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diff --git a/24737-8.txt b/24737-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fadae59 --- /dev/null +++ b/24737-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7599 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Children of Odin, by Padraic Colum + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Children of Odin + The Book of Northern Myths + +Author: Padraic Colum + +Illustrator: Willy Pogany + +Release Date: March 2, 2008 [EBook #24737] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDREN OF ODIN *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Geetu Melwani and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +THE CHILDREN OF ODIN +The Book of Northern Myths + +By Padraic Colum + +Illustrated by Willy Pogany + + +Master storyteller Padraic Colum's rich, musical voice captures all the +magic and majesty of the Norse sagas in his retellings of the adventures +of the gods and goddesses who lived in the Northern paradise of Asgard +before the dawn of history. + +Here are the matchless tales of All-Father Odin, who crosses the Rainbow +Bridge to walk among men in Midgard and sacrifices his right eye to +drink from the Well of Wisdom; of Thor, whose mighty hammer defends +Asgard; of Loki, whose mischievous cunning leads him to treachery +against the gods; of giants, dragons, dwarfs and Valkyries; and of the +terrible last battle that destroyed their world. + +These ancient stories from Northern Europe, which make up one of the +great myth cycles of Western civilization, spring to life in _The +Children of Odin_. This classic volume, first published in 1920 and +reissued in 1962, is now available for the first time in paperback, +illustrated with the original line drawings by Willy Pogany, to inspire +a new generation of readers. + + * * * * * + +The late Padraic Colum was a poet, playwright, founder of the _Irish +Review_ and a leader of the Irish Renaissance, but he is perhaps best +known today for his outstanding books for children. He was awarded the +Regina Medal in 1961 for his "distinguished contribution to children's +literature," honoring works like _The Children's Homer_, _The Golden +Fleece_ (a Newbery Honor Book), _The Arabian Nights_, _The King of +Ireland's Son_ and _Roofs of Gold_. + + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE CHILDREN OF ODIN + +The Book of Northern Myths + +by + +PADRAIC COLUM + +illustrated by +Willy Pogany + +Collier Books +Macmillan Publishing Company +New York + +Collier Macmillan Publishers +London + + + + +Copyright Macmillan Publishing Company, a division of +Macmillan, Inc., 1920; copyright renewed by +Padraic Colum and Macmillan Publishing Company 1948 +All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced +or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or +mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any +information storage and retrieval system, without +permission in writing from the Publisher. + +Macmillan Publishing Company +866 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022 +Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc. + +_The Children of Odin_ is also published in a +hardcover edition by Macmillan Publishing Company. +First Collier Books edition 1984 +Printed in the United States of America + +10 9 8 7 6 5 4 + +Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data +Colum, Padraic, 1881-1972. + +The children of Odin. + +Summary: A retelling of the Norse sagas about Odin, +Freya, Thor, Loki and the other gods and goddesses who +lived in Asgard before the dawn of history. + +1. Mythology, Norse--Juvenile literature. +[1. Mythology, Norse] I. Pogany, Willy, 1882-1955, ill. +II. Title. + +BL860.C63 1984b 293'.13 83-20368 +ISBN 0-02-042100-1 (pbk.: alk. paper) + + + + +[Illustration] + +CONTENTS + + +PART I _The Dwellers in Asgard_ + +1. Far Away and Long Ago 3 + +2. The Building of the Wall 6 + +3. Iduna and Her Apples: How Loki Put the + Gods in Danger 13 + +4. Sif's Golden Hair: How Loki Wrought + Mischief in Asgard 27 + +5. How Brock Brought Judgment on Loki 34 + +6. How Freya Gained Her Necklace and How + Her Loved One Was Lost to Her 44 + +7. How Frey Won Gerda, the Giant Maiden, + and How He Lost His Magic Sword 51 + +8. Heimdall and Little Hnossa: How All + Things Came to Be 62 + +9. The All-Father's Forebodings: How He + Leaves Asgard 69 + + +PART II _Odin the Wanderer_ + +1. Odin Goes to Mimir's Well: His Sacrifice + for Wisdom 77 + +2. Odin Faces an Evil Man 82 + +3. Odin Wins for Men the Magic Mead 90 + +4. Odin Tells to Vidar, His Silent Son, the + Secret of His Doings 99 + +5. Thor and Loki in the Giants' City 102 + +6. How Thor and Loki Befooled Thrym the + Giant 116 + +7. Ægir's Feast: How Thor Triumphed 124 + +8. The Dwarf's Hoard, and the Curse that + It Brought 136 + + +PART III _The Witch's Heart_ + +1. Foreboding in Asgard 151 + +2. Loki the Betrayer 155 + +3. Loki Against the Æsir 164 + +4. The Valkyrie 169 + +5. The Children of Loki 174 + +6. Baldur's Doom 180 + +7. Loki's Punishment 193 + + +PART IV _The Sword of the Volsungs and the + Twilight of the Gods_ + +1. Sigurd's Youth 199 + +2. The Sword Gram and the Dragon Fafnir 208 + +3. The Dragon's Blood 215 + +4. The Story of Sigmund and Signy 223 + +5. The Story of Sigmund and Sinfiotli 233 + +6. The Story of the Vengeance of the + Volsungs and of the Death of Sinfiotli 239 + +7. Brynhild in the House of Flame 245 + +8. Sigurd at the House of the Nibelungs 250 + +9. How Brynhild Was Won for Gunnar 255 + +10. The Death of Sigurd 260 + +11. The Twilight of the Gods 265 + + + + +PART I + +THE DWELLERS IN ASGARD + +[Illustration] + +FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO + + +Once there was another Sun and another Moon; a different Sun and a +different Moon from the ones we see now. Sol was the name of that Sun +and Mani was the name of that Moon. But always behind Sol and Mani +wolves went, a wolf behind each. The wolves caught on them at last and +they devoured Sol and Mani. And then the world was in darkness and cold. + +In those times the Gods lived, Odin and Thor, Hödur and Baldur, Tyr and +Heimdall, Vidar and Vali, as well as Loki, the doer of good and the doer +of evil. And the beautiful Goddesses were living then, Frigga, Freya, +Nanna, Iduna, and Sif. But in the days when the Sun and Moon were +destroyed the Gods were destroyed too--all the Gods except Baldur who +had died before that time, Vidar and Vali, the sons of Odin, and Modi +and Magni, the sons of Thor. + +At that time, too, there were men and women in the world. But before the +Sun and the Moon were devoured and before the Gods were destroyed, +terrible things happened in the world. Snow fell on the four corners of +the earth and kept on falling for three seasons. Winds came and blew +everything away. And the people of the world who had lived on in spite +of the snow and the cold and the winds fought each other, brother +killing brother, until all the people were destroyed. + +Also there was another earth at that time, an earth green and beautiful. +But the terrible winds that blew leveled down forests and hills and +dwellings. Then fire came and burnt the earth. There was darkness, for +the Sun and the Moon were devoured. The Gods had met with their doom. +And the time in which all these things happened was called Ragnarök, the +Twilight of the Gods. + +Then a new Sun and a new Moon appeared and went traveling through the +heavens; they were more lovely than Sol and Mani, and no wolves followed +behind them in chase. The earth became green and beautiful again, and in +a deep forest that the fire had not burnt a woman and a man wakened up. +They had been hidden there by Odin and left to sleep during Ragnarök, +the Twilight of the Gods. + +Lif was the woman's name, and Lifthrasir was the man's. They moved +through the world, and their children and their children's children made +people for the new earth. And of the Gods were left Vidar and Vali, the +sons of Odin, and Modi and Magni, the sons of Thor; on the new earth +Vidar and Vali found tablets that the older Gods had written on and had +left there for them, tablets telling of all that had happened before +Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods. + +And the people who lived after Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods, were +not troubled, as the people in the older days were troubled, by the +terrible beings who had brought destruction upon the world and upon men +and women, and who from the beginning had waged war upon the Gods. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE BUILDING OF THE WALL + + +Always there had been war between the Giants and the Gods--between the +Giants who would have destroyed the world and the race of men, and the +Gods who would have protected the race of men and would have made the +world more beautiful. + +There are many stories to be told about the Gods, but the first one that +should be told to you is the one about the building of their City. + +The Gods had made their way up to the top of a high mountain and there +they decided to build a great City for themselves that the Giants could +never overthrow. The City they would call "Asgard," which means the +Place of the Gods. They would build it on a beautiful plain that was on +the top of that high mountain. And they wanted to raise round their +City the highest and strongest wall that had ever been built. + +Now one day when they were beginning to build their halls and their +palaces a strange being came to them. Odin, the Father of the Gods, went +and spoke to him. "What dost thou want on the Mountain of the Gods?" he +asked the Stranger. + +"I know what is in the mind of the Gods," the Stranger said. "They would +build a City here. I cannot build palaces, but I can build great walls +that can never be overthrown. Let me build the wall round your City." + +"How long will it take you to build a wall that will go round our City?" +said the Father of the Gods. + +"A year, O Odin," said the Stranger. + +Now Odin knew that if a great wall could be built around it the Gods +would not have to spend all their time defending their City, Asgard, +from the Giants, and he knew that if Asgard were protected, he himself +could go amongst men and teach them and help them. He thought that no +payment the Stranger could ask would be too much for the building of +that wall. + +That day the Stranger came to the Council of the Gods, and he swore that +in a year he would have the great wall built. Then Odin made oath that +the Gods would give him what he asked in payment if the wall was +finished to the last stone in a year from that day. + +The Stranger went away and came back on the morrow. It was the first day +of Summer when he started work. He brought no one to help him except a +great horse. + +Now the Gods thought that this horse would do no more than drag blocks +of stone for the building of the wall. But the horse did more than this. +He set the stones in their places and mortared them together. And day +and night and by light and dark the horse worked, and soon a great wall +was rising round the palaces that the Gods themselves were building. + +"What reward will the Stranger ask for the work he is doing for us?" the +Gods asked one another. + +Odin went to the Stranger. "We marvel at the work you and your horse are +doing for us," he said. "No one can doubt that the great wall of Asgard +will be built up by the first day of Summer. What reward do you claim? +We would have it ready for you." + +The Stranger turned from the work he was doing, leaving the great horse +to pile up the blocks of stone. "O Father of the Gods," he said, "O +Odin, the reward I shall ask for my work is the Sun and the Moon, and +Freya, who watches over the flowers and grasses, for my wife." + +Now when Odin heard this he was terribly angered, for the price the +Stranger asked for his work was beyond all prices. He went amongst the +other Gods who were then building their shining palaces within the great +wall and he told them what reward the Stranger had asked. The Gods said, +"Without the Sun and the Moon the world will wither away." And the +Goddesses said, "Without Freya all will be gloom in Asgard." + +They would have let the wall remain unbuilt rather than let the Stranger +have the reward he claimed for building it. But one who was in the +company of the Gods spoke. He was Loki, a being who only half belonged +to the Gods; his father was the Wind Giant. "Let the Stranger build the +wall round Asgard," Loki said, "and I will find a way to make him give +up the hard bargain he has made with the Gods. Go to him and tell him +that the wall must be finished by the first day of Summer, and that if +it is not finished to the last stone on that day the price he asks will +not be given to him." + +The Gods went to the Stranger and they told him that if the last stone +was not laid on the wall on the first day of the Summer not Sol or Mani, +the Sun and the Moon, nor Freya would be given him. And now they knew +that the Stranger was one of the Giants. + +The Giant and his great horse piled up the wall more quickly than +before. At night, while the Giant slept, the horse worked on and on, +hauling up stones and laying them on the wall with his great forefeet. +And day by day the wall around Asgard grew higher and higher. + +But the Gods had no joy in seeing that great wall rising higher and +higher around their palaces. The Giant and his horse would finish the +work by the first day of Summer, and then he would take the Sun and the +Moon, Sol and Mani, and Freya away with him. + +But Loki was not disturbed. He kept telling the Gods that he would find +a way to prevent him from finishing his work, and thus he would make the +Giant forfeit the terrible price he had led Odin to promise him. + +It was three days to Summer time. All the wall was finished except the +gateway. Over the gateway a stone was still to be placed. And the Giant, +before he went to sleep, bade his horse haul up a great block of stone +so that they might put it above the gateway in the morning, and so +finish the work two full days before Summer. + +It happened to be a beautiful moonlit night. Svadilfare, the Giant's +great horse, was hauling the largest stone he ever hauled when he saw a +little mare come galloping toward him. The great horse had never seen so +pretty a little mare and he looked at her with surprise. + +"Svadilfare, slave," said the little mare to him and went frisking past. + +Svadilfare put down the stone he was hauling and called to the little +mare. She came back to him. "Why do you call me 'Svadilfare, slave'?" +said the great horse. + +"Because you have to work night and day for your master," said the +little mare. "He keeps you working, working, working, and never lets you +enjoy yourself. You dare not leave that stone down and come and play +with me." + +"Who told you I dare not do it?" said Svadilfare. + +"I know you daren't do it," said the little mare, and she kicked up her +heels and ran across the moonlit meadow. + +Now the truth is that Svadilfare was tired of working day and night. +When he saw the little mare go galloping off he became suddenly +discontented. He left the stone he was hauling on the ground. He looked +round and he saw the little mare looking back at him. He galloped after +her. + +He did not catch up on the little mare. She went on swiftly before him. +On she went over the moonlit meadow, turning and looking back now and +again at the great Svadilfare, who came heavily after her. Down the +mountainside the mare went, and Svadilfare, who now rejoiced in his +liberty and in the freshness of the wind and in the smell of the +flowers, still followed her. With the morning's light they came near a +cave and the little mare went into it. They went through the cave. Then +Svadilfare caught up on the little mare and the two went wandering +together, the little mare telling Svadilfare stories of the Dwarfs and +the Elves. + +They came to a grove and they stayed together in it, the little mare +playing so nicely with him that the great horse forgot all about time +passing. And while they were in the grove the Giant was going up and +down, searching for his great horse. + +He had come to the wall in the morning, expecting to put the stone over +the gateway and so finish his work. But the stone that was to be lifted +up was not near him. He called for Svadilfare, but his great horse did +not come. He went to search for him, and he searched all down the +mountainside and he searched as far across the earth as the realm of the +Giants. But he did not find Svadilfare. + +The Gods saw the first day of Summer come and the gateway of the wall +stand unfinished. They said to each other that if it were not finished +by the evening they need not give Sol and Mani to the Giant, nor the +maiden Freya to be his wife. The hours of the summer day went past and +the Giant did not raise the stone over the gateway. In the evening he +came before them. + +"Your work is not finished," Odin said. "You forced us to a hard +bargain and now we need not keep it with you. You shall not be given Sol +and Mani nor the maiden Freya." + +"Only the wall I have built is so strong I would tear it down," said the +Giant. He tried to throw down one of the palaces, but the Gods laid +hands on him and thrust him outside the wall he had built. "Go, and +trouble Asgard no more," Odin commanded. + +Then Loki returned to Asgard. He told the Gods how he had transformed +himself into a little mare and had led away Svadilfare, the Giant's +great horse. And the Gods sat in their golden palaces behind the great +wall and rejoiced that their City was now secure, and that no enemy +could ever enter it or overthrow it. But Odin, the Father of the Gods, +as he sat upon his throne was sad in his heart, sad that the Gods had +got their wall built by a trick; that oaths had been broken, and that a +blow had been struck in injustice in Asgard. + + + + +[Illustration] + +IDUNA AND HER APPLES: HOW LOKI PUT THE GODS IN DANGER + + +In Asgard there was a garden, and in that garden there grew a tree, and +on that tree there grew shining apples. Thou knowst, O well-loved one, +that every day that passes makes us older and brings us to that day when +we will be bent and feeble, gray-headed and weak-eyed. But those shining +apples that grew in Asgard--they who ate of them every day grew never a +day older, for the eating of the apples kept old age away. + +Iduna, the Goddess, tended the tree on which the shining apples grew. +None would grow on the tree unless she was there to tend it. No one but +Iduna might pluck the shining apples. Each morning she plucked them and +left them in her basket and every day the Gods and Goddesses came to her +garden that they might eat the shining apples and so stay for ever +young. + +Iduna never went from her garden. All day and every day she stayed in +the garden or in her golden house beside it, and all day and every day +she listened to Bragi, her husband, tell a story that never had an end. +Ah, but a time came when Iduna and her apples were lost to Asgard, and +the Gods and Goddesses felt old age approach them. How all that happened +shall be told thee, O well beloved. + +Odin, the Father of the Gods, often went into the land of men to watch +over their doings. Once he took Loki with him, Loki, the doer of good +and the doer of evil. For a long time they went traveling through the +world of men. At last they came near Jötunheim, the realm of the Giants. + +It was a bleak and empty region. There were no growing things there, not +even trees with berries. There were no birds, there were no animals. As +Odin, the Father of the Gods, and Loki, the doer of good and the doer of +evil, went through this region hunger came upon them. But in all the +land around they saw nothing that they could eat. + +Loki, running here and running there, came at last upon a herd of wild +cattle. Creeping up on them, he caught hold of a young bull and killed +him. Then he cut up the flesh into strips of meat. He lighted a fire and +put the meat on spits to roast. While the meat was being cooked, Odin, +the Father of the Gods, a little way off, sat thinking on the things he +had seen in the world of men. + +Loki made himself busy putting more and more logs on the fire. At last +he called to Odin, and the Father of the Gods came and sat down near the +fire to eat the meal. + +But when the meat was taken off the cooking-spits and when Odin went to +cut it, he found that it was still raw. He smiled at Loki for thinking +the meat was cooked, and Loki, troubled that he had made a mistake, put +the meat back, and put more logs upon the fire. Again Loki took the meat +off the cooking-spits and called Odin to the meal. + +Odin, when he took the meat that Loki brought him, found that it was as +raw as if it had never been put upon the fire. "Is this a trick of +yours, Loki?" he said. + +Loki was so angry at the meat being uncooked that Odin saw he was +playing no tricks. In his hunger he raged at the meat and he raged at +the fire. Again he put the meat on the cooking-spits and put more logs +on the fire. Every hour he would take up the meat, sure that it was now +cooked, and every time he took it off Odin would find that the meat was +as raw as the first time they took it off the fire. + +Now Odin knew that the meat must be under some enchantment by the +Giants. He stood up and went on his way, hungry but strong. Loki, +however, would not leave the meat that he had put back on the fire. He +would make it be cooked, he declared, and he would not leave that place +hungry. + +The dawn came and he took up the meat again. As he was lifting it off +the fire he heard a whirr of wings above his head. Looking up, he saw a +mighty eagle, the largest eagle that ever appeared in the sky. The eagle +circled round and round and came above Loki's head. "Canst thou not cook +thy food?" the eagle screamed to him. + +"I cannot cook it," said Loki. + +"I will cook it for thee, if thou wilt give me a share," screamed the +eagle. + +"Come, then, and cook it for me," said Loki. + +The eagle circled round until he was above the fire. Then flapping his +great wings over it, he made the fire blaze and blaze. A heat that Loki +had never felt before came from the burning logs. In a minute he drew +the meat from the spits and found it was well cooked. + +"My share, my share, give me my share," the eagle screamed at him. He +flew down, and seizing on a large piece of meat instantly devoured it. +He seized on another piece. Piece after piece he devoured until it +looked as if Loki would be left with no meat for his meal. + +As the eagle seized on the last piece Loki became angry indeed. Taking +up the spit on which the meat had been cooked, he struck at the eagle. +There was a clang as if he had struck some metal. The wood of the spit +did not come away. It stuck to the breast of the eagle. But Loki did not +let go his hold on the spit. Suddenly the eagle rose up in the air. +Loki, who held to the spit that was fastened to the eagle's breast, was +drawn up with him. + +Before he knew what had happened Loki was miles and miles up in the air +and the eagle was flying with him toward Jötunheim, the Realm of the +Giants. And the eagle was screaming out, "Loki, friend Loki, I have thee +at last. It was thou who didst cheat my brother of his reward for +building the wall round Asgard. But, Loki, I have thee at last. Know now +that Thiassi the Giant has captured thee, O Loki, most cunning of the +dwellers in Asgard." + +Thus the eagle screamed as he went flying with Loki toward Jötunheim, +the Realm of the Giants. They passed over the river that divides +Jötunheim from Midgard, the World of Men. And now Loki saw a terrible +place beneath him, a land of ice and rock. Great mountains were there: +they were lighted by neither sun nor moon, but by columns of fire thrown +up now and again through cracks in the earth or out of the peaks of the +mountains. + +Over a great iceberg the eagle hovered. Suddenly he shook the spit from +his breast and Loki fell down on the ice. The eagle screamed out to him, +"Thou art in my power at last, O thou most cunning of all the Dwellers +in Asgard." The eagle left Loki there and flew within a crack in the +mountain. + +Miserable indeed was Loki upon that iceberg. The cold was deadly. He +could not die there, for he was one of the Dwellers in Asgard and death +might not come to him that way. He might not die, but he felt bound to +that iceberg with chains of cold. + +After a day his captor came to him, not as an eagle this time, but in +his own form, Thiassi the Giant. + +"Wouldst thou leave thine iceberg, Loki," he said, "and return to thy +pleasant place in Asgard? Thou dost delight in Asgard, although only by +one-half dost thou belong to the Gods. Thy father, Loki, was the Wind +Giant." + +"O that I might leave this iceberg," Loki said, with the tears freezing +on his face. + +"Thou mayst leave it when thou showest thyself ready to pay thy ransom +to me," said Thiassi. "Thou wilt have to get me the shining apples that +Iduna keeps in her basket." + +"I cannot get Iduna's apples for thee, Thiassi," said Loki. + +"Then stay upon the iceberg," said Thiassi the Giant. He went away and +left Loki there with the terrible winds buffeting him as with blows of a +hammer. + +When Thiassi came again and spoke to him about his ransom, Loki said, +"There is no way of getting the shining apples from Iduna." + +"There must be some way, O cunning Loki," said the Giant. + +"Iduna, although she guards well the shining apples, is simple-minded," +said Loki. "It may be that I shall be able to get her to go outside the +wall of Asgard. If she goes she will bring her shining apples with her, +for she never lets them go out of her hand except when she gives them to +the Gods and Goddesses to eat." + +"Make it so that she will go beyond the wall of Asgard," said the Giant. +"If she goes outside of the wall I shall get the apples from her. Swear +by the World-Tree that thou wilt lure Iduna beyond the wall of Asgard. +Swear it, Loki, and I shall let thee go." + +"I swear it by Ygdrassil, the World-Tree, that I will lure Iduna beyond +the wall of Asgard if thou wilt take me off this iceberg," said Loki. + +Then Thiassi changed himself into a mighty eagle, and taking Loki in his +talons, he flew with him over the stream that divides Jötunheim, the +Realm of the Giants, from Midgard, the World of Men. He left Loki on the +ground of Midgard, and Loki then went on his way to Asgard. + +Now Odin had already returned and he had told the Dwellers in Asgard of +Loki's attempt to cook the enchanted meat. All laughed to think that +Loki had been left hungry for all his cunning. Then when he came into +Asgard looking so famished, they thought it was because Loki had had +nothing to eat. They laughed at him more and more. But they brought him +into the Feast Hall and they gave him the best of food with wine out of +Odin's wine cup. When the feast was over the Dwellers in Asgard went to +Iduna's garden as was their wont. + +There sat Iduna in the golden house that opened on her garden. Had she +been in the world of men, every one who saw her would have remembered +their own innocence, seeing one who was so fair and good. She had eyes +blue as the blue sky, and she smiled as if she were remembering lovely +things she had seen or heard. The basket of shining apples was beside +her. + +To each God and Goddess Iduna gave a shining apple. Each one ate the +apple given, rejoicing to think that they would never become a day +older. Then Odin, the Father of the Gods, said the runes that were +always said in praise of Iduna, and the Dwellers in Asgard went out of +Iduna's garden, each one going to his or her own shining house. + +All went except Loki, the doer of good and the doer of evil. Loki sat in +the garden, watching fair and simple Iduna. After a while she spoke to +him and said, "Why dost thou still stay here, wise Loki?" + +"To look well on thine apples," Loki said. "I am wondering if the apples +I saw yesterday are really as shining as the apples that are in thy +basket." + +"There are no apples in the world as shining as mine," said Iduna. + +"The apples I saw were more shining," said Loki. "Aye, and they smelled +better, Iduna." + +Iduna was troubled at what Loki, whom she deemed so wise, told her. Her +eyes filled with tears that there might be more shining apples in the +world than hers. "O Loki," she said, "it cannot be. No apples are more +shining, and none smell so sweet, as the apples I pluck off the tree in +my garden." + +"Go, then, and see," said Loki. "Just outside Asgard is the tree that +has the apples I saw. Thou, Iduna, dost never leave thy garden, and so +thou dost not know what grows in the world. Go outside of Asgard and +see." + +"I will go, Loki," said Iduna, the fair and simple. + +Iduna went outside the wall of Asgard. She went to the place Loki had +told her that the apples grew in. But as she looked this way and that +way, Iduna heard a whirr of wings above her. Looking up, she saw a +mighty eagle, the largest eagle that had ever appeared in the sky. + +She drew back toward the gate of Asgard. Then the great eagle swooped +down; Iduna felt herself lifted up, and then she was being carried away +from Asgard, away, away; away over Midgard where men lived, away toward +the rocks and snows of Jötunheim. Across the river that flows between +the World of Men and the Realm of the Giants Iduna was borne. Then the +eagle flew into a cleft in a mountain and Iduna was left in a cavernous +hall lighted up by columns of fire that burst up from the earth. + +The eagle loosened his grip on Iduna and she sank down on the ground of +the cavern. The wings and the feathers fell from him and she saw her +captor as a terrible Giant. + +"Oh, why have you carried me off from Asgard and brought me to this +place?" Iduna cried. + +"That I might eat your shining apples, Iduna," said Thiassi the Giant. + +"That will never be, for I will not give them to you," said Iduna. + +"Give me the apples to eat, and I shall carry you back to Asgard." + +"No, no, that cannot be. I have been trusted with the shining apples +that I might give them to the Gods only." + +"Then I shall take the apples from you," said Thiassi the Giant. + +He took the basket out of her hands and opened it. But when he touched +the apples they shriveled under his hands. He left them in the basket +and he set the basket down, for he knew now that the apples would be no +good to him unless Iduna gave them to him with her own hands. + +"You must stay with me here until you give me the shining apples," he +said to her. + +Then was poor Iduna frightened: she was frightened of the strange cave +and frightened of the fire that kept bursting up out of the earth and +she was frightened of the terrible Giant. But above all she was +frightened to think of the evil that would fall upon the Dwellers in +Asgard if she were not there to give them the shining apples to eat. + +The Giant came to her again. But still Iduna would not give him the +shining apples. And there in the cave she stayed, the Giant troubling +her every day. And she grew more and more fearful as she saw in her +dreams the Dwellers in Asgard go to her garden--go there, and not being +given the shining apples, feel and see a change coming over themselves +and over each other. + +It was as Iduna saw it in her dreams. Every day the Dwellers in Asgard +went to her garden--Odin and Thor, Hödur and Baldur, Tyr and Heimdall, +Vidar and Vali, with Frigga, Freya, Nanna, and Sif. There was no one to +pluck the apples of their tree. And a change began to come over the Gods +and Goddesses. + +They no longer walked lightly; their shoulders became bent; their eyes +no longer were as bright as dewdrops. And when they looked upon one +another they saw the change. Age was coming upon the Dwellers in Asgard. + +They knew that the time would come when Frigga would be gray and old; +when Sif's golden hair would fade; when Odin would no longer have his +clear wisdom, and when Thor would not have strength enough to raise and +fling his thunderbolts. And the Dwellers in Asgard were saddened by this +knowledge, and it seemed to them that all brightness had gone from their +shining City. + +Where was Iduna whose apples would give back youth and strength and +beauty to the Dwellers in Asgard? The Gods had searched for her through +the World of Men. No trace of her did they find. But now Odin, searching +through his wisdom, saw a means to get knowledge of where Iduna was +hidden. + +He summoned his two ravens, Hugin and Munin, his two ravens that flew +through the earth and through the Realm of the Giants and that knew all +things that were past and all things that were to come. He summoned +Hugin and Munin and they came, and one sat on his right shoulder and one +sat on his left shoulder and they told him deep secrets: they told him +of Thiassi and of his desire for the shining apples that the Dwellers in +Asgard ate, and of Loki's deception of Iduna, the fair and simple. + +What Odin learnt from his ravens was told in the Council of the Gods. +Then Thor the Strong went to Loki and laid hands upon him. When Loki +found himself in the grip of the strong God, he said, "What wouldst thou +with me, O Thor?" + +"I would hurl thee into a chasm in the ground and strike thee with my +thunder," said the strong God. "It was thou who didst bring it about +that Iduna went from Asgard." + +"O Thor," said Loki, "do not crush me with thy thunder. Let me stay in +Asgard. I will strive to win Iduna back." + +"The judgment of the Gods," said Thor, "is that thou, the cunning one, +shouldst go to Jötunheim, and by thy craft win Iduna back from the +Giants. Go or else I shall hurl thee into a chasm and crush thee with my +thunder." + +"I will go," said Loki. + +From Frigga, the wife of Odin, Loki borrowed the dress of falcon +feathers that she owned. He clad himself in it, and flew to Jötunheim in +the form of a falcon. + +He searched through Jötunheim until he found Thiassi's daughter, Skadi. +He flew before Skadi and he let the Giant maid catch him and hold him as +a pet. One day the Giant maid carried him into the cave where Iduna, the +fair and simple, was held. + +When Loki saw Iduna there he knew that part of his quest was ended. Now +he had to get Iduna out of Jötunheim and away to Asgard. He stayed no +more with the Giant maid, but flew up into the high rocks of the cave. +Skadi wept for the flight of her pet, but she ceased to search and to +call and went away from the cave. + +Then Loki, the doer of good and the doer of evil, flew to where Iduna +was sitting and spoke to her. Iduna, when she knew that one of the +Dwellers in Asgard was near, wept with joy. + +Loki told her what she was to do. By the power of a spell that was given +him he was able to change her into the form of a sparrow. But before she +did this she took the shining apples out of her basket and flung them +into places where the Giant would never find them. + +Skadi, coming back to the cave, saw the falcon fly out with the sparrow +beside him. She cried out to her father and the Giant knew that the +falcon was Loki and the sparrow was Iduna. He changed himself into the +form of a mighty eagle. By this time sparrow and falcon were out of +sight, but Thiassi, knowing that he could make better flight than they, +flew toward Asgard. + +Soon he saw them. They flew with all the power they had, but the great +wings of the eagle brought him nearer and nearer to them. The Dwellers +in Asgard, standing on the wall, saw the falcon and the sparrow with the +great eagle pursuing them. They knew who they were--Loki and Iduna with +Thiassi in pursuit. + +As they watched the eagle winging nearer and nearer, the Dwellers in +Asgard were fearful that the falcon and the sparrow would be caught upon +and that Iduna would be taken again by Thiassi. They lighted great fires +upon the wall, knowing that Loki would find a way through the fires, +bringing Iduna with him, but that Thiassi would not find a way. + +The falcon and the sparrow flew toward the fires. Loki went between the +flames and brought Iduna with him. And Thiassi, coming up to the fires +and finding no way through, beat his wings against the flames. He fell +down from the wall and the death that came to him afterwards was laid to +Loki. + +Thus Iduna was brought back to Asgard. Once again she sat in the golden +house that opened to her garden, once again she plucked the shining +apples off the tree she tended, and once again she gave them to the +Dwellers in Asgard. And the Dwellers in Asgard walked lightly again, and +brightness came into their eyes and into their cheeks; age no more +approached them; youth came back; light and joy were again in Asgard. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SIF'S GOLDEN HAIR: HOW LOKI WROUGHT MISCHIEF IN ASGARD + + +All who dwelt in Asgard, the Æsir and the Asyniur, who were the Gods and +the Goddesses, and the Vanir, who were the friends of the Gods and the +Goddesses, were wroth with Loki. It was no wonder they were wroth with +him, for he had let the Giant Thiassi carry off Iduna and her golden +apples. Still, it must be told that the show they made of their wrath +made Loki ready to do more mischief in Asgard. + +One day he saw a chance to do mischief that made his heart rejoice. Sif, +the wife of Thor, was lying asleep outside her house. Her beautiful +golden hair flowed all round her. Loki knew how much Thor loved that +shining hair, and how greatly Sif prized it because of Thor's love. +Here was his chance to do a great mischief. Smilingly, he took out his +shears and he cut off the shining hair, every strand and every tress. +She did not waken while her treasure was being taken from her. But Loki +left Sif's head cropped and bare. + +Thor was away from Asgard. Coming back to the City of the Gods, he went +into his house. Sif, his wife, was not there to welcome him. He called +to Sif, but no glad answer came from her. To the palaces of all the Gods +and Goddesses Thor went, but in none of them did he find Sif, his +golden-haired wife. + +When he was coming back to his house he heard his name whispered. He +stopped, and then a figure stole out from behind a stone. A veil covered +her head, and Thor scarce knew that this was Sif, his wife. As he went +to her she sobbed and sobbed. "O Thor, my husband," she said, "do not +look upon me. I am ashamed that you should see me. I shall go from +Asgard and from the company of the Gods and Goddesses, and I shall go +down to Svartheim and live amongst the Dwarfs. I cannot bear that any of +the Dwellers in Asgard should look upon me now." + +"O Sif," cried Thor, "what has happened to change you?" + +"I have lost the hair of my head," said Sif, "I have lost the beautiful +golden hair that you, Thor, loved. You will not love me any more, and so +I must go away, down to Svartheim and to the company of the Dwarfs. They +are as ugly as I am now." + +Then she took the veil off her head and Thor saw that all her beautiful +hair was gone. She stood before him, shamed and sorrowful, and he grew +into a mighty rage. "Who was it did this to you, Sif?" he said. "I am +Thor, the strongest of all the Dwellers in Asgard, and I shall see to it +that all the powers the Gods possess will be used to get your fairness +back. Come with me, Sif." And taking his wife's hand in his, Thor went +off to the Council House where the Gods and the Goddesses were. + +Sif covered her head with her veil, for she would not have the Gods and +Goddesses look upon her shorn head. But from the anger in Thor's eyes +all saw that the wrong done to Sif was great indeed. Then Thor told of +the cutting of her beautiful hair. A whisper went round the Council +House. "It was Loki did this--no one else in Asgard would have done a +deed so shameful," one said to the other. + +"Loki it was who did it," said Thor. "He has hidden himself, but I shall +find him and I will slay him." + +"Nay, not so, Thor," said Odin, the Father of the Gods. "Nay, no Dweller +in Asgard may slay another. I shall summon Loki to come before us here. +It is for you to make him (and remember that Loki is cunning and able to +do many things) bring back to Sif the beauty of her golden hair." + +Then the call of Odin, the call that all in Asgard have to harken to, +went through the City of the Gods. Loki heard it, and he had to come +from his hiding-place and enter the house where the Gods held their +Council. And when he looked on Thor and saw the rage that was in his +eyes, and when he looked on Odin and saw the sternness in the face of +the Father of the Gods, he knew that he would have to make amends for +the shameful wrong he had done to Sif. + +Said Odin, "There is a thing that you, Loki, have to do: Restore to Sif +the beauty of her hair." + +Loki looked at Odin, Loki looked at Thor, and he saw that what was said +would have to be done. His quick mind searched to find a way of +restoring to Sif the beauty of her golden hair. + +"I shall do as you command, Odin All-Father," he said. + +But before we tell you of what Loki did to restore the beauty of Sif's +golden hair, we must tell you of the other beings besides the Gods and +the Goddesses who were in the world at the time. First, there was the +Vanir. When the Gods who were called the Æsir came to the mountain on +which they built Asgard, they found other beings there. These were not +wicked and ugly like the Giants; they were beautiful and friendly; the +Vanir they were named. + +Although they were beautiful and friendly the Vanir had no thought of +making the world more beautiful or more happy. In that way they differed +from the Æsir who had such a thought. The Æsir made peace with them, and +they lived together in friendship, and the Vanir came to do things that +helped the Æsir to make the world more beautiful and more happy. Freya, +whom the Giant wanted to take away with the Sun and the Moon as a reward +for the building of the wall round Asgard, was of the Vanir. The other +beings of the Vanir were Frey, who was the brother of Freya, and Niörd, +who was their father. + +On the earth below there were other beings--the dainty Elves, who danced +and fluttered about, attending to the trees and flowers and grasses. The +Vanir were permitted to rule over the Elves. Then below the earth, in +caves and hollows, there was another race, the Dwarfs or Gnomes, little, +twisted creatures, who were both wicked and ugly, but who were the best +craftsmen in the world. + +In the days when neither the Æsir nor the Vanir were friendly to him +Loki used to go down to Svartheim, the Dwarfs' dwelling below the earth. +And now that he was commanded to restore to Sif the beauty of her hair, +Loki thought of help he might get from the Dwarfs. + +Down, down, through the winding passages in the earth he went, and he +came at last to where the Dwarfs who were most friendly to him were +working in their forges. All the Dwarfs were master-smiths, and when he +came upon his friends he found them working hammer and tongs, beating +metals into many shapes. He watched them for a while and took note of +the things they were making. One was a spear, so well balanced and made +that it would hit whatever mark it was thrown at no matter how bad the +aim the thrower had. The other was a boat that could sail on any sea, +but that could be folded up so that it would go into one's pocket. The +spear was called Gungnir and the boat was called Skidbladnir. + +Loki made himself very agreeable to the Dwarfs, praising their work and +promising them things that only the Dwellers in Asgard could give, +things that the Dwarfs longed to possess. He talked to them till the +little, ugly folk thought that they would come to own Asgard and all +that was in it. + +At last Loki said to them, "Have you got a bar of fine gold that you can +hammer into threads--into threads so fine that they will be like the +hair of Sif, Thor's wife? Only the Dwarfs could make a thing so +wonderful. Ah, there is the bar of gold. Hammer it into those fine +threads, and the Gods themselves will be jealous of your work." + +Flattered by Loki's speeches, the Dwarfs who were in the forge took up +the bar of fine gold and flung it into the fire. Then taking it out and +putting it upon their anvil they worked on the bar with their tiny +hammers until they beat it into threads that were as fine as the hairs +of one's head. But that was not enough. They had to be as fine as the +hairs on Sif's head, and these were finer than anything else. They +worked on the threads, over and over again, until they were as fine as +the hairs on Sif's head. The threads were as bright as sunlight, and +when Loki took up the mass of worked gold it flowed from his raised hand +down on the ground. It was so fine that it could be put into his palm, +and it was so light that a bird might not feel its weight. + +Then Loki praised the Dwarfs more and more, and he made more and more +promises to them. He charmed them all, although they were an unfriendly +and a suspicious folk. And before he left them he asked them for the +spear and the boat he had seen them make, the spear Gungnir and the +boat Skidbladnir. The Dwarfs gave him these things, though in a while +after they wondered at themselves for giving them. + +Back to Asgard Loki went. He walked into the Council House where the +Dwellers in Asgard were gathered. He met the stern look in Odin's eyes +and the rageful look in Thor's eyes with smiling good humor. "Off with +thy veil, O Sif," he said. And when poor Sif took off her veil he put +upon her shorn head the wonderful mass of gold he held in his palm. Over +her shoulders the gold fell, fine, soft, and shining as her own hair. +And the Æsir and the Asyniur, the Gods and the Goddesses, and the Van +and Vana, when they saw Sif's head covered again with the shining web, +laughed and clapped their hands in gladness. And the shining web held to +Sif's head as if indeed it had roots and was growing there. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HOW BROCK BROUGHT JUDGMENT ON LOKI + + +It was then that Loki, with the wish of making the Æsir and the Vanir +friendly to him once more, brought out the wonderful things he had +gained from the Dwarfs--the spear Gungnir and the boat Skidbladnir. The +Æsir and the Vanir marveled at things so wonderful. Loki gave the spear +as a gift to Odin, and to Frey, who was chief of the Vanir, he gave the +boat Skidbladnir. + +All Asgard rejoiced that things so wonderful and so helpful had been +brought to them. And Loki, who had made a great show in giving these +gifts, said boastingly: + +"None but the Dwarfs who work for me could make such things. There are +other Dwarfs, but they are as unhandy as they are misshapen. The Dwarfs +who are my servants are the only ones who can make such wonders." + +Now Loki in his boastfulness had said a foolish thing. There were other +Dwarfs besides those who had worked for him, and one of these was there +in Asgard. All unknown to Loki he stood in the shadow of Odin's seat, +listening to what was being said. Now he went over to Loki, his little, +unshapely form trembling with rage--Brock, the most spiteful of all the +Dwarfs. + +"Ha, Loki, you boaster," he roared, "you lie in your words. Sindri, my +brother, who would scorn to serve you, is the best smith in Svartheim." + +The Æsir and the Vanir laughed to see Loki outfaced by Brock the Dwarf +in the middle of his boastfulness. As they laughed Loki grew angry. + +"Be silent, Dwarf," he said, "your brother will know about smith's work +when he goes to the Dwarfs who are my friends, and learns something from +them." + +"He learn from the Dwarfs who are your friends! My brother Sindri learn +from the Dwarfs who are your friends!" Brock roared, in a greater rage +than before. "The things you have brought out of Svartheim would not be +noticed by the Æsir and the Vanir if they were put beside the things +that my brother Sindri can make." + +"Sometime we will try your brother Sindri and see what he can do," said +Loki. + +"Try now, try now," Brock shouted. "I'll wager my head against yours, +Loki, that his work will make the Dwellers in Asgard laugh at your +boasting." + +"I will take your wager," said Loki. "My head against yours. And glad +will I be to see that ugly head of yours off your misshapen shoulders." + +"The Æsir will judge whether my brother's work is not the best that ever +came out of Svartheim. And they will see to it that you will pay your +wager, Loki, the head off your shoulders. Will ye not sit in judgment, O +Dwellers in Asgard?" + +"We will sit in judgment," said the Æsir. Then, still full of rage, +Brock the Dwarf went down to Svartheim, and to the place where his +brother Sindri worked. + +There was Sindri in his glowing forge, working with bellows and anvil +and hammers beside him, and around him masses of metal--gold and silver, +copper and iron. Brock told his tale, how he had wagered his head +against Loki's that Sindri could make things more wonderful than the +spear and the boat that Loki had brought into Asgard. + +"You were right in what you said, my brother," said Sindri, "and you +shall not lose your head to Loki. But the two of us must work at what I +am going to forge. It will be your work to keep the fire so that it will +neither blaze up nor die down for a single instant. If you can keep the +fire as I tell you, we will forge a wonder. Now, brother, keep your +hands upon the bellows, and keep the fire under your control." + +Then into the fire Sindri threw, not a piece of metal, but a pig's skin. +Brock kept his hands on the bellows, working it so that the fire neither +died down nor blazed up for a single instant. And in the glowing fire +the pigskin swelled itself into a strange shape. + +But Brock was not left to work the bellows in peace. In to the forge +flew a gadfly. It lighted on Brock's hands and stung them. The Dwarf +screamed with pain, but his hands still held the bellows, working it to +keep the fire steady, for he knew that the gadfly was Loki, and that +Loki was striving to spoil Sindri's work. Again the gadfly stung his +hands, but Brock, although his hands felt as if they were pierced with +hot irons, still worked the bellows so that the fire did not blaze up or +die down for a single instant. + +Sindri came and looked into the fire. Over the shape that was rising +there he said words of magic. The gadfly had flown away, and Sindri bade +his brother cease working. He took out the thing that had been shaped in +the fire, and he worked over it with his hammer. It was a wonder +indeed--a boar, all golden, that could fly through the air, and that +shed light from its bristles as it flew. Brock forgot the pain in his +hands and screamed with joy. "This is the greatest of wonders," he said. +"The Dwellers in Asgard will have to give the judgment against Loki. I +shall have Loki's head!" + +But Sindri said, "The boar Golden Bristle may not be judged as great a +wonder as the spear Gungnir or the boat Skidbladnir. We must make +something more wonderful still. Work the bellows as before, brother, and +do not let the fire die down or blaze up for a single instant." + +Then Sindri took up a piece of gold that was so bright it lightened up +the dark cavern that the Dwarfs worked in. He threw the piece of gold +into the fire. Then he went to make ready something else and left Brock +to work the bellows. + +The gadfly flew in again. Brock did not know it was there until it +lighted on the back of his neck. It stung him till Brock felt the pain +was wrenching him apart. But still he kept his hands on the bellows, +working it so that the fire neither blazed up nor died down for a single +instant. When Sindri came to look into the fire, Brock was not able to +speak for pain. + +Again Sindri said magic words over the gold that was being smelted in +the fire. He took it out of the glow and worked it over on the +main-anvil. Then in a while he showed Brock something that looked like +the circle of their sun. "A splendid armring, my brother," he said. "An +armring for a God's right arm. And this ring has hidden wonders. Every +ninth night eight rings like itself will drop from this armring, for +this is Draupnir, the Ring of Increase." + +"To Odin, the Father of the Gods, the ring shall be given," said Brock. +"And Odin will have to declare that nothing so wonderful or so +profitable to the Gods was ever brought into Asgard. O Loki, cunning +Loki, I shall have thy head in spite of thy tricks." + +"Be not too hasty, brother," said Sindri. "What we have done so far is +good. But better still must be the thing that will make the Dwellers in +Asgard give the judgment that delivers Loki's head to thee. Work as +before, brother, and do not let the fire blaze up or die down for a +single instant." + +This time Sindri threw into the fire a bar of iron. Then he went away to +fetch the hammer that would shape it. Brock worked the bellows as +before, but only his hands were steady, for every other part of him was +trembling with expectation of the gadfly's sting. + +He saw the gadfly dart into the forge. He screamed as it flew round and +round him, searching out a place where it might sting him most +fearfully. It lighted down on his forehead, just between his eyes. The +first sting it gave took the sight from his eyes. It stung again and +Brock felt the blood flowing down. Darkness filled the cave. Brock tried +to keep his hands steady on the bellows, but he did not know whether the +fire was blazing up or dying down. He shouted and Sindri hurried up. + +Sindri said the magic words over the thing that was in the fire. Then he +drew it out. "An instant more," he said, "and the work would have been +perfect. But because you let the fire die down for an instant the work +is not as good as it might have been made." He took what was shaped in +the fire to the main-anvil and worked over it. Then when Brock's +eyesight came back to him he saw a great hammer, a hammer all of iron. +The handle did not seem to be long enough to balance the head. This was +because the fire had died down for an instant while it was being formed. + +"The hammer is Miölnir," said Sindri, "and it is the greatest of the +things that I am able to make. All in Asgard must rejoice to see this +hammer. Thor only will be able to wield it. Now I am not afraid of the +judgment that the Dwellers in Asgard will give." + +"The Dwellers in Asgard will have to give judgment for us," Brock cried +out. "They will have to give judgment for us, and the head of Loki, my +tormentor, will be given me." + +"No more wonderful or more profitable gifts than these have ever been +brought into Asgard," Sindri said. "Thy head is saved, and thou wilt be +able to take the head of Loki who was insolent to us. Bring it here, and +we will throw it into the fire in the forge." + +The Æsir and the Vanir were seated in the Council House of Asgard when a +train of Dwarfs appeared before them. Brock came at the head of the +train, and he was followed by a band of Dwarfs carrying things of great +weight. Brock and his attendants stood round the throne of Odin, and +hearkened to the words of the Father of the Gods. + +"We know why you have come into Asgard from out of Svartheim," Odin +said. "You have brought things wonderful and profitable to the Dwellers +in Asgard. Let what you have brought be seen, Brock. If they are more +wonderful and more useful than the things Loki has brought out of +Svartheim, the spear Gungnir and the boat Skidbladnir, we will give +judgment for you." + +Then Brock commanded the Dwarfs who waited on him to show the Dwellers +in Asgard the first of the wonders that Sindri had made. They brought +out the boar, Golden Bristle. Round and round the Council House the boar +flew, leaving a track of brightness. The Dwellers in Asgard said one to +the other that this was a wonder indeed. But none would say that the +boar was a better thing to have in Asgard than the spear that would hit +the mark no matter how badly it was flung, or the boat Skidbladnir that +would sail on any sea, and that could be folded up so small that it +would fit in any one's pocket: none would say that Golden Bristle was +better than these wonders. + +To Frey, who was Chief of the Vanir, Brock gave the wondrous boar. + +Then the attending Dwarfs showed the armring that was as bright as the +circle of the Sun. All admired the noble ring. And when it was told how +every ninth night this ring dropped eight rings of gold that were like +itself, the Dwellers in Asgard spoke aloud, all saying that Draupnir, +the Ring of Increase, was a wonder indeed. Hearing their voices raised, +Brock looked triumphantly at Loki who was standing there with his lips +drawn closely together. + +To Odin, the Father of the Gods, Brock gave the noble armring. + +Then he commanded the attending Dwarfs to lay before Thor the hammer +Miölnir. Thor took the hammer up and swung it around his head. As he did +so he uttered a great cry. And the eyes of the Dwellers in Asgard +lightened up when they saw Thor with the hammer Miölnir in his hands; +their eyes lightened up and from their lips came the cry, "This is a +wonder, a wonder indeed! With this hammer in his hand none can withstand +Thor, our Champion. No greater thing has ever come into Asgard than the +hammer Miölnir." + +Then Odin, the Father of the Gods, spoke from his throne, giving +judgment. "The hammer Miölnir that the Dwarf Brock has brought into +Asgard is a thing wonderful indeed and profitable to the Gods. In +Thor's hands it can crush mountains, and hurl the Giant race from the +ramparts of Asgard. Sindri the Dwarf has forged a greater thing than the +spear Gungnir and the boat Skidbladnir. There can be no other judgment." + +Brock looked at Loki, showing his gnarled teeth. "Now, Loki, yield your +head, yield your head," he cried. + +"Do not ask such a thing," said Odin. "Put any other penalty on Loki for +mocking you and tormenting you. Make him yield to you the greatest thing +that it is in his power to give." + +"Not so, not so," screamed Brock. "You Dwellers in Asgard would shield +one another. But what of me? Loki would have taken my head had I lost +the wager. Loki has lost his head to me. Let him kneel down now till I +cut it off." + +Loki came forward, smiling with closed lips. "I kneel before you, +Dwarf," he said. "Take off my head. But be careful. Do not touch my +neck. I did not bargain that you should touch my neck. If you do, I +shall call upon the Dwellers in Asgard to punish you." + +Brock drew back with a snarl. "Is this the judgment of the Gods?" he +asked. + +"The bargain you made, Brock," said Odin, "was an evil one, and all its +evil consequences you must bear." + +Brock, in a rage, looked upon Loki, and he saw that his lips were +smiling. He stamped his feet and raged. Then he went up to Loki and +said, "I may not take your head, but I can do something with your lips +that mock me." + +"What would you do, Dwarf?" asked Thor. + +"Sew Loki's lips together," said Brock, "so that he can do no more +mischief with his talk. You Dwellers in Asgard cannot forbid me to do +this. Down, Loki, on your knees before me." + +Loki looked round on the Dwellers in Asgard and he saw that their +judgment was that he must kneel before the Dwarf. He knelt down with a +frown upon his brow. "Draw your lips together, Loki," said Brock. Loki +drew his lips together while his eyes flashed fire. With an awl that he +took from his belt Brock pierced Loki's lips. He took out a thong and +tightened them together. Then in triumph the Dwarf looked on Loki. + +"O Loki," he said, "you boasted that the Dwarfs who worked for you were +better craftsmen than Sindri, my brother. Your words have been shown to +be lies. And now you cannot boast for a while." + +Then Brock the Dwarf, with great majesty, walked out of the Council +House of Asgard, and the attending Dwarfs marched behind him in +procession. Down the passages in the earth the Dwarfs went, singing the +song of Brock's triumph over Loki. And in Svartheim it was told forever +after how Sindri and Brock had prevailed. + +In Asgard, now that Loki's lips were closed, there was peace and a +respite from mischief. No one amongst the Æsir or the Vanir were sorry +when Loki had to walk about in silence with his head bent low. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HOW FREYA GAINED HER NECKLACE AND HOW HER LOVED ONE WAS LOST TO HER + + +Yes, Loki went through Asgard silent and with head bent, and the +Dwellers in Asgard said one unto the other, "This will teach Loki to +work no more mischief." They did not know that what Loki had done had +sown the seeds of mischief and that these seeds were to sprout up and +bring sorrow to the beautiful Vana Freya, to Freya whom the Giant wanted +to carry off with the Sun and the Moon as payment for his building the +wall around Asgard. + +Freya had looked upon the wonders that Loki had brought into Asgard--the +golden threads that were Sif's hair, and Frey's boar that shed light +from its bristles as it flew. The gleam of these golden things dazzled +her, and made her dream in the day time and the night time of the +wonders that she herself might possess. And often she thought, "What +wonderful things the Three Giant Women would give me if I could bring +myself to go to them on their mountaintop." + +Long ere this, when the wall around their City was not yet built, and +when the Gods had set up only the court with their twelve seats and the +Hall that was for Odin and the Hall that was for the Goddesses, there +had come into Asgard Three Giant Women. + +They came after the Gods had set up a forge and had begun to work metal +for their buildings. The metal they worked was pure gold. With gold they +built Gladsheim, the Hall of Odin, and with gold they made all their +dishes and household ware. Then was the Age of Gold, and the Gods did +not grudge gold to anyone. Happy were the Gods then, and no shadow nor +foreboding lay on Asgard. + +But after the Three Giant Women came the Gods began to value gold and to +hoard it. They played with it no more. And the happy innocence of their +first days departed from them. + +At last the Three were banished from Asgard. The Gods turned their +thoughts from the hoarding of gold, and they built up their City, and +they made themselves strong. + +And now Freya, the lovely Vanir bride, thought upon the Giant Women and +on the wonderful things of gold they had flashed through their hands. +But not to Odur, her husband, did she speak her thoughts; for Odur, more +than any of the other dwellers in Asgard, was wont to think on the days +of happy innocence, before gold came to be hoarded and valued. Odur +would not have Freya go near the mountaintop where the Three had their +high seat. + +But Freya did not cease to think upon them and upon the things of gold +they had. "Why should Odur know I went to them?" she said to herself. +"No one will tell him. And what difference will it make if I go to them +and gain some lovely thing for myself? I shall not love Odur the less +because I go my own way for once." + +Then one day she left their palace, leaving Odur, her husband, playing +with their little child Hnossa. She left the palace and went down to the +Earth. There she stayed for a while, tending the flowers that were her +charge. After a while she asked the Elves to tell her where the mountain +was on which the Three Giant Women stayed. + +The Elves were frightened and would not tell her, although she was queen +over them. She left them and stole down into the caves of the Dwarfs. It +was they who showed her the way to the seat of the Giant Women, but +before they showed her the way they made her feel shame and misery. + +"We will show you the way if you stay with us here," said one of the +Dwarfs. + +"For how long would you have me stay?" said Freya. + +"Until the cocks in Svartheim crow," said the Dwarfs, closing round her. +"We want to know what the company of one of the Vanir is like." "I will +stay," Freya said. + +Then one of the Dwarfs reached up and put his arms round her neck and +kissed her with his ugly mouth. Freya tried to break away from them, but +the Dwarfs held her. "You cannot go away from us now until the cocks of +Svartheim crow," they said. + +Then one and then another of the Dwarfs pressed up to her and kissed +her. They made her sit down beside them on the heaps of skins they had. +When she wept they screamed at her and beat her. One, when she would not +kiss him on the mouth, bit her hands. So Freya stayed with the Dwarfs +until the cocks of Svartheim crew. + +They showed her the mountain on the top of which the Three banished from +Asgard had their abode. The Giant Women sat overlooking the World of +Men. "What would you have from us, wife of Odur?" one who was called +Gulveig said to her. + +"Alas! Now that I have found you I know that I should ask you for +nought," Freya said. + +"Speak, Vana," said the second of the Giant Women. + +The third said nothing, but she held up in her hands a necklace of gold +most curiously fashioned. "How bright it is!" Freya said. "There is +shadow where you sit, women, but the necklace you hold makes brightness +now. Oh, how I should joy to wear it!" + +"It is the necklace Brisingamen," said the one who was called Gulveig. + +"It is yours to wear, wife of Odur," said the one who held it in her +hands. + +Freya took the shining necklace and clasped it round her throat. She +could not bring herself to thank the Giant Women, for she saw that +there was evil in their eyes. She made reverence to them, however, and +she went from the mountain on which they sat overlooking the World of +Men. + +In a while she looked down and saw Brisingamen and her misery went from +her. It was the most beautiful thing ever made by hands. None of the +Asyniur and none other of the Vanir possessed a thing so beautiful. It +made her more and more lovely, and Odur, she thought, would forgive her +when he saw how beautiful and how happy Brisingamen made her. + +She rose up from amongst the flowers and took leave of the slight Elves +and she made her way into Asgard. All who greeted her looked long and +with wonder upon the necklace that she wore. And into the eyes of the +Goddesses there came a look of longing when they saw Brisingamen. + +But Freya hardly stopped to speak to anyone. As swiftly as she could she +made her way to her own palace. She would show herself to Odur and win +his forgiveness. She entered her shining palace and called to him. No +answer came. Her child, the little Hnossa, was on the floor, playing. +Her mother took her in her arms, but the child, when she looked on +Brisingamen, turned away crying. + +Freya left Hnossa down and searched again for Odur. He was not in any +part of their palace. She went into the houses of all who dwelt in +Asgard, asking for tidings of him. None knew where he had gone to. At +last Freya went back to their palace and waited and waited for Odur to +return. But Odur did not come. + +One came to her. It was a Goddess, Odin's wife, the queenly Frigga. "You +are waiting for Odur, your husband," Frigga said. "Ah, let me tell you +Odur will not come to you here. He went, when for the sake of a shining +thing you did what would make him unhappy. Odur has gone from Asgard and +no one knows where to search for him." + +"I will seek him outside of Asgard," Freya said. She wept no more, but +she took the little child Hnossa and put her in Frigga's arms. Then she +mounted her car that was drawn by two cats, and journeyed down from +Asgard to Midgard, the Earth, to search for Odur her husband. + +Year in and year out, and over all the Earth, Freya went searching and +calling for the lost Odur. She went as far as the bounds of the Earth, +where she could look over to Jötunheim, where dwelt the Giant who would +have carried her off with the Sun and the Moon as payment for the +building of the wall around Asgard. But in no place, from the end of the +Rainbow Bifröst, that stretched from Asgard to the Earth, to the +boundary of Jötunheim, did she find a trace of her husband Odur. + +At last she turned her car toward Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge that +stretched from Midgard, the Earth, to Asgard, the Dwelling of the Gods. +Heimdall, the Watcher for the Gods, guarded the Rainbow Bridge. To him +Freya went with a half hope fluttering in her heart. + +"O Heimdall," she cried, "O Heimdall, Watcher for the Gods, speak and +tell me if you know where Odur is." + +"Odur is in every place where the searcher has not come; Odur is in +every place that the searcher has left; those who seek him will never +find Odur," said Heimdall, the Watcher for the Gods. + +Then Freya stood on Bifröst and wept. Frigga, the queenly Goddess, heard +the sound of her weeping, and came out of Asgard to comfort her. + +"Ah, what comfort can you give me, Frigga?" cried Freya. "What comfort +can you give me when Odur will never be found by one who searches for +him?" + +"Behold how your daughter, the child Hnossa, has grown," said Frigga. +Freya looked up and saw a beautiful maiden standing on Bifröst, the +Rainbow Bridge. She was young, more youthful than any of the Vanir or +the Asyniur, and her face and her form were so lovely that all hearts +became melted when they looked upon her. + +And Freya was comforted in her loss. She followed Frigga across Bifröst, +the Rainbow Bridge, and came once again into the City of the Gods. In +her own palace in Asgard Freya dwelt with Hnossa, her child. + +Still she wore round her neck Brisingamen, the necklace that lost her +Odur. But now she wore it, not for its splendor, but as a sign of the +wrong she had done. She weeps, and her tears become golden drops as they +fall on the earth. And by poets who know her story she is called The +Beautiful Lady in Tears. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HOW FREY WON GERDA, THE GIANT MAIDEN, AND HOW HE LOST HIS MAGIC SWORD + + +Frey, chief of the Vanir, longed to have sight of his sister who had +been from Asgard for so long. (You must know that this happened during +the time when Freya was wandering through the world, seeking her +husband, the lost Odur.) Now there was in Asgard a place from which one +could overlook the world and have a glimpse of all who wandered there. +That place was Hlidskjalf, Odin's lofty Watch-Tower. + +High up into the blue of the air that Tower went. Frey came to it and he +knew that Odin All-Father was not upon Hlidskjalf. Only the two wolves, +Geri and Freki, that crouched beside Odin's seat at the banquet, were +there, and they stood in the way of Frey's entrance to the Tower. But +Frey spoke to Geri and Freki in the language of the Gods, and Odin's +wolves had to let him pass. + +But, as he went up the steps within the Tower, Frey, chief of the Vanir, +knew that he was doing a fateful thing. For none of the High Gods, not +even Thor, the Defender of Asgard, nor Baldur, the Best-Beloved of the +Gods, had ever climbed to the top of that Tower and seated themselves +upon the All-Father's seat. "But if I could see my sister once I should +be contented," said Frey to himself, "and no harm can come to me if I +look out on the world." + +He came to the top of Hlidskjalf. He seated himself on Odin's lofty +seat. He looked out on the world. He saw Midgard, the World of Men, with +its houses and towns, its farms and people. Beyond Midgard he saw +Jötunheim, the Realm of the Giants, terrible with its dark mountains and +its masses of snow and ice. He saw Freya as she went upon her +wanderings, and he marked that her face was turned toward Asgard and +that her steps were leading toward the City of the Gods. "I have +contented myself by looking from Hlidskjalf," said Frey to himself, "and +no harm has come to me." + +But even as he spoke his gaze was drawn to a dwelling that stood in the +middle of the ice and snow of Jötunheim. Long he gazed upon that +dwelling without knowing why he looked that way. Then the door of the +house was opened and a Giant maiden stood within the doorway. Frey gazed +and gazed on her. So great was the beauty of her face that it was like +starlight in that dark land. She looked from the doorway of the house, +and then turned and went within, shutting the door. + +Frey sat on Odin's high seat for long. Then he went down the steps of +the Tower and passed by the two wolves, Geri and Freki, that looked +threateningly upon him. He went through Asgard, but he found no one to +please him in the City of the Gods. That night sleep did not come to +him, for his thoughts were fixed upon the loveliness of the Giant maid +he had looked upon. And when morning came he was filled with loneliness +because he thought himself so far from her. He went to Hlidskjalf again, +thinking to climb the Tower and have sight of her once more. But now the +two wolves, Geri and Freki, bared their teeth at him and would not let +him pass, although he spoke to them again in the language of the Gods. + +He went and spoke to wise Niörd, his father. "She whom you have seen, my +son," said Niörd, "is Gerda, the daughter of the Giant Gymer. You must +give over thinking of her. Your love for her would be an ill thing for +you." + +"Why should it be an ill thing for me?" Frey asked. + +"Because you would have to give that which you prize most for the sake +of coming to her." + +"That which I prize most," said Frey, "is my magic sword." + +"You will have to give your magic sword," said his father, the wise +Niörd. + +"I will give it," said Frey, loosening his magic sword from his belt. + +"Bethink thee, my son," said Niörd. "If thou givest thy sword, what +weapon wilt thou have on the day of Ragnarök, when the Giants will make +war upon the Gods?" + +Frey did not speak, but he thought the day of Ragnarök was far off. "I +cannot live without Gerda," he said, as he turned away. + +There was one in Asgard who was called Skirnir. He was a venturesome +being who never cared what he said or did. To no one else but Skirnir +could Frey bring himself to tell of the trouble that had fallen on +him--the trouble that was the punishment for his placing himself on the +seat of the All-Father. + +Skirnir laughed when he heard Frey's tale. "Thou, a Van, in love with a +maid of Jötunheim! This is fun indeed! Will ye make a marriage of it?" + +"Would that I might even speak to her or send a message of love to her," +said Frey. "But I may not leave my watch over the Elves." + +"And if I should take a message to Gerda," said Skirnir the Venturesome, +"what would my reward be?" + +"My boat Skidbladnir or my boar Golden Bristle," said Frey. + +"No, no," said Skirnir. "I want something to go by my side. I want +something to use in my hand. Give me the magic sword you own." + +Frey thought upon what his father said, that he would be left weaponless +on the day of Ragnarök, when the Giants would make war upon the Gods and +when Asgard would be endangered. He thought upon this, and drew back +from Skirnir, and for a while he remained in thought. And all the time +thick-set Skirnir was laughing at him out of his wide mouth and his blue +eyes. Then Frey said to himself, "The day of Ragnarök is far off, and I +cannot live without Gerda." + +He drew the magic sword from his belt and he placed it in Skirnir's +hand. "I give you my sword, Skirnir," he said. "Take my message to +Gerda, Gymer's daughter. Show her this gold and these precious jewels, +and say I love her, and that I claim her love." + +"I shall bring the maid to you," said Skirnir the Venturesome. + +"But how wilt thou get to Jötunheim?" said Frey, suddenly remembering +how dark the Giants' land was and how terrible were the approaches to +it. + +"Oh, with a good horse and a good sword one can get anywhere," said +Skirnir. "My horse is a mighty horse, and you have given me your sword +of magic. Tomorrow I shall make the journey." + +Skirnir rode across Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge, laughing out of his +wide mouth and his blue eyes at Heimdall, the Warder of the Bridge to +Asgard. His mighty horse trod the earth of Midgard, and swam the river +that divides Midgard, the World of Men, from Jötunheim, the Realm of the +Giants. He rode on heedlessly and recklessly, as he did all things. Then +out of the iron forests came the monstrous wolves of Jötunheim, to tear +and devour him and his mighty horse. It was well for Skirnir that he had +in his belt Frey's magic sword. Its edge slew and its gleam frighted +the monstrous beasts. On and on Skirnir rode on his mighty horse. Then +he came to a wall of fire. No other horse but his mighty horse could go +through it. Skirnir rode through the fire and came to the dale in which +was Gymer's dwelling. + +And now he was before the house that Frey had seen Gerda enter on the +day when he had climbed Hlidskjalf, Odin's Watch-Tower. The mighty +hounds that guarded Gymer's dwelling came and bayed around him. But the +gleam of the magic sword kept them away. Skirnir backed his horse to the +door, and made his horse's hooves strike against it. + +Gymer was in the feast hall drinking with his Giant friends, and he did +not hear the baying of the hounds nor the clatter that Skirnir made +before the door. But Gerda sat spinning with her maidens in the hall. +"Who comes to Gymer's door?" she said. + +"A warrior upon a mighty horse," said one of the maidens. + +"Even though he be an enemy and one who slew my brother, yet shall we +open the door to him and give him a cup of Gymer's mead," said Gerda. + +One of the maidens opened the door and Skirnir entered Gymer's dwelling. +He knew Gerda amongst her maidens. He went to her and showed her the +rich gold and the precious jewels that he had brought from Frey. "These +are for you, fairest Gerda," he said, "if you will give your love to +Frey, the Chief of the Vanir." + +"Show your gold and jewels to other maidens," said Gerda. "Gold and +jewels will never bring me to give my love." + +Then Skirnir the Venturesome, the heedless of his words, drew the magic +sword from his belt and held it above her. "Give your love to Frey, who +has given me this sword," he said, "or meet your death by the edge of +it." + +Gerda, Gymer's daughter, only laughed at the reckless Skirnir, "Make the +daughters of men fearful by the sharpness of Frey's sword," she said, +"but do not try to frighten a Giant's daughter with it." + +Then Skirnir the Reckless, the heedless of his words, made the magic +sword flash before her eyes, while he cried out in a terrible voice, +saying a spell over her: + + Gerda, I will curse thee; + Yes, with this magic + Blade I shall touch thee; + Such is its power + That, like a thistle, + Withered 'twill leave thee, + Like a thistle the wind + Strips from the roof. + +Hearing these terrible words and the strange hissings of the magic +sword, Gerda threw herself on the ground, crying out for pity. But +Skirnir stood above her, and the magic sword flashed and hissed over +her. Skirnir sang: + + More ugly I'll leave thee + Than maid ever was; + Thou wilt be mocked at + By men and by Giants; + A Dwarf only will wed thee; + Now on this instant + With this blade I shall touch thee, + And leave thee bespelled. + +She lifted herself on her knees and cried out to Skirnir to spare her +from the spell of the magic sword. + +"Only if thou wilt give thy love to Frey," said Skirnir. + +"I will give my love to him," said Gerda. "Now put up thy magic sword +and drink a cup of mead and depart from Gymer's dwelling." + +"I will not drink a cup of your mead nor shall I depart from Gymer's +dwelling until you yourself say that you will meet and speak with Frey." + +"I will meet and speak with him," said Gerda. + +"When will you meet and speak with him?" asked Skirnir. + +"In the wood of Barri nine nights from this. Let him come and meet me +there." + +Then Skirnir put up his magic sword and drank the cup of mead that Gerda +gave him. He rode from Gymer's house, laughing aloud at having won Gerda +for Frey, and so making the magic sword his own for ever. + +Skirnir the Venturesome, the heedless of his words, riding across +Bifröst on his mighty horse, found Frey standing waiting for him beside +Heimdall, the Warder of the Bridge to Asgard. + +"What news dost thou bring me?" cried Frey. "Speak, Skirnir, before thou +dost dismount from thine horse." + +"In nine nights from this thou mayst meet Gerda in Barri Wood," said +Skirnir. He looked at him, laughing out of his wide mouth and his blue +eyes. But Frey turned away, saying to himself: + + Long is one day; + Long, long two. + Can I live through + Nine long days? + +Long indeed were these days for Frey. But the ninth day came, and in the +evening Frey went to Barri Wood. And there he met Gerda, the Giant maid. +She was as fair as when he had seen her before the door of Gymer's +house. And when she saw Frey, so tall and noble looking, the Giant's +daughter was glad that Skirnir the Venturesome had made her promise to +come to Barri Wood. They gave each other rings of gold. It was settled +that the Giant maid should come as a bride to Asgard. + +Gerda came, but another Giant maid came also. This is how that came to +be: + +All the Dwellers in Asgard were standing before the great gate, waiting +to welcome the bride of Frey. There appeared a Giant maid who was not +Gerda; all in armor was she. + +"I am Skadi," she said, "the daughter of Thiassi. My father met his +death at the hands of the Dwellers in Asgard. I claim a recompense." + +"What recompense would you have, maiden?" asked Odin, smiling to see a +Giant maid standing so boldly in Asgard. + +"A husband from amongst you, even as Gerda. And I myself must be let +choose him." + +All laughed aloud at the words of Skadi. Then said Odin, laughing, "We +will let you choose a husband from amongst us, but you must choose him +by his feet." + +"I will choose him whatever way you will," said Skadi fixing her eyes on +Baldur, the most beautiful of all the Dwellers in Asgard. + +They put a bandage round her eyes, and the Æsir and the Vanir seat in a +half circle around. As she went by she stooped over each and laid hands +upon their feet. At last she came to one whose feet were so finely +formed that she felt sure it was Baldur. She stood up and said: + +"This is the one that Skadi chooses for her husband." + +Then the Æsir and the Vanir laughed more and more. They took the bandage +off her eyes and she saw, not Baldur the Beautiful, but Niörd, the +father of Frey. But as Skadi looked more and more on Niörd she became +more and more contented with her choice; for Niörd was strong, and he +was noble looking. + +These two, Niörd and Skadi, went first to live in Niörd's palace by the +sea; but the coming of the sea mew would waken Skadi too early in the +morning, and she drew her husband to the mountaintop where she was more +at home. He would not live long away from the sound of the sea. Back and +forward, between the mountain and the sea, Skadi and Niörd went. But +Gerda stayed in Asgard with Frey, her husband, and the Æsir and the +Vanir came to love greatly Gerda, the Giant maid. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HEIMDALL AND LITTLE HNOSSA: HOW ALL THINGS CAME TO BE + + +Hnossa, the child of Freya and the lost Odur, was the youngest of all +the Dwellers in Asgard. And because it had been prophesied that the +child would bring her father and her mother together, little Hnossa was +often taken without the City of the Gods to stand by Bifröst, the +Rainbow Bridge, so that she might greet Odur if his steps turned toward +Asgard. + +In all the palaces of the City of the Gods little Hnossa was made +welcome: in Fensalir, the Halls of Mists, where Frigga, the wife of Odin +All-Father, sat spinning with golden threads; in Breidablik, where +Baldur, the Well Beloved, lived with his fair wife, the young Nanna; in +Bilskirnir, the Winding House, where Thor and Sif lived; and in Odin's +own palace Valaskjalf, that was all roofed over with silver shields. + +The greatest of all the palaces was Gladsheim, that was built by the +golden-leaved wood, Glasir. Here the banquets of the Gods were held. +Often little Hnossa looked within and saw Odin All-Father seated at the +banquet table, with a mantle of blue over him and a shining helmet +shaped like an eagle upon his head. Odin would sit there, not eating at +all, but drinking the wine of the Gods, and taking the food off the +table and giving it to Geri and Freki, the two wolves that crouched +beside his seat. + +She loved to go outside the great gate and stay beside Heimdall, the +Warder of the Rainbow Bridge. There, when there was no one crossing that +she might watch, she would sit beside Heimdall and listen to the wonders +that he spoke of. + +Heimdall held in his hands the horn that was called the Gialarhorn. He +would sound it to let the Dwellers in Asgard know that one was crossing +the Rainbow Bridge. And Heimdall told little Hnossa how he had trained +himself to hear the grasses grow, and how he could see all around him +for a hundred miles. He could see in the night as well as the day. He +never slept. He had nine mothers, he told Hnossa, and he fed on the +strength of the earth and the cold sea. + +As she sat beside him day after day, Heimdall would tell little Hnossa +how all things began. He had lived from the beginning of time and he +knew all things. "Before Asgard was built," he said, "and before Odin +lived, earth and sea and sky were all mixed together: what was then was +the Chasm of Chasms. In the North there was Niflheim, the Place of +Deadly Cold. In the South there was Muspelheim, the Land of Fire. In +Niflheim there was a cauldron called Hveigelmer that poured out twelve +rivers that flowed into the Chasm of Chasms. + +"Ginnungagap, the Chasm of Chasms, filled up with ice, for the waters of +the rivers froze as they poured into it. From Muspelheim came clouds of +fire that turned the ice into thick mists. The mists fell down again in +drops of dew, and from these drops were formed Ymir, the Ancient Giant. + +"Ymir, the Ancient Giant, traveled along by the twelve rivers until he +came to where another living form was standing in the mists. This was a +Giant Cow. Audhumla was the name of that cow. Ymir lay down beside her +and drank her milk, and on the milk she gave him he lived. Other beings +were formed out of the dew that fell to the ground. They were the +Daughters of the Frost, and Ymir, the Ancient Giant, married one, and +their children were the Giants. + +"One day Ymir saw Audhumla breathe upon a cliff of ice and lick with her +tongue the place she breathed on. As her tongue went over and over the +place he saw that a figure was being formed. It was not like a Giant's +form; it was more shapely and more beautiful. A head appeared in the +cliff and golden hair fell over the ice. As Ymir looked upon the being +that was being formed he hated him for his beauty. + +"Audhumla, the Giant Cow, went on licking the place where she had +breathed. At last a man completely formed stepped from the cliff. Ymir, +the Ancient Giant, hated him so much that he would have slain him then +and there. But he knew that if he did this, Audhumla would feed him no +more with her milk. + +"Bur was the name of the man who was formed in the ice cliff, Bur, the +first of the heroes. He, too, lived on the milk of Audhumla. He married +a daughter of the Ancient Giant and he had a son. But Ymir and Ymir's +sons hated Bur, and the time came at last when they were able to kill +him. + +"And now there was war between Ymir and Ymir's sons and the son and +son's sons of Bur. Odin was the son of Bur's son. Odin brought all his +brothers together, and they were able to destroy Ymir and all his +brood--all except one. So huge was Ymir that when he was slain his blood +poured out in such a mighty flood that his sons were all drowned in it, +all except Bergelmir, who was in a boat with his wife when the flood +came, and who floated away on the flood to the place that we now call +Jötunheim, the Realm of the Giants. + +"Now Odin and his sons took the body of Ymir--the vastest body that ever +was--and they flung it into the Chasm of Chasms, filling up all the +hollow places with it. They dug the bones out of the body and they piled +them up as the mountains. They took the teeth out and they made them +into the rocks. They took the hair of Ymir and they made it into the +forests of trees. They took his eyebrows and formed them into the place +where Men now dwell, Midgard. And out of Ymir's hollow skull they made +the sky. + +"And Odin and his sons and brothers did more than this. They took the +sparks and the clouds of flame that blew from Muspelheim, and they made +them into the sun and the moon and all the stars that are in the sky. +Odin found a dusky Giantess named Night whose son was called Day, and he +gave both of them horses to drive across the sky. Night drove a horse +that is named Hrimfaxe, Frosty Mane, and Day drove a horse that is named +Skinfaxe, Shining Mane. From Hrimfaxe's bit fall the drops that make the +dew upon the earth. + +"Then Odin and his sons made a race of men and women and gave them +Midgard to live in. Ugly Dwarfs had grown up and had spread themselves +over the earth. These Odin made go live in the hollow places beneath the +earth. The Elves he let stay on the earth, but he gave them the tasks of +tending the streams and the grasses and the flowers. And with the Vanir +he made peace after a war had been waged, taking Niörd from them for a +hostage. + +"Bergelmir, the Giant who escaped drowning in Ymir's blood, had sons and +daughters in Jötunheim. They hated Odin and his sons and strove against +them. When Odin lighted up the world with the sun and the moon they were +very wroth, and they found two of the fiercest of the mighty wolves of +Jötunheim and set them to follow them. And still the sun and the moon, +Sol and Mani, are followed by the wolves of Jötunheim." + +Such wonders did Heimdall with the Golden Teeth tell Hnossa, the +youngest of the Dwellers in Asgard. Often the child stayed with him by +the Rainbow Bridge, and saw the Gods pass to and from Midgard: Thor, +with his crown of stars, with the great hammer Miölnir in his hands, +with the gloves of iron that he used when he grasped Miölnir; Thor in +his chariot drawn by two goats and wearing the belt that doubled his +strength; Frigga, with her dress of falcon feathers, flying swiftly as a +bird; Odin All-Father himself, riding upon Sleipner, his eight-legged +steed, clad all in golden armor, with his golden helmet, shaped like an +eagle, upon his head, and with his spear Gungnir in his hand. + +Heimdall kept his horn in the branch of a great tree. This tree was +called Ygdrassil, he told little Hnossa, and it was a wonder to Gods and +Men. "No one knows of a time when Ygdrassil was not growing, and all are +afraid to speak of the time when it will be destroyed. + +"Ygdrassil has three roots. One goes deep under Midgard, another goes +deep under Jötunheim, and the third grows above Asgard. Over Odin's hall +a branch of Ygdrassil grows, and it is called the Peace Bough. + +"You see Ygdrassil, little Hnossa, but you do not know all the wonders +of it. Far up in its branches four stags graze; they shake from their +horns the water that falls as rain upon the earth. On the topmost branch +of Ygdrassil, the branch that is so high that the Gods themselves can +hardly see it, there is an eagle that knows all things. Upon the beak of +this eagle a hawk is perched, a hawk that sees what the eyes of the +eagle may not see. + +"The root of Ygdrassil that is in Midgard goes deep down to the place +of the dead. Here there is an evil dragon named Nidhögg that gnaws +constantly at the root, striving to destroy Ygdrassil, the Tree of +trees. And Ratatösk, the Squirrel of Mischief--behold him now!--runs up +and down Ygdrassil, making trouble between the eagle above and the +dragon below. He goes to tell the dragon how the eagle is bent upon +tearing him to pieces and he goes back to tell the eagle how the dragon +plans to devour him. The stories that he brings to Nidhögg make that +evil dragon more fierce to destroy Ygdrassil, the Tree of trees, so that +he may come upon the eagle and devour him. + +"There are two wells by the roots of Ygdrassil, and one is above and one +is below. One is beside the root that grows in Jötunheim. This is a Well +of Knowledge, and it is guarded by old Mimir the Wise. Whoever drinks +out of this well knows of all the things that will come to be. The other +well is by the root that grows above Asgard. No one may drink out of +this well. The three sisters that are the holy Norns guard it, and they +take the white water from it to water Ygdrassil, that the Tree of Life +may keep green and strong. This well, little Hnossa, is called Urda's +Well." + +And little Hnossa heard that by Urda's Well there were two beautiful +white swans. They made a music that the Dwellers in Asgard often heard. +But Hnossa was too young to hear the music that was made by the swans of +Urda's Well. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE ALL-FATHER'S FOREBODINGS: HOW HE LEAVES ASGARD + + +Two ravens had Odin All-Father; Hugin and Munin were their names; they +flew through all the worlds every day, and coming back to Asgard they +would light on Odin's shoulders and tell him of all the things they had +seen and heard. And once a day passed without the ravens coming back. +Then Odin, standing on the Watch-Tower Hlidskjalf, said to himself: + + I fear me for Hugin, + Lest he come not back, + But I watch more for Munin. + +A day passed and the ravens flew back. They sat, one on each of his +shoulders. Then did the All-Father go into the Council Hall that was +beside Glasir, the wood that had leaves of gold, and harken to what +Hugin and Munin had to tell him. + +They told him only of shadows and forebodings. Odin All-Father did not +speak to the Dwellers in Asgard of the things they told him. But Frigga, +his Queen, saw in his eyes the shadows and forebodings of things to +come. And when he spoke to her about these things she said, "Do not +strive against what must take place. Let us go to the holy Norns who sit +by Urda's Well and see if the shadows and the forebodings will remain +when you have looked into their eyes." + +And so it came that Odin and the Gods left Asgard and came to Urda's +Well, where, under the great root of Ygdrassil, the three Norns sat, +with the two fair swans below them. Odin went, and Tyr, the great +swordsman, and Baldur, the most beautiful and the Best-Beloved of the +Gods, and Thor, with his Hammer. + +A Rainbow Bridge went from Asgard, the City of the Gods, to Midgard, the +World of Men. But another Rainbow Bridge, more beautiful and more +tremulous still, went from Asgard to that root of Ygdrassil under which +was Urda's Well. This Rainbow Bridge was seldom seen by men. And where +the ends of the two rainbows came together Heimdall stood, Heimdall with +the Golden Teeth, the Watcher for the Gods, and the Keeper of the Way to +Urda's Well. + +"Open the gate, Heimdall," said the All-Father, "open the gate, for +today the Gods would visit the holy Norns." + +Without a word Heimdall opened wide the gate that led to that bridge +more colored and more tremulous than any rainbow seen from earth. Then +did Odin and Tyr and Baldur step out on the bridge. Thor followed, but +before his foot was placed on the bridge, Heimdall laid his hand upon +him. + +"The others may go, but you may not go that way, Thor," said Heimdall. + +"What? Would you, Heimdall, hold me back?" said Thor. + +"Yes, for I am Keeper of the Way to the Norns," said Heimdall. "You with +the mighty hammer you carry are too weighty for this way. The bridge I +guard would break under you, Thor with the hammer." + +"Nevertheless I will go visit the Norns with Odin and my comrades," said +Thor. + +"But not this way, Thor," said Heimdall. "I will not let the bridge be +broken under the weight of you and your hammer. Leave your hammer here +with me if you would go this way." + +"No, no," said Thor. "I will not leave in any one's charge the hammer +that defends Asgard. And I may not be turned back from going with Odin +and my comrades." + +"There is another way to Urda's Well," said Heimdall. "Behold these two +great Cloud Rivers, Körmt and Ermt. Canst thou wade through them? They +are cold and suffocating, but they will bring thee to Urda's Well, where +sit the three holy Norns." + +Thor looked out on the two great rolling rivers of cloud. It was a bad +way for one to go, cold and suffocating. Yet if he went that way he +could keep on his shoulder the hammer which he would not leave in +another's charge. He stept out into the Cloud River that flowed by the +Rainbow Bridge, and with his hammer upon his shoulder he went struggling +on to the other river. + +Odin, Tyr, and Baldur were beside Urda's Well when Thor came struggling +out of the Cloud River, wet and choking, but with his hammer still upon +his shoulder. There stood Tyr, upright and handsome, leaning on his +sword that was inscribed all over with magic runes; there stood Baldur, +smiling, with his head bent as he listened to the murmur of the two fair +swans; and there stood Odin All-Father, clad in his blue cloak fringed +with golden stars, without the eagle-helmet upon his head, and with no +spear in his hands. + +The three Norns, Urda, Verdandi, and Skulda, sat beside the well that +was in the hollow of the great root of Ygdrassil. Urda was ancient and +with white hair, and Verdandi was beautiful, while Skulda could hardly +be seen, for she sat far back, and her hair fell over her face and eyes. +Urda, Verdandi, and Skulda; they knew the whole of the Past, the whole +of the Present, and the whole of the Future. Odin, looking on them, saw +into the eyes of Skulda even. Long, long he stood looking on the Norns +with the eyes of a God, while the others listened to the murmur of the +swans and the falling of the leaves of Ygdrassil into Urda's Well. + +Looking into their eyes, Odin saw the shadows and forebodings that Hugin +and Munin told him of take shape and substance. And now others came +across the Rainbow Bridge. They were Frigga and Sif and Nanna, the +wives of Odin and Thor and Baldur. Frigga looked upon the Norns. As she +did, she turned a glance of love and sadness upon Baldur, her son, and +then she drew back and placed her hand upon Nanna's head. + +Odin turned from gazing on the Norns, and looked upon Frigga, his +queenly wife. "I would leave Asgard for a while, wife of Odin," he said. + +"Yea," said Frigga. "Much has to be done in Midgard, the World of Men." + +"I would change what knowledge I have into wisdom," said Odin, "so that +the things that are to happen will be changed into the best that may +be." + +"You would go to Mimir's Well," said Frigga. + +"I would go to Mimir's Well," said Odin. + +"My husband, go," said Frigga. + +Then they went back over that Rainbow Bridge that is more beautiful and +more tremulous than the one that men see from the earth; they went back +over the Rainbow Bridge, the Æsir and the Asyniur, Odin and Frigga, +Baldur and Nanna, Tyr, with his sword, and Sif beside Tyr. As for Thor, +he went struggling through the Cloud Rivers Körmt and Ermt, his hammer +Miölnir upon his shoulder. + +Little Hnossa, the youngest of the Dwellers in Asgard, was there, +standing beside Heimdall, the Watcher for the Gods and the Keeper of the +Bridge to Urda's Well, when Odin All-Father and Frigga, his Queen, went +through the great gate with heads bent. "Tomorrow," Hnossa heard Odin +say, "tomorrow I shall be Vegtam the Wanderer upon the ways of Midgard +and Jötunheim." + + + + +PART II + +ODIN THE WANDERER + +[Illustration] + +ODIN GOES TO MIMIR'S WELL: HIS SACRIFICE FOR WISDOM + + +And so Odin, no longer riding on Sleipner, his eight-legged steed; no +longer wearing his golden armor and his eagle-helmet, and without even +his spear in his hand, traveled through Midgard, the World of Men, and +made his way toward Jötunheim, the Realm of the Giants. + +No longer was he called Odin All-Father, but Vegtam the Wanderer. He +wore a cloak of dark blue and he carried a traveler's staff in his +hands. And now, as he went toward Mimir's Well, which was near to +Jötunheim, he came upon a Giant riding on a great Stag. + +Odin seemed a man to men and a giant to giants. He went beside the +Giant on the great Stag and the two talked together. "Who art thou, O +brother?" Odin asked the Giant. + +"I am Vafthrudner, the wisest of the Giants," said the one who was +riding on the Stag. Odin knew him then. Vafthrudner was indeed the +wisest of the Giants, and many went to strive to gain wisdom from him. +But those who went to him had to answer the riddles Vafthrudner asked, +and if they failed to answer the Giant took their heads off. + +"I am Vegtam the Wanderer," Odin said, "and I know who thou art, O +Vafthrudner. I would strive to learn something from thee." + +The Giant laughed, showing his teeth. "Ho, ho," he said, "I am ready for +a game with thee. Dost thou know the stakes? My head to thee if I cannot +answer any question thou wilt ask. And if thou canst not answer any +question that I may ask, then thy head goes to me. Ho, ho, ho. And now +let us begin." + +"I am ready," Odin said. + +"Then tell me," said Vafthrudner, "tell me the name of the river that +divides Asgard from Jötunheim?" + +"Ifling is the name of that river," said Odin. "Ifling that is dead +cold, yet never frozen." + +"Thou hast answered rightly, O Wanderer," said the Giant. "But thou hast +still to answer other questions. What are the names of the horses that +Day and Night drive across the sky?" + +"Skinfaxe and Hrimfaxe," Odin answered. Vafthrudner was startled to +hear one say the names that were known only to the Gods and to the +wisest of the Giants. There was only one question now that he might ask +before it came to the stranger's turn to ask him questions. + +"Tell me," said Vafthrudner, "what is the name of the plain on which the +last battle will be fought?" + +"The Plain of Vigard," said Odin, "the plain that is a hundred miles +long and a hundred miles across." + +It was now Odin's turn to ask Vafthrudner questions. "What will be the +last words that Odin will whisper into the ear of Baldur, his dear son?" +he asked. + +Very startled was the Giant Vafthrudner at that question. He sprang to +the ground and looked at the stranger keenly. + +"Only Odin knows what his last words to Baldur will be," he said, "and +only Odin would have asked that question. Thou art Odin, O Wanderer, and +thy question I cannot answer." + +"Then," said Odin, "if thou wouldst keep thy head, answer me this: what +price will Mimir ask for a draught from the Well of Wisdom that he +guards?" + +"He will ask thy right eye as a price, O Odin," said Vafthrudner. + +"Will he ask no less a price than that?" said Odin. + +"He will ask no less a price. Many have come to him for a draught from +the Well of Wisdom, but no one yet has given the price Mimir asks. I +have answered thy question, O Odin. Now give up thy claim to my head and +let me go on my way." + +"I give up my claim to thy head," said Odin. Then Vafthrudner, the +wisest of the Giants, went on his way, riding on his great Stag. + +It was a terrible price that Mimir would ask for a draught from the Well +of Wisdom, and very troubled was Odin All-Father when it was revealed to +him. His right eye! For all time to be without the sight of his right +eye! Almost he would have turned back to Asgard, giving up his quest for +wisdom. + +He went on, turning neither to Asgard nor to Mimir's Well. And when he +went toward the South he saw Muspelheim, where stood Surtur with the +Flaming Sword, a terrible figure, who would one day join the Giants in +their war against the Gods. And when he turned North he heard the +roaring of the cauldron Hvergelmer as it poured itself out of Niflheim, +the place of darkness and dread. And Odin knew that the world must not +be left between Surtur, who would destroy it with fire, and Niflheim, +that would gather it back to Darkness and Nothingness. He, the eldest of +the Gods, would have to win the wisdom that would help to save the +world. + +And so, with his face stern in front of his loss and pain, Odin +All-Father turned and went toward Mimir's Well. It was under the great +root of Ygdrassil--the root that grew out of Jötunheim. And there sat +Mimir, the Guardian of the Well of Wisdom, with his deep eyes bent upon +the deep water. And Mimir, who had drunk every day from the Well of +Wisdom, knew who it was that stood before him. + +"Hail, Odin, Eldest of the Gods," he said. + +Then Odin made reverence to Mimir, the wisest of the world's beings. "I +would drink from your well, Mimir," he said. + +"There is a price to be paid. All who have come here to drink have +shrunk from paying that price. Will you, Eldest of the Gods, pay it?" + +"I will not shrink from the price that has to be paid, Mimir," said Odin +All-Father. + +"Then drink," said Mimir. He filled up a great horn with water from the +well and gave it to Odin. + +Odin took the horn in both his hands and drank and drank. And as he +drank all the future became clear to him. He saw all the sorrows and +troubles that would fall upon Men and Gods. But he saw, too, why the +sorrows and troubles had to fall, and he saw how they might be borne so +that Gods and Men, by being noble in the days of sorrow and trouble, +would leave in the world a force that one day, a day that was far off +indeed, would destroy the evil that brought terror and sorrow and +despair into the world. + +Then when he had drunk out of the great horn that Mimir had given him, +he put his hand to his face and he plucked out his right eye. Terrible +was the pain that Odin All-Father endured. But he made no groan nor +moan. He bowed his head and put his cloak before his face, as Mimir took +the eye and let it sink deep, deep into the water of the Well of Wisdom. +And there the Eye of Odin stayed, shining up through the water, a sign +to all who came to that place of the price that the Father of the Gods +had paid for his wisdom. + + + + +[Illustration] + +ODIN FACES AN EVIL MAN + + +Once, when his wisdom was less great, Odin had lived in the world of +men. Frigga, his Queen, was with him then; they had lived on a bleak +island, and they were known as Grimner the Fisherman and his wife. + +Always Odin and Frigga were watching over the sons of men, watching to +know which ones they would foster and train so that they might have the +strength and spirit to save the world from the power of the Giants. And +while they were staying on the bleak island, Odin and Frigga saw the +sons of King Hrauding, and both thought that in them the spirit of +heroes could be fostered. Odin and Frigga made plans to bring the +children to them, so that they might be under their care and training. +One day the boys went fishing. A storm came and drove their boat on the +rocks of the island where Odin and Frigga lived. + +They brought them to their hut, Odin and Frigga, and they told them they +would care for them and train them through the winter and that in the +spring they would build a boat that would carry them back to their +father's country. "We shall see," said Odin to Frigga that night, "we +shall see which of the two can be formed into the noblest hero." + +He said that because Frigga favored one of the boys and he favored the +other. Frigga thought well of the elder boy, Agnar, who had a gentle +voice and quiet and kindly ways. But Odin thought more of the younger +boy. Geirrod, his name was, and he was strong and passionate, with a +high and a loud voice. + +Odin took Geirrod into his charge, and he showed him how to fish and +hunt. He made the boy even bolder than he was by making him leap from +rock to rock, and by letting him climb the highest cliffs and jump +across the widest chasms. He would bring him to the den of the bear and +make him fight for his life with the spear he had made for him. Agnar +went to the chase, too, and showed his skill and boldness. But Geirrod +overcame him in nearly every trial. "What a hero Geirrod will be," Odin +would often say. + +Agnar stayed often with Frigga. He would stay beside her while she spun, +listening to the tales she told, and asking such questions as brought +him more and more wisdom. And Agnar heard of Asgard and of the Dwellers +in Asgard and of how they protected Midgard, the World of Men, from the +Giants of Jötunheim. Agnar, though he did not speak out, said in his own +mind that he would give all his life and all his strength and all his +thought to helping the work of the Gods. + +Spring came and Odin built a boat for Geirrod and Agnar. They could go +back now to their own country. And before they set out Odin told Geirrod +that one day he would come to visit him. "And do not be too proud to +receive a Fisherman in your hall, Geirrod," said Odin. "A King should +give welcome to the poorest who comes to his hall." + +"I will be a hero, no doubt of that," Geirrod answered. "And I would be +a King, too, only Agnar Little-good was born before me." + +Agnar bade goodby to Frigga and to Odin, thanking them for the care they +had taken of Geirrod and himself. He looked into Frigga's eyes, and he +told her that he would strive to learn how he might fight the battle for +the Gods. + +The two went into the boat and they rowed away. They came near to King +Hrauding's realm. They saw the castle overlooking the sea. Then Geirrod +did a terrible thing. He turned the boat back toward the sea, and he +cast the oars away. Then, for he was well fit to swim the roughest sea +and climb the highest cliffs, he plunged into the water and struck out +toward the shore. And Agnar, left without oars, went drifting out to +sea. + +Geirrod climbed the high cliffs and came to his father's castle. + +King Hrauding, who had given up both of his sons for lost, was rejoiced +to see him. Geirrod told of Agnar that he had fallen out of the boat on +their way back and that he had been drowned. King Hrauding, who had +thought both of his sons were gone from him, was glad enough that one +had come safe. He put Geirrod beside him on the throne, and when he died +Geirrod was made King over the people. + +And now Odin, having drunk from Mimir's Well, went through the kingdoms +of men, judging Kings and simple people according to the wisdom he had +gained. He came at last to the kingdom that Geirrod ruled over. Odin +thought that of all the Kings he had judged to be noble, Geirrod would +assuredly be the noblest. + +He went to the King's house as a Wanderer, blind of one eye, wearing a +cloak of dark blue and with a wanderer's staff in his hands. As he drew +near the King's house men on dark horses came riding behind him. The +first of the men did not turn his horse as he came near the Wanderer, +but rode on, nearly trampling him to the ground. + +As they came before the King's house the men on the dark horses shouted +for servants. Only one servant was in the stable. He came out and took +the horse of the first man. Then the others called upon the Wanderer to +tend their horses. He had to hold the stirrups for some of them to +dismount. + +Odin knew who the first man was. He was Geirrod the King. And he knew +who the man who served in the stable was. He was Agnar, Geirrod's +brother. By the wisdom he had gained he knew that Agnar had come back to +his father's kingdom in the guise of a servant, and he knew that +Geirrod did not know who this servant was. + +They went into the stable together. Agnar took bread and broke it and +gave some to the Wanderer. He gave him, too, straw to seat himself on. +But in a while Odin said, "I would seat myself at the fire in the King's +hall and eat my supper of meat." + +"Nay, stay here," Agnar said. "I will give you more bread and a wrap to +cover yourself with. Do not go to the door of the King's house, for the +King is angry today and he might repulse you." + +"How?" said Odin. "A King turn away a Wanderer who comes to his door! It +cannot be that he would do it!" + +"Today he is angry," Agnar said. Again he begged him not to go to the +door of the King's house. But Odin rose up from the straw on which he +was seated and went to the door. + +A porter, hunchbacked and with long arms, stood at the door. "I am a +Wanderer, and I would have rest and food in the King's hall," Odin said. + +"Not in this King's hall," said the hunchbacked porter. He would have +barred the door to Odin, but the voice of the King called him away. Odin +then strode into the hall and saw the King at table with his friends, +all dark-bearded, and cruel-looking men. And when Odin looked on them he +knew that the boy whom he had trained in nobility had become a King over +robbers. + +"Since you have come into the hall where we eat, sing to us, Wanderer," +shouted one of the dark men. "Aye, I will sing to you," said Odin. Then +he stood between two of the stone pillars in the hall and he sang a song +reproaching the King for having fallen into an evil way of life, and +denouncing all for following the cruel ways of robbers. + +"Seize him," said the King, when Odin's song was finished. The dark men +threw themselves upon Odin and put chains around him and bound him +between the stone pillars of the hall. "He came into this hall for +warmth, and warmth he shall have," said Geirrod. He called upon his +servants to heap up wood around him. They did this. Then the King, with +his own hand, put a blazing torch to the wood and the fagots blazed up +around the Wanderer. + +The fagots burned round and round him. But the fire did not burn the +flesh of Odin All-Father. The King and the King's friends stood round, +watching with delight the fires blaze round a living man. The fagots all +burned away, and Odin was left standing there with his terrible gaze +fixed upon the men who were so hard and cruel. + +They went to sleep, leaving him chained to the pillars of the hall. Odin +could have broken the chains and pulled down the pillars, but he wanted +to see what else would happen in this King's house. The servants were +ordered not to bring food or drink to him, but at dawn, when there was +no one near, Agnar came to him with a horn of ale and gave it to him to +drink. + +The next evening when the King came back from his robberies, and when he +and his friends, sitting down at the tables, had eaten like wolves, he +ordered the fagots to be placed around Odin. And again they stood +around, watching in delight the fire playing around a living man. And +as before Odin stood there, unhurt by the fire, and his steady and +terrible gaze made the King hate him more and more. And all day he was +kept in chains, and the servants were forbidden to bring him food or +drink. None knew that a horn of ale was brought to him at dawn. + +And night after night, for eight nights, this went on. Then, on the +ninth night, when the fires around him had been lighted, Odin lifted up +his voice and began to sing a song. + +His song became louder and louder, and the King and the King's friends +and the servants of the thing's house had to stand still and harken to +it. Odin sang about Geirrod, the King; how the Gods had protected him, +giving him strength and skill, and how instead of making a noble use of +that strength and skill he had made himself like one of the wild beasts. +Then he sang of how the vengeance of the Gods was about to fall on this +ignoble King. + +The flames died down and Geirrod and his friends saw before them, not a +friendless Wanderer, but one who looked more kingly than any King of the +earth. The chains fell down from his body and he advanced toward the +evil company. Then Geirrod rushed upon him with his sword in hand to +kill him. The sword struck him, but Odin remained unhurt. + + Thy life runs out, + The Gods they are wroth with thee; + Draw near if thou canst; + Odin thou shalt see. + +So Odin sang, and, in fear of his terrible gaze, Geirrod and his company +shrank away. And as they shrank away they were changed into beasts, into +the wolves that range the forests. + +And Agnar came forward, and him Odin declared to be King. All the folk +were glad when Agnar came to rule over them, for they had been oppressed +by Geirrod in his cruel reign. And Agnar was not only kind, but he was +strong and victorious in his rule. + + + + +[Illustration] + +ODIN WINS FOR MEN THE MAGIC MEAD + + +It was the Dwarfs who brewed the Magic Mead, and it was the Giants who +hid it away. But it was Odin who brought it from the place where it was +hidden and gave it to the sons of men. Those who drank of the Magic Mead +became very wise, and not only that but they could put their wisdom into +such beautiful words that every one who heard would love and remember +it. + +The Dwarfs brewed the Magic Mead through cruelty and villainy. They made +it out of the blood of a man. The man was Kvasir the Poet. He had +wisdom, and he had such beautiful words with it, that what he said was +loved and remembered by all. The Dwarfs brought Kvasir down into their +caverns and they killed him there. "Now," they said, "we have Kvasir's +blood and Kvasir's wisdom. No one else will have his wisdom but us." +They poured the blood into three jars and they mixed it with honey, and +from it they brewed the Magic Mead. + +Having killed a man the Dwarfs became more and more bold. They came out +of their caverns and went up and down through Midgard, the World of Men. +They went into Jötunheim, and began to play their evil tricks on the +most harmless of the Giants. + +They came upon one Giant who was very simple. Gilling was his name. They +persuaded Gilling to row them out to sea in a boat. Then the two most +cunning of the Dwarfs, Galar and Fialar, steered the boat on to a rock. +The boat split. Gilling, who could not swim, was drowned. The Dwarfs +clambered up on pieces of the boat and came safely ashore. They were so +delighted with their evil tricks that they wanted to play some more of +them. + +Galar and Fialar then thought of a new piece of mischief they might do. +They led their band of Dwarfs to Gilling's house and screamed out to his +wife that Gilling was dead. The Giant's wife began to weep and lament. +At last she rushed out of the house weeping and clapping her hands. Now +Galar and Fialar had clambered up on the lintel of the house, and as she +came running out they cast a millstone on her head. It struck her and +Gilling's wife fell down dead. More and more the Dwarfs were delighted +at the destruction they were making. + +They were so insolent now that they made up songs and sang them, songs +that were all a boast of how they had killed Kvasir the Poet, and +Gilling the Giant, and Gilling's wife. They stayed around Jötunheim, +tormenting all whom they were able to torment, and flattering themselves +that they were great and strong. They stayed too long, however. Suttung, +Gilling's brother, tracked them down and captured them. + +Suttung was not harmless and simple like Gilling, his brother. He was +cunning and he was covetous. Once they were in his hands the Dwarfs had +no chance of making an escape. He took them and left them on a rock in +the sea, a rock that the tide would cover. + +The Giant stood up in the water taller than the rock, and the tide as it +came in did not rise above his knees. He stood there watching the Dwarfs +as the water rose up round them and they became more and more terrified. + +"Oh, take us off the rock, good Suttung," they cried out to him. "Take +us off the rock and we will give you gold and jewels. Take us off the +rock and we will give you a necklace as beautiful as Brisingamen." So +they cried out to him, but the Giant Suttung only laughed at them. He +had no need of gold or jewels. + +Then Fialar and Galar cried out: "Take us off the rock and we will give +you the jars of the Magic Mead we have brewed." + +"The Magic Mead," said Suttung. "This is something that no one else has. +It would be well to get it, for it might help us in the battle against +the Gods. Yes, I will get the Magic Mead from them." + +He took the band of Dwarfs off the rock, but he held Galar and Fialar, +their chiefs, while the others went into their caverns and brought up +the jars of the Magic Mead. Suttung took the Mead and brought it to a +cavern in a mountain near his dwelling. And thus it happened that the +Magic Mead, brewed by the Dwarfs through cruelty and villainy, came into +the hands of the Giants. And the story now tells how Odin, the Eldest of +the Gods, at that time in the world as Vegtam the Wanderer, took the +Magic Mead out of Suttung's possession and brought it into the world of +men. + +Now, Suttung had a daughter named Gunnlöd, and she by her goodness and +her beauty was like Gerda and Skadi, the Giant maids whom the Dwellers +in Asgard favored. Suttung, that he might have a guardian for the Magic +Mead, enchanted Gunnlöd, turning her from a beautiful Giant maiden into +a witch with long teeth and sharp nails. He shut her into the cavern +where the jars of the Magic Mead were hidden. + +Odin heard of the death of Kvasir whom he honored above all men. The +Dwarfs who slew him he had closed up in their caverns so that they were +never again able to come out into the World of Men. And then he set out +to get the Magic Mead that he might give it to men, so that, tasting it, +they would have wisdom, and words would be at their command that would +make wisdom loved and remembered. + +How Odin won the Magic Mead out of the rock-covered cavern where Suttung +had hidden it, and how he broke the enchantment that lay upon Gunnlöd, +Suttung's daughter, is a story often told around the hearths of men. + +Nine strong thralls were mowing in a field as a Wanderer went by clad in +a dark blue cloak and carrying a wanderer's staff in his hand. One of +the thralls spoke to the Wanderer: "Tell them in the house of Baugi up +yonder that I can mow no more until a whetstone to sharpen my scythe is +sent to me." "Here is a whetstone," said the Wanderer, and he took one +from his belt. The thrall who had spoken whetted his scythe with it and +began to mow. The grass went down before his scythe as if the wind had +cut it. "Give us the whetstone, give us the whetstone," cried the other +thralls. The Wanderer threw the whetstone amongst them, leaving them +quarreling over it, and went on his way. + +The Wanderer came to the house of Baugi, the brother of Suttung. He +rested in Baugi's house, and at supper time he was given food at the +great table. And while he was eating with the Giant a Messenger from the +field came in. + +"Baugi," said the Messenger, "your nine thralls are all dead. They +killed each other with their scythes, fighting in the field about a +whetstone. There are no thralls now to do your work." + +"What shall I do, what shall I do?" said Baugi the Giant. "My fields +will not be mown now, and I shall have no hay to feed my cattle and my +horses in the winter." + +"I might work for you," said the Wanderer. + +"One man's work is no use to me," said the Giant, "I must have the work +of nine men." + +"I shall do the work of nine men," said the Wanderer, "give me a trial, +and see." + +The next day Vegtam the Wanderer went into Baugi's field. He did as much +work as the nine thralls had done in a day. + +"Stay with me for the season," said Baugi, "and I shall give you a full +reward." + +So Vegtam stayed at the Giant's house and worked in the Giant's fields, +and when all the work of the season was done Baugi said to him: + +"Speak now and tell me what reward I am to give you." + +"The only reward I shall ask of you," said Vegtam, "is a draught of the +Magic Mead." + +"The Magic Mead?" said Baugi. "I do not know where it is nor how to get +it." + +"Your brother Suttung has it. Go to him and claim a draught of the Magic +Mead for me." + +Baugi went to Suttung. But when he heard what he had come for, the Giant +Suttung turned on his brother in a rage. + +"A draught of the Magic Mead?" he said. "To no one will I give a draught +of the Magic Mead. Have I not enchanted my daughter Gunnlöd, so that she +may watch over it? And you tell me that a Wanderer who has done the work +of nine men for you asks a draught of the Magic Mead for his fee! O +Giant as foolish as Gilling! O oaf of a Giant! Who could have done such +work for you, and who would demand such a fee from you, but one of our +enemies, the Æsir? Go from me now and never come to me again with talk +of the Magic Mead." + +Baugi went back to his house and told the Wanderer that Suttung would +yield none of the Magic Mead. "I hold you to your bargain," said Vegtam +the Wanderer, "and you will have to get me the fee I asked. Come with me +now and help me to get it." + +He made Baugi bring him to the place where the Magic Mead was hidden. +The place was a cavern in the mountain. In front of that cavern was a +great mass of stone. + +"We cannot move that stone nor get through it," said Baugi. "I cannot +help you to your fee." + +The Wanderer drew an auger from his belt. "This will bore through the +rock if there is strength behind it. You have the strength, Giant. Begin +now and bore." + +Baugi took the auger in his hands and bored with all his strength, and +the Wanderer stood by leaning on his staff, calm and majestic in his +cloak of blue. + +"I have made a deep, deep hole. It goes through the rock," Baugi said, +at last. + +The Wanderer went to the hole and blew into it. The dust of the rock +flew back into their faces. + +"So that is your boasted strength, Giant," he said. "You have not bored +half-way through the rock. Work again." + +Then Baugi took the auger again and he bored deeper and deeper into the +rock. And he blew into it, and lo! His breath went through. Then he +looked at the Wanderer to see what he would do; his eyes had become +fierce and he held the auger in his hand as if it were a stabbing +knife. + +"Look up to the head of the rock," said the Wanderer. As Baugi looked up +the Wanderer changed himself into a snake and glided into the hole in +the rock. And Baugi struck at him with the auger, hoping to kill him, +but the snake slipped through. + +Behind the mighty rock there was a hollow place all lighted up by the +shining crystals in the rock. And within the hollow place there was an +ill-looking witch, with long teeth and sharp nails. But she sat there +rocking herself and letting tears fall from her eyes. "O youth and +beauty," she sang, "O sight of men and women, sad, sad for me it is that +you are shut away, and that I have only this closed-in cavern and this +horrible form." + +A snake glided across the floor. "Oh, that you were deadly and that you +might slay me," cried the witch. The snake glided past her. Then she +heard a voice speak softly: "Gunnlöd, Gunnlöd!" She looked round, and +there standing behind her was a majestic man, clad in a cloak of dark +blue, Odin, the Eldest of the Gods. + +"You have come to take the Magic Mead that my father has set me here to +guard," she cried. "You shall not have it. Rather shall I spill it out +on the thirsty earth of the cavern." + +"Gunnlöd," he said, and he came to her. She looked at him and she felt +the red blood of youth come back into her cheeks. She put her hands with +their sharp nails over her breast, and she felt the nails drive into her +flesh. "Save me from all this ugliness," she cried. + +"I will save you," Odin said. He went to her. He took her hands and +held them. He kissed her on the mouth. All the marks of ill favor went +from her. She was no longer bent, but tall and shapely. Her eyes became +wide and deep blue. Her mouth became red and her hands soft and +beautiful. She became as fair as Gerda, the Giant maid whom Frey had +wed. + +They stayed looking at each other, then they sat down side by side and +talked softly to each other, Odin, the Eldest of the Gods, and Gunnlöd, +the beautiful Giant maiden. + +She gave him the three jars of the Magic Mead and she told him she would +go out of the cavern with him. Three days passed and still they were +together. Then Odin by his wisdom found hidden paths and passages that +led out of the cavern and he brought Gunnlöd out into the light of the +day. + +And he brought with him the jars of the Magic Mead, the Mead whose taste +gives wisdom, and wisdom in such beautiful words that all love and +remember it. And Gunnlöd, who had tasted a little of the Magic Mead, +wandered through the world singing of the beauty and the might of Odin, +and of her love for him. + + + + +[Illustration] + +ODIN TELLS TO VIDAR, HIS SILENT SON, THE SECRET OF HIS DOINGS + + +It was not only to Giants and Men that Odin showed himself in the days +when he went through Jötunheim and Midgard as Vegtam the Wanderer. He +met and he spoke with the Gods also, with one who lived far away from +Asgard and with others who came to Midgard and to Jötunheim. + +The one who lived far away from Asgard was Vidar, Odin's silent son. Far +within a wilderness, with branches and tall grass growing around him, +Vidar sat. And near by him a horse grazed with a saddle upon it, a horse +that was ever ready for the speedy journey. + +And Odin, now Vegtam the Wanderer, came into that silent place and spoke +to Vidar, the Silent God. + +"O Vidar," he said, "strangest of all my sons; God who will live when +all of us have passed away; God who will bring the memory of the +Dwellers of Asgard into a world that will know not their power; O Vidar, +well do I know why there grazes near by thee the horse ever ready for +the speedy journey: it is that thou mayst spring upon it and ride +unchecked, a son speeding to avenge his father. + +"To you only, O Vidar the Silent One, will I speak of the secrets of my +doings. Who but you can know why I, Odin, the Eldest of the Gods, hung +on the tree Ygdrassil nine days and nine nights, mine own spear +transfixing me? I hung upon that windy tree that I might learn the +wisdom that would give me power in the nine worlds. On the ninth night +the Runes of Wisdom appeared before mine eyes, and slipping down from +the tree I took them to myself. + +"And I shall tell why my ravens fly to thee, carrying in their beaks +scraps of leather. It is that thou mayst make for thyself a sandal; with +that sandal on thou mayst put thy foot on the lower jaw of a mighty wolf +and rend him. All the shoemakers of the earth throw on the ground scraps +of the leather they use so that thou mayst be able to make the sandal +for thy wolf-rending foot. + +"And I have counseled the dwellers on earth to cut off the fingernails +and the toenails of their dead, lest from those fingernails and toenails +the Giants make for themselves the ship Naglfar in which they will sail +from the North on the day of Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods. + +"More, Vidar, I will tell to thee. I, living amongst men, have wed the +daughter of a hero. My son shall live as a mortal amongst mortals. Sigi +his name shall be. From him shall spring heroes who will fill Valhalla, +my own hall in Asgard, with heroes against the day of our strife with +the Giants and with Surtur of the Flaming Sword." + +For long Odin stayed in that silent place communing with his silent son, +with Vidar, who with his brother would live beyond the lives of the +Dwellers of Asgard and who would bring into another day and another +world the memory of the Æsir and the Vanir. For long Odin spoke with +him, and then he went across the wilderness where the grass and the +bushes grew and where that horse grazed in readiness for the sudden +journey. He went toward the seashore where the Æsir and the Vanir were +now gathered for the feast that old Ægir, the Giant King of the Sea, had +offered them. + + + + +[Illustration:] + +THOR AND LOKI IN THE GIANTS' CITY + + +All but a few of the Dwellers of Asgard had come to the feast offered by +Ægir the Old, the Giant King of the Sea. Frigga, the queenly wife of +Odin, was there, and Frey and Freya; Iduna, who guarded the Apples of +Youth, and Bragi, her husband; Tyr, the great swordsman, and Niörd, the +God of the Sea, Skadi, who wedded Niörd and whose hatred for Loki was +fierce, and Sif, whose golden hair was once shorn off by Loki the +mischievous. Thor and Loki were there. The Dwellers of Asgard, gathered +together in the hall of Ægir, waited for Odin. + +Before Odin came Loki made the company merry by the tales that he told +in mockery of Thor. Loki long since had his lips unloosed from the thong +that the Dwarf Brock had sewn them with. And Thor had forgotten the +wrong that he had done to Sif. Loki had been with Thor in his +wanderings through Jötunheim, and about these wanderings he now told +mocking tales. + +He told how he had seen Thor in his chariot of brass drawn by two goats +go across Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge. None of the Æsir or the Vanir +knew on what adventure Thor was bent. But Loki followed him and Thor +kept him in his company. + +As they traveled on in the brass chariot drawn by the two goats, Thor +told Loki of the adventure on which he was bent. He would go into +Jötunheim, even into Utgard, the Giants' City, and he would try his +strength against the Giants. He was not afraid of aught that might +happen, for he carried Miölnir, his hammer, with him. + +Their way was through Midgard, the World of Men. Once, as they were +traveling on, night came upon them as they were hungry and in need of +shelter. They saw a peasant's hut and they drove the chariot toward it. +Unyoking the goats and leaving them standing in a hollow beside the +chariot, the two, looking not like Dwellers in Asgard, but like men +traveling through the country, knocked at the door of the hut and asked +for food and shelter. + +They could have shelter, the peasant and his wife told them, but they +could not have food. There was little in that place, and what little +there had been they had eaten for supper. The peasant showed them the +inside of the hut: it was poor and bare, and there was nothing there to +give anyone. In the morning, the peasant said, he would go down to the +river and catch some fish for a meal. + +"We can't wait until morning, we must eat now," said Thor, "and I think +I can provide a good meal for us all." He went over to where his goats +stood in the hollow beside the chariot of brass, and, striking them with +his hammer, he left them lifeless on the ground. He skinned the goats +then, and taking up the bones very carefully, he left them down on the +skins. Skins and bones he lifted up and bringing them into the house he +left them in a hole above the peasant's fireplace. "No one," said he in +a commanding voice, "must touch the bones that I leave here." + +Then he brought the meat into the house. Soon it was cooked and laid +smoking on the table. The peasant and his wife and his son sat round the +board with Thor and Loki. They had not eaten plentifully for many days, +and now the man and the woman fed themselves well. + +Thialfi was the name of the peasant's son. He was a growing lad and had +an appetite that had not been satisfied for long. While the meat was on +the table his father and mother had kept him going here and there, +carrying water, putting fagots on the fire, and holding a blazing stick +so that those at the table might see to eat. There was not much left for +him when he was able to sit down, for Thor and Loki had great appetites, +and the lad's father and mother had eaten to make up for days of want. +So Thialfi got little out of that plentiful feast. + +When the meal was finished they lay down on the benches. Thor, because +he had made a long journey that day, slept very soundly. Thialfi lay +down on a bench, too, but his thoughts were still upon the food. When +all were asleep, he thought, he would take one of the bones that were +in the skins above him, and break and gnaw it. + +So in the dead of the night the lad stood up on the bench and took down +the goatskins that Thor had left so carefully there. He took out a bone, +broke it, and gnawed it for the marrow. Loki was awake and saw him do +this, but he, relishing mischief as much as ever, did nothing to stay +the lad. + +He put the bone he had broken back in the skins and he left the skins +back in the hole above the fireplace. Then he went to sleep on the +bench. + +In the morning, as soon as they were up, the first thing Thor did was to +take the skins out of the hole. He carried them carefully out to the +hollow where he had left the goats standing. He put each goatskin down +with the bones in it. He struck each with his hammer, and the goats +sprang up alive, horns and hoofs and all. + +But one was not as he had been before. He limped badly. Thor examined +the leg and found out that one bone was broken. In terrible anger he +turned on the peasant, his wife, and his son. "A bone of this goat has +been broken under your roof," he shouted. "For that I shall destroy your +house and leave you all dead under it." Thialfi wept. Then he came +forward and touched the knees of Thor. "I did not know what harm I did," +he said. "I broke the bone." + +Thor had his hammer lifted up to crush him into the earth. But he could +not bring it down on the weeping boy. He let his hammer rest on the +ground again. "You will have to do much service for me for having lamed +my goat," he said. "Come with me." + +And so the lad Thialfi went off with Thor and Loki. Thor took in his +powerful hands the shafts of the chariot of brass and he dragged it into +a lonely mountain hollow where neither men nor Giants came. And they +left the goats in a great, empty forest to stay resting there until Thor +called to them again. + +Thor and Loki and the lad Thialfi went across from Midgard into +Jötunheim. Because of Miölnir, the great hammer that he carried, Thor +felt safe in the Realm of the Giants. And Loki, who trusted in his own +cunning, felt safe, too. The lad Thialfi trusted in Thor so much that he +had no fear. They were long in making the journey, and while they were +traveling Thor and Loki trained Thialfi to be a quick and a strong lad. + +One day they came out on a moor. All day they crossed it, and at night +it still stretched far before them. A great wind was blowing, night was +falling, and they saw no shelter near. In the dusk they saw a shape that +looked to be a mountain and they went toward it, hoping to find some +shelter in a cave. + +Then Loki saw a lower shape that looked as if it might be a shelter. +They walked around it, Loki and Thor and the lad Thialfi. It was a +house, but a house most oddly shaped. The entrance was a long, wide hall +that had no doorway. When they entered this hall they found five long +and narrow chambers running off it. "It is an odd place, but it is the +best shelter we can get," Loki said. "You and I, Thor, will take the +two longest rooms, and the lad Thialfi can take one of the little +rooms." + +They entered their chambers and they lay down to sleep. But from the +mountain outside there came a noise that was like moaning forests and +falling cataracts. The chamber where each one slept was shaken by the +noise. Neither Thor nor Loki nor the lad Thialfi slept that night. + +In the morning they left the five-chambered house and turned their faces +toward the mountain. It was not a mountain at all, but a Giant. He was +lying on the ground when they saw him, but just then he rolled over and +sat up. "Little men, little men," he shouted to them, "have you passed +by a glove of mine on your way?" He stood up and looked all around him. +"Ho, I see my glove now," he said. Thor and Loki and the lad Thialfi +stood still as the Giant came toward them. He leaned over and picked up +the five-roomed shelter they had slept in. He put it on his hand. It was +really his glove! + +Thor gripped his hammer, and Loki and the lad Thialfi stood behind him. +But the Giant seemed good-humored enough. "Where might ye be bound for, +little men?" said he. + +"To Utgard in Jötunheim," Thor replied boldly. + +"Oh, to that place," said the Giant. "Come, then, I shall be with ye so +far. You can call me Skyrmir." + +"Can you give us breakfast?" said Thor. He spoke crossly, for he did not +want it to appear that there was any reason to be afraid of the Giant. + +"I can give you breakfast," said Skyrmir, "but I don't want to stop to +eat now. We'll sit down as soon as I have an appetite. Come along now. +Here is my wallet to carry. It has my provisions in it." + +He gave Thor his wallet. Thor put it on his back and put Thialfi sitting +upon it. On and on the Giant strode and Thor and Loki were barely able +to keep up with him. It was midday before he showed any signs of halting +to take breakfast. + +They came to an enormous tree. Under it Skyrmir sat down. "I'll sleep +before I eat," he said, "but you can open my wallet, my little men, and +make your meal out of it." Saying this, he stretched himself out, and in +a few minutes Thor and Loki and the lad Thialfi heard the same sounds as +kept them awake the night before, sounds that were like forests moaning +and cataracts falling. It was Skyrmir's snoring. + +Thor and Loki and the lad Thialfi were too hungry now to be disturbed by +these tremendous noises. Thor tried to open the wallet, but he found it +was not easy to undo the knots. Then Loki tried to open it. In spite of +all Loki's cunning he could not undo the knots. Then Thor took the +wallet from him and tried to break the knots by main strength. Not even +Thor's strength could break them. He threw the wallet down in his rage. + +The snoring of Skyrmir became louder and louder. Thor stood up in his +rage. He grasped Miölnir and flung it at the head of the sleeping Giant. + +The hammer struck him on the head. But Skyrmir only stirred in his +sleep. "Did a leaf fall on my head?" he said. + +He turned round on the other side and went to sleep again. The hammer +came back to Thor's hand. As soon as Skyrmir snored he flung it again, +aiming at the Giant's forehead. It struck there. The Giant opened his +eyes. "Has an acorn fallen on my forehead?" he said. + +Again he went to sleep. But now Thor, terribly roused, stood over his +head with the hammer held in his hands. He struck him on the forehead. +It was the greatest blow that Thor had ever dealt. + +"A bird is pecking at my forehead--there is no chance to sleep here," +said Skyrmir, sitting up. "And you, little men, did you have breakfast +yet? Toss over my wallet to me and I shall give you some provision." The +lad Thialfi brought him the wallet. Skyrmir opened it, took out his +provisions, and gave a share to Thor and Loki and the lad Thialfi. Thor +would not take provision from him, but Loki and the lad Thialfi took it +and ate. When the meal was finished Skyrmir rose up and said, "Time for +us to be going toward Utgard." + +As they went on their way Skyrmir talked to Loki. "I always feel very +small when I go into Utgard," he said. "You see, I'm such a small and a +weak fellow and the folk who live there are so big and powerful. But you +and your friends will be welcomed in Utgard. They will be sure to make +little pets of you." + +And then he left them and they went into Utgard, the City of the Giants. +Giants were going up and down in the streets. They were not so huge as +Skyrmir would have them believe, Loki noticed. + +Utgard was the Asgard of the Giants. But in its buildings there was not +a line of the beauty that there was in the palaces of the Gods, +Gladsheim and Breidablik or Fensalir. Huge but shapeless the buildings +arose, like mountains or icebergs. O beautiful Asgard with the dome +above it of the deepest blue! Asgard with the clouds around it heaped up +like mountains of diamonds! Asgard with its Rainbow Bridge and its +glittering gates! O beautiful Asgard, could it be indeed that these +Giants would one day overthrow you? + +Thor and Loki with the lad Thialfi went to the palace of the King. The +hammer that Thor gripped would, they knew, make them safe even there. +They passed between rows of Giant guards and came to the King's seat. +"We know you, Thor and Loki," said the Giant King, "and we know that +Thor has come to Utgard to try his strength against the Giants. We shall +have a contest tomorrow. Today there are sports for our boys. If your +young servant should like to try his swiftness against our youths, let +him enter the race today." + +Now Thialfi was the best runner in Midgard and all the time he had been +with them Loki and Thor had trained him in quickness. And so Thialfi was +not fearful of racing against the Giants' youths. + +The King called on one named Hugi and placed him against Thialfi. The +pair started together. Thialfi sped off. Loki and Thor watched the race +anxiously, for they thought it would be well for them if they had a +triumph over the dwellers in Utgard in the first contest. But they saw +Hugi leave Thialfi behind. They saw the Giant youth reach the winning +post, circle round it, and come back to the starting place before +Thialfi had reached the end of the course. + +Thialfi, who did not know how it was that he had been beaten, asked that +he be let run the race with Hugi again. The pair started off once more, +and this time it did not seem to Thor and Loki that Hugi had left the +starting place at all--he was back there almost as soon as the race had +started. + +They came back from the racing ground to the palace. The Giant King and +his friends with Thor and Loki sat down to the supper table. "Tomorrow," +said the King, "we shall have our great contest when Asa Thor will show +us his power. Have you of Asgard ever heard of one who would enter a +contest in eating? We might have a contest in eating at this supper +board if we could get one who would match himself with Logi here. He can +eat more than anyone in Jötunheim." + +"And I," said Loki, "can eat more than any two in Jötunheim. I will +match myself against your Logi." + +"Good!" said the Giant King. And all the Giants present said, "Good! +This will be a sight worth seeing." + +Then they put scores of plates along one side of the table, each plate +filled with meat. Loki began at one end and Logi began at the other. +They started to eat, moving toward each other as each cleared a plate. +Plate after plate was emptied, and Thor standing by with the Giants was +amazed to see how much Loki ate. But Logi on the other side was leaving +plate after plate emptied. At last the two stood together with scores of +plates on each side of them. "He has not defeated me," cried Loki. "I +have cleared as many plates as your champion, O King of the Giants." + +"But you have not cleared them so well," said the King. + +"Loki has eaten all the meat that was upon them," said Thor. + +"But Logi has eaten the bones with the meat," said the Giant King. "Look +and see if it be not so." + +Thor went to the plates. Where Loki had eaten, the bones were left on +the plates. Where Logi had eaten, nothing was left: bones as well as +meat were consumed, and all the plates were left bare. + +"We are beaten," said Thor to Loki. + +"Tomorrow, Thor," said Loki, "you must show all your strength or the +Giants will cease to dread the might of the Dwellers in Asgard." + +"Be not afraid," said Thor. "No one in Jötunheim will triumph over me." + +The next day Thor and Loki came into the great hall of Utgard. The Giant +King was there with a throng of his friends. Thor marched into the hall +with Miölnir, his great hammer, in his hands. "Our young men have been +drinking out of this horn," said the King, "and they want to know if +you, Asa Thor, would drink out of it a morning draught. But I must tell +you that they think that no one of the Æsir could empty the horn at one +draught." + +"Give it to me," said Thor. "There is no horn you can hand me that I +cannot empty at a draught." + +A great horn, brimmed and flowing, was brought over to him. Handing +Miölnir to Loki and bidding him stand so that he might keep the hammer +in sight, Thor raised the horn to his mouth. He drank and drank. He felt +sure there was not a drop left in the horn as he laid it on the ground. +"There," he gasped, "your Giant horn is drained." + +The Giants looked within the horn and laughed. "Drained, Asa Thor!" said +the Giant King. "Look into the horn again. You have hardly drunk below +the brim." + +And Thor looked into it and saw that the horn was not half emptied. In a +mighty rage he lifted it to his lips again. He drank and drank and +drank. Then, satisfied that he had emptied it to the bottom, he left the +horn on the ground and walked over to the other side of the hall. + +"Thor thinks he has drained the horn," said one of the Giants, lifting +it up. "But see, friends, what remains in it." + +Thor strode back and looked again into the horn. It was still half +filled. He turned round to see that all the Giants were laughing at him. + +"Asa Thor, Asa Thor," said the Giant King, "we know not how you are +going to deal with us in the next feat, but you certainly are not able +to drink against the Giants." + +Said Thor: "I can lift up and set down any being in your hall." + +As he said this a great iron-colored cat bounded into the hall and stood +before Thor, her back arched and her fur bristling. + +"Then lift the cat off the ground," said the Giant King. + +Thor strode to the cat, determined to lift her up and fling her amongst +the mocking Giants. He put his hands to the cat, but he could not raise +her. Up, up went Thor's arms, up, up, as high as they could go. The +cat's arched back went up to the roof, but her feet were never taken off +the ground. And as he heaved and heaved with all his might he heard the +laughter of the Giants all round him. + +He turned away, his eyes flaming with anger. "I am not wont to try to +lift cats," he said. "Bring me one to wrestle with, and I swear you +shall see me overthrow him." + +"Here is one for you to wrestle with, Asa Thor," said the King. Thor +looked round and saw an old woman hobbling toward him. She was +blear-eyed and toothless. "This is Ellie, my ancient nurse," said the +Giant King. "She is the one we would have you wrestle with." + +"Thor does not wrestle with old women. I will lay my hands on your +tallest Giants instead." + +"Ellie has come where you are," said the Giant King. "Now it is she who +will lay hands upon you." + +The old woman hobbled toward Thor, her eyes gleaming under her falling +fringes of gray hair. Thor stood, unable to move as the hag came toward +him. She laid her hands upon his arms. Her feet began to trip at his. He +tried to cast her from him. Then he found that her feet and her hands +were as strong against his as bands and stakes of iron. + +Then began a wrestling match in earnest between Thor and the ancient +crone Ellie. Round and round the hall they wrestled, and Thor was not +able to bend the old woman backward nor sideways. Instead he became +less and less able under her terrible grasp. She forced him down, down, +and at last he could only save himself from being left prone on the +ground by throwing himself down on one knee and holding the hag by the +shoulders. She tried to force him down on the ground, but she could not +do that. Then she broke from him, hobbled to the door and went out of +the hall. + +Thor rose up and took the hammer from Loki's hands. Without a word he +went out of the hall and along the ways and toward the gate of the +Giants' City. He spoke no word to Loki nor to the lad Thialfi who went +with him for the seven weeks that they journeyed through Jötunheim. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HOW THOR AND LOKI BEFOOLED THRYM THE GIANT + + +Loki told another tale about Thor--about Thor and Thrym, a stupid Giant +who had cunning streaks in him. Loki and Thor had been in this Giant's +house. He had made a feast for them and Thor had been unwatchful. + +Then when they were far from Jötunheim Thor missed Miölnir, missed the +hammer that was the defence of Asgard and the help of the Gods. He could +not remember how or where he had mislaid it. Loki's thoughts went toward +Thrym, that stupid Giant who yet had cunning streaks in him. Thor, who +had lost the hammer that he had sworn never to let out of his sight, did +not know what to do. + +But Loki thought it would be worth while to see if Thrym knew anything +about it. He went first to Asgard. He hurried across the Rainbow Bridge +and passed Heimdall without speaking to him. To none of the Dwellers in +Asgard whom he met did he dare relate the tidings of Thor's loss. He +spoke to none until he came to Frigga's palace. + +To Frigga he said, "You must lend me your falcon dress until I fly to +Thrym's dwelling and find out if he knows where Miölnir is." + +"If every feather was silver I would give it to you to go on such an +errand," Frigga said. + +So Loki put on the falcon dress and flew to Jötunheim and came near +Thrym's dwelling. He found the Giant upon a hillside putting golden and +silver collars upon the necks of his hounds. Loki in the plumage of a +falcon perched on the rock above him, watching the Giant with falcon +eyes. + +And while he was there he heard the Giant speak boastful words. "I put +collars of silver and gold on you now, my hounds," said he, "but soon we +Giants will have the gold of Asgard to deck our hounds and our steeds, +yea, even the necklace of Freya to put upon you, the best of my hounds. +For Miölnir, the defence of Asgard, is in Thrym's holding." + +Then Loki spoke to him. "Yea, we know that Miölnir is in thy possession, +O Thrym," said he, "but know thou that the eyes of the watchful Gods are +upon thee." + +"Ha, Loki, Shape-changer," said Thrym, "you are there! But all your +watching will not help you to find Miölnir. I have buried Thor's hammer +eight miles deep in the earth. Find it if you can. It is below the caves +of the Dwarfs." + +"It is useless for us to search for Thor's hammer," said Loki; "eh +Thrym?" + +"It is useless for you to search for it," said the Giant sulkily. + +"But what a recompense you would gain if you restored Thor's hammer to +the Dwellers in Asgard," Loki said. + +"No, cunning Loki, I will never restore it, not for any recompense," +said Thrym. + +"Yet bethink thee, Thrym," said Loki. "Is there nought in Asgard you +would like to own? No treasure, no possession? Odin's ring or Frey's +ship, Skidbladnir?" + +"No, no," said Thrym. "Only one thing could the Dwellers in Asgard offer +me that I would take in exchange for Miölnir, Thor's hammer." + +"And what would that be, Thrym?" said Loki, flying toward him. + +"She whom many Giants have striven to gain--Freya, for my wife," said +Thrym. + +Loki watched Thrym for long with his falcon eyes. He saw that the Giant +would not alter his demand. "I will tell the Dwellers in Asgard of your +demand," he said at last, and he flew away. + +Loki knew that the Dwellers in Asgard would never let Freya be taken +from them to become the wife of Thrym, the stupidest of the Giants. He +flew back. + +By this time all the Dwellers in Asgard had heard of the loss of +Miölnir, the help of the Gods. Heimdall shouted to him as he crossed the +Rainbow Bridge to ask what tidings he brought back. But Loki did not +stop to speak to the Warden of the Bridge but went straight to the hall +where the Gods sat in Council. + +To the Æsir and the Vanir he told Thrym's demand. None would agree to +let the beautiful Freya go live in Jötunheim as a wife to the stupidest +of the Giants. All in the Council were cast down. The Gods would never +again be able to help mortal men, for now that Miölnir was in the +Giants' hands all their strength would have to be used in the defence of +Asgard. + +So they sat in the Council with looks downcast. But cunning Loki said, +"I have thought of a trick that may win back the hammer from stupid +Thrym. Let us pretend to send Freya to Jötunheim as a bride for him. But +let one of the Gods go in Freya's veil and dress." + +"Which of the Gods would bring himself to do so shameful a thing?" said +those in the Council. + +"Oh, he who lost the hammer, Thor, should be prepared to do as much to +win it back," said Loki. + +"Thor, Thor! Let Thor win back the hammer from Thrym by Loki's trick," +said the Æsir and the Vanir. They left it to Loki to arrange how Thor +should go to Jötunheim as a bride for Thrym. + +Loki left the Council of the Gods and came to where he had left Thor. +"There is but one way to win the hammer back, Thor," he said, "and the +Gods in Council have decreed that you shall take it." + +"What is the way?" said Thor. "But no matter what it is, tell me of it +and I shall do as thou dost say." + +"Then," said laughing Loki, "I am to take you to Jötunheim as a bride +for Thrym. Thou art to go in bridal dress and veil, in Freya's veil and +bridal dress." + +"What! I dress in woman's garb?" shouted Thor. + +"Yea, Thor, and wear a veil over your head and a garland of flowers upon +it." + +"I--I wear a garland of flowers?" + +"And rings upon thy fingers. And a bunch of housekeeper's keys in thy +girdle." + +"Cease thy mockery, Loki," said Thor roughly, "or I shall shake thee." + +"It is no mockery. Thou wilt have to do this to win Miölnir back for the +defence of Asgard. Thrym will take no other recompense than Freya. I +would mock him by bringing thee to him in Freya's veil and dress. When +thou art in his hall and he asks thee to join hands with him, say thou +wilt not until he puts Miölnir into thy hands. Then when thy mighty +hammer is in thy holding thou canst deal with him and with all in his +hall. And I shall be with thee as thy bridesmaid! O sweet, sweet maiden +Thor!" + +"Loki," said Thor, "thou didst devise all this to mock me. I in a bridal +dress! I with a bride's veil upon me! The Dwellers in Asgard will never +cease to laugh at me." + +"Yea," said Loki, "but there will never be laughter again in Asgard +unless thou art able to bring back the hammer that thine unwatchfulness +lost." + +"True," said Thor unhappily, "and is this, thinkst thou, Loki, the only +way to win back Miölnir from Thrym?" + +"It is the only way, O Thor," said the cunning Loki. + +So Thor and Loki set out for Jötunheim and the dwelling of Thrym. A +messenger had gone before them to tell Thrym that Freya was coming with +her bridesmaid; that the wedding-feast was to be prepared and the guests +gathered and that Miölnir was to be at hand so that it might be given +over to the Dwellers in Asgard. Thrym and his Giant mother hastened to +have everything in readiness. + +Thor and Loki came to the Giant's house in the dress of a bride and a +bridesmaid. A veil was over Thor's head hiding his beard and his fierce +eyes. A red-embroidered robe he wore and at his side hung a girdle of +housekeeper's keys. Loki was veiled, too. The hall of Thrym's great +house was swept and garnished and great tables were laid for the feast. +And Thrym's mother was going from one guest to another, vaunting that +her son was getting one of the beauteous Dwellers in Asgard for his +bride, Freya, whom so many of the Giants had tried to win. + +When Thor and Loki stepped across the threshold Thrym went to welcome +them. He wanted to raise the veil of his bride and give her a kiss. Loki +quickly laid his hand on the Giant's shoulder. + +"Forbear," he whispered. "Do not raise her veil. We Dwellers in Asgard +are reserved and bashful. Freya would be much offended to be kissed +before this company." + +"Aye, aye," said Thrym's old mother. "Do not raise thy bride's veil, +son. These Dwellers in Asgard are more refined in their ways than we, +the Giants." Then the old woman took Thor by the hand and led him to the +table. + +The size and the girth of the bride did not surprise the huge Giants who +were in the wedding company. They stared at Thor and Loki, but they +could see nothing of their faces and little of their forms because of +their veils. + +Thor sat at the table with Thrym on one side of him and Loki on the +other. Then the feast began. Thor, not noticing that what he did was +unbecoming to a refined maiden, ate eight salmon right away. Loki nudged +him and pressed his foot, but he did not heed Loki. After the salmon he +ate a whole ox. + +"These maids of Asgard," said the Giants to each other, "they may be +refined, as Thrym's mother says, but their appetites are lusty enough." + +"No wonder she eats, poor thing," said Loki to Thrym. "It is eight days +since we left Asgard. And Freya never ate upon the way, so anxious was +she to see Thrym and to come to his house." + +"Poor darling, poor darling," said the Giant. "What she has eaten is +little after all." + +Thor nodded his head toward the mead vat. Thrym ordered his servants to +bring a measure to his bride. The servants were kept coming with +measures to Thor. While the Giants watched, and while Loki nudged and +nodded, he drank three barrels of mead. + +"Oh," said the Giants to Thrym's mother, "we are not so sorry that we +failed to win a bride from Asgard." + +And now a piece of the veil slipped aside and Thor's eyes were seen for +an instant. "Oh, how does it come that Freya has such glaring eyes?" +said Thrym. + +"Poor thing, poor thing," said Loki, "no wonder her eyes are glaring and +staring. She has not slept for eight nights, so anxious was she to come +to you and to your house, Thrym. But now the time has come for you to +join hands with your bride. First, put into her hands the hammer Miölnir +that she may know the great recompense that the Giants have given for +her coming." + +Then Thrym, the stupidest of the Giants, rose up and brought Miölnir, +the defence of Asgard, into the feasting hall. Thor could hardly +restrain himself from springing up and seizing it from the Giant. But +Loki was able to keep him still. Thrym brought over the hammer and put +the handle into the hands of her whom he thought was his bride. Thor's +hands closed on his hammer. Instantly he stood up. The veil fell off +him. His countenance and his blazing eyes were seen by all. He struck +one blow on the wall of the house. Down it crashed. Then Thor went +striding out of the ruin with Loki beside him, while within the Giants +bellowed as the roof and walls fell down on them. And so was Miölnir, +the defence of Asgard, lost and won back. + + + + +[Illustration] + +ÆGIR'S FEAST: HOW THOR TRIUMPHED + + +The time between midday and evening wore on while the Æsir and the Vanir +gathered for the feast in old Ægir's hall listened to the stories that +Loki told in mockery of Thor. The night came, but no banquet was made +ready for the Dwellers in Asgard. They called to Ægir's two +underservants, Fimaffenger and Elder, and they bade them bring them a +supper. Slight was what they got, but they went to bed saying, "Great +must be the preparations that old Ægir is making to feast us tomorrow." + +The morrow came and the midday of the morrow, and still the Dwellers in +Asgard saw no preparations being made for the banquet. Then Frey rose up +and went to seek old Ægir, the Giant King of the Sea. He found him +sitting with bowed head in his inner hall. "Ho, Ægir," he said, "what of +the banquet that you have offered to the Dwellers in Asgard?" + +Old Ægir mumbled and pulled at his beard. At last he looked his guest in +the face and told why the banquet was not being made ready. The mead for +the feast was not yet brewed. And there was little chance of being able +to brew mead that would do for all, for Ægir's hall was lacking a mead +kettle that would contain enough. + +When the Æsir and the Vanir heard this they were sorely disappointed. +Who now, outside of Asgard, would give them a feast? Ægir was the only +one of the Giants who was friendly to them, and Ægir could not give them +full entertainment. + +Then a Giant youth who was there spoke up and said, "My kinsman, the +Giant Hrymer, has a mead kettle that is a mile wide. If we could bring +Hrymer's kettle here, what a feast we might have!" + +"One of us can go for that kettle," Frey said. + +"Ah, but Hrymer's dwelling is beyond the deepest forest and behind the +highest mountain," the Giant youth said, "and Hrymer himself is a rough +and a churlish one to call on." + +"Still, one of us should go," Frey said. + +"I will go to Hrymer's dwelling," said Thor, standing up. "I will go to +Hrymer's dwelling and get the mile-wide kettle from him by force or +cunning." He had been sitting subdued under the mocking tales that Loki +told of him and he was pleased with this chance to make his prowess +plain to the Æsir and the Vanir. He buckled on the belt that doubled his +strength. He drew on the iron gloves that enabled him to grasp Miölnir. +He took his hammer in his hands, and he signed to the Giant youth to +come with him and be his guide. + +The Æsir and the Vanir applauded Thor as he stepped out of old Ægir's +hall. But Loki, mischievous Loki, threw a gibe after him. "Do not let +the hammer out of your hands this time, bride of Thrym," he shouted. + +Thor, with the Giant youth to guide him, went through the deepest forest +and over the highest mountain. He came at last to the Giant's dwelling. +On a hillock before Hrymer's house was a dreadful warden; a Giant crone +she was, with heads a-many growing out of her shoulders. She was +squatting down on her ankles, and her heads, growing in bunches, were +looking in different directions. As Thor and the Giant youth came near +screams and yelps came from all her heads. Thor grasped his hammer and +would have flung it at her if a Giant woman, making a sign of peace, had +not come to the door of the dwelling. The youthful Giant who was with +Thor greeted her as his mother. + +"Son, come within," said she, "and you may bring your fellow farer with +you." + +The Giant crone--she was Hrymer's grandmother--kept up her screaming and +yelping. But Thor went past her and into the Giant's dwelling. + +When she saw that it was one of the Dwellers in Asgard who had come with +her son the Giant woman grew fearful for them both. "Hrymer," she said, +"will be in a rage to find one of the Æsir under his roof. He will +strive to slay you." + +"It is not likely he will succeed," Thor said, grasping Miölnir, the +hammer that all the Giant race knew of and dreaded. + +"Hide from him," said the Giant woman. "He may injure my son in his rage +to find you here." + +"I am not wont to hide from the Giants," Thor said. + +"Hide only for a little while! Hide until Hrymer has eaten," the Giant +woman pleaded. "He comes back from the chase in a stormy temper. After +he has eaten he is easier to deal with. Hide until he has finished +supper." + +Thor at last agreed to do this. He and the Giant youth hid behind a +pillar in the hall. They were barely hidden when they heard the clatter +of the Giant's steps as he came through the courtyard. He came to the +door. His beard was like a frozen forest around his mouth. And he +dragged along with him a wild bull that he had captured in the chase. So +proud was he of his capture that he dragged it into the hall. + +"I have taken alive," he shouted, "the bull with the mightiest head and +horns. 'Heaven-breaking' this bull is called. No Giant but me could +capture it." He tied the bull to the post of the door and then his eyes +went toward the pillar behind which Thor and the Giant youth were +hiding. The pillar split up its whole length at that look from Hrymer's +eyes. He came nearer. The pillar of stone broke across. It fell with the +crossbeam it supported and all the kettles and cauldrons that were +hanging on the beam came down with a terrible rattle. + +Then Thor stepped out and faced the wrathful Giant. "It is I who am +here, friend Hrymer," he said, his hands resting on his hammer. + +Then Hrymer, who knew Thor and knew the force of Thor's hammer, drew +back. "Now that you are in my house, Asa Thor," he said, "I will not +quarrel with you. Make supper ready for Asa Thor and your son and +myself," said he to the Giant woman. + +A plentiful supper was spread and Hrymer and Thor and the Giant youth +sat down to three whole roast oxen. Thor ate the whole of one ox. +Hrymer, who had eaten nearly two himself, leaving only small cuts for +his wife and his youthful kinsman, grumbled at Thor's appetite. "You'll +clear my fields, Asa Thor," he said, "if you stay long with me." + +"Do not grumble, Hrymer," Thor said. "Tomorrow I'll go fishing and I'll +bring you back the weight of what I ate." + +"Then instead of hunting I'll go fishing with you tomorrow, Asa Thor," +said Hrymer. "And don't be frightened if I take you out on a rough sea." + +Hrymer was first out of bed the next morning. He came with the pole and +the ropes in his hand to where Thor was sleeping. "Time to start earning +your meal, Asa Thor," said he. + +Thor got out of bed, and when they were both in the courtyard the Giant +said, "You'll have to provide a bait for yourself. Mind that you take a +bait large enough. It is not where the little fishes are, the place +where I'm going to take you. If you never saw monsters before you'll see +them now. I'm glad, Asa Thor, that you spoke of going fishing." + +"Will this bait be big enough?" said Thor, laying his hands on the horns +of the bull that Hrymer had captured and brought home, the bull with the +mighty head of horns that was called "Heaven-breaking." "Will this bait +be big enough, do you think?" + +"Yes, if you're big enough to handle it," said the Giant. + +Thor said nothing, but he struck the bull full in the middle of the +forehead with his fist. The great creature fell down dead. Thor then +twisted the bull's head off. "I have my bait and I'm ready to go with +you, Hrymer," he said. + +Hrymer had turned away to hide the rage he was in at seeing Thor do such +a feat. He walked down to the boat without speaking. "You may row for +the first few strokes," said Hrymer, when they were in the boat, "but +when we come to where the ocean is rough, why I'll take the oars from +you." + +Without saying a word Thor made a few strokes that took the boat out +into the middle of the ocean. Hrymer was in a rage to think that he +could not show himself greater than Thor. He let out his line and began +to fish. Soon he felt something huge on his hook. The boat rocked and +rocked till Thor steadied it. Then Hrymer drew into the boat the largest +whale that was in these seas. + +"Good fishing," said Thor, as he put his own bait on the line. + +"It's something for you to tell the Æsir," said Hrymer. + +"I thought as you were here I'd show you something bigger than +salmon-fishing." + +"I'll try my luck now," said Thor. + +He threw out a line that had at the end of it the mighty-horned head of +the great bull. Down, down the head went. It passed where the whales +swim, and the whales were afraid to gulp at the mighty horns. Down, down +it went till it came near where the monster serpent that coils itself +round the world abides. It reared its head up from its serpent coils as +Thor's bait came down through the depths of the ocean. It gulped at the +head and drew it into its gullet. There the great hook stuck. Terribly +surprised was the serpent monster. It lashed the ocean into a fury. But +still the hook stayed. Then it strove to draw down to the depths of the +ocean the boat of those who had hooked it. Thor put his legs across the +boat and stretched them till they touched the bottom bed of the ocean. +On the bottom bed of the ocean Thor stood and he pulled and he pulled on +his line. The serpent monster lashed the ocean into fiercer and fiercer +storms and all the world's ships were hurled against each other and +wrecked and tossed. But it had to loosen coil after coil of the coils it +makes around the world. Thor pulled and pulled. Then the terrible head +of the serpent monster appeared above the waters. It reared over the +boat that Hrymer sat in and that Thor straddled across. Thor dropped the +line and took up Miölnir, his mighty hammer. He raised it to strike the +head of the serpent monster whose coils go round the world. But Hrymer +would not have that happen. Rather than have Thor pass him by such a +feat he cut the line, and the head of the serpent monster sank back into +the sea. Thor's hammer was raised. He hurled it, hurled that hammer that +always came back to his hand. It followed the sinking head through +fathom after fathom of the ocean depth. It struck the serpent monster a +blow, but not such a deadly blow as would have been struck if the water +had not come between. A bellow of pain came up from the depths of the +ocean, such a bellow of pain that all in Jötunheim were affrighted. + +"This surely is something to tell the Æsir of," said Thor, "something to +make them forget Loki's mockeries." + +Without speaking Hrymer turned the boat and rowed toward the shore, +dragging the whale in the wake. He was in such a rage to think that one +of the Æsir had done a feat surpassing his that he would not speak. At +supper, too, he remained silent, but Thor talked for two, boasting +loudly of his triumph over the monster serpent. + +"No doubt you think yourself very powerful, Asa Thor," Hrymer said at +last. "Well, do you think you are powerful enough to break the cup that +is before you?" + +Thor took up the cup and with a laugh he hurled it against the stone +pillar of the house. The cup fell down on the floor without a crack or a +dint in it. But the pillar was shattered with the blow. + +The Giant laughed. "So feeble are the folk of Asgard!" he said. + +Thor took up the cup again and flung it with greater force against the +stone pillar. And again the cup fell to the ground without a crack or a +dint. + +Then he heard the woman who was the mother of the Giant youth sing +softly, as she plied her wheel behind him: + + Not at the pillar of the stead, + But at Hrymer's massy head: + When you next the goblet throw, + Let his head receive the blow. + +Thor took the cup up again. He flung it, not at the pillar this time, +but at Hrymer's head. It struck the Giant full on the forehead and fell +down on the floor in pieces. And Hrymer's head was left without a dint +or a crack. + +"Ha, so you can break a cup, but can you lift up my mile-wide kettle?" +cried the Giant. + +"Show me where your mile-wide kettle is and I shall try to lift it," +cried Thor. + +The Giant took up the flooring and showed him the mile-wide kettle down +in the cellar. Thor stooped down and took the kettle by the brim. He +lifted it slowly as if with a mighty effort. + +"You can lift, but can you carry it?" said the Giant. + +"I will try to do that," said Thor. He lifted the kettle up and placed +it on his head. He strode to the door and out of the house before the +Giant could lay hands on him. Then when he was outside he started to +run. He was across the mountain before he looked behind him. He heard a +yelping and a screaming and he saw the Giant crone with the bunch of +heads running, running after him. Up hill and down dale Thor raced, the +mile-wide kettle on his head and the Giant crone in chase of him. +Through the deep forest he ran and over the high mountain, but still +Bunch-of-Heads kept him in chase. But at last, jumping over a lake, she +fell in and Thor was free of his pursuer. + +And so back to the Æsir and the Vanir Thor came in triumph, carrying on +his head the mile-wide kettle. And those of the Æsir and the Vanir who +had laughed most at Loki's mockeries rose up and cheered for him as he +came in. The mead was brewed, the feast was spread, and the greatest +banquet that ever the Kings of the Giants gave to the Dwellers in Asgard +was eaten in gladness. + +A strange and silent figure sat at the banquet. It was the figure of a +Giant and no one knew who he was nor where he had come from. But when +the banquet was ended Odin, the Eldest of the Gods, turned toward this +figure and said, "O Skyrmir, Giant King of Utgard, rise up now and tell +Thor of all you practiced upon him when he and Loki came to your City." + +Then the stranger at the banquet stood up, and Thor and Loki saw he was +the Giant King in whose halls they had had the contests. Skyrmir turned +toward them and said: + +"O Thor and O Loki, I will reveal to you now the deceits I practiced on +you both. It was I whom ye met on the moorland on the day before ye came +into Utgard. I gave you my name as Skyrmir and I did all I might do to +prevent your entering our City, for the Giants dreaded a contest of +strength with Asa Thor. Now hear me, O Thor. The wallet I gave for you +to take provisions out of was tied with magic knots. No one could undo +them by strength or cleverness. And while you were striving to undo them +I placed a mountain of rock between myself and you. The hammer blows, +which as you thought struck me, struck the mountain and made great +clefts and gaps in it. When I knew the strength of your tremendous blows +I was more and more in dread of your coming into our City. + +"I saw you would have to be deceived by magic. Your lad Thialfi was the +one whom I first deceived. For it was not a Giant youth who raced +against him, but Thought itself. And even you, O Loki, I deceived. For +when you tried to make yourself out the greatest of eaters I pitted +against you, not a Giant, but Fire that devours everything. + +"You, Thor, were deceived in all the contests. After you had taken the +drinking horn in your hands we were all affrighted to see how much you +were able to gulp down. For the end of that horn was in the sea, and +Ægir, who is here, can tell you that after you had drunk from it, the +level of the sea went down. + +"The cat whom you strove to lift was Nidhögg, the dragon that gnaws at +the roots of Ygdrassil, the Tree of Trees. Truly we were terrified when +we saw that you made Nidhögg budge. When you made the back of the cat +reach the roof of our palace we said to ourselves, 'Thor is the +mightiest of all the beings we have known.' + +"Lastly you strove with the hag Ellie. Her strength seemed marvelous to +you, and you thought yourself disgraced because you could not throw her. +But know, Thor, that Ellie whom you wrestled with was Old Age herself. +We were terrified again to see that she who can overthrow all was not +able to force you prone upon the ground." + +So Skyrmir spoke and then left the hall. And once more the Æsir and the +Vanir stood up and cheered for Thor, the strongest of all who guarded +Asgard. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE DWARF'S HOARD, AND THE CURSE THAT IT BROUGHT + + +Now old Ægir's feast was over and all the Æsir and the Vanir made ready +for their return to Asgard. Two only went on another way--Odin, the +Eldest of the Gods, and Loki the Mischievous. + +Loki and Odin laid aside all that they had kept of the divine power and +the divine strength. They were going into the World of Men, and they +would be as men merely. Together they went through Midgard, mingling +with men of all sorts, kings and farmers, outlaws and true men, warriors +and householders, thralls and councillors, courteous men and men who +were ill-mannered. One day they came to the bank of a mighty river and +there they rested, listening to the beat of iron upon iron in a place +near by. + +Presently, on a rock in the middle of the river, they saw an otter +come. The otter went into the water and came back to the rock with a +catch of salmon. He devoured it there. Then Odin saw Loki do a senseless +and an evil thing. Taking up a great stone he flung it at the otter. The +stone struck the beast on the skull and knocked him over dead. + +"Loki, Loki, why hast thou done a thing so senseless and so evil?" Odin +said. Loki only laughed. He swam across the water and came back with the +creature of the river. "Why didst thou take the life of the beast?" Odin +said. + +"The mischief in me made me do it," said Loki. He drew out his knife and +ripping the otter up he began to flay him. When the skin was off the +beast he folded it up and stuck it in his belt. Then Odin and he left +that place by the river. + +They came to a house with two smithies beside it, and from the smithies +came the sound of iron beating upon iron. They went within the house and +they asked that they might eat there and rest themselves. + +An old man who was cooking fish over a fire pointed out a bench to them. +"Rest there," said he, "and when the fish is cooked I will give you +something good to eat. My son is a fine fisher and he brings me salmon +of the best." + +Odin and Loki sat on the bench and the old man went on with his cooking. +"My name is Hreidmar," he said, "and I have two sons who work in the +smithies without. I have a third son also. It is he who does the fishing +for us. And who may ye be, O wayfaring men?" + +Loki and Odin gave names to Hreidmar that were not the names by which +they were known in Asgard or on Midgard. Hreidmar served fish to them +and they ate. "And what adventures have ye met upon your travels?" +Hreidmar asked. "Few folk come this way to tell me of happenings." + +"I killed an otter with a cast of a stone," Loki said with a laugh. + +"You killed an otter!" Hreidmar cried. "Where did you kill one?" + +"Where I killed him is of no import to you, old man," said Loki. "His +skin is a good one, however. I have it at my belt." + +Hreidmar snatched the skin out of Loki's belt. As soon as he held the +skin before his eyes he shrieked out, "Fafnir, Regin, my sons, come here +and bring the thralls of your smithies. Come, come, come!" + +"Why dost thou make such an outcry, old man?" said Odin. + +"Ye have slain my son Otter," shrieked the old man. "This in my hands is +the skin of my son." + +As Hreidmar said this two young men bearing the forehammers of the +smithies came in followed by the thralls. "Strike these men dead with +your forehammers, O Fafnir, O Regin," their father cried. "Otter, who +used to stay in the river, and whom I changed by enchantment into a +river beast that he might fish for me, has been slain by these men." + +"Peace," said Odin. "We have slain thy son, it would seem, but it was +unwittingly that we did the deed. We will give a recompense for the +death of thy son." + +"What recompense will ye give?" said Hreidmar, looking at Odin with eyes +that were small and sharp. + +Then did Odin, the Eldest of the Gods, say a word that was unworthy of +his wisdom and his power. He might have said, "I will bring thee a +draught of Mimir's well water as a recompense for thy son's death." But +instead of thinking of wisdom, Odin All-Father thought of gold. "Set a +price on the life of thy son and we will pay that price in gold," he +said. + +"Maybe ye are great kings traveling through the world," Hreidmar said. +"If ye are ye will have to find gold that will cover every hair upon the +skin of him whom ye have killed." + +Then did Odin, his mind being fixed upon the gold, think upon a certain +treasure, a treasure that was guarded by a Dwarf. No other treasure in +the nine worlds would be great enough to make the recompense that +Hreidmar claimed. He thought upon this treasure and he thought on how it +might be taken and yet he was ashamed of his thought. + +"Dost thou, Loki, know of Andvari's hoard?" he said. + +"I know of it," said Loki sharply, "and I know where it is hidden. Wilt +thou, Odin, win leave for me to fetch Andvari's hoard?" + +Odin spoke to Hreidmar. "I will stay with thee as a hostage," he said, +"if thou wilt let this one go to fetch a treasure that will cover the +otter's skin hair by hair." + +"I will let this be done," said old Hreidmar with the sharp and cunning +eyes. "Go now," said he to Loki. Then Loki went from the house. + +Andvari was a Dwarf who, in the early days, had gained for himself the +greatest treasure in the nine worlds. So that he might guard this +treasure unceasingly he changed himself into a fish--into a pike--and he +swam in the water before the cave where the hoard was hidden. + +All in Asgard knew of the Dwarf and of the hoard he guarded. And there +was a thought amongst all that this hoard was not to be meddled with and +that some evil was joined to it. But now Odin had given the word that it +was to be taken from the Dwarf. Loki set out for Andvari's cave +rejoicingly. He came to the pool before the cave and he watched for a +sight of Andvari. Soon he saw the pike swimming cautiously before the +cave. + +He would have to catch the pike and hold him till the treasure was given +for ransom. As he watched the pike became aware of him. Suddenly he +flung himself forward in the water and went with speed down the stream. + +Not with his hands and not with any hook and line could Loki catch that +pike. How, then, could he take him? Only with a net that was woven by +magic. Then Loki thought of where he might get such a net. + +Ran, the wife of old Ægir, the Giant King of the Sea, had a net that was +woven by magic. In it she took all that was wrecked on the sea. Loki +thought of Ran's net and he turned and went back to Ægir's hall to ask +for the Queen. But Ran was seldom in her husband's dwelling. She was now +down by the rocks of the sea. + +He found Ran, the cold Queen, standing in the flow of the sea, drawing +out of the depths with the net that she held in her hands every piece +of treasure that was washed that way. She had made a heap of the things +she had drawn out of the sea, corals and amber, and bits of gold and +silver, but still she was plying her net greedily. + +"Thou knowst me, Ægir's wife," said Loki to her. + +"I know thee, Loki," said Queen Ran. + +"Lend me thy net," said Loki. + +"That I will not do," said Queen Ran. + +"Lend me thy net that I may catch Andvari the Dwarf who boasts that he +has a greater treasure than ever thou wilt take out of the sea," said +Loki. + +The cold Queen of the sea ceased plying her net. She looked at Loki +steadily. Yes, if he were going to catch Andvari she would lend her net +to him. She hated all the Dwarfs because this one and that one had told +her they had greater treasures than ever she would be mistress of. But +especially she hated Andvari, the Dwarf who had the greatest treasure in +the nine worlds. + +"There is nothing more to gather here," she said, "and if thou wilt +swear to bring me back my net by tomorrow I shall lend it to you." + +"I swear by the sparks of Muspelheim that I will bring thy net back to +thee by tomorrow, O Queen of Ægir," Loki cried. Then Ran put into his +hands the Magic Net. Back then he went to where the Dwarf, transformed, +was guarding his wondrous hoard. + +Dark was the pool in which Andvari floated as a pike; dark it was, but +to him it was all golden with the light of his wondrous treasure. For +the sake of this hoard he had given up his companionship with the +Dwarfs and his delight in making and shaping the things of their +workmanship. For the sake of his hoard he had taken on himself the +dumbness and deafness of a fish. + +Now as he swam about before the cave he was aware again of a shadow +above him. He slipped toward the shadow of the bank. Then as he turned +round he saw a net sweeping toward him. He sank down in the water. But +the Magic Net had spread out and he sank into its meshes. + +Suddenly he was out of the water and was left gasping on the bank. He +would have died had he not undone his transformation. + +Soon he appeared as a Dwarf. "Andvari, you are caught; it is one of the +Æsir who has taken you," he heard his captor say. + +"Loki," he gasped. + +"Thou art caught and thou shalt be held," Loki said to him. "It is the +will of the Æsir that thou give up thy hoard to me." + +"My hoard, my hoard!" the Dwarf shouted. "Never will I give up my +hoard." + +"I hold thee till thou givest it to me," said Loki. + +"Unjust, unjust," shouted Andvari. "It is only thou, Loki, who art +unjust. I will go to the throne of Odin and I will have Odin punish thee +for striving to rob me of my treasure." + +"Odin has sent me to fetch thy hoard to him," said Loki. + +"Can it be that all the Æsir are unjust? Ah, yes. In the beginning of +things they cheated the Giant who built the wall round their City. The +Æsir are unjust." + +Loki had Andvari in his power. And after the Dwarf had raged against him +and defied him, he tormented him; at last, trembling with rage and with +his face covered with tears, Andvari took Loki into his cavern, and, +turning a rock aside, showed him the mass of gold and gems that was his +hoard. + +At once Loki began to gather into the Magic Net lumps and ingots and +circlets of gold with gems that were rubies and sapphires and emeralds. +He saw Andvari snatch at something on the heap, but he made no sign of +marking it. At last all was gathered into the net, and Loki stood there +ready to bear the Dwarf's hoard away. + +"There is one thing more to be given," said Loki, "the ring that you, +Andvari, snatched from the heap." + +"I snatched nothing," said the Dwarf. But he shook with anger and his +teeth gnashed together and froth came on his lips. "I snatched nothing +from the heap." + +But Loki pulled up his arm and there fell to the ground the ring that +Andvari had hidden under his armpit. + +It was the most precious thing in all the hoard. Had it been left with +him Andvari would have thought that he still possessed a treasure, for +this ring of itself could make gold. It was made out of gold that was +refined of all impurities and it was engraven with a rune of power. + +Loki took up this most precious ring and put it on his finger. Then the +Dwarf screamed at him, turning his thumbs toward him in a curse: + + The ring with the rune + Of power upon it: + May it weigh down your fortune, + And load you with evil, + You, Loki, and all + Who lust to possess + The ring I have cherished. + +As Andvari uttered this curse Loki saw a figure rise up in the cave and +move toward him. As this figure came near he knew who it was: Gulveig, a +Giant woman who had once been in Asgard. + +Far back in the early days, when the Gods had come to their holy hill +and before Asgard was built, three women of the Giants had come amongst +the Æsir. After the Three had been with them for a time, the lives of +the Æsir changed. Then did they begin to value and to hoard the gold +that they had played with. Then did they think of war. Odin hurled his +spear amongst the messengers that came from the Vanir, and war came into +the world. + +The Three were driven out of Asgard. Peace was made with the Vanir. The +Apples of Lasting Youth were grown in Asgard. The eagerness for gold was +curbed. But never again were the Æsir as happy as they were before the +women came to them from the Giants. + +Gulveig was one of the Three who had blighted the early happiness of the +Gods. And, behold, she was in the cave where Andvari had hoarded his +treasure and with a smile upon her face she was advancing toward Loki. + +"So, Loki," she said, "thou seest me again. And Odin who sent thee to +this cave will see me again. Lo, Loki! I go to Odin to be thy messenger +and to tell him that thou comest with Andvari's hoard." + +And speaking so, and smiling into his face, Gulveig went out of the cave +with swift and light steps. Loki drew the ends of the Magic Net together +and gathering all the treasures in its meshes he, too, went out. + +Odin, the Eldest of the Gods, stood leaning on his spear and looking at +the skin of the otter that was spread out before him. One came into the +dwelling swiftly. Odin looked and saw that she who had come in on such +swift, glad feet was Gulveig who, once with her two companions, had +troubled the happiness of the Gods. Odin raised his spear to cast it at +her. + +"Lay thy spear down, Odin," she said. "I dwelt for long in the Dwarf's +cave. But thy word unloosed me, and the curse said over Andvari's ring +has sent me here. Lay thy spear down, and look on me, O Eldest of the +Gods. + +"Thou didst cast me out of Asgard, but thy word has brought me to come +back to thee. And if ye two, Odin and Loki, have bought yourselves free +with gold and may enter Asgard, surely I, Gulveig, am free to enter +Asgard also." + +Odin lowered his spear, sighing deeply. "Surely it is so, Gulveig," he +said. "I may not forbid thee to enter Asgard. Would I had thought of +giving the man Kvasir's Mead or Mimir's well water rather than this gold +as a recompense." + +As they spoke Loki came into Hreidmar's dwelling. He laid on the floor +the Magic Net. Old Hreidmar with his sharp eyes, and huge Fafnir, and +lean and hungry-looking Regin came in to gaze on the gold and gems that +shone through the meshes. They began to push each other away from gazing +at the gold. Then Hreidmar cried out, "No one may be here but these two +kings and I while we measure out the gold and gems and see whether the +recompense be sufficient. Go without, go without, sons of mine." + +Then Fafnir and Regin were forced to go out of the dwelling. They went +out slowly, and Gulveig went with them, whispering to both. + +With shaking hands old Hreidmar spread out the skin that once covered +his son. He drew out the ears and the tail and the paws so that every +single hair could be shown. For long he was on his hands and knees, his +sharp eyes searching, searching over every line of the skin. And still +on his knees he said, "Begin now, O kings, and cover with a gem or a +piece of gold every hair on the skin that was my son's." + +Odin stood leaning on his spear, watching the gold and gems being paid +out. Loki took the gold--the ingots, and the lumps and the circlets; he +took the gems--the rubies, and the emeralds and the sapphires, and he +began to place them over each hair. Soon the middle of the skin was all +covered. Then he put the gems and the gold over the paws and the tail. +Soon the otter-skin was so glittering that one would think it could +light up the world. And still Loki went on finding a place where a gem +or a piece of gold might be put. + +At last he stood up. Every gem and every piece of gold had been taken +out of the net. And every hair on the otter's skin had been covered with +a gem or a piece of gold. + +And still old Hreidmar on his hands and knees was peering over the skin, +searching, searching for a hair that was not covered. At last he lifted +himself up on his knees. His mouth was open, but he was speechless. He +touched Odin on the knees, and when Odin bent down he showed him a hair +upon the lip that was left uncovered. + +"What meanest thou?" Loki cried, turning upon the crouching man. + +"Your ransom is not paid yet--look, here is still a hair uncovered. You +may not go until every hair is covered with gold or a gem." + +"Peace, old man," said Loki roughly. "All the Dwarf's hoard has been +given thee." + +"Ye may not go until every hair has been covered," Hreidmar said again. + +"There is no more gold or gems," Loki answered. + +"Then ye may not go," cried Hreidmar, springing up. + +It was true. Odin and Loki might not leave that dwelling until the +recompense they had agreed to was paid in full. Where now would the Æsir +go for gold? + +And then Odin saw the gleam of gold on Loki's finger: it was the ring he +had forced from Andvari. "Thy fingerring," said Odin. "Put thy +fingerring over the hair on the otter's skin." + +Loki took off the ring that was engraved with the rune of power, and he +put it on the lip-hair of the otter's skin. Then Hreidmar clapped his +hands and screamed aloud. Huge Fafnir and lean and hungry-looking Regin +came within, and Gulveig came behind them. They stood around the skin of +the son and the brother that was all glittering with gold and gems. But +they looked at each other more than they looked on the glittering mass, +and very deadly were the looks that Fafnir and Regin cast upon their +father and cast upon each other. + +Over Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge, went all of the Æsir and the Vanir +that had been at old Ægir's feast--Frey and Freya, Frigga, Iduna, and +Sif; Tyr with his sword and Thor in his chariot drawn by the goats. Loki +came behind them, and behind them all came Odin, the Father of the Gods. +He went slowly with his head bent, for he knew that an unwelcome one was +following--Gulveig, who once had been cast out of Asgard and whose +return now the Gods might not gainsay. + + + + +PART III + +THE WITCH'S HEART + +[Illustration] + +FOREBODING IN ASGARD + + +What happened afterwards is to the shame of the Gods, and mortals may +hardly speak of it. Gulveig the Witch came into Asgard, for Heimdall +might not forbid her entrance. She came within and she had her seat +amongst the Æsir and the Vanir. She walked through Asgard with a smile +upon her face, and where she walked and where she smiled Care and dire +Foreboding came. + +Those who felt the care and the foreboding most deeply were Bragi the +Poet and his wife, the fair and simple Iduna, she who gathered the +apples that kept age from the Dwellers in Asgard. Bragi ceased to tell +his never-ending tale. Then one day, overcome by the fear and the +foreboding that was creeping through Asgard, Iduna slipped down +Ygdrassil, the World Tree, and no one was left to pluck the apples with +which the Æsir and the Vanir stayed their youth. + +Then were all the Dwellers in Asgard in sore dismay. Strength and beauty +began to fade from all. Thor found it hard to lift Miölnir, his great +hammer, and the flesh under Freya's necklace lost its white radiance. +And still Gulveig the Witch walked smiling through Asgard, although now +she was hated by all. + +It was Odin and Frey who went in search of Iduna. She would have been +found and brought back without delay if Frey had had with him the magic +sword that he had bartered for Gerda. In his search he had to strive +with one who guarded the lake wherein Iduna had hidden herself. Beli was +the one he strove against. He overcame him in the end with a weapon made +of stags' antlers. Ah, it was not then but later that Frey lamented the +loss of his sword: it was when the Riders of Muspell came against +Asgard, and the Vanir, who might have prevailed, prevailed not because +of the loss of Frey's sword. + +They found Iduna and they brought her back. But still Care and +Foreboding crept through Asgard. And it was known, too, that the witch +Gulveig was changing the thoughts of the Gods. + +At last Odin had to judge Gulveig. He judged her and decreed her death. +And only Gungnir, the spear of Odin, might slay Gulveig, who was not of +mortal race. + +Odin hurled Gungnir. The spear went through Gulveig. But still she stood +smiling at the Gods. A second time Odin hurled his spear. A second time +Gungnir pierced the witch. She stood livid as one dead but fell not +down. A third time Odin hurled his spear. And now, pierced for the third +time, the witch gave a scream that made all Asgard shudder and she fell +in death on the ground. + +"I have slain in these halls where slaying is forbidden," Odin said. +"Take now the corpse of Gulveig and burn it on the ramparts, so that no +trace of the witch who has troubled us will remain in Asgard." + +They brought the corpse of Gulveig the witch out on the ramparts and +they lighted fires under the pile on which they laid her and they called +upon Hræsvelgur to fan up the flame: + + Hræsvelgur is the Giant, + Who on heaven's edge sits + In the guise of an eagle; + And the winds, it is said, + Rush down on the earth + From his outspreading pinions. + +Far away was Loki when all this was being done. Often now he went from +Asgard, and his journeys were to look upon that wondrous treasure that +had passed from the keeping of the Dwarf Andvari. It was Gulveig who had +kept the imagination of that treasure within his mind. Now, when he came +back and heard the whispers of what had been done, a rage flamed up +within him. For Loki was one of those whose minds were being changed by +the presence and the whispers of the witch Gulveig. His mind was being +changed to hatred of the Gods. Now he went to the place of Gulveig's +burning. All her body was in ashes, but her heart had not been devoured +by the flames. And Loki in his rage took the heart of the witch and ate +it. Oh, black and direful was it in Asgard, the day that Loki ate the +heart that the flames would not devour! + + + + +[Illustration] + +LOKI THE BETRAYER + + +He stole Frigga's dress of falcon feathers. Then as a falcon he flew out +of Asgard. Jötunheim was the place that he flew toward. + +The anger and the fierceness of the hawk was within Loki as he flew +through the Giants' Realm. The heights and the chasms of that dread land +made his spirits mount up like fire. He saw the whirlpools and the +smoking mountains and had joy of these sights. Higher and higher he +soared until, looking toward the South, he saw the flaming land of +Muspelheim. Higher and higher still he soared. With his falcon's eyes he +saw the gleam of Surtur's flaming sword. All the fire of Muspelheim and +all the gloom of Jötunheim would one day be brought against Asgard and +against Midgard. But Loki was no longer dismayed to think of the ruin of +Asgard's beauty and the ruin of Midgard's promise. + +He hovered around one of the dwellings in Jötunheim. Why had he come to +it? Because he had seen two of the women of that dwelling, and his rage +against the Asyniur and the Vanir was such that the ugliness and the +evil of these women was pleasing to him. + +He hovered before the open door of the Giant's house and he looked upon +those who were within. Gerriöd, the most savage of all the Giants, was +there. And beside him, squatting on the ground, were his two evil and +ugly daughters, Gialp and Greip. + +They were big and bulky, black and rugged, with horses' teeth and hair +that was like horses' manes. Gialp was the uglier of the two, if one +could be said to be uglier than the other, for her nose was a yard long +and her eyes were crooked. + +What were they talking about as they sat there, one scratching the +other? Of Asgard and the Dwellers in Asgard whom they hated. Thor was +the one whom they hated most of all, and they were speaking of all they +would like to do to him. + +"I would keep Thor bound in chains," said Gerriöd the Giant, "and I +would beat him to death with my iron club." + +"I would grind his bones to powder," said Greip. + +"I would tear the flesh off his bones," said Gialp. "Father, can you not +catch this Thor and bring him to us alive?" + +"Not so long as he has his hammer Miölnir, and the gloves with which he +grasps his hammer, and the belt that doubles his strength." + +"Oh, if we could catch him without his hammer and his belt and his +gloves," cried Gialp and Greip together. + +At that moment they saw the falcon hovering before the door. They were +eager now for something to hold and torment and so the hearts of the +three became set upon catching the falcon. They did not stir from the +place where they were sitting, but they called the child Glapp, who was +swinging from the roof-tree, and they bade him go out and try to catch +the falcon. + +All concealed by the great leaves the child Glapp climbed up the ivy +that was around the door. The falcon came hovering near. Then Glapp +caught it by the wings and fell down through the ivy, screaming and +struggling as he was being beaten, and clawed, and torn by the wings and +the talons and the beak of the falcon. + +Gerriöd and Greip and Gialp rushed out and kept hold of the falcon. As +the Giant held him in his hands and looked him over he knew that this +was no bird-creature. The eyes showed him to be of Alfheim or Asgard. +The Giant took him and shut him in a box till he would speak. + +Soon he tapped at the closed box and when Gerriöd opened it Loki spoke +to him. So glad was the savage Giant to have one of the Dwellers in +Asgard in his power that he and his daughters did nothing but laugh and +chuckle to each other for days. And all this time they left Loki in the +closed box to waste with hunger. + +When they opened the box again Loki spoke to them. He told them he +would do any injury to the Dwellers in Asgard that would please them if +they would let him go. + +"Will you bring Thor to us?" said Greip. + +"Will you bring Thor to us without his hammer, and without the gloves +with which he grasps his hammer, and without his belt?" said Gialp. + +"I will bring him to you if you will let me go," Loki said. "Thor is +easily deceived and I can bring him to you without his hammer and his +belt and his gloves." + +"We will let you go, Loki," said the Giant, "if you will swear by the +gloom of Jötunheim that you will bring Thor to us as you say." + +Loki swore that he would do so by the gloom of Jötunheim--"Yea, and by +the fires of Muspelheim," he added. The Giant and his daughters let him +go, and he flew back to Asgard. + +He restored to Frigga her falcon dress. All blamed him for having stolen +it, but when he told how he had been shut up without food in Gerriöd's +dwelling those who judged him thought he had been punished enough for +the theft. He spoke as before to the Dwellers in Asgard, and the rage +and hatred he had against them since he had eaten Gulveig's heart he +kept from bursting forth. + +He talked to Thor of the adventures they had together in Jötunheim. Thor +would now roar with laughter when he talked of the time when he went as +a bride to Thrym the Giant. + +Loki was able to persuade him to make another journey to Jötunheim. "And +I want to speak to you of what I saw in Gerriöd's dwelling," he said. +"I saw there the hair of Sif, your wife." + +"The hair of Sif, my wife," said Thor in surprise. + +"Yes, the hair I once cut off from Sif's head," said Loki. "Gerriöd was +the one who found it when I cast it away. They light their hall with +Sif's hair. Oh, yes, they don't need torches where Sif's hair is." + +"I should like to see it," said Thor. + +"Then pay Gerriöd a visit," Loki replied. "But if you go to his house +you will have to go without your hammer Miölnir, and without your gloves +and your belt." + +"Where will I leave Miölnir, and my gloves and my belt?" Thor asked. + +"Leave them in Valaskjalf, Odin's own dwelling," said cunning Loki. +"Leave them there and come to Gerriöd's dwelling. Surely you will be +well treated there." + +"Yes, I will leave them in Valaskjalf and go with you to Gerriöd's +dwelling," Thor said. + +Thor left his hammer, his gloves, and his belt in Valaskjalf. Then he +and Loki went toward Jötunheim. When they were near the end of their +journey, they came to a wide river, and with a young Giant whom they met +on the bank they began to ford it. + +Suddenly the river began to rise. Loki and the young Giant would have +been swept away only Thor gripped both of them. Higher and higher the +river rose, and rougher and rougher it became. Thor had to plant his +feet firmly on the bottom or he and the two he held would have been +swept down by the flood. He struggled across, holding Loki and the +young Giant. A mountain ash grew out of the bank, and, while the two +held to him, he grasped it with his hands. The river rose still higher, +but Thor was able to draw Loki and the young Giant to the bank, and then +he himself scrambled up on it. + +Now looking up the river he saw a sight that filled him with rage. A +Giantess was pouring a flood into it. This it was that was making the +river rise and seethe. Thor pulled a rock out of the bank and hurled it +at her. It struck her and flung her into the flood. Then she struggled +out of the water and went yelping away. This Giantess was Gialp, +Gerriöd's ugly and evil daughter. + +Nothing would do the young Giant whom Thor had helped across but that +the pair would go and visit Grid, his mother, who lived in a cave in the +hillside. Loki would not go and was angered to hear that Thor thought of +going. But Thor, seeing that the Giant youth was friendly, was willing +enough to go to Grid's dwelling. + +"Go then, but get soon to Gerriöd's dwelling yonder. I will wait for you +there," said Loki. He watched Thor go up the hillside to Grid's cave. He +waited until he saw Thor come back down the hillside and go toward +Gerriöd's dwelling. He watched Thor go into the house where, as he +thought, death awaited him. Then in a madness for what he had done, +Loki, with his head drawn down on his shoulders, started running like a +bird along the ground. + +Grid, the old Giantess, was seated on the floor of the cave grinding +corn between two stones. "Who is it?" she said, as her son led Thor +within. "One of the Æsir! What Giant do you go to injure now, Asa Thor?" + +"I go to injure no Giant, old Grid," Thor replied. "Look upon me! Cannot +you see that I have not Miölnir, my mighty hammer, with me, nor my belt, +nor my gloves of iron?" + +"But where in Jötunheim do you go?" + +"To the house of a friendly Giant, old Grid--to the house of Gerriöd." + +"Gerriöd a friendly Giant! You are out of your wits, Asa Thor. Is he not +out of his wits, my son--this one who saved you from the flood, as you +say?" + +"Tell him of Gerriöd, old mother," said the Giant youth. + +"Do not go to his house, Asa Thor. Do not go to his house." + +"My word has been given, and I should be a craven if I stayed away now, +just because an old crone sitting at a quernstone tells me I am going +into a trap." + +"I will give you something that will help you, Asa Thor. Lucky for you I +am mistress of magical things. Take this staff in your hands. It is a +staff of power and will stand you instead of Miölnir." + +"I will take it since you offer it in kindness, old dame, this +worm-eaten staff." + +"And take these mittens, too. They will serve you for your gauntlets of +iron." + +"I will take them since you offer them in kindness, old dame, these worn +old mittens." + +"And take this length of string. It will serve you for your belt of +prowess." + +"I will take it since you offer it in kindness, old dame, this ragged +length of string." + +"'Tis well indeed for you, Asa Thor, that I am mistress of magical +things." + +Thor put the worn length of string around his waist, and as he did he +knew that Grid, the old Giantess, was indeed the mistress of magical +things. For immediately he felt his strength augmented as when he put on +his own belt of strength. He then drew on the mittens and took the staff +that she gave him in his hands. + +He left the cave of Grid, the old Giantess, and went to Gerriöd's +dwelling. Loki was not there. It was then that Thor began to think that +perhaps old Grid was right and that a trap was being laid for him. + +No one was in the hall. He came out of the hall and into a great stone +chamber and he saw no one there either. But in the center of the stone +chamber there was a stone seat, and Thor went to it and seated himself +upon it. + +No sooner was he seated than the chair flew upwards. Thor would have +been crushed against the stone roof only that he held his staff up. So +great was the power in the staff, so great was the strength that the +string around him gave, that the chair was thrust downward. The stone +chair crashed down upon the stone floor. + +There were horrible screams from under it. Thor lifted up the seat and +saw two ugly, broken bodies there. The Giant's daughters, Gialp and +Greip, had hidden themselves under the chair to watch his death. But +the stone that was to have crushed him against the ceiling had crushed +them against the floor. + +Thor strode out of that chamber with his teeth set hard. A great fire +was blazing in the hall, and standing beside that fire he saw Gerriöd, +the long-armed Giant. + +He held a tongs into the fire. As Thor came toward him he lifted up the +tongs and flung from it a blazing wedge of iron. It whizzed straight +toward Thor's forehead. Thor put up his hands and caught the blazing +wedge of iron between the mittens that old Grid had given him. Quickly +he hurled it back at Gerriöd. It struck the Giant on the forehead and +went blazing through him. + +Gerriöd crashed down into the fire, and the burning iron made a blaze +all around him. And when Thor reached Grid's cave (he went there to +restore to the old Giantess the string, the mittens, and the staff of +power she had given him) he saw the Giant's dwelling in such a blaze +that one would think the fires of Muspelheim were all around it. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LOKI AGAINST THE ÆSIR + + +The Æsir were the guests of the Vanir: in Frey's palace the Dwellers in +Asgard met and feasted in friendship. Odin and Tyr were there, Vidar and +Vali, Niörd, Frey, Heimdall, and Bragi. The Asyniur and the Vana were +also--Frigga, Freya, Iduna, Gerda, Skadi, Sif, and Nanna. Thor and Loki +were not at the feast, for they had left Asgard together. + +In Frey's palace the vessels were of shining gold; they made light for +the table and they moved of their own accord to serve those who were +feasting. All was peace and friendship there until Loki entered the +feast hall. + +Frey, smiling a welcome, showed a bench to Loki. It was beside Bragi's +and next to Freya's. Loki did not take the place; instead he shouted +out, "Not beside Bragi will I sit; not beside Bragi, the most craven of +all the Dwellers in Asgard." + +Bragi sprang up at that affront, but his wife, the mild Iduna, quieted +his anger. Freya turned to Loki and reproved him for speaking injurious +words at a feast. + +"Freya," said Loki, "why were you not so mild when Odur was with you? +Would it not have been well to have been wifely with your husband +instead of breaking faith with him for the sake of a necklace that you +craved of the Giant women?" + +Amazement fell on all at the bitterness that was in Loki's words and +looks. Tyr and Niörd stood up from their seats. But then the voice of +Odin was heard and all was still for the words of the All-Father. + +"Take the place beside Vidar, my silent son, O Loki," said Odin, "and +let thy tongue which drips bitterness be silent." + +"All the Æsir and the Vanir listen to thy words, O Odin, as if thou wert +always wise and just," Loki said. "But must we forget that thou didst +bring war into the world when thou didst fling thy spear at the envoys +of the Vanir? And didst thou not permit me to work craftily on the one +who built the wall around Asgard for a price? Thou dost speak, O Odin, +and all the Æsir and the Vanir listen to thee! But was it not thou who, +thinking not of wisdom but of gold when a ransom had to be made, brought +the witch Gulveig out of the cave where she stayed with the Dwarf's +treasure? Thou wert not always wise nor always just, O Odin, and we at +the table here need not listen to thee as if always thou wert." + +Then Skadi, the wife of Niörd, flung words at Loki. She spoke with all +the fierceness of her Giant blood. "Why should we not rise up and chase +from the hall this chattering crow?" she said. + +"Skadi," said Loki, "remember that the ransom for thy father's death has +not yet been paid. Thou wert glad to snatch a husband instead of it. +Remember who it was that killed thy Giant father. It was I, Loki. And no +ransom have I paid thee for it, although thou hast come amongst us in +Asgard." + +Then Loki fixed his eyes on Frey, the giver of the feast, and all knew +that with bitter words he was about to assail him. But Tyr, the brave +swordsman, rose up and said, "Not against Frey mayst thou speak, O Loki. +Frey is generous; he is the one amongst us who spares the vanquished and +frees the captive." + +"Cease speaking, Tyr," said Loki. "Thou mayst not always have a hand to +hold that sword of thine. Remember this saying of mine in days to come. + +"Frey," said he, "because thou art the giver of the feast they think I +will not speak the truth about thee. But I am not to be bribed by a +feast. Didst thou not send Skirnir to Gymer's dwelling to befool Gymer's +flighty daughter? Didst thou not bribe him into frightening her into a +marriage with thee, who, men say, wert the slayer of her brother? Yea, +Frey. Thou didst part with a charge, with the magic sword that thou +shouldst have kept for the battle. Thou hadst cause to grieve when thou +didst meet Beli by the lake." + +When he said this all who were there of the Vanir rose up, their faces +threatening Loki. + +"Sit still, ye Vanir," Loki railed. "If the Æsir are to bear the brunt +of Jötunheim's and Muspelheim's war upon Asgard it was your part to be +the first or the last on Vigard's plain. But already ye have lost the +battle for Asgard, for the weapon that was put into Frey's hands he +bartered for Gerda the Giantess. Ha! Surtur shall triumph over you +because of Frey's bewitchment." + +In horror they looked at the one who could let his hatred speak of +Surtur's triumph. All would have laid hands on Loki only Odin's voice +rang out. Then another appeared at the entrance of the feasting hall. It +was Thor. With his hammer upon his shoulder, his gloves of iron on his +hands, and his belt of prowess around him, he stood marking Loki with +wrathful eyes. + +"Ha, Loki, betrayer," he shouted. "Thou didst plan to leave me dead in +Gerriöd's house, but now thou wilt meet death by the stroke of this +hammer." + +His hands were raised to hurl Miölnir. But the words that Odin spoke +were heard. "Not in this hall may slaying be done, son Thor. Keep thy +hands upon thy hammer." + +Then shrinking from the wrath in the eyes of Thor, Loki passed out of +the feast hall. He went beyond the walls of Asgard and crossed Bifröst, +the Rainbow Bridge. And he cursed Bifröst, and longed to see the day +when the armies of Muspelheim would break it down in their rush against +Asgard. + +East of Midgard there was a place more evil than any region in +Jötunheim. It was Jarnvid, the Iron Wood. There dwelt witches who were +the most foul of all witches. And they had a queen over them, a hag, +mother of many sons who took upon themselves the shapes of wolves. Two +of her sons were Skoll and Hati, who pursued Sol, the Sun, and Mani, the +Moon. She had a third son, who was Managarm, the wolf who was to be +filled with the life-blood of men, who was to swallow up the Moon, and +stain the heavens and earth with blood. To Jarnvid, the Iron Wood, Loki +made his way. And he wed one of the witches there, Angerboda, and they +had children that took on dread shapes. Loki's offspring were the most +terrible of the foes that were to come against the Æsir and the Vanir in +the time that was called the Twilight of the Gods. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE VALKYRIE + + +Against the time when the riders of Muspelheim, with the Giants and the +evil powers of the Underworld, would bring on battle, Odin All-Father +was preparing a host of defenders for Asgard. They were not of the Æsir +nor of the Vanir; they were of the race of mortal men, heroes chosen +from amongst the slain on fields of battle in Midgard. + +To choose the heroes, and to give victory to those whom he willed to +have victory, Odin had battle-maidens that went to the fields of war. +Beautiful were those battle-maidens and fearless; wise were they also, +for to them Odin showed the Runes of Wisdom. Valkyries, Choosers of the +Slain, they were named. + +Those who were chosen on the fields of the slain were called in Asgard +the Einherjar. For them Odin made ready a great Hall. Valhalla, the Hall +of the Slain, it was called. Five hundred and forty doors had Valhalla, +and out of each door eight hundred Champions might pass. Every day the +Champions put on their armor and took their weapons down from the walls, +and went forth and battled with each other. All who were wounded were +made whole again, and in peace and goodly fellowship they sat down to +the feast that Odin prepared for them. Odin himself sat with his +Champions, drinking wine but eating no meat. + +For meat the Champions ate the flesh of the boar Sæhrimnir; every day +the boar was killed and cooked, and every morning it was whole again. +For drink they had the mead that was made from the milk of the goat +Heidrun, the goat that browsed on the leaves of the tree Læradir. And +the Valkyries, the wise and fearless battle-maidens, went amongst them, +filling up the drinking-horns with the heady mead. + +Youngest of all the battle-maidens was Brynhild. Nevertheless, to her +Odin All-Father had shown more of the Runes of Wisdom than he had shown +to any of her sisters. And when the time came for Brynhild to journey +down into Midgard he gave her a swan-feather dress such as he had given +before to the three Valkyrie sisters--Alvit, Olrun, and Hladgrun. + +In the dazzling plumage of a swan the young battle-maiden flew down from +Asgard. Not yet had she to go to the battlefields. Waters drew her, and +as she waited on the will of the All-Father she sought out a lake that +had golden sands for its shore, and as a maiden bathed in it. + +Now there dwelt near this lake a young hero whose name was Agnar. And +one day as Agnar lay by the lake he saw a swan with dazzling plumage fly +down to it. And while she was in the reeds the swan-feather dress +slipped off her, and Agnar beheld the swan change to a maiden. + +So bright was her hair, so strong and swift were all her movements, that +he knew her for one of Odin's battle-maidens; for one of those who give +victory and choose the slain. Very daring was Agnar, and he set his mind +upon capturing this battle-maiden even though he should bring on himself +the wrath of Odin by doing it. + +He hid the swan-feather dress that she had left in the reeds. When she +came out of the water she might not fly away. Agnar gave back to her the +swan-feather dress, but she had to promise that she would be his +battle-maiden. + +And as they talked together the young Valkyrie saw in him a hero that +one from Asgard might help. Very brave and very noble was Agnar. +Brynhild went with him as his battle-maiden, and she told him much from +the Runes of Wisdom that she knew, and she showed him that the +All-Father's last hope was in the bravery of the heroes of the earth; +with the Chosen from the Slain for his Champions he would make battle in +defence of Asgard. + +Always Brynhild was with Agnar's battalions; above the battles she +hovered, her bright hair and flashing battle-dress outshining the spears +and swords and shields of the warriors. + +But the gray-beard King Helmgunnar made war on the young Agnar. Odin +favored the gray-beard King, and to him he promised the victory. +Brynhild knew the will of the All-Father. But to Agnar, not to +Helmgunnar, she gave the victory. + +Doomed was Brynhild on the instant she went against Odin's will. Never +again might she come into Asgard. A mortal woman she was now, and the +Norns began to spin the thread of her mortal destiny. + +Sorrowful was Odin All-Father that the wisest of his battle-maidens +might never appear in Asgard nor walk by the benches at the feasts of +his Champions in Valhalla. He rode down on Sleipner to where Brynhild +was. And when he came before her it was his, and not her head that was +bowed down. + +For she knew now that the World of Men was paying a bitter price for the +strength that Asgard would have in the last battle. The bravest and +noblest were being taken from Midgard to fill up the ranks of Odin's +Champions. And Brynhild's heart was full of anger against the rulers of +Asgard, and she cared no more to be of them. + +Odin looked on his unflinching battle-maiden, and he said, "Is there +aught thou wouldst have me bestow on thee in thy mortal life, Brynhild?" + +"Naught save this," Brynhild answered, "that in my mortal life no one +but a man without fear, the bravest hero in the world, may claim me for +wife." + +All-Father bowed his head in thought. "It shall be as thou hast asked," +he said. "Only he who is without fear shall come near thee." + +Then on the top of the mountain that is called Hindfell he had a Hall +built that faced the south. Ten Dwarfs built it of black stone. And when +the Hall was built he put round it a wall of mounting and circling fire. + +More did Odin All-Father: he took a thorn of the Tree of Sleep and he +put it into the flesh of the battle-maiden. Then, with her helmet on her +head and the breast-mail of the Valkyrie upon her, he lifted Brynhild in +his arms and carried her through the wall of mounting and circling fire. +He laid her upon the couch that was within the Hall. There she would lie +in slumber until the hero who was without fear should ride through the +flame and waken her to the life of a mortal woman. + +He took farewell of her and he rode back to Asgard on Sleipner. He might +not foresee what fate would be hers as a mortal woman. But the fire he +had left went mounting and circling around the Hall that the Dwarfs had +built. For ages that fire would be a fence around where Brynhild, once a +Valkyrie, lay in sleep. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE CHILDREN OF LOKI + + +The children of Loki and the witch Angerboda were not as the children of +men: they were formless as water, or air, or fire is formless, but it +was given to each of them to take on the form that was most like to +their own greed. + +Now the Dwellers in Asgard knew that these powers of evil had been born +into the world and they thought it well that they should take on forms +and appear before them in Asgard. So they sent one to Jarnvid, the Iron +Wood, bidding Loki bring before the Gods the powers born of him and the +witch Angerboda. So Loki came into Asgard once more. And his offspring +took on forms and showed themselves to the Gods. The first, whose greed +was destruction, showed himself as a fearful Wolf. Fenrir he was named. +And the second, whose greed was slow destruction, showed itself as a +Serpent. Jörmungand it was called. The third, whose greed was for +withering of all life, took on a form also. When the Gods saw it they +were affrighted. For this had the form of a woman, and one side of her +was that of a living woman and the other side of her was that of a +corpse. Fear ran through Asgard as this form was revealed and as the +name that went with it, Hela, was uttered. + +Far out of sight of the Gods Hela was thrust. Odin took her and hurled +her down to the deeps that are below the world. He cast her down to +Niflheim, where she took to herself power over the nine regions. There, +in the place that is lowest of all, Hela reigns. Her hall is Elvidnir; +it is set round with high walls and it has barred gates; Precipice is +the threshold of that hall; Hunger is the table within it; Care is the +bed, and Burning Anguish is the hanging of the chamber. + +Thor laid hold upon Jörmungand. He flung the serpent into the ocean that +engirdles the world. But in the depths of the ocean Jörmungand +flourished. It grew and grew until it encircled the whole world. And men +knew it as the Midgard Serpent. + +Fenrir the Wolf might not be seized upon by any of the Æsir. Fearfully +he ranged through Asgard and they were only able to bring him to the +outer courts by promising to give him all the food he was able to eat. + +The Æsir shrank from feeding Fenrir. But Tyr, the brave swordsman, was +willing to bring food to the Wolf's lair. Every day he brought him huge +provision and fed him with the point of his sword. The Wolf grew and +grew until he became monstrous and a terror in the minds of the Dwellers +in Asgard. + +At last the Gods in council considered it and decided that Fenrir must +be bound. The chain that they would bind him with was called Laeding. In +their own smithy the Gods made it and its weight was greater than Thor's +hammer. + +Not by force could the Gods get the fetter upon Fenrir, so they sent +Skirnir, the servant of Frey, to beguile the Wolf into letting it go +upon him. Skirnir came to his lair and stood near him, and he was +dwarfed by the Wolf's monstrous size. + +"How great may thy strength be, Mighty One?" Skirnir asked. "Couldst +thou break this chain easily? The Gods would try thee." + +In scorn Fenrir looked down on the fetter Skirnir dragged. In scorn he +stood still allowing Laeding to be placed upon him. Then, with an effort +that was the least part of his strength, he stretched himself and broke +the chain in two. + +The Gods were dismayed. But they took more iron, and with greater fires +and mightier hammer blows they forged another fetter. Dromi, this one +was called, and it was half again as strong as Laeding was. Skirnir the +Venturesome brought it to the Wolf's lair, and in scorn Fenrir let the +mightier chain be placed upon him. + +He shook himself and the chain held. Then his eyes became fiery and he +stretched himself with a growl and a snarl. Dromi broke across, and +Fenrir stood looking balefully at Skirnir. + +The Gods saw that no chain they could forge would bind Fenrir and they +fell more and more into fear of him. They took council again and they +bethought them of the wonder-work the Dwarfs had made for them, the +spear Gungnir, the ship Skidbladnir, the hammer Miölnir. Could the +Dwarfs be got to make the fetter to bind Fenrir? If they would do it the +Gods would add to their domain. + +Skirnir went down to Svartheim with the message from Asgard. The Dwarf +Chief swelled with pride to think that it was left to them to make the +fetter that would bind Fenrir. + +"We Dwarfs can make a fetter that will bind the Wolf," he said. "Out of +six things we will make it." + +"What are these six things?" Skirnir asked. + +"The roots of stones, the breath of a fish, the beards of women, the +noise made by the footfalls of cats, the sinews of bears, the spittle of +a bird." + +"I have never heard the noise made by a cat's footfall, nor have I seen +the roots of stones nor the beards of women. But use what things you +will, O Helper of the Gods." + +The Chief brought his six things together and the Dwarfs in their smithy +worked for days and nights. They forged a fetter that was named +Gleipnir. Smooth and soft as a silken string it was. Skirnir brought it +to Asgard and put it into the hands of the Gods. + +Then a day came when the Gods said that once again they should try to +put a fetter upon Fenrir. But if he was to be bound they would bind him +far from Asgard. Lyngvi was an island that they often went to to make +sport, and they spoke of going there. Fenrir growled that he would go +with them. He came and he sported in his own terrible way. And then as +if it were to make more sport, one of the Æsir shook out the smooth cord +and showed it to Fenrir. + +"It is stronger than you might think, Mighty One," they said. "Will you +not let it go upon you that we may see you break it?" + +Fenrir out of his fiery eyes looked scorn upon them. "What fame would +there be for me," he said, "in breaking such a binding?" + +They showed him that none in their company could break it, slender as it +was. "Thou only art able to break it, Mighty One," they said. + +"The cord is slender, but there may be an enchantment in it," Fenrir +said. + +"Thou canst not break it, Fenrir, and we need not dread thee any more," +the Gods said. + +Then was the Wolf ravenous wroth, for he lived on the fear that he made +in the minds of the Gods. "I am loth to have this binding upon me," he +said, "but if one of the Æsir will put his hand in my mouth as a pledge +that I shall be freed of it, I will let ye put it on me." + +The Gods looked wistfully on one another. It would be health to them all +to have Fenrir bound, but who would lose his hand to have it done? One +and then another of the Æsir stepped backward. But not Tyr, the brave +swordsman. He stepped to Fenrir and laid his left hand before those +tremendous jaws. + +"Not thy left hand--thy swordhand, O Tyr," growled Fenrir, and Tyr put +his swordhand into that terrible mouth. + +Then the cord Gleipnir was put upon Fenrir. With fiery eyes he watched +the Gods bind him. When the binding was on him he stretched himself as +before. He stretched himself to a monstrous size but the binding did not +break off him. Then with fury he snapped his jaws upon the hand, and +Tyr's hand, the swordsman's hand, was torn off. + +But Fenrir was bound. They fixed a mighty chain to the fetter, and they +passed the chain through a hole they bored through a great rock. The +monstrous Wolf made terrible efforts to break loose, but the rock and +the chain and the fetter held. Then seeing him secured, and to avenge +the loss of Tyr's hand, the Gods took Tyr's sword and drove it to the +hilt through his underjaw. Horribly the Wolf howled. Mightily the foam +flowed down from his jaws. That foam flowing made a river that is called +Von--a river of fury that flowed on until Ragnarök came, the Twilight of +the Gods. + + + + +[Illustration] + +BALDUR'S DOOM + + +In Asgard there were two places that meant strength and joy to the Æsir +and the Vanir: one was the garden where grew the apples that Iduna +gathered, and the other was the Peace Stead, where, in a palace called +Breidablik, Baldur the Well-Beloved dwelt. + +In the Peace Stead no crime had ever been committed, no blood had ever +been shed, no falseness had ever been spoken. Contentment came into the +minds of all in Asgard when they thought upon this place. Ah! Were it +not that the Peace Stead was there, happy with Baldur's presence, the +minds of the Æsir and the Vanir might have become gloomy and stern from +thinking on the direful things that were arrayed against them. + +Baldur was beautiful. So beautiful was he that all the white blossoms on +the earth were called by his name. Baldur was happy. So happy was he +that all the birds on the earth sang his name. So just and so wise was +Baldur that the judgment he pronounced might never be altered. Nothing +foul or unclean had ever come near where he had his dwelling: + + 'Tis Breidablik called, + Where Baldur the Fair + Hath built him a bower, + In the land where I know + Least loathliness lies. + +Healing things were done in Baldur's Stead. Tyr's wrist was healed of +the wounds that Fenrir's fangs had made. And there Frey's mind became +less troubled with the foreboding that Loki had filled it with when he +railed at him about the bartering of his sword. + +Now after Fenrir had been bound to the rock in the faraway island the +Æsir and the Vanir knew a while of contentment. They passed bright days +in Baldur's Stead, listening to the birds that made music there. And it +was there that Bragi the Poet wove into his never-ending story the tale +of Thor's adventures amongst the Giants. + +But even into Baldur's Stead foreboding came. One day little Hnossa, the +child of Freya and the lost Odur, was brought there in such sorrow that +no one outside could comfort her. Nanna, Baldur's gentle wife, took the +child upon her lap and found ways of soothing her. Then Hnossa told of +a dream that had filled her with fright. + +She had dreamt of Hela, the Queen that is half living woman and half +corpse. In her dream Hela had come into Asgard saying, "A lord of the +Æsir I must have to dwell with me in my realm beneath the earth." Hnossa +had such fear from this dream that she had fallen into a deep sorrow. + +A silence fell upon all when the dream of Hnossa was told. Nanna looked +wistfully at Odin All-Father. And Odin, looking at Frigga, saw that a +fear had entered her breast. + +He left the Peace Stead and went to his watchtower Hlidskjalf. He waited +there till Hugin and Munin should come to him. Every day his two ravens +flew through the world, and coming back to him told him of all that was +happening. And now they might tell him of happenings that would let him +guess if Hela had indeed turned her thoughts toward Asgard, or if she +had the power to draw one down to her dismal abode. + +The ravens flew to him, and lighting one on each of his shoulders, told +him of things that were being said up and down Ygdrassil, the World +Tree. Ratatösk the Squirrel was saying them. And Ratatösk had heard them +from the brood of serpents that with Nidhögg, the great dragon, gnawed +ever at the root of Ygdrassil. He told it to the Eagle that sat ever on +the topmost bough, that in Hela's habitation a bed was spread and a +chair was left empty for some lordly comer. + +And hearing this, Odin thought that it were better that Fenrir the Wolf +should range ravenously through Asgard than that Hela should win one +from amongst them to fill that chair and lie in that bed. + +He mounted Sleipner, his eight-legged steed, and rode down toward the +abodes of the Dead. For three days and three nights of silence and +darkness he journeyed on. Once one of the hounds of Helheim broke loose +and bayed upon Sleipner's tracks. For a day and a night Garm, the hound, +pursued them, and Odin smelled the blood that dripped from his monstrous +jaws. + +At last he came to where, wrapped in their shrouds, a field of the Dead +lay. He dismounted from Sleipner and called upon one to rise and speak +with him. It was on Volva, a dead prophetess, he called. And when he +pronounced her name he uttered a rune that had the power to break the +sleep of the Dead. + +There was a groaning in the middle of where the shrouded ones lay. Then +Odin cried, out, "Arise, Volva, prophetess." There was a stir in the +middle of where the shrouded ones lay, and a head and shoulders were +thrust up from amongst the Dead. + +"Who calls on Volva the Prophetess? The rains have drenched my flesh and +the storms have shaken my bones for more seasons than the living know. +No living voice has a right to call me from my sleep with the Dead." + +"It is Vegtam the Wanderer who calls. For whom is the bed prepared and +the seat left empty in Hela's habitation?" + +"For Baldur, Odin's son, is the bed prepared and the seat left empty. +Now let me go back to my sleep with the Dead." + +But now Odin saw beyond Volva's prophecy. "Who is it," he cried out, +"that stands with unbowed head and that will not lament for Baldur? +Answer, Volva, prophetess!" + +"Thou seest far, but thou canst not see clearly. Thou art Odin. I can +see clearly but I cannot see far. Now let me go back to my sleep with +the Dead." + +"Volva, prophetess!" Odin cried out again. + +But the voice from amongst the shrouded ones said, "Thou canst not wake +me any more until the fires of Muspelheim blaze above my head." + +Then there was silence in the field of the Dead, and Odin turned +Sleipner, his steed, and for four days, through the gloom and silence, +he journeyed back to Asgard. + +Frigga had felt the fear that Odin had felt. She looked toward Baldur, +and the shade of Hela came between her and her son. But then she heard +the birds sing in the Peace Stead and she knew that none of all the +things in the world would injure Baldur. + +And to make it sure she went to all the things that could hurt him and +from each of them she took an oath that it would not injure Baldur, the +Well-Beloved. She took an oath from fire and from water, from iron and +from all metals, from earths and stones and great trees, from birds and +beasts and creeping things, from poisons and diseases. Very readily they +all gave the oath that they would work no injury on Baldur. + +Then when Frigga went back and told what she had accomplished the gloom +that had lain on Asgard lifted. Baldur would be spared to them. Hela +might have a place prepared in her dark habitation, but neither fire +nor water, nor iron nor any metals, nor earths nor stones nor great +woods, nor birds nor beasts nor creeping things, nor poisons nor +diseases, would help her to bring him down. "Hela has no arms to draw +you to her," the Æsir and the Vanir cried to Baldur. + +Hope was renewed for them and they made games to honor Baldur. They had +him stand in the Peace Stead and they brought against him all the things +that had sworn to leave him hurtless. And neither the battle-axe flung +full at him, nor the stone out of the sling, nor the burning brand, nor +the deluge of water would injure the beloved of Asgard. The Æsir and the +Vanir laughed joyously to see these things fall harmlessly from him +while a throng came to join them in the games; Dwarfs and friendly +Giants. + +But Loki the Hater came in with that throng. He watched the games from +afar. He saw the missiles and the weapons being flung and he saw Baldur +stand smiling and happy under the strokes of metal and stones and great +woods. He wondered at the sight, but he knew that he might not ask the +meaning of it from the ones who knew him. + +He changed his shape into that of an old woman and he went amongst those +who were making sport for Baldur. He spoke to Dwarfs and friendly +Giants. "Go to Frigga and ask. Go to Frigga and ask," was all the answer +Loki got from any of them. + +Then to Fensalir, Frigga's mansion, Loki went. He told those in the +mansion that he was Groa, the old Enchantress who was drawing out of +Thor's head the fragments of a grindstone that a Giant's throw had +embedded in it. Frigga knew about Groa and she praised the Enchantress +for what she had done. + +"Many fragments of the great grindstone have I taken out of Thor's head +by the charms I know," said the pretended Groa. "Thor was so grateful +that he brought back to me the husband that he once had carried off to +the end of the earth. So overjoyed was I to find my husband restored +that I forgot the rest of the charms. And I left some fragments of the +stone in Thor's head." + +So Loki said, repeating a story that was true. "Now I remember the rest +of the charm," he said, "and I can draw out the fragments of the stone +that are left. But will you not tell me, O Queen, what is the meaning of +the extraordinary things I saw the Æsir and the Vanir doing?" + +"I will tell you," said Frigga, looking kindly and happily at the +pretended old woman. "They are hurling all manner of heavy and dangerous +things at Baldur, my beloved son. And all Asgard cheers to see that +neither metal nor stone nor great wood will hurt him." + +"But why will they not hurt him?" said the pretended Enchantress. + +"Because I have drawn an oath from all dangerous and threatening things +to leave Baldur hurtless," said Frigga. + +"From all things, lady? Is there no thing in all the world that has not +taken an oath to leave Baldur hurtless?" + +"Well, indeed, there is one thing that has not taken the oath. But that +thing is so small and weak that I passed it by without taking thought of +it." + +"What can it be, lady?" + +"The Mistletoe that is without root or strength. It grows on the eastern +side of Valhalla. I passed it by without drawing an oath from it." + +"Surely you were not wrong to pass it by. What could the Mistletoe--the +rootless Mistletoe--do against Baldur?" + +Saying this the pretended Enchantress hobbled off. + +But not far did the pretender go hobbling. He changed his gait and +hurried to the eastern side of Valhalla. There a great oak tree +flourished and out of a branch of it a little bush of Mistletoe grew. +Loki broke off a spray and with it in his hand he went to where the Æsir +and the Vanir were still playing games to honor Baldur. + +All were laughing as Loki drew near, for the Giants and the Dwarfs, the +Asyniur and the Vana, were all casting missiles. The Giants threw too +far and the Dwarfs could not throw far enough, while the Asyniur and the +Vana threw far and wide of the mark. In the midst of all that glee and +gamesomeness it was strange to see one standing joyless. But one stood +so, and he was of the Æsir--Hödur, Baldur's blind brother. + +"Why do you not enter the game?" said Loki to him in his changed voice. + +"I have no missile to throw at Baldur," Hödur said. + +"Take this and throw it," said Loki. "It is a twig of the Mistletoe." + +"I cannot see to throw it," said Hödur. + +"I will guide your hand," said Loki. He put the twig of Mistletoe in +Hödur's hand and he guided the hand for the throw. The twig flew toward +Baldur. It struck him on the breast and it pierced him. Then Baldur fell +down with a deep groan. + +The Æsir and the Vanir, the Dwarfs and the friendly Giants, stood still +in doubt and fear and amazement. Loki slipped away. And blind Hödur, +from whose hand the twig of Mistletoe had gone, stood quiet, not knowing +that his throw had bereft Baldur of life. + +Then a wailing rose around the Peace Stead. It was from the Asyniur and +the Vana. Baldur was dead, and they began to lament him. And while they +were lamenting him, the beloved of Asgard, Odin came amongst them. + +"Hela has won our Baldur from us," Odin said to Frigga as they both bent +over the body of their beloved son. + +"Nay, I will not say it," Frigga said. + +When the Æsir and the Vanir had won their senses back the mother of +Baldur went amongst them. "Who amongst you would win my love and +goodwill?" she said. "Whoever would let him ride down to Hela's dark +realm and ask the Queen to take ransom for Baldur. It may be she will +take it and let Baldur come back to us. Who amongst you will go? Odin's +steed is ready for the journey." + +Then forth stepped Hermod the Nimble, the brother of Baldur. He mounted +Sleipner and turned the eight-legged steed down toward Hela's dark +realm. + +For nine days and nine nights Hermod rode on. His way was through rugged +glens, one deeper and darker than the other. He came to the river that +is called Giöll and to the bridge across it that is all glittering with +gold. The pale maid who guards the bridge spoke to him. + +"The hue of life is still on thee," said Modgudur, the pale maid. "Why +dost thou journey down to Hela's deathly realm?" + +"I am Hermod," he said, "and I go to see if Hela will take ransom for +Baldur." + +"Fearful is Hela's habitation for one to come to," said Modgudur, the +pale maid. "All round it is a steep wall that even thy steed might +hardly leap. Its threshold is Precipice. The bed therein is Care, the +table is Hunger, the hanging of the chamber is Burning Anguish." + +"It may be that Hela will take ransom for Baldur." + +"If all things in the world still lament for Baldur, Hela will have to +take ransom and let him go from her," said Modgudur, the pale maid that +guards the glittering bridge. + +"It is well, then, for all things lament Baldur. I will go to her and +make her take ransom." + +"Thou mayst not pass until it is of a surety that all things still +lament him. Go back to the world and make sure. If thou dost come to +this glittering bridge and tell me that all things still lament Baldur, +I will let thee pass and Hela will have to hearken to thee." + +"I will come back to thee, and thou, Modgudur, pale maid, wilt have to +let me pass." + +"Then I will let thee pass," said Modgudur. + +Joyously Hermod turned Sleipner and rode back through the rugged glens, +each one less gloomy than the other. He reached the upper world, and +saw that all things were still lamenting for Baldur. Joyously Hermod +rode onward. He met the Vanir in the middle of the world and he told +them the happy tidings. + +Then Hermod and the Vanir went through the world seeking out each thing +and finding that each thing still wept for Baldur. But one day Hermod +came upon a crow that was sitting on the dead branch of a tree. The crow +made no lament as he came near. She rose up and flew away and Hermod +followed her to make sure that she lamented for Baldur. + +He lost sight of her near a cave. And then before the cave he saw a hag +with blackened teeth who raised no voice of lament. "If thou art the +crow that came flying here, make lament for Baldur," Hermod said. + +"I, Thaukt, will make no lament for Baldur," the hag said, "let Hela +keep what she holds." + +"All things weep tears for Baldur," Hermod said. + +"I will weep dry tears for him," said the hag. + +She hobbled into her cave, and as Hermod followed a crow fluttered out. +He knew that this was Thaukt, the evil hag, transformed. He followed +her, and she went through the world croaking, "Let Hela keep what she +holds. Let Hela keep what she holds." + +Then Hermod knew that he might not ride to Hela's habitation. All things +knew that there was one thing in the world that would not lament for +Baldur. The Vanir came back to him, and with head bowed over Sleipner's +mane, Hermod rode into Asgard. + +Now the Æsir and the Vanir, knowing that no ransom would be taken for +Baldur and that the joy and content of Asgard were gone indeed, made +ready his body for the burning. First they covered Baldur's body with a +rich robe, and each left beside it his most precious possession. Then +they all took leave of him, kissing him upon the brow. But Nanna, his +gentle wife, flung herself on his dead breast and her heart broke and +she died of her grief. Then did the Æsir and the Vanir weep afresh. And +they took the body of Nanna and they placed it side by side with +Baldur's. + +On his own great ship, Ringhorn, would Baldur be placed with Nanna +beside him. Then the ship would be launched on the water and all would +be burned with fire. + +But it was found that none of the Æsir or the Vanir were able to launch +Baldur's great ship. Hyrroken, a Giantess, was sent for. She came +mounted on a great wolf with twisted serpents for a bridle. Four Giants +held fast the wolf when she alighted. She came to the ship and with a +single push she sent it into the sea. The rollers struck out fire as the +ship dashed across them. + +Then when it rode the water fires mounted on the ship. And in the blaze +of the fires one was seen bending over the body of Baldur and whispering +into his ear. It was Odin All-Father. Then he went down off the ship and +all the fires rose into a mighty burning. Speechlessly the Æsir and the +Vanir watched with tears streaming down their faces while all things +lamented, crying, "Baldur the Beautiful is dead, is dead." + +And what was it that Odin All-Father whispered to Baldur as he bent +above him with the flames of the burning ship around? He whispered of a +heaven above Asgard that Surtur's flames might not reach, and of a life +that would come to beauty again after the World of Men and the World of +the Gods had been searched through and through with fire. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LOKI'S PUNISHMENT + + +The crow went flying toward the North, croaking as she flew, "Let Hela +keep what she holds. Let Hela keep what she holds." That crow was the +hag Thaukt transformed, and the hag Thaukt was Loki. + +He flew to the North and came into the wastes of Jötunheim. As a crow he +lived there, hiding himself from the wrath of the Gods. He told the +Giants that the time had come for them to build the ship Naglfar, the +ship that was to be built out of the nails of dead men, and that was to +sail to Asgard on the day of Ragnarök with the Giant Hrymer steering it. +And harkening to what he said the Giants then and there began to build +Naglfar, the ship that Gods and men wished to remain unbuilt for long. + +Then Loki, tiring of the wastes of Jötunheim, flew to the burning South. +As a lizard he lived amongst the rocks of Muspelheim, and he made the +Fire Giants rejoice when he told them of the loss of Frey's sword and of +Tyr's right hand. + +But still in Asgard there was one who wept for Loki--Siguna, his wife. +Although he had left her and had shown his hatred for her, Siguna wept +for her evil husband. + +He left Muspelheim as he had left Jötunheim and he came to live in the +World of Men. He knew that he had now come into a place where the wrath +of the Gods might find him, and so he made plans to be ever ready for +escape. He had come to the River where, ages before, he had slain the +otter that was the son of the Enchanter, and on the very rock where the +otter had eaten the salmon on the day of his killing, Loki built his +house. He made four doors to it so that he might see in every direction. +And the power that he kept for himself was the power of transforming +himself into a salmon. + +Often as a salmon he swam in the River. But even for the fishes that +swam beside him Loki had hatred. Out of flax and yarn he wove a net that +men might have the means of taking them out of the water. + +The wrath that the Gods had against Loki did not pass away. It was he +who, as Thaukt, the Hag, had given Hela the power to keep Baldur +unransomed. It was he who had put into Hödur's hand the sprig of +Mistletoe that had bereft Baldur of life. Empty was Asgard now that +Baldur lived no more in the Peace Stead, and stern and gloomy grew the +minds of the Æsir and the Vanir with thinking on the direful things that +were arrayed against them. Odin in his hall of Valhalla thought only of +the ways by which he could bring heroes to him to be his help in +defending Asgard. + +The Gods searched through the world and they found at last the place +where Loki had made his dwelling. He was weaving the net to take fishes +when he saw them coming from four directions. He threw the net into the +fire so that it was burnt, and he sprang into the River and transformed +himself into a salmon. When the Gods entered his dwelling they found +only the burnt-out fire. + +But there was one amongst them who could understand all that he saw. In +the ashes were the marks of the burnt net and he knew that these were +the tracing of something to catch fishes. And from the marks left in the +ashes he made a net that was the same as the one Loki had burnt. + +With it in their hands the Gods went down the River, dragging the net +through the water. Loki was affrighted to find the thing of his own +weaving brought against him. He lay between two stones at the bottom of +the River, and the net passed over him. + +But the Gods knew that the net had touched something at the bottom. They +fastened weights to it and they dragged the net through the River again. +Loki knew that he might not escape it this time and he rose in the water +and swam toward the sea. The Gods caught sight of him as he leaped over +a waterfall. They followed him, dragging the net. Thor waded behind, +ready to seize him should he turn back. + +Loki came out at the mouth of the River and behold! There was a great +eagle hovering over the waves of the sea and ready to swoop down on +fishes. He turned back in the River. He made a leap that took him over +the net that the Gods were dragging. But Thor was behind the net and he +caught the salmon in his powerful hands and he held him for all the +struggle that Loki made. No fish had ever struggled so before. Loki got +himself free all but his tail, but Thor held to the tail and brought him +amongst the rocks and forced him to take on his proper form. + +He was in the hands of those whose wrath was strong against him. They +brought him to a cavern and they bound him to three sharp-pointed rocks. +With cords that were made of the sinews of wolves they bound him, and +they transformed the cords into iron bands. There they would have left +Loki bound and helpless. But Skadi, with her fierce Giant blood, was not +content that he should be left untormented. She found a serpent that had +deadly venom and she hung this serpent above Loki's head. The drops of +venom fell upon him, bringing him anguish drop by drop, minute by +minute. So Loki's torture went on. + +But Siguna with the pitying heart came to his relief. She exiled herself +from Asgard, and endured the darkness and the cold of the cavern, that +she might take some of the torment away from him who was her husband. +Over Loki Siguna stood, holding in her hands a cup into which fell the +serpent's venom, thus sparing him from the full measure of anguish. Now +and then Siguna had to turn aside to spill out the flowing cup, and then +the drops of venom fell upon Loki and he screamed in agony, twisting in +his bonds. It was then that men felt the earth quake. There in his bonds +Loki stayed until the coming of Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods. + + + + +PART IV + +THE SWORD OF THE VOLSUNGS AND THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS + +[Illustration] + +SIGURD'S YOUTH + + +In Midgard, in a northern Kingdom, a King reigned whose name was Alv; he +was wise and good, and he had in his house a fosterson whose name was +Sigurd. + +Sigurd was fearless and strong; so fearless and so strong was he that he +once captured a bear of the forest and drove him to the King's Hall. His +mother's name was Hiordis. Once, before Sigurd was born, Alv and his +father who was King before him went on an expedition across the sea and +came into another country. While they were yet afar off they heard the +din of a great battle. They came to the battlefield, but they found no +living warriors on it, only heaps of slain. One warrior they marked: he +was white-bearded and old and yet he seemed the noblest-looking man Alv +or his father had ever looked on. His arms showed that he was a King +amongst one of the bands of warriors. + +They went through the forest searching for survivors of the battle. And, +hidden in a dell in the forest, they came upon two women. One was tall +with blue, unflinching eyes and ruddy hair, but wearing the garb of a +serving-maid. The other wore the rich dress of a Queen, but she was of +low stature and her manner was covert and shrinking. + +When Alv and his father drew near, the one who had on her the raiment of +a Queen said, "Help us, lords, and protect us, and we will show you +where a treasure is hidden. A great battle has been fought between the +men of King Lygni and the men of King Sigmund, and the men of King Lygni +have won the victory and have gone from the field. But King Sigmund is +slain, and we who are of his household hid his treasure and we can show +it to you." + +"The noble warrior, white-haired and white-bearded, who lies yonder--is +he King Sigmund?" + +The woman answered, "Yes, lord, and I am his Queen." + +"We have heard of King Sigmund," said Alv's father. "His fame and the +fame of his race, the Volsungs, is over the wide world." + +Alv said no word to either of the women, but his eyes stayed on the one +who had on the garb of a serving-maid. She was on her knees, wrapping in +a beast's skin two pieces of a broken sword. + +"You will surely protect us, good lords," said she who had on the +queenly dress. + +"Yea, wife of King Sigmund, we will protect you and your serving-maid," +said Alv's father, the old King. + +Then the women took the warriors to a wild place on the seashore and +they showed them where King Sigmund's treasure was hidden amongst the +rocks: cups of gold and mighty armrings and jeweled collars. Prince Alv +and his father put the treasure on the ship and brought the two women +aboard. Then they sailed from the land. + +That was before Sigurd, the fosterson of King Alv, was born. + +Now the mother of Alv was wise and little of what she saw escaped her +noting. She saw that of the two women that her son and her husband had +brought into their kingdom, the one who wore the dress of the +serving-maid had unflinching eyes and a high beauty, while the one who +wore the queenly dress was shrinking and unstately. One night when all +the women of the household were sitting round her, spinning wool by the +light of torches in the hall, the Queen-mother said to the one who wore +the queenly garb: + +"Thou art good at rising in the morning. How dost thou know in the dark +hours when it wears to dawn?" + +The one clad in the queenly garb said, "When I was young I used to rise +to milk the cows, and I waken ever since at the same hour." + +The Queen-mother said to herself, "It is a strange country in which the +royal maids rise to milk the cows." + +Then she said to the one who wore the clothes of the serving-maid: + +"How dost thou know in the dark hours when the dawn is coming?" + +"My father," she said, "gave me the ring of gold that I wear, and always +before it is time to rise I feel it grow cold on my finger." + +"It is a strange country, truly," said the Queen-mother to herself, "in +which the serving-maids wear rings of gold." + +When all the others had left she spoke to the two women who had been +brought into her country. To the one who wore the clothes of a +serving-maid she said: + +"Thou art the Queen." + +Then the one who wore the queenly clothes said, "Thou art right, lady. +She is the Queen, and I cannot any longer pretend to be other than I +am." + +Then the other woman spoke. Said she: "I am the Queen as thou hast +said--the Queen of King Sigmund who was slain. Because a King sought for +me I changed clothes with my serving-maid, my wish being to baffle those +who might be sent to carry me away. + +"Know that I am Hiordis, a King's daughter. Many men came to my father +to ask for me in marriage, and of those that came there were two whom I +heard much of: one was King Lygni and the other was King Sigmund of the +race of the Volsungs. The King, my father, told me it was for me to +choose between these two. Now King Sigmund was old, but he was the most +famous warrior in the whole world, and I chose him rather than King +Lygni. + +"We were wed. But King Lygni did not lose desire of me, and in a while +he came against King Sigmund's kingdom with a great army of men. We hid +our treasure by the seashore, and I and my maid watched the battle from +the borders of the forest. With the help of Gram, his wondrous sword, +and his own great warrior strength, Sigmund was able to harry the great +force that came against him. But suddenly he was stricken down. Then was +the battle lost. Only King Lygni's men survived it, and they scattered +to search for me and the treasure of the King. + +"I came to where my lord lay on the field of battle, and he raised +himself on his shield when I came, and he told me that death was very +near him. A stranger had entered the battle at the time when it seemed +that the men of King Lygni must draw away. With the spear that he held +in his hand he struck at Sigmund's sword, and Gram, the wondrous sword, +was broken in two pieces. Then did King Sigmund get his death-wound. 'It +must be I shall die,' he said, 'for the spear against which my sword +broke was Gungnir, Odin's spear. Only that spear could have shattered +the sword that Odin gave my fathers. Now must I go to Valhalla, Odin's +Hall of Heroes.' + +"'I weep,' I said, 'because I have no son who might call himself of the +great race of the Volsungs.' + +"'For that you need not weep,' said Sigmund, 'a son will be born to you, +my son and yours, and you shall name him Sigurd. Take now the broken +pieces of my wondrous sword and give them to my son when he shall be of +warrior age.' + +"Then did Sigmund turn his face to the ground and the death-struggle +came on him. Odin's Valkyrie took his spirit from the battlefield. And I +lifted up the broken pieces of the sword, and with my serving-maid I +went and hid in a deep dell in the forest. Then your husband and your +son found us and they brought us to your kingdom where we have been +kindly treated, O Queen." + +Such was the history that Hiordis, the wife of King Sigmund, told to the +mother of Prince Alv. + +Soon afterwards the child was born to her that was Sigmund's son. Sigurd +she named him. And after Sigurd was born the old King died and Prince +Alv became King in his stead. He married Hiordis, she of the ruddy hair, +the unflinching ways, and the high beauty, and he brought up her son +Sigurd in his house as his fosterson. + +Sigurd, the son of Sigmund, before he came to warrior's age, was known +for his strength and his swiftness and for the fearlessness that shone +round him like a glow. "Mighty was the race he sprang from, the Volsung +race," men said, "but Sigurd will be as mighty as any that have gone +before him." He built himself a hut in the forest that he might hunt +wild beasts and live near to one who was to train him in many crafts. + +This one was Regin, a maker of swords and a cunning man besides. It was +said of Regin that he was an Enchanter and that he had been in the world +for longer than the generations of men. No one remembered, nor no one's +father remembered, when Regin had come into that country. He taught +Sigurd the art of working in metals and he taught him, too, the lore of +other days. But ever as he taught him he looked at Sigurd strangely, not +as a man looks at his fellow, but as a lynx looks at a stronger beast. + +One day Regin said to young Sigurd, "King Alv has thy father's treasure, +men say, and yet he treats thee as if thou wert thrall-born." + +Now Sigurd knew that Regin said this that he might anger him and +thereafter use him to his own ends. He said, "King Alv is a wise and a +good King, and he would let me have riches if I had need of them." + +"Thou dost go about as a footboy, and not as a King's son." + +"Any day that it likes me I might have a horse to ride," Sigurd said. + +"So thou dost say," said Regin, and he turned from Sigurd and went to +blow the fire of his smithy. + +Sigurd was made angry and he threw down the irons on which he was +working and he ran to the horse-pastures by the great River. A herd of +horses was there, gray and black and roan and chestnut, the best of the +horses that King Alv possessed. As he came near to where the herd grazed +he saw a stranger near, an ancient but robust man, wearing a strange +cloak of blue and leaning on a staff to watch the horses. Sigurd, though +young, had seen Kings in their halls, but this man had a bearing that +was more lofty than any King's he had ever looked on. + +"Thou art going to choose a horse for thyself," said the stranger to +Sigurd. + +"Yea, father," Sigurd said. + +"Drive the herd first into the River," the stranger said. + +Sigurd drove the horses into the wide River. Some were swept down by the +current, others struggled back and clambered up the bank of the +pastures. But one swam across the river, and throwing up his head +neighed as for a victory. Sigurd marked him; a gray horse he was, young +and proud, with a great flowing mane. He went through the water and +caught this horse, mounted him, and brought him back across the River. + +"Thou hast done well," said the stranger. "Grani, whom thou hast got, is +of the breed of Sleipner, the horse of Odin." + +"And I am of the race of the sons of Odin," cried Sigurd, his eyes wide +and shining with the very light of the sun. "I am of the race of the +sons of Odin, for my father was Sigmund, and his father was Volsung, and +his father was Rerir, and his father was Sigi, who was the son of Odin." + +The stranger, leaning on his staff looked on the youth steadily. Only +one of his eyes was to be seen, but that eye, Sigurd thought, might see +through a stone. "All thou hast named," the stranger said, "were as +swords of Odin to send men to Valhalla, Odin's Hall of Heroes. And of +all that thou hast named there were none but were chosen by Odin's +Valkyries for battles in Asgard." + +Cried Sigurd, "Too much of what is brave and noble in the world is taken +by Odin for his battles in Asgard." + +The stranger leaned on his staff and his head was bowed. "What wouldst +thou?" he said, and it did not seem to Sigurd that he spoke to him. +"What wouldst thou? The leaves wither and fall off Ygdrassil, and the +day of Ragnarök comes." Then he raised his head and spoke to Sigurd. +"The time is near," he said, "when thou mayst possess thyself of the +pieces of thy father's sword." + +Then the man in the strange cloak of blue went climbing up the hill and +Sigurd watched him pass away from his sight. He had held back Grani, his +proud horse, but now he turned him and let him gallop along the River in +a race that was as swift as the wind. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE SWORD GRAM AND THE DRAGON FAFNIR + + +Mounted upon Grani, his proud horse, Sigurd rode to the Hall and showed +himself to Alv, the King, and to Hiordis, his mother. Before the Hall he +shouted out the Volsung name, and King Alv felt as he watched him that +this youth was a match for a score of men, and Hiordis, his mother, saw +the blue flame of his eyes and thought to herself that his way through +the world would be as the way of the eagle through the air. + +Having shown himself before the Hall, Sigurd dismounted from Grani, and +stroked and caressed him with his hands and told him that now he might +go back and take pasture with the herd. The proud horse breathed fondly +over Sigurd and bounded away. + +Then Sigurd strode on until he came to the hut in the forest where he +worked with the cunning smith Regin. No one was in the hut when he +entered. But over the anvil, in the smoke of the smithy fire, there was +a work of Regin's hands. Sigurd looked upon it, and a hatred for the +thing that was shown rose up in him. + +The work of Regin's hands was a shield, a great shield of iron. Hammered +out on that shield and colored with red and brown colors was the image +of a Dragon, a Dragon lengthening himself out of a cave. Sigurd thought +it was the image of the most hateful thing in the world, and the light +of the smithy fire falling on it, and the smoke of the smithy fire +rising round it, made it seem verily a Dragon living in his own element +of fire and reek. + +While he was still gazing on the loathly image, Regin, the cunning +smith, came into the smithy. He stood by the wall and he watched Sigurd. +His back was bent; his hair fell over his eyes that were all fiery, and +he looked like a beast that runs behind the hedges. + +"Aye, thou dost look on Fafnir the Dragon, son of the Volsungs," he said +to Sigurd. "Mayhap it is thou who wilt slay him." + +"I would not strive with such a beast. He is all horrible to me," Sigurd +said. + +"With a good sword thou mightst slay him and win for thyself more renown +than ever thy fathers had," Regin whispered. + +"I shall win renown as my fathers won renown, in battle with men and in +conquest of kingdoms," Sigurd said. + +"Thou art not a true Volsung or thou wouldst gladly go where most danger +and dread is," said Regin. "Thou hast heard of Fafnir the Dragon, whose +image I have wrought here. If thou dost ride to the crest of the hills +thou mayst look across to the desolate land where Fafnir has his haunt. +Know that once it was fair land where men had peace and prosperity, but +Fafnir came and made his den in a cave near by, and his breathings as he +went to and came from the River withered up the land and made it the +barren waste that men called Gnita Heath. Now, if thou art a true +Volsung, thou wilt slay the Dragon, and let that land become fair again, +and bring the people back to it and so add to King Alv's domain." + +"I have nought to do with the slaying of Dragons," Sigurd said. "I have +to make war on King Lygni, and avenge upon him the slaying of Sigmund, +my father." + +"What is the slaying of Lygni and the conquest of his kingdom to the +slaying of Fafnir the Dragon?" Regin cried. "I will tell thee what no +one else knows of Fafnir the Dragon. He guards a hoard of gold and +jewels the like of which was never seen in the world. All this hoard you +can make yours by slaying him." + +"I do not covet riches," Sigurd said. + +"No riches is like to the riches that Fafnir guards. His hoard is the +hoard that the Dwarf Andvari had from the world's early days. Once the +Gods themselves paid it over as a ransom. And if thou wilt win this +hoard thou wilt be as one of the Gods." + +"How dost thou know that of which thou speakst, Regin?" Sigurd said. + +"I know, and one day I may tell thee how I know." + +"And one day I may harken to thee. But speak to me no more of this +Dragon. I would have thee make a sword, a sword that will be mightier +and better shapen than any sword in the world. Thou canst do this, +Regin, for thou art accounted the best swordsmith amongst men." + +Regin looked at Sigurd out of his small and cunning eyes and he thought +it was best to make himself active. So he took the weightiest pieces of +iron and put them into his furnace and he brought out the secret tools +that he used when a masterwork was claimed from his hands. + +All day Sigurd worked beside him keeping the fire at its best glow and +bringing water to cool the blade as it was fashioned and refashioned. +And as he worked he thought only about the blade and about how he would +make war upon King Lygni, and avenge the man who was slain before he +himself was born. + +All day he thought only of war and of the beaten blade. But at night his +dreams were not upon wars nor shapen blades but upon Fafnir the Dragon. +He saw the heath that was left barren by his breath, and he saw the cave +where he had his den, and he saw him crawling down from his cave, his +scales glittering like rings of mail, and his length the length of a +company of men on the march. + +The next day he worked with Regin to shape the great sword. When it was +shapen with all the cunning Regin knew it looked indeed a mighty sword. +Then Regin sharpened it and Sigurd polished it. And at last he held the +great sword by its iron hilt. + +Then Sigurd took the shield that had the image of Fafnir the Dragon upon +it and he put the shield over the anvil of the smithy. Raising the great +sword in both his hands he struck full on the iron shield. + +The stroke of the sword sheared away some of the shield, but the blade +broke in Sigurd's hands. Then in anger he turned on Regin, crying out, +"Thou hast made a knave's sword for me. To work with thee again! Thou +must make me a Volsung's sword." + +Then he went out and called to Grani, his horse, and mounted him and +rode to the river bank like the sweep of the wind. + +Regin took more pieces of iron and began to forge a new sword, uttering +as he worked runes that were about the hoard that Fafnir the Dragon +guarded. And Sigurd that night dreamt of glittering treasure that he +coveted not, masses of gold and heaps of glistening jewels. + +He was Regin's help the next day and they both worked to make a sword +that would be mightier than the first. For three days they worked upon +it, and then Regin put into Sigurd's hands a sword, sharpened and +polished, that was mightier and more splendid looking than the one that +had been forged before. And again Sigurd took the shield that had the +image of the Dragon upon it and he put it upon the anvil. Then he +raised his arms and struck his full blow. The sword cut through the +shield, but when it struck the anvil it shivered in his hands. + +He left the smithy angrily and called to Grani, his proud horse. He +mounted and rode on like the sweep of the wind. + +Later he came to his mother's bower and stood before Hiordis. "A greater +sword must I have," said he, "than one that is made of metal dug out of +the earth. The time has come, mother, when thou must put into my hands +the broken pieces of Gram, the sword of Sigmund and the Volsungs." + +Hiordis measured him with the glance of her eyes, and she saw that her +son was a mighty youth and one fit to use the sword of Sigmund and the +Volsungs. She bade him go with her to the King's Hall. Out of the great +stone chest that was in her chamber she took the beast's skin and the +broken blade that was wrapped in it. She gave the pieces into the hands +of her son. "Behold the halves of Gram," she said, "of Gram, the mighty +sword that in the far-off days Odin left in the Branstock, in the tree +of the house of Volsung. I would see Gram new-shapen in thy hands, my +son." + +Then she embraced him as she had never embraced him before, and standing +there with her ruddy hair about her she told him of the glory of Gram +and of the deeds of his fathers in whose hands the sword had shone. + +Then Sigurd went to the smithy, and he wakened Regin out of his sleep, +and he made him look on the shining halves of Sigmund's sword. He +commanded him to make out of these halves a sword for his hand. + +Regin worked for days in his smithy and Sigurd never left his side. At +last the blade was forged, and when Sigurd held it in his hand fire ran +along the edge of it. + +Again he laid the shield that had the image of the Dragon upon it on the +anvil of the smithy. Again, with his hands on its iron hilt, he raised +the sword for a full stroke. He struck, and the sword cut through the +shield and sheared through the anvil, cutting away its iron horn. Then +did Sigurd know that he had in his hands the Volsungs' sword. He went +without and called to Grani, and like the sweep of the wind rode down to +the River's bank. Shreds of wool were floating down the water. Sigurd +struck at them with his sword, and the fine wool was divided against the +water's edge. Hardness and fineness, Gram could cut through both. + +That night Gram, the Volsungs' sword, was under his head when he slept, +but still his dreams were filled with images that he had not regarded in +the day time; the shine of a hoard that he coveted not, and the gleam of +the scales of a Dragon that was too loathly for him to battle with. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE DRAGON'S BLOOD + + +Sigurd went to war: with the men that King Alv gave him he marched into +the country that was ruled over by the slayer of his father. The war +that he waged was short and the battles that he won were not perilous. +Old was King Lygni now, and feeble was his grasp upon his people. Sigurd +slew him and took away his treasure and added his lands to the lands of +King Alv. + +But Sigurd was not content with the victory he had gained. He had dreamt +of stark battles and of renown that would be hardily won. What was the +war he had waged to the wars that Sigmund his father, and Volsung his +father's father, had waged in their days? Not content was Sigurd. He led +his men back by the hills from the crests of which he could look upon +the Dragon's haunts. And having come as far as those hills he bade his +men return to King Alv's hall with the spoils he had won. + +They went, and Sigurd stayed upon the hills and looked across Gnita +Heath to where Fafnir the Dragon had his lair. All blasted and wasted +was the Heath with the fiery breath of the Dragon. And he saw the cave +where Fafnir abode, and he saw the track that his comings and goings +made. For every day the Dragon left his cave in the cliffs, crossing the +Heath to come to the River at which he drank. + +For the length of a day Sigurd watched from the hills the haunt of the +Dragon. In the evening he saw him lengthening himself out of the cave, +and coming on his track across the Heath, in seeming like a ship that +travels swiftly because of its many oars. + +Then to Regin in his smithy he came. To that cunning man Sigurd said: + +"Tell me all thou dost know of Fafnir the Dragon." + +Regin began to talk, but his speech was old and strange and filled with +runes. When he had spoken it all Sigurd said, "All thou hast told me +thou wilt have to say over again in a speech that is known to men of our +day." + +Then said Regin: "Of a hoard I spoke. The Dwarf Andvari guarded it from +the first days of the world. But one of the Æsir forced Andvari to give +the hoard to him, masses of gold and heaps of jewels, and the Æsir gave +it to Hreidmar, who was my father. + +"For the slaying of his son Otter the Æsir gave the hoard to Hreidmar, +the greatest hoard that had ever been seen in the world. But not long +was it left to Hreidmar to gloat over. For a son slew a father that he +might possess that hoard. Fafnir, that son was Fafnir, my brother. + +"Then Fafnir, that no one might disturb his possession of the hoard, +turned himself into a Dragon, a Dragon so fearful that none dare come +nigh him. And I, Regin, was stricken with covetousness of the hoard. I +did not change myself into another being, but, by the magic my father +knew, I made my life longer than the generations of men, hoping that I +would see Fafnir slain and then have the mighty hoard under my hands. + +"Now, son of the Volsungs, thou dost know all that has to do with Fafnir +the Dragon, and the great hoard that he guards." + +"Little do I care about the hoard he guards," Sigurd said. "I care only +that he has made the King's good lands into a waste and that he is an +evil thing to men. I would have the renown of slaying Fafnir the +Dragon." + +"With Gram, the sword thou hast, thou couldst slay Fafnir," Regin cried, +his body shaken with his passion for the hoard. "Thou couldst slay him +with the sword thou hast. Harken now and I will tell thee how thou +mightst give him the deathly stroke through the coils of his mail. +Harken, for I have thought of it all. + +"The track of the Dragon to the River is broad, for he takes ever the +one track. Dig a pit in the middle of that track, and when Fafnir comes +over it strike up into his coils of mail with Gram, thy great sword. +Gram only may pierce that mail. Then will Fafnir be slain and the hoard +will be left guardless." + +"What thou sayst is wise, Regin," Sigurd answered. "We will make this +pit and I will strike Fafnir in the way thou sayst." + +Then Sigurd went and he rode upon Grani, his proud horse, and he showed +himself to King Alv and to Hiordis, his mother. Afterwards he went with +Regin to the Heath that was the haunt of the Dragon, and in his track +they dug a pit for the slaying of Fafnir. + +And, lest his horse should scream aloud at the coming of the Dragon, +Sigurd had Grani sent back to a cave in the hills. It was Regin that +brought Grani away. "I am fearful and can do nothing to help thee, son +of the Volsungs," he said. "I will go away and await the slaying of +Fafnir." + +He went, and Sigurd lay down in the pit they had made and practiced +thrusting upward with his sword. He lay with his face upward and with +his two hands he thrust the mighty sword upward. + +But as he lay there he bethought of a dread thing that might happen; +namely, that the blood and the venom of the Dragon might pour over him +as he lay there, and waste him flesh and bone. When he thought of this +Sigurd hastened out of the pit, and he dug other pits near by, and he +made a passage for himself from one pit to the other that he might +escape from the flow of the Dragon's envenomed blood. + +As he lay down again in the pit he heard the treading of the Dragon and +he heard the Dragon's strange and mournful cry. Mightily the Dragon came +on and he heard his breathing. His shape came over the pit. Then the +Dragon held his head and looked down on Sigurd. + +It was the instant for him to make stroke with Gram. He did not let the +instant pass. He struck mightily under the shoulder and toward the heart +of the beast. The sword went through the hard and glittering scales that +were the creature's mail. Sigurd pulled out the sword and drew himself +through the passage and out into the second pit as Fafnir's envenomed +blood drenched where he had been. + +Drawing himself up out of the second pit he saw the huge shape of Fafnir +heaving and lashing. He came to him and thrust his sword right through +the Dragon's neck. The Dragon reared up as though to fling himself down +on Sigurd with all his crushing bulk and dread talons, with his fiery +breath and his envenomed blood. But Sigurd leaped aside and ran far off. +Then did Fafnir scream his death scream. After he had torn up rocks with +his talons he lay prone on the ground, his head in the pit that was +filled with his envenomed blood. + +Then did Regin, hearing the scream that let him know that Fafnir was +slain, come down to where the battle had been fought. When he saw that +Sigurd was alive and unharmed he uttered a cry of fury. For his plan had +been to have Sigurd drowned and burnt in the pit with the stream of +Fafnir's envenomed blood. + +But he mastered his fury and showed a pleased countenance to Sigurd. +"Now thou wilt have renown," he cried. "Forever wilt thou be called +Sigurd, Fafnir's Bane. More renown than ever any of thy fathers had wilt +thou have, O Prince of the Volsungs." + +So he spoke, saying fair words to him, for now that he was left alive +there was something he would have Sigurd do. + +"Fafnir is slain," Sigurd said, "and the triumph over him was not +lightly won. Now may I show myself to King Alv and to my mother, and the +gold from Fafnir's hoard will make me a great spoil." + +"Wait," said Regin cunningly. "Wait. Thou hast yet to do something for +me. With the sword thou hast, cut through the Dragon and take out his +heart for me. When thou hast taken it out, roast it that I may eat of it +and become wiser than I am. Do this for me who showed thee how to slay +Fafnir." + +Sigurd did what Regin would have him do. He cut out the heart of the +Dragon and he hung it from stakes to roast. Regin drew away and left +him. As Sigurd stood before the fire putting sticks upon it there was a +great silence in the forest. + +He put his hand down to turn an ashen branch into the heart of the fire. +As he did a drop from the roasting Dragon-heart fell upon his hand. The +drop burnt into him. He put his hand to his mouth to ease the smart, and +his tongue tasted the burning blood of the Dragon. + +He went to gather wood for the fire. In a clearing that he came to there +were birds; he saw four on a branch together. They spoke to each other +in birds' notes, and Sigurd heard and knew what they were saying. + +Said the first bird: "How simple is he who has come into this dell! He +has no thought of an enemy, and yet he who was with him but a while ago +has gone away that he may bring a spear to slay him." + +"For the sake of the gold that is in the Dragon's cave he would slay +him," said the second bird. + +And the third bird said: "If he would eat the Dragon's heart himself he +would know all wisdom." + +But the fourth bird said: "He has tasted a drop of the Dragon's blood +and he knows what we are saying." + +The four birds did not fly away nor cease from speaking. Instead they +began to tell of a marvelous abode that was known to them. + +Deep in the forest, the birds sang, there was a Hall that was called the +House of Flame. Its ten walls were Uni, Iri, Barri, Ori, Varns, +Vegdrasil, Derri, Uri, Dellinger, Atvarder, and each wall was built by +the Dwarf whose name it bore. All round the Hall there was a circle of +fire through which none might pass. And within the Hall a maiden slept, +and she was the wisest and the bravest and the most beautiful maiden in +the world. + +Sigurd stood like a man enchanted listening to what the birds sang. + +But suddenly they changed the flow of their discourse, and their notes +became sharp and piercing. + +"Look, look!" cried one. "He is coming against the youth." + +"He is coming against the youth with a spear," cried another. + +"Now will the youth be slain unless he is swift," cried a third. + +Sigurd turned round and he saw Regin treading the way toward him, grim +and silent, with a spear in his hands. The spear would have gone through +Sigurd had he stayed one instant longer in the place where he had been +listening to the speech of the birds. As he turned he had his sword in +his hand, and he flung it, and Gram struck Regin on the breast. + +Then Regin cried out: "I die--I die without having laid my hands on the +hoard that Fafnir guarded. Ah, a curse was upon the hoard, for Hreidmar +and Fafnir and I have perished because of it. May the curse of the gold +now fall on the one who is my slayer." + +Then did Regin breathe out his life. Sigurd took the body and cast it +into the pit that was alongside the dead Fafnir. Then, that he might eat +the Dragon's heart and become the wisest of men, he went to where he had +left it roasting. And he thought that when he had eaten the heart he +would go into the Dragon's cave and carry away the treasure that was +there, and bring it as spoil of his battle to King Alv and to his +mother. Then he would go through the forest and find the House of Flame +where slept the maiden who was the wisest and bravest and most beautiful +in the world. + +But Sigurd did not eat the Dragon's heart. When he came to where he had +left it roasting he found that the fire had burnt it utterly. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE STORY OF SIGMUND AND SIGNY + + +He called to Grani, his proud horse; he stood up on a mound in the Heath +and he sent forth a great shout. And Grani heard in the cave where Regin +had left him and he came galloping to Sigurd with flowing mane and eyes +flashing fire. + +He mounted Grani and he rode to Fafnir's cave. When he went into the +place where the Dragon was wont to lie he saw a door of iron before him. +With Gram, his mighty sword, he hewed through the iron, and with his +strong hands he pulled the door back. Then, before him he saw the +treasure the Dragon guarded, masses of gold and heaps of shining jewels. + +But as he looked on the hoard Sigurd felt some shadow of the evil that +lay over it all. This was the hoard that in the far-off days the +River-Maidens watched over as it lay deep under the flowing water. Then +Andvari the Dwarf forced the River-Maidens to give it to him. And Loki +had taken it from Andvari, letting loose as he did Gulveig the Witch who +had such evil power over the Gods. For the sake of the hoard Fafnir had +slain Hreidmar, his father, and Regin had plotted death against Fafnir, +his brother. + +Not all this history did Sigurd know. But a shadow of its evil touched +his spirit as he stood there before the gleaming and glittering heap. He +would take all of it away, but not now. The tale that the birds told was +in his mind, and the green of the forest was more to him than the +glitter of the treasure heap. He would come back with chests and load it +up and carry it to King Alv's hall. But first he would take such things +as he himself might wear. + +He found a helmet of gold and he put it on his head. He found a great +armring and his put it around his arm. On the top of the armring there +was a small fingerring with a rune graved upon it. Sigurd put it on his +finger. And this was the ring that Andvari the Dwarf had put the curse +upon when Loki had taken the hoard from him. + +He knew that no one would cross the Heath and come to Fafnir's lair, so +he did not fear to leave the treasure unguarded. He mounted Grani, his +proud horse, and rode toward the forest. He would seek the House of +Flame where she lay sleeping, the maiden who was the wisest and the +bravest and the most beautiful in the world. With his golden helmet +shining above his golden hair Sigurd rode on. + +As he rode toward the forest he thought of Sigmund, his father, whose +slaying he had avenged, and he thought of Sigmund's father, Volsung, and +of the grim deeds that the Volsungs had suffered and wrought. + +Rerir, the son of Sigi who was the son of Odin, was the father of +Volsung. And Volsung when he was in his first manhood had built his hall +around a mighty tree. Its branches went up to the roof and made the +beams of the house and its great trunk was the center of the hall. "The +Branstock" the tree was called, and Volsung hall was named "The Hall of +the Branstock." + +Many children had Volsung, eleven sons and one daughter. Strong were all +his sons and good fighters, and Volsung of the Hall of the Branstock was +a mighty chief. + +It was through Signy, the daughter of the house, that a feud and a +deadly battle was brought to Volsung and his sons. She was a wise and a +fair maiden and her fame went through all the lands. Now, one day +Volsung received a message from a King asking for the hand of Signy in +marriage. And Volsung who knew of this King through report of his +battles sent a message to him saying that he would be welcome to the +Hall of the Branstock. + +So King Siggeir came with his men. But when the Volsungs looked into his +face they liked it not. And Signy shrank away, saying, "This King is +evil of heart and false of word." + +Volsung and his eleven sons took counsel together. Siggeir had a great +force of men with him, and if they refused to give her he could slay +them all and harry their kingdom. Besides they had pledged themselves +to give Signy when they had sent him a message of welcome. Long counsel +they had together. And ten of Signy's brothers said, "Let Signy wed this +King. He is not as evil as he seems in her mind." Ten brothers said it. +But one spoke out, saying, "We will not give our sister to this evil +King. Rather let us all go down fighting with the Hall of the Branstock +flaming above our heads." + +It was Sigmund, the youngest of the Volsungs, who said this. + +But Signy's father said: "We know nought of evil of King Siggeir. Also +our word is given to him. Let him feast with us this night in the Hall +of the Branstock and let Signy go from us with him as his wife." Then +they looked to her and they saw Signy's face and it was white and stern. +"Let it be as ye have said, my father and my brothers," she said. "I +will wed King Siggeir and go with him overseas." So she said aloud. But +Sigmund heard her say to herself, "It is woe for the Volsungs." + +A feast was made and King Siggeir and his men came to the Hall of the +Branstock. Fires were lighted and tables were spread, and great horns of +mead went around the guests. In the middle of the feasting a stranger +entered the Hall. He was taller than the tallest there, and his bearing +made all do him reverence. One offered him a horn of mead and he drank +it. Then, from under the blue cloak that he wore, he drew a sword that +made the brightness of the Hall more bright. + +He went to the tree that the Hall was built around, to the Branstock, +and he thrust the sword into it. All the company were hushed. Then they +heard the voice of the stranger, a voice that was like the trumpet's +call: "The sword is for the hand that can draw it out of the Branstock." +Then he went out of the Hall. + +All looked to where the sword was placed and saw a hand's breadth of +wonderful brightness. This one and that one would have laid hands on the +hilt, only Volsung's voice bade them stand still. "It is meet," he said, +"that our guest and our son-in-law, King Siggeir, should be the first to +put hands on its hilt and try to draw the sword of the stranger out of +the Branstock." + +King Siggeir went to the tree and laid his hands on the broad hilt. He +strove hard to draw out the sword, but all his might could not move it. +As he strained himself to draw it and failed, a dark look of anger came +into his face. + +Then others tried to draw it, the captains who were with King Siggeir, +and they, too, failed to move the blade. Then Volsung tried and Volsung +could not move it. One after the other, his eleven sons strained to draw +out the stranger's sword. At last it came to the turn of the youngest, +to Sigmund, to try. And when Sigmund laid his hand on the broad hilt and +drew it, behold! The sword came with his hand, and once again the Hall +was brightened with its marvelous brightness. + +It was a wondrous sword, a sword made out of better metal and by smiths +more cunning than any known. All envied Sigmund that he had won for +himself that wonder-weapon. + +King Siggeir looked on it with greedy eyes. "I will give thee its weight +in gold for that sword, good brother," he said. + +But Sigmund said to him proudly: "If the sword was for thy hand thou +shouldst have won it. The sword was not for thine, but for a Volsung's +hand." + +And Signy, looking at King Siggeir, saw a look of deeper evil come into +his face. She knew that hatred for all the Volsung race was in his +heart. + +But at the end of the feast she was wed to King Siggeir, and the next +day she left the Hall of the Branstock and went with him down to where +his great painted ship was drawn up on the beach. And when they were +parting from her, her father and her brothers, King Siggeir invited them +to come to his country, as friends visiting friends and kinsmen visiting +kinsmen, and look on Signy again. And he stood on the beach and would +not go on board his ship until each and all of the Volsungs gave their +word that they would visit Signy and him in his own land. "And when thou +comest," he said to Sigmund, "be sure thou dost bring with thee the +mighty sword that thou didst win." + +All this was thought of by Sigurd, the son of Sigmund, as he rode toward +the fringe of the forest. + +The time came for Volsung and his sons to redeem the promise they made +to King Siggeir. They made ready their ship and they sailed from the +land where stood the Hall of the Branstock. And they landed on the coast +of King Siggeir's country, and they drew their ship up on the beach and +they made their camp there, intending to come to the King's Hall in the +broad light of the day. + +But in the half light of the dawn one came to the Volsung ship. A cloak +and hood covered the figure, but Sigmund, who was the watcher, knew who +it was. "Signy!" he said, and Signy asked that her father and her +brothers be awakened until she would speak to them of a treason that was +brewed against them. + +"King Siggeir has made ready a great army against your coming," she told +them. "He hates the Volsungs, the branch as well as the root, and it is +his plan to fall upon you, my father and my brothers, with his great +army and slay you all. And he would possess himself of Gram, Sigmund's +wonder-sword. Therefore, I say to you, O Volsungs, draw your ship into +the sea and sail from the land where such treachery can be." + +But Volsung, her father, would not listen. "The Volsungs do not depart +like broken men from a land they have brought their ship to," he said. +"We gave, each and all, the word that we would visit King Siggeir and +visit him we will. And if he is a dastard and would fall upon us, why we +are the unbeaten Volsungs, and we will fight against him and his army +and slay him, and bear you back with us to the Hall of the Branstock. +The day widens now, and we shall go to the Hall." + +Signy would have spoken of the great army King Siggeir had gathered, but +she knew that the Volsungs never harkened to talk of odds. She spoke no +more, but bowed her head and went back to King Siggeir's hall. + +Siggeir knew that Signy had been to warn her father and her brothers. He +called the men he had gathered and he posted them cunningly in the way +the Volsungs would come. Then he sent one to the ship with a message of +welcome. + +As they left their ship the army of King Siggeir fell upon the Volsungs +and their followers. Very fierce was the battle that was waged on the +beach, and many and many a one of King Siggeir's fierce fighters went +down before the fearless ones that made Volsung's company. But at last +Volsung himself was slain and his eleven sons were taken captive. And +Gram, his mighty sword, was taken out of Sigmund's hands. + +They were brought before King Siggeir in his hall, the eleven Volsung +princes. Siggeir laughed to see them before him. "Ye are not in the Hall +of the Branstock now, to dishonor me with black looks and scornful +words," he said, "and a harder task will be given you than that of +drawing a sword out of a tree-trunk. Before set of sun I will see you +hewn to pieces with the sword." + +Then Signy who was there stood up with her white face and her wide eyes, +and she said: "I pray not for longer life for my brothers, for well I +know that my prayers would avail them nought. But dost thou not heed the +proverb, Siggeir--'Sweet to the eye as long as the eye can see'?" + +And Siggeir laughed his evil laugh when he heard her. "Aye, my Queen," +he said, "sweet to the eye as long as the eye may see their torments. +They shall not die at once nor all together. I will let them see each +other die." + +So Siggeir gave a new order to his dastard troops. The order was that +the eleven brothers should be taken into the depths of the forest and +chained to great beams and left there. This was done with the eleven +sons of Volsung. + +The next day one who had watched and who was faithful to Signy came, and +Signy said to him: "What has befallen my brothers?" + +And the watcher said: "A great wolf came to where the chained men are, +and fell upon the first of them and devoured him." + +When Signy heard this no tears came from her eyes, but that which was +hard around her heart became harder. She said, "Go again, and watch what +befalls." + +And the watcher came the second time and said: "The second of your +brothers has been devoured by the wolf." Signy shed no tears this time +either, and again that which was hard around her heart became harder. + +And every day the watcher came and he told her what had befallen her +brothers. And it came to the time when but one of her brothers was left +alive, Sigmund, the youngest. + +Then said Signy: "Not without device are we left at the end. I have +thought of what is to be done. Take a pot of honey to where he is +chained and smear Sigmund's face with the honey." + +The watcher did as Signy bade him. + +Again the great wolf came along the forest-ways to where Sigmund was +chained. When she snuffed over him she found the honey upon his face. +She put down her tongue to lick over his face. Then, with his strong +teeth Sigmund seized the tongue of the wolf. She fought and she +struggled with all her might, but Sigmund did not let go of her tongue. +The struggle with the beast broke the beam to which he was chained. Then +Sigmund seized the wolf with his hands and tore her jaws apart. + +The watcher saw this happening and told of it to Signy. A fierce joy +went through her, and she said: "One of the Volsungs lives, and +vengeance will be wrought upon King Siggeir and upon his house." + +Still the watcher stayed in the ways of the forest, and he marked where +Sigmund built for himself a hidden hut. Often he bore tokens from Signy +to Sigmund. Sigmund took to the ways of the hunter and the outlaw, but +he did not forsake the forest. And King Siggeir knew not that one of the +Volsungs lived and was near him. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE STORY OF SIGMUND AND SINFIOTLI + + +As Sigurd rode the ways of the forest he thought upon Sigmund, his +father, on his life and his death, according to what Hiordis, his +mother, had told him. Sigmund lived for long the life of the hunter and +the outlaw, but he never strayed far from the forest that was in King +Siggeir's dominion. Often did he get a token from Signy. They two, the +last of the Volsungs, knew that King Siggeir and his house would have to +perish for the treason he had wrought on their father and their +brothers. + +Sigmund knew that his sister would send her son to help him. One morning +there came to his hut a boy of ten years. He knew that this was one of +Signy's sons, and that she would have him train him into being a +warrior worthy of the Volsung breed. + +Sigmund hardly looked and hardly spoke to the lad. He was going hunting, +and as he took down his spear from the wall he said: + +"There is the mealbag, boy. Mix the meal and make the bread, and we will +eat when I come back." + +When he returned the bread was unmade, and the boy was standing watching +the mealbag with widened eyes. "Thou didst not make the bread?" Sigmund +said. + +"Nay," said the boy, "I was afeard to go near the bag. Something stirred +within it." + +"Thou hast the heart of a mouse so to be frighted. Go back to thy mother +and tell her that not in thee is the stuff for a Volsung warrior." + +So Sigmund spoke, and the boy went away weeping. + +A year later another son of Signy's came. As before Sigmund hardly +looked at and hardly spoke to the boy. He said: + +"There is the mealbag. Mix the meal and make ready the bread against the +time I return." + +When Sigmund came back the bread was unmade. The boy had shrunk away +from where the bag was. + +"Thou hast not made the bread?" Sigmund said. + +"Nay," said the boy, "something stirred in the bag, and I was afeard." + +"Thou hast the heart of a mouse. Get thee back to thy mother and tell +her that there is not in thee the stuff for the making of a Volsung +warrior." + +And this boy, like his brother, went back weeping. + +At that time Signy had no other sons. But at last one was born to her, +the child of a desperate thought. Him, too, when he was grown, she sent +to Sigmund. + +"What did thy mother say to thee?" Sigmund said to this boy when he +showed himself at the hut. + +"Nothing. She sewed my gloves to my hands and then bade me pull them +off." + +"And didst thou?" + +"Aye, and the skin came with them." + +"And didst thou weep?" + +"A Volsung does not weep for such a thing." + +Long did Sigmund look on the lad. He was tall and fair and great-limbed, +and his eyes had no fear in them. + +"What wouldst thou have me do for thee?" said the lad. + +"There is the mealbag," Sigmund said. "Mix the meal and make the bread +for me against the time I return." + +When Sigmund came back the bread was baking on the coals. "What didst +thou with the meal?" Sigmund asked. + +"I mixed it. Something was in the meal--a serpent, I think--but I +kneaded it with the meal, and now the serpent is baking on the coals." + +Sigmund laughed and threw his arms around the boy. "Thou wilt not eat of +that bread," he said. "Thou didst knead into it a venomous serpent." + +The boy's name was Sinfiotli. Sigmund trained him in the ways of the +hunter and the outlaw. Here and there they went, taking vengeance on +King Siggeir's men. The boy was fierce, but never did he speak a word +that was false. + +One day when Sigmund and Sinfiotli were hunting, they came upon a +strange house in the dark wood. When they went within they found two men +lying there sleeping a deep sleep. On their arms were heavy rings of +gold, and Sigmund knew that they were the sons of Kings. + +And beside the sleeping men he saw wolfskins, left there as though they +had been cast off. Then Sigmund knew that these men were +shape-changers--that they were ones who changed their shapes and ranged +through the forests as wolves. + +Sigmund and Sinfiotli put on the skins that the men had cast off, and +when they did this they changed their shapes and became as wolves. And +as wolves they ranged through the forest, now and then changing their +shapes back to those of men. As wolves they fell upon King Siggeir's men +and slew more and more of them. + +One day Sigmund said to Sinfiotli: "Thou art still young and I would not +have thee be too rash. If thou dost come upon a company of seven men, +fight them. But if thou dost come on a company greater than seven, raise +up thy voice as a wolf's cry and bring me to thy side." + +Sinfiotli promised that he would do this. + +One day, as he went through the forest in his wolf's shape, Sigmund +heard the din of a struggle and he stopped to listen for Sinfiotli's +call. But no call came. Then Sigmund went through the forest in the +direction of the struggle. On his way he passed the bodies of eleven +slain men. And he came upon Sinfiotli lying in the thicket, his wolf's +shape upon him, and panting from the battle he had waged. + +"Thou didst strive with eleven men. Why didst thou not call to me?" +Sigmund said. + +"Why should I have called to thee? I am not so feeble but I can strive +with eleven men." + +Sigmund was made angry with this answer. He looked on Sinfiotli where he +lay, and the wicked wolf's nature that was in the skin came over him. He +sprang upon him, sinking his teeth in Sinfiotli's throat. + +Sinfiotli lay gasping in the throes of death. And Sigmund, knowing the +deadly grip that was in those jaws of his, howled his anguish. + +Then, as he licked the face of his comrade, he saw two weasels meet. +They began to fight, one with the other, and the first caught the second +at the throat, and bit him with his teeth and laid him out as if in +death. Sigmund marked the combat and the end of it. But then the first +weasel ran and found leaves of a certain herb and he put them upon his +comrade's wound. And the herb cured the wound, and the weasel that was +bitten rose up and was sound and swift again. + +Sigmund went searching for the herb he saw the weasel carry to his +comrade. And as he sought for it he saw a raven with a leaf in her beak. +She dropped the leaf as he came to her, and behold! It was the same leaf +as the weasel had brought to his comrade. Sigmund took it and laid it on +the wound he had made in Sinfiotli's throat, and the wound healed, and +Sinfiotli was sound once more. They went back to their hut in the +forest. And the next day they burnt the wolfskins, and they prayed the +Gods that they might never be afflicted with the wolf's evil nature +again. And Sigmund and Sinfiotli never afterwards changed their shapes. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE STORY OF THE VENGEANCE OF THE VOLSUNGS AND +OF THE DEATH OF SINFIOTLI + + +And now Sinfiotli had come to his full strength and it was time to take +vengeance on King Siggeir for the slaying of Volsung and the dread doom +he had set for Volsung's ten sons. Sigmund and Sinfiotli put helmets on +their heads and took swords in their hands and went to King Siggeir's +Hall. They hid behind the casks of ale that were at the entrance and +they waited for the men-at-arms to leave the Hall that they might fall +upon King Siggeir and his attendants. + +The younger children of King Siggeir were playing in the Hall and one +let fall a ball. It went rolling behind the casks of ale. And the child +peering after the ball saw two men crouching with swords in their hands +and helmets on their heads. + +The child told a servant who told the King. Then Siggeir arose, and he +drew his men-at-arms around him, and he set them on the men who were +hiding behind the barrels. Sigmund and Sinfiotli sprang up and fought +against the men of King Siggeir, but they were taken captives. + +Now they might not be slain there and then, for it was unlawful to slay +captives after sunset. But for all that, King Siggeir would not leave +them above ground. He decreed that they should be put in a pit, and a +mound made over them so that they would be buried alive. + +The sentence was carried out. A great flagstone was put down to divide +the pit in two, so that Sigmund and Sinfiotli might hear each other's +struggle and not be able to give help to each other. All was done as the +King commanded. + +But while his thralls were putting sods over the pit, one came amongst +them, cloaked and hooded, and dropped something wrapped in straw into +the side of the pit where Sinfiotli lay. And when the sky was shut out +from them with the turf and soil that was put over the pit, Sinfiotli +shouted to Sigmund: "I shall not die, for the queen has thrown down to +me meat wrapped in a parcel of straw." + +And a while afterwards Sinfiotli shouted to Sigmund: "The queen has left +a sword in the meat which she flung down to me. It is a mighty sword. +Almost I think it is Gram, the sword you told me of." + +"If it be Gram," Sigmund said, "it is a sword that can cut through this +flagstone. Thrust the blade against the stone and try." + +Sinfiotli thrust the blade against the stone and the blade went through +the stone. Then, one on each side, they took hold of the sword and they +cut the great stone in two. Afterwards, working together, it was easy to +shift the turf and soil. The two came out under the sky. + +Before them was the Hall of King Siggeir. They came to the Hall and they +set dry wood before it and they fired the wood and made the Hall blaze +up. And when the Hall was in a blaze King Siggeir came to the door and +shouted, "Who is it that has fired the house of the King?" + +And Sigmund said, "I, Sigmund, the son of Volsung, that you may pay for +the treason wrought on the Volsungs." + +Seeing Sigmund there with Gram, the great sword, in his hands, Siggeir +went back into his Hall. Then Signy was seen with her white face and her +stern eyes, and Sigmund called to her, "Come forth, come forth. Sigmund +calls. Come out of Siggeir's blazing house and together we will go back +to the Hall of the Branstock." + +But Signy said, "All is finished now. The vengeance is wrought and I +have no more to keep me in life. The Volsung race lives on in you, my +brother, and that is my joy. Not merrily did I wed King Siggeir and not +merrily did I live with him, but merrily will I die with him now." + +She went within the Hall; then the flames burst over it and all who were +within perished. Thus the vengeance of the Volsungs was wrought. + +And Sigurd thought on the deed that Sigmund, his father, and Sinfiotli, +the youth who was his father's kinsman, wrought, as he rode the ways of +the forest, and of the things that thereafter befell them. + +Sigmund and Sinfiotli left King Siggeir's land and came back to the land +where was the Hall of the Branstock. Sigmund became a great King and +Sinfiotli was the Captain of his host. + +And the story of Sigmund and Sinfiotli goes on to tell how Sigmund wed a +woman whose name was Borghild, and how Sinfiotli loved a woman who was +loved by Borghild's brother. A battle came in which the youths were on +opposite sides, and Sinfiotli killed Borghild's brother, and it was in +fair combat. + +Sinfiotli returned home. To make peace between him and the Queen, +Sigmund gave Borghild a great measure of gold as compensation for the +loss of her brother. The Queen took it and said, "Lo, my brother's worth +is reckoned at this; let no more be said about his slaying." And she +made Sinfiotli welcome to the Hall of the Branstock. + +But although she showed herself friendly to him her heart was set upon +his destruction. + +That night there was a feast in the Hall of the Branstock and Borghild +the Queen went to all the guests with a horn of mead in her hand. She +came to Sinfiotli and she held the horn to him. "Take this from my +hands, O friend of Sigmund," she said. + +But Sinfiotli saw what was in her eyes and he said, "I will not drink +from this horn. There is venom in the drink." + +Then, to end the mockery that the Queen would have made over Sinfiotli, +Sigmund who was standing by took the horn out of Borghild's hand. No +venom or poison could injure him. He raised the horn to his lips and +drained the mead at a draught. + +The Queen said to Sinfiotli, "Must other men quaff thy drink for thee?" + +Later in the night she came to him again, the horn of mead in her hand. +She offered it to Sinfiotli, but he looked in her eyes and saw the +hatred that was there. "Venom is in the drink," he said. "I will not +take it." + +And again Sigmund took the horn and drank the mead at a draught. And +again the Queen mocked Sinfiotli. + +A third time she came to him. Before she offered the horn she said, +"This is the one who fears to take his drink like a man. What a Volsung +heart he has!" Sinfiotli saw the hatred in her eyes, and her mockery +could not make him take the mead from her. As before Sigmund was +standing by. But now he was weary of raising the horn and he said to +Sinfiotli, "Pour the drink through thy beard." + +He thought that Sigmund meant that he should pour the mead through his +lips that were bearded and make trouble no more between him and the +Queen. But Sigmund did not mean that. He meant that he should pretend to +drink and let the mead run down on the floor. Sinfiotli, not +understanding what his comrade meant, took the horn from the Queen and +raised it to his lips and drank. And as soon as he drank, the venom that +was in the drink went to his heart, and he fell dead in the Hall of the +Branstock. + +Oh, woeful was Sigmund for the death of his kinsman and his comrade. He +would let no one touch his body. He himself lifted Sinfiotli in his arms +and carried him out of the Hall, and through the wood, and down to the +seashore. And when he came to the shore he saw a boat drawn up with a +man therein. Sigmund came near to him and saw that the man was old and +strangely tall. "I will take thy burthen from thee," the man said. + +Sigmund left the body of Sinfiotli in the boat, thinking to take a place +beside it. But as soon as the body was placed in it the boat went from +the land without sail or oars. Sigmund, looking on the old man who stood +at the stern, knew that he was not of mortal men, but was Odin +All-Father, the giver of the sword Gram. + +Then Sigmund went back to his Hall. His Queen died, and in time he wed +with Hiordis, who became the mother of Sigurd. And now Sigurd the +Volsung, the son of Sigmund and Hiordis, rode the ways of the forest, +the sword Gram by his side, and the Golden Helmet of the Dragon's Hoard +above his golden hair. + + + + +[Illustration] + +BRYNHILD IN THE HOUSE OF FLAME + + +The forest ways led him on and up a mountain-side. He came to a +mountain-summit at last: Hindfell, where the trees fell away, leaving a +place open to the sky and the winds. On Hindfell was the House of Flame. +Sigurd saw the walls black, and high, and all around them was a ring of +fire. + +As he rode nearer he heard the roar of the mounting and the circling +fire. He sat on Grani, his proud horse, and for long he looked on the +black walls and the flame that went circling around them. + +Then he rode Grani to the fire. Another horse would have been +affrighted, but Grani remained steady under Sigurd. To the wall of fire +they came, and Sigurd, who knew no fear, rode through it. + +Now he was in the courtyard of the Hall. No stir was there of man or +hound or horse. Sigurd dismounted and bade Grani be still. He opened a +door and he saw a chamber with hangings on which was wrought the pattern +of a great tree, a tree with three roots, and the pattern was carried +across from one wall to the other. On a couch in the center of the +chamber one lay in slumber. Upon the head was a helmet and across the +breast was a breastplate. Sigurd took the helmet off the head. Then over +the couch fell a heap of woman's hair--wondrous, bright-gleaming hair. +This was the maiden that the birds had told him of. + +He cut the fastenings of the breastplate with his sword, and he gazed +long upon her. Beautiful was her face, but stern; like the face of one +who subdues but may not be subdued. Beautiful and strong were her arms +and her hands. Her mouth was proud, and over her closed eyes there were +strong and beautiful brows. + +Her eyes opened, and she turned them and looked full upon Sigurd. "Who +art thou who hast awakened me?" she said. + +"I am Sigurd, the son of Sigmund, of the Volsung race," he answered. + +"And thou didst ride through the ring of fire to me?" + +"That did I." + +She knelt on the couch and stretched out her arms to where the light +shone. "Hail, O Day," she cried, "and hail, O beams that are the sons of +Day. O Night, and O daughter of Night, may ye look on us with eyes that +bless. Hail, O Æsir and O Asyniur! Hail, O wide-spreading fields of +Midgard! May ye give us wisdom, and wise speech, and healing power, and +grant that nothing untrue or unbrave may come near us!" + +All this she cried with eyes open wide; they were eyes that had in them +all the blue that Sigurd had ever seen: the blue of flowers, the blue of +skies, the blue of battle-blades. She turned those great eyes upon him +and she said, "I am Brynhild, once a Valkyrie but now a mortal maiden, +one who will know death and all the sorrows that mortal women know. But +there are things that I may not know, things that are false and of no +bravery." + +She was the bravest and the wisest and the most beautiful maiden in the +world: Sigurd knew that it was so. He laid his sword Gram at her feet, +and he said her name, "Brynhild." He told her how he had slain the +Dragon, and how he had heard the birds tell of her. She rose from the +couch and bound her wondrous hair on her head. In wonder he watched her. +When she moved it was as though she walked above the earth. + +They sat together and she told him wonderful and secret things. And she +told him, too, how she was sent by Odin from Asgard to choose the slain +for his hall Valhalla, and to give victory to those whom he willed to +have it. And she told how she had disobeyed the will of All-Father, and +how for that she was made outcast of Asgard. Odin put into her flesh the +thorn of the Tree of Sleep that she might remain in slumber until one +who was the bravest of mortal men should waken her. Whoever would break +the fastenings of the breastplate would take out the Thorn of Sleep. +"Odin granted me this," she said, "that as a mortal maid I should wed +none but him who is the bravest in the world. And so that none but him +might come to me, All-Father put the fire-ring round where I lay in +slumber. And it is thou, Sigurd, son of Sigmund, who hast come to me. +Thou art the bravest and I think thou art the most beautiful too; like +to Tyr, the God who wields the sword." + +She told him that whoever rode through the fire and claimed her as his +wife, him she must wed. + +They talked to each other fondly and the day flowed by them. Then Sigurd +heard Grani, his horse, neigh for him again and again. He cried to +Brynhild: "Let me go from the gaze of thine eyes. I am that one who is +to have the greatest name in the world. Not yet have I made my name as +great as my father and my father's father made their names great. I have +overcome King Lygni, and I have slain Fafnir the Dragon, but that is +little. I would make my name the greatest in the world, and endure all +that is to be endured in making it so. Then I would come back to thee in +the House of Flame." + +Brynhild said to him: "Well dost thou speak. Make thy name great, and +endure what thou hast to endure in making it so. I will wait for thee, +knowing that none but Sigurd will be able to win through the fire that +guards where I abide." + +They gazed long on each other, but little more they spoke. Then they +held each other's hands in farewell, and they plighted faith, promising +each other that they would take no other man or maiden for their mate. +And for token of their troth Sigurd took the ring that was on his finger +and placed it on Brynhild's--Andvari's ring it was. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SIGURD AT THE HOUSE OF THE NIBELUNGS + + +He left Hindfell and he came into a kingdom that was ruled over by a +people that were called the Nibelungs as Sigurd's people were called the +Volsungs. Giuki was the name of the King of that land. + +Giuki and his Queen and all their sons gave a great welcome to Sigurd +when he came to their hall, for he looked such a one as might win the +name of being the world's greatest hero. And Sigurd went to war beside +the King's sons, Gunnar and Högni, and the three made great names for +themselves, but Sigurd's shone high above the others. + +When they came back from that war there were great rejoicings in the +hall of the Nibelungs, and Sigurd's heart was filled with friendship +for all the Nibelung race; he had love for the King's sons, Gunnar and +Högni, and with Gunnar and Högni he swore oaths of brotherhood. +Henceforward he and they would be as brethren. King Giuki had a stepson +named Guttorm and he was not bound in the oath that bound Sigurd and the +others in brotherhood. + +After the war they had waged Sigurd spent a whole winter in the hall of +the Nibelungs. His heart was full of memories of Brynhild and of +longings to ride to her in the House of Flame and to take her with him +to the kingdom that King Giuki would have given him. But as yet he would +not go back to her, for he had sworn to give his brethren further help. + +One day, as he rode by himself, he heard birds talk to each other and he +knew the words they were saying. One said, "There is Sigurd who wears +the wondrous helmet that he took out of Fafnir's hoard." And the other +bird said, "He knows not that by that helmet he can change his shape as +Fafnir changed his shape, and make him look like this creature or that +creature, or this man or that man." And the third bird said, "He knows +not that the helmet can do anything so wonderful for him." + +He rode back to the hall of the Nibelungs, and at the supperboard he +told them what he had heard the birds say. He showed them the wondrous +helmet. Also he told them how he had slain Fafnir the Dragon, and of how +he had won the mighty hoard for himself. His two sworn brothers who were +there rejoiced that he had such wondrous possessions. + +But more precious than the hoard and more wondrous than the helmet was +the memory of Brynhild that he had. But of this he said no word. + +Grimhild was the name of the Queen. She was the mother of Gunnar and +Högni and their half-brother Guttorm. And she and the King had one +daughter whose name was Gudrun. Now Grimhild was one of the wisest of +women, and she knew when she looked upon him that Sigurd was the world's +greatest warrior. She would have him belong to the Nibelungs, not only +by the oaths of brotherhood he had sworn with Gunnar and Högni, but by +other ties. And when she heard of the great hoard that was his she had +greater wish and will that he should be one with the Nibelungs. She +looked on the helmet of gold and on the great armring that he wore, and +she made it her heart's purpose that Sigurd should wed with Gudrun, her +daughter. But neither Sigurd nor the maiden Gudrun knew of Grimhild's +resolve. + +And the Queen, watching Sigurd closely, knew that he had a remembrance +in his breast that held him from seeing Gudrun's loveliness. She had +knowledge of spells and secret brews (she was of the race of Borghild +whose brew had destroyed Sinfiotli's life) and she knew that she could +make a potion that would destroy the memory Sigurd held. + +She mixed the potion. Then one night when there was feasting in the hall +of the Nibelungs, she gave the cup that held the potion into the hands +of Gudrun and bade her carry it to Sigurd. + +Sigurd took the cup out of the hands of the fair Nibelung maiden and he +drank the potion. When he had drunk it he put the cup down and he stood +amongst the feasters like a man in a dream. And like a man in a dream he +went into his chamber, and for a day and a night afterwards he was +silent and his mind was astray. When he rode out with Gunnar and Högni +they would say to him, "What is it thou hast lost, brother?" Sigurd +could not tell them. But what he had lost was all memory of Brynhild the +Valkyrie in the House of Flame. + +He saw Gudrun and it was as though he looked upon her for the first +time. Soft were the long tresses of her hair; soft were her hands. Her +eyes were like woodflowers, and her ways and her speech were gentle. Yet +was she noble in her bearing as became a Princess who would come into a +kingdom. And from the first time she had seen him upon Grani, his proud +horse, and with his golden helmet above his golden hair, Gudrun had +loved Sigurd. + +At the season when the wild swans came to the lake Gudrun went down to +watch them build their nests. And while she was there Sigurd rode +through the pines. He saw her, and her beauty made the whole place +change. He stopped his horse and listened to her voice as she sang to +the wild swans, sang the song that Völund made for Alvit, his +swan-bride. + +No more was Sigurd's heart empty of memory: it was filled with the +memory of Gudrun as he saw her by the lake when the wild swans were +building their nests. And now he watched her in the hall, sitting with +her mother embroidering, or serving her father or her brothers, and +tenderness for the maiden kept growing in his heart. + +A day came when he asked Gunnar and Högni, his sworn brethren, for +Gudrun. They were glad as though a great fortune had befallen them. And +they brought him before Giuki the King, and Grimhild the Queen. It +seemed as if they had cast off all trouble and care and entered into the +prime of their life and power, so greatly did the King and the Queen +rejoice at Sigurd's becoming one with the Nibelungs through his marriage +with Gudrun. + +When Gudrun heard that Sigurd had asked for her, she said to the Queen: +"Oh, my mother, your wisdom should have strengthened me to bear such +joy. How can I show him that he is so dear, so dear to me? But I shall +try not to show it, for he might deem that there was no sense in me but +sense to love him. So great a warrior would not care for such love. I +would be with him as a battle-maiden." + +Sigurd and Gudrun were wed and all the kingdom that the Nibelungs ruled +over rejoiced. And Queen Grimhild thought that though the effect of the +potion she gave would wear away, his love for Gudrun would ever fill his +heart, and that no other memory would be able to find a place there. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HOW BRYNHILD WAS WON FOR GUNNAR + + +Now that Sigurd had wed Gudrun he was one with the Nibelungs. The hoard +that was in Fafnir's cave he brought away and he left it in their +treasure house. He went into his fosterfather's kingdom again, and he +saw King Alv and Hiordis, his mother. But he had no memory now of the +House of Flame, nor of Brynhild, who waited there for him. + +King Giuki died, and Gunnar, Sigurd's sworn brother, became King in his +stead. His mother would have him wed, but Gunnar told her he had seen no +maiden whom he would choose for his wife. + +But when Sigurd and he were together Gunnar would speak of a maiden far +away, one whom he often thought on. And one day when Sigurd pressed him +to tell who this maiden was, he spoke of one whom the wisest of the +poets told of, a maiden in a Hall with a flame around it, a maiden named +Brynhild who was guarded by a ring of fire. + +Sigurd laughed to think that his shrewd brother was beguiled by one whom +he had only heard of. But if he was beguiled by the tale of her, why +should he not come to her and wed her? So Sigurd said. Then Gunnar bent +to him and asked Sigurd would he aid him to win her? And Sigurd took +Gunnar's hand and swore that he would. + +So they started off for Hindfell, Gunnar and Högni and Sigurd. They rode +on until they came in sight of the black walls with the mounting and +circling fire around them. No memory had Sigurd of the place. With the +flame of eagerness upon his stolid face Gunnar went forward to ride +through the ring of fire. He brought Goti, his horse, near the flame, +but the horse, for no urging, would go through it. Then Gunnar thought +that, mounted on Grani, Sigurd's horse, he could ride through the ring +of fire. He mounted Grani and came near to the flaring wall. But Grani, +knowing that the one who rode him had fear of the fire, reared up and +would not go through it. Only with Sigurd on his back would Grani go +through the flame. + +Then were the three sworn brethren greatly discomfited. But after they +had considered it for long Högni the Wise said: "There is a way to win +Brynhild, and that is for Sigurd to change shapes, by the magic of his +helmet, with Gunnar. Then Sigurd could ride Grani through the wall of +flame and come to Brynhild in Gunnar's shape." + +So spoke Högni the Wise, and when he saw his sworn brother's gaze fixed +on him in pleading, Sigurd could not but agree to ride through the flame +and come to Brynhild in the way he said. And so by the magic of his +helmet he changed shapes with Gunnar. Then he mounted Grani and rode to +the wall of flame. And Grani, knowing that the one he bore was without +fear, rode through the flaring fire. Then Sigurd came into the courtyard +of the House of Flame. He dismounted from Grani, and he bade his horse +be still. + +He went within the Hall and he saw one with a bow in her hands shooting +at a mark. She turned to him, and he saw a beautiful and stern face, +with coils of wondrous, bright-gleaming hair and eyes that were like +stars in an unventured-in sea. He thought that the arrow in her hands +had been shot through him. But it was not so. Brynhild threw down the +bow and came to him with that walk of hers that was as of one moving +above the earth. And when she came near and looked upon him she uttered +a strange cry. + +"Who art thou?" she said. "Who art thou who hast come to me through the +wall of flaring fire?" + +"Gunnar, son of Giuki, of the race of the Nibelungs," Sigurd said. + +"Art thou the bravest one in the world?" she asked. + +"I have ridden through the wall of flaring fire to come to thee," Sigurd +answered. + +"He who has come through that wall of flaring fire may claim me," +Brynhild said. "It is written in the runes, and it must be so. But I +thought there was only one who would come to me through it." She looked +at him, and her eyes had a flame of anger. "Oh, I would strive with thee +with warrior-weapons," she cried. Then Sigurd felt her strong hands upon +him, and he knew that she was striving to throw him. + +They wrestled, and each was so strong that none could move the other. +They wrestled, Sigurd the first of heroes, and Brynhild, the Valkyrie. +Sigurd got her hand in his in the wrestle. On that hand was a ring, and +Sigurd bent back the finger and drew it off. + +It was Andvari's ring, the ring he had placed on her finger. And when +the ring was taken off it, Brynhild sank down on her knees like one that +was strengthless. + +Then Sigurd lifted her in his arms and carried her to where Grani, his +horse, was waiting. He lifted her across his horse, and he mounted +behind her and again he rode through the wall of flame. Högni and Gunnar +were waiting, Gunnar in Sigurd's shape. Brynhild did not look upon them, +but covered her face with her hands. Then Sigurd took back his own +shape, and he rode before Gunnar and Högni to the hall of the Nibelungs. + +He went within, and he found Gudrun, his wife, playing with Sigmund, his +little son, and he sat beside her and he told her of all that had +befallen: how, for the sake of the sworn brotherhood, he had won +Brynhild the Valkyrie for Gunnar, and how he had striven with her and +had overcome her, and had taken off her finger the ring that he now +wore upon his own. + +And even as he spoke to his wife the fume of the potion that Gudrun's +mother had given him was wearing off, and he had memories of going to +the House of Flame on a day that was not this day, and of riding through +the wall of fire in his own shape. And again, as on the night when he +drank the potion that Queen Grimhild brewed, he became as one whose wits +are astray. He stood watching his child as he played, and his wife as +she worked at her embroidery, and he was as a man in a dream. + +While he was standing there Gunnar and Högni came into the hall of the +Nibelungs bringing Brynhild with them. Gudrun rose up to welcome her who +came as her brother's bride. Then did Sigurd look on Brynhild and then +did he remember all. And when he remembered all such a mighty sigh rose +from his heart as burst the links of the mail that was across his +breast. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE DEATH OF SIGURD + + +It happened one day that Brynhild, Gunnar's wife, now a Queen, was with +Sigurd's wife, bathing in a river. Not often they were together. +Brynhild was the haughtiest of women, and often she treated Gudrun with +disdain. Now as they were bathing together, Gudrun, shaking out her +hair, cast some drops upon Brynhild. Brynhild went from Gudrun. And +Sigurd's wife, not knowing that Brynhild had anger against her, went +after her up the stream. + +"Why dost thou go so far up the river, Brynhild?" Gudrun asked. + +"So that thou mayst not shake thy hair over me," answered Brynhild. + +Gudrun stood still while Brynhild went up the river like a creature who +was made to be alone. "Why dost thou speak so to me, sister?" Gudrun +cried. + +She remembered that from the first Brynhild had been haughty with her, +often speaking to her with harshness and bitterness. She did not know +what cause Brynhild had for this. + +It was because Brynhild had seen in Sigurd the one who had ridden +through the fire for the first time, he who had awakened her by breaking +the binding of her breastplate and so drawing out of her flesh the thorn +of the Tree of Sleep. She had given him her love when she awakened on +the world. But he, as she thought, had forgotten her easily, giving his +love to this other maiden. Brynhild, with her Valkyrie's pride, was left +with a mighty anger in her heart. + +"Why dost thou speak so to me, Brynhild?" Gudrun asked. + +"It would be ill indeed if drops from thy hair fell on one who is so +much above thee, one who is King Gunnar's wife," Brynhild answered. + +"Thou art married to a King, but not to one more valorous than my lord," +Gudrun said. + +"Gunnar is more valorous; why dost thou compare Sigurd with him?" +Brynhild said. + +"He slew the Dragon Fafnir, and won for himself Fafnir's hoard," said +Gudrun. + +"Gunnar rode through the ring of fire. Mayhap thou wilt tell us that +Sigurd did the like," said Brynhild. + +"Yea," said Gudrun, now made angry. "It was Sigurd and not Gunnar who +rode through the ring of fire. He rode through it in Gunnar's shape, and +he took the ring off thy finger--look, it is now on mine." + +And Gudrun held out her hand on which was Andvari's ring. Then Brynhild +knew, all at once, that what Gudrun said was true. It was Sigurd that +rode through the ring of fire the second as well as the first time. It +was he who had struggled with her, taking the ring off her hand and +claiming her for a bride, not for himself but for another, and out of +disdain. + +Falsely had she been won. And she, one of Odin's Valkyries, had been wed +to one who was not the bravest hero in the world, and she to whom +untruth might not come had been deceived. She was silent now, and all +the pride that was in her turned to hatred of Sigurd. + +She went to Gunnar, her husband, and she told him that she was so deeply +shamed that she could never be glad in his Hall again; that never would +he see her drinking wine, nor embroidering with golden threads, and +never would he hear her speaking words of kindness. And when she said +this to him she rent the web she was weaving, and she wept aloud so that +all in the hall heard her, and all marveled to hear the proud Queen cry. + +Then Sigurd came to her, and he offered in atonement the whole hoard of +Fafnir. And he told her how forgetfulness of her had come upon him, and +he begged her to forgive him for winning her in falseness. But she +answered him: "Too late thou hast come to me, Sigurd. Now I have only a +great anger in my heart." + +When Gunnar came she told him she would forgive him, and love him as she +had not loved him before, if he would slay Sigurd. But Gunnar would not +slay him, although Brynhild's passion moved him greatly, since Sigurd +was a sworn brother of his. + +Then she went to Högni and asked him to slay Sigurd, telling him that +the whole of Fafnir's hoard would belong to the Nibelungs if Sigurd were +slain. But Högni would not slay him, since Sigurd and he were sworn +brothers. + +There was one who had not sworn brotherhood with Sigurd. He was Guttorm, +Gunnar's and Högni's half-brother. Brynhild went to Guttorm. He would +not slay Sigurd, but Brynhild found that he was infirm of will and +unsteady of thought. With Guttorm, then, she would work for the slaying +of Sigurd. Her mind was fixed that he and she would no longer be in the +world of men. + +She made a dish of madness for Guttorm--serpent's venom and wolf's flesh +mixed--and when he had eaten it Guttorm was crazed. Then did he listen +to Brynhild's words. And she commanded him to go into the chamber where +Sigurd slept and stab him through the body with a sword. + +This Guttorm did. But Sigurd, before he gasped out his life, took Gram, +his great sword, and flung it at Guttorm and cut him in twain. + +And Brynhild, knowing what deed was done, went without and came to where +Grani, Sigurd's proud horse, was standing. She stayed there with her +arms across Grani's neck, the Valkyrie leaning across the horse that was +born of Odin's horse. And Grani stood listening for some sound. He +heard the cries of Gudrun over Sigurd, and then his heart burst and he +died. + +They bore Sigurd out of the Hall and Brynhild went beside where they +placed him. She took a sword and put it through her own heart. Thus died +Brynhild who had been made a mortal woman for her disobedience to the +will of Odin, and who was won to be a mortal's wife by a falseness. + +They took Sigurd and his horse Grani, and his helmet and his golden +war-gear and they left all on a great painted ship. They could not but +leave Brynhild beside him, Brynhild with her wondrous hair and her stern +and beautiful face. They left the two together and launched the ship on +the sea. And when the ship was on the water they fired it, and Brynhild +once again lay in the flames. + +And so Sigurd and Brynhild went together to join Baldur and Nanna in +Hela's habitation. + +Gunnar and Högni came to dread the evil that was in the hoard. They took +the gleaming and glittering mass and they brought it to the river along +which, ages before, Hreidmar had his smithy and the Dwarf Andvari his +cave. From a rock in the river they cast the gold and jewels into the +water and the hoard of Andvari sank for ever beneath the waves. Then the +River Maidens had possession again of their treasure. But not for long +were they to guard it and to sing over it, for now the season that was +called the Fimbul Winter was coming over the earth, and Ragnarök, the +Twilight of the Gods, was coming to the Dwellers in Asgard. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS + + +Snow fell on the four quarters of the world; icy winds blew from every +side; the sun and the moon were hidden by storms. It was the Fimbul +Winter: no spring came and no summer; no autumn brought harvest or +fruit, and winter grew into winter again. + +There was three years' winter. The first was called the Winter of Winds: +storms blew and snows drove down and frosts were mighty. The children of +men might hardly keep alive in that dread winter. + +The second winter was called the Winter of the Sword: those who were +left alive amongst men robbed and slew for what was left to feed on; +brother fell on brother and slew him, and over all the world there were +mighty battles. + +And the third winter was called the Winter of the Wolf. Then the +ancient witch who lived in Jarnvid, the Iron Wood, fed the Wolf Managarm +on unburied men and on the corpses of those who fell in battle. Mightily +grew and flourished the Wolf that was to be the devourer of Mani, the +Moon. The Champions in Valhalla would find their seats splashed with the +blood that Managarm dashed from his jaws; this was a sign to the Gods +that the time of the last battle was approaching. + +A cock crew; far down in the bowels of the earth he was and beside +Hela's habitation: the rusty-red cock of Hel crew, and his crowing made +a stir in the lower worlds. In Jötunheim a cock crew, Fialar, the +crimson cock, and at his crowing the Giants aroused themselves. High up +in Asgard a cock crew, the golden cock Gullinkambir, and at his crowing +the Champions in Valhalla bestirred themselves. + +A dog barked; deep down in the earth a dog barked; it was Garm, the +hound with bloody mouth, barking in Gnipa's Cave. The Dwarfs who heard +groaned before their doors of stone. The tree Ygdrassil moaned in all +its branches. There was a rending noise as the Giants moved their ship; +there was a trampling sound as the hosts of Muspelheim gathered their +horses. + +But Jötunheim and Muspelheim and Hel waited tremblingly; it might be +that Fenrir the Wolf might not burst the bonds wherewith the Gods had +bound him. Without his being loosed the Gods might not be destroyed. And +then was heard the rending of the rock as Fenrir broke loose. For the +second time the Hound Garm barked in Gnipa's Cave. + +Then was heard the galloping of the horses of the riders of Muspelheim; +then was heard the laughter of Loki; then was heard the blowing of +Heimdall's horn; then was heard the opening of Valhalla's five hundred +and forty doors, as eight hundred Champions made ready to pass through +each door. + +Odin took council with Mimir's head. Up from the waters of the Well of +Wisdom he drew it, and by the power of the runes he knew he made the +head speak to him. Where best might the Æsir and the Vanir and the +Einherjar, who were the Champions of Midgard, meet, and how best might +they strive with the forces of Muspelheim and Jötunheim and Hel? The +head of Mimir counseled Odin to meet them on Vigard Plain and to wage +there such war that the powers of evil would be destroyed forever, even +though his own world should be destroyed with them. + +The riders of Muspelheim reached Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge. Now would +they storm the City of the Gods and fill it with flame. But Bifröst +broke under the weight of the riders of Muspelheim, and they came not to +the City of the Gods. + +Jörmungand, the serpent that encircles the world, reared itself up from +the sea. The waters flooded the lands, and the remnant of the world's +inhabitants was swept away. That mighty flood floated Naglfar, the Ship +of Nails that the Giants were so long building, and floated the ship of +Hel also. With Hrymer the Giant steering it, Naglfar sailed against the +Gods, with all the powers of Jötunheim aboard. And Loki steered the ship +of Hel with the Wolf Fenrir upon it for the place of the last battle. + +Since Bifröst was broken, the Æsir and the Vanir, the Asyniur and the +Vana, the Einherjar and the Valkyries rode downward to Vigard through +the waters of Thund. Odin rode at the head of his Champions. His helmet +was of gold and in his hand was his spear Gungnir. Thor and Tyr were in +his company. + +In Mirkvid, the Dark Forest, the Vanir stood against the host of +Muspelheim. From the broken end of the Rainbow Bridge the riders came, +all flashing and flaming, with fire before them and after them. Niörd +was there with Skadi, his Giant wife, fierce in her war-dress; Freya was +there also, and Frey had Gerda beside him as a battle-maiden. Terribly +bright flashed Surtur's sword. No sword ever owned was as bright as his +except the sword that Frey had given to Skirnir. Frey and Surtur fought; +he perished, Frey perished in that battle, but he would not have +perished if he had had in his hand his own magic sword. + +And now, for the third time, Garm, the hound with blood upon his jaws, +barked. He had broken loose on the world, and with fierce bounds he +rushed toward Vigard Plain, where the Gods had assembled their powers. +Loud barked Garm. The Eagle Hræsvelgur screamed on the edge of heaven. +Then the skies were cloven, and the tree Ygdrassil was shaken in all its +roots. + +To the place where the Gods had drawn up their ranks came the ship of +Jötunheim and the ship of Hel, came the riders of Muspelheim, and Garm, +the hound with blood upon his jaws. And out of the sea that now +surrounded the plain of Vigard the serpent Jörmungand came. + +What said Odin to the Gods and to the Champions who surrounded him? "We +will give our lives and let our world be destroyed, but we will battle +so that these evil powers will not live after us." Out of Hel's ship +sprang Fenrir the Wolf. His mouth gaped; his lower jaw hung against the +earth, and his upper jaw scraped the sky. Against the Wolf Odin +All-Father fought. Thor might not aid him, for Thor had now to encounter +Jörmungand, the monstrous serpent. + +By Fenrir the Wolf Odin was slain. But the younger Gods were now +advancing to the battle; and Vidar, the Silent God, came face to face +with Fenrir. He laid his foot on the Wolf's lower jaw, that foot that +had on the sandal made of all the scraps of leather that shoemakers had +laid by for him, and with his hands he seized the upper jaw and tore his +gullet. Thus died Fenrir, the fiercest of all the enemies of the Gods. + +Jörmungand, the monstrous serpent, would have overwhelmed all with the +venom he was ready to pour forth. But Thor sprang forward and crushed +him with a stroke of his hammer Miölnir. Then Thor stepped back nine +paces. But the serpent blew his venom over him, and blinded and choked +and burnt, Thor, the World's Defender, perished. + +Loki sprang from his ship and strove with Heimdall, the Warder of the +Rainbow Bridge and the Watcher for the Gods. Loki slew Heimdall and was +slain by him. + +Bravely fought Tyr, the God who had sacrificed his swordhand for the +binding of the Wolf. Bravely he fought, and many of the powers of evil +perished by his strong left hand. But Garm, the hound with bloody jaws, +slew Tyr. + +And now the riders of Muspelheim came down on the field. Bright and +gleaming were all their weapons. Before them and behind them went +wasting fires. Surtur cast fire upon the earth; the tree Ygdrassil took +fire and burned in all its great branches; the World Tree was wasted in +the blaze. But the fearful fire that Surtur brought on the earth +destroyed him and all his host. + +The Wolf Hati caught up on Sol, the Sun; the Wolf Managarm seized on +Mani, the Moon; they devoured them; stars fell, and darkness came down +on the world. + +The seas flowed over the burnt and wasted earth and the skies were dark +above the sea, for Sol and Mani were no more. But at last the seas drew +back and earth appeared again, green and beautiful. A new Sun and a new +Moon appeared in the heavens, one a daughter of Sol and the other a +daughter of Mani. No grim wolves kept them in pursuit. + +Four of the younger Gods stood on the highest of the world's peaks; they +were Vidar and Vali, the sons of Odin, and Modi and Magni, the sons of +Thor. Modi and Magni found Miölnir, Thor's hammer, and with it they slew +the monsters that still raged through the world, the Hound Garm and the +Wolf Managarm. + +Vidar and Vali found in the grass the golden tablets on which were +inscribed the runes of wisdom of the elder Gods. The runes told them of +a heaven that was above Asgard, of Gimli, that was untouched by Surtur's +fire. Vili and Ve, Will and Holiness, ruled in it. Baldur and Hödur came +from Hela's habitation, and the Gods sat on the peak together and held +speech with each other, calling to mind the secrets and the happenings +they had known before Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods. + +Deep in a wood two of human kind were left; the fire of Surtur did not +touch them; they slept, and when they wakened the world was green and +beautiful again. These two fed on the dews of the morning; a woman and a +man they were. Lif and Lifthrasir. They walked abroad in the world, and +from them and from their children came the men and women who spread +themselves over the earth. + + +The End. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Children of Odin, by Padraic Colum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDREN OF ODIN *** + +***** This file should be named 24737-8.txt or 24737-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/7/3/24737/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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