of men, women and children. Some were dead     
already with the storm and the cold: the others
clung closely, together to get what warmth they
could. The faces that met his looked starved and        
pinched, and more animal than human was the    
hungry glare in their eyes. Wherever he turned 
misery and sin met him. When he had passed the 
mere inert quiescence of misery, he came to streets     
clamorous with the. voices of fighting men and 
curses from the wan lips of women. To the strife        
of men, and the evil tongues of women, children lent    
their feeble aid, and then were trampled under foot.    
Wherever Odin went, into whatever face he looked,       
all told the same story of degradation, of sin, and of  
misery too utterly hopeless for words. His heart        
sank within him chilled and sick. What help could       
these men render to themselves or to others in the      
approaching awful struggle between Good and    
Evil ?   
Defeat was already accomplished, the enemy had 
already taken possession. 
“ Ragnarok is coming, my people,” Odin said, as
he went up and down the streets trying to allay the     
tumult and to separate the fighters.     
"This is Ragnarok,” some of them sullenly 
answered. " Ragnarok is already begun.”   
" We don’t care for Ragnarok, but we wish it were        
over that we might rest,” said others.    
" You are not much use here, Father Odin, you   
had better go back to your gods.”
But Odin stayed, and tried to alleviate the pain
and distress, which were growing deeper week by 
week. Disease and Famine and Sin did their awful
work through that long winter when day was hardly        
distinct from night. The sun could not penetrate
the thick fog which never lifted, and time seemed to     
be no more in the long unbroken darkness. 
"Spring must come soon,” the hearts of men
said, but another winter began, colder, more dismal      
than the last. Mothers ate their own children,  
brother slew brother, hate became the foundation of      
every human relationship. The fruitful land was 
changed into a wilderness, and every city was broken     
down. Blessed were those, and they were many,   
who found release through death. Then the third 
winter began.   
" This is Fimbultyr," said Odin. " I must go    
back to my sons in Asgard. Ragnark is at our    
doors.”   
So back he rode across a world laid low in desolation to Asgard, which smiled at him with her old       
beauty even while destruction waited at her   
gates.        
     
No son of god nor son of man slept the night  
before Ragnarok. Not a sound could be heard   
above the roar of the wind and thunder. The   
darkness was impenetrable, but where the lightning  
flashed for an instant it lit up the awe-stricken, pallid    
faces of the gods. When, towards morning, the rain  
poured down in a deluge, there was a momentary
slackening of the strain which bound all minds and  
spirits.      
Then the Dawn came, a thick, dark yellow dawn,
with no freshness, and no clear light. It was the   
beginning of the last day. A trembling shook the    
worlds, and through the stillness that followed the 
storm could be heard, one after the other, the
crowing of the three cocks. First came the shrill   
note of a golden cock perched on the highest  
pinnacle of Asgard; then, more subdued, and at a    
greater distance, the crow of the bright red cock over       
the world of men, and in harsher, and more broken   
tones the jarring sound of Helheim’s dark-feathered 
bird as it roused the wandering ghosts to set sail for       
the final conflict. The warning notes of the cocks  
were succeeded by a more fearful sound not to be    
driven from ears that have once heard it---the howl 
of hungry wolves. Innumerable as the seeds of 
sin, they spread through all the worlds, devouring
whatever came in their way, headed by Fenrir, who 
   
   
had at last burst his bonds asunder. The men not  
killed by violence, or disease, or famine, fell a prey     
to the blood-thirsty wolves, whose hunger was sated        
by the lives of the dying. And the cries of men   
went up mingled with the howl of wolves, and from 
afar came the wail of Garm the dog, who, chained, 
awaited the Day of Judgment. Then on the medley   
of fearful sounds arose the clear trumpet call of 
Heimdall, who stood for the last time on Bifrost, 
and blew his Gjallar Hom to brace the gods with   
courage as they prepared to ride forth to a Council        
of War under the tree Yggdrasil. At that instant, 
sun, moon, and stars fell from their places, and were      
eaten by wolves. The Dark Dragon came flying
across the sky, dropping poison from his wings.   
The screaming of birds of prey, already scenting the •     
dead, smote with terror on the ear. The grim
figure of Death stalked over the land breathing his        
icy breath on every living face.   
And all the world was wrapped in night.       
Clouds of smoke enveloped Yggdrasil as the gods   
drew near, and groans as from a living soul came  
from the depths of the tree. Then flames lit up the        
smoky darkness, and showed the old ash trembling  
in its last throes.        

"The Tree of Life is burning. Surt and his
troops are already here. Let us on to the fight.”       
And with stem, set brows the gods rode away,   
Death marching before.  

" Jormungand is free. See how the ocean rises,      
and Thor pointed to the mighty heaving of the  
ocean, as it struggled to attain the heights of the     
cliffs. On the horizon appeared a ship with black       
sails making rapidly for the land. She was Naglfar,     
a ship made of the nails of the dead. Loki steered,     
and she was manned by ghosts, who clung to the 
masts and bulwarks of the vessel.        
Spirits of the Dead, Spirits of the Living, Spirits of  
Evil, and Spirits of Good, were all making for the      
same goal, the plain of Vigrid, where the last 
mighty battle was to be fought. 
Cries of suffering and of fear rose on the murky        
air; but there was none to hearken or deliver. 
Burning and slaying as they went, Surt and his 
followers came, joined by multitudes from Helheim       
who owned allegiance to its dark queen. The    
wolves, their jaws dropping blood, sat and looked on    
with cruel eyes, while Fenrir in their midst waited     
with ardent evil desire the signal for his final        
conflict with the great Father of the gods.    
" Art thou ready, Fenrir ? ” And the gods hid  
their eyes as Odin stepped forward, having put from       
him his armour and the circlet of majesty from his        
brow, and now he stood alone in quiet stateliness,        
and waited the attack of the fiery wolf. Then    
Fenrir sprang forward, eyes and nostrils spitting
fire, and his open jaw almost reaching the sky, and       
before any one could move or utter a cry, Odin was        
devoured by the wolf. Even the troops of Hel     
shrank back trembling as the second of Loki’s    
children appeared, and nearly the whole plain was
covered with his serpent length. Thor lifted     
Miolnir and rushed with all his divine force on 
the beast, and wrestled with him till his brow was        
set in knots, so strenuous was his effort to slay
Jormungand. Again and again the serpent, twisting
his tail round the god, tried to throw him; again
and again did the hero of Asgard spring aside and
bring his hammer down on his enemy. But the day  
had already gone against the gods. The Serpent   
lifted his head, and ejected poison in the face of        
Thor; and the mighty god, over-powered and dazed,
blindly struck at his enemy, this time a fatal blow,      
while he himself staggered to a little distance, and      
then fell a victim to the poisonous fumes that   
issued from the body of the beast.
Surt and Freyr next engaged in warfare. But the  
bright god was swordless, and though he fought hard       
and long, undefended by any weapon, he too fell for       
lack of that which he had voluntarily given away in     
his hour of success and strength.        
Now, running across the plain, came Garm, the  
terrible dog long bound in Gnipa’s cave, to fight with  
Tyr; but with one crush of his foot Tyr lay dead.       
At last was Loki's hatred of the gods satisfied.        
One by one they were falling before the powers of       
vil. But his share of the spoil was yet to come.        
“ Heimdall, wilt thou fight ? ” 
" Ay, that will I," answered the beautiful god, the     
light of love and truth in his eyes unquenched by the   
horrors of the day. With serene composure he took       
his place, and hand to hand, and breast to breast, he   
fought with Loki, while both sides watched in breathless interest. A shudder went through the crowd of      
spectators as the two combatants fell, each slain by    
the other.     
And the darkness of nature deepened, and Death 
took possession of the world. Then through the 
gloom came the subdued voice of Vidar, vibrating        
with pain, and solemn with the depth and gravity of     
his sorrow.    
“ Will no one avenge thee, 0 my Father ? Thee  
who wert good to all thy worlds ? Is Odin indeed        
dead, and is there none to cry revenge ? My hand        
can at least inflict punishment. Fenrir, stand 
forth I" 
So in that day of grief and loss Odin, the Lord of     
        
Good, did not fall unavenged nor unloved; but in       
the bitterness of death Vidar proved his faithfulness  
and sealed his sonship.
Then did nature collapse, and thick darkness  
spread over all the world. The mountains were 
rent, and the trees uprooted, and oceans and seas      
and rivers forsook the bounds of their habitations.    
Earthquakes shook the plain; there came a mighty       
crash, and gods, and giants, dwarfs, and ghosts, men   
alive and dead, were swept away into chaos with        
the ruins of the worlds. Death spread his dusky        
wings over the universe and regarded the havoc he      
had wrought.  
But far away in the distant sky a faint flush of       
light gleamed through the gloom, and brightened as     
it spread into soft radiance of colour. It was the     
coming of the Dawn, but of a Dawn more beautiful       
than that of the Sun.  


  XXL THE RESURRECTION.      
" Then comes the mighty one
To the great judgment,   
The powerful from above, 
Who rules over all.      
He shall dooms pronounce,
And strifes allay,       
Holy peace establish     
Which shall ever be."---The Völva's Prophecy

And the Dawn grew brighter, the reflection of   
the Presence behind the Dawn which shone with   
an exceeding great light on the desolation of the        
worlds He -had created. Penetrating, irradiating,        
and filling chaos, all the inert, buried possibilities   
of nature arose into fulfilled and completed life, and,  
from death and ruin there came forth a new world
rising up and claiming kinship with the old sky, and     
spreading itself out in gratitude and joy to the
warmth of the re-creating light. And Death spread        
his dark wings and flew away, for there was no place     
dark enough to contain him in the new world.  
The earth quivered, and its pulses beat with 
rapture, as the Light embraced it, and poured upon 
    
it invigorating, reanimating might, till not a crevice,     
not a comer but owned and rejoiced in the dear     
Presence. Life was called into being from every    
clod of soil, and grew with amazing rapidity under 
the perfected conditions of growth. The trees were 
filled with leaf, the valleys with com, flowers clothed     
the forests and hills, and from every place arose the       
song of birds joining in one great chorus of rejoicing.     
Strengthened, glorified, intensified, fulfilled, the        
earth gave forth her increase, and a living world  
took the place of the dead. 
And He, whose are gods and men, giants and   
dwarfs, and who overruleth all powers of darkness, 
decreed that the Light which had regenerated a     
universe should change into Love as it touched the 
sons of His Creation, and they too responding as   
dead nature had done, arise to newness and completeness of life in Him Who had revealed Himself. 
As little children in a new-born world came the     
gods, recreated not by the Apples of Youth, but by 
His Hand Who alone giveth life. Under their feet   
was the fresh young grass, over their heads the    
light-filled sky, and in their hearts the joy of life       
that knows no ebb. Odin and Frea, Thor and Sif,    
Baldur and Nanna, Niord and Skadi, Freyr and 
     
Gerde, Bragi and Idunn, Heimdall, Vidar, and     
Hermod, the two sons of Thor, Vili and Ve, the   
brothers of Odin---gods who had sinned and suffered,      
and fought and died---all came with spirits purified      
and elevated to take their place in the new creation.     
Glad with a deep intensity of gladness was that  
world of the Resurrection. Old things had passed 
away, but they had left what was best in them    
behind. God could no more descend to giant, but  
giant could be uplifted to god. Even all that had
characterized each had become transfigured with the       
new life.  
Courage could no more sink to self-sufficiency,
nor humility to weakness; love could not fall into        
desire, nor truth into hardness. The power, and  
passion, and enthusiasm, the tenderness and sensitiveness of every spirit were taken up, and received      
their full and perfect development.        
And hand in hand the gods walked the untrodden   
fields, with natures beyond the touch of change or        
time. No breath of winter's blasts, no gloom, nor
weight of atmosphere, could hold their spirits down.      
Hope rose like a lark from its lowly nest into free       
clear air, and spread its wings, unbound by heavy
gloom, and soared away into certain, far-reaching
fulfilment without fear of check, or risk of disaster.    
Life was young, buoyant, elastic, with the richness
of youth and the ripeness of age combined. Everywhere cause and consequence, creator and created,
spirit quickener and spirit quickened, mover and 
moved, incident and whole, were joined in indissoluble union that had no space for difference, no     
interval for misunderstanding or mistake.        
No chilling blight, no disappointed enterprise, no     
lack of sympathy, no fear of unknown abysses,    
existed to hold the free soul from rising in beauty,   
strength, and peace, to its full stature of perfection.
And Light and Love filled the universe, aspiration     
and yearning were lost in attainment and satisfaction, as the Revelation of the Eternal Father was
given to the wondering and adoring children of His     
care.