NORSE STORIES
 
 Books bg ffir. 
 
 MY STUDY FIRE 
 
 MY STUDY FIRE, SECOND SERIES 
 
 UNDER THE TREES AND ELSEWHERE 
 
 SHORT STUDIES IN LITERATURE 
 
 ESSAYS IN LITERARY INTERPRETATION 
 
 ESSAYS ON NATURE AND CULTURE 
 
 BOOKS AND CULTURE 
 
 ESSAYS ON WORK AND CULTURE 
 
 THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT 
 
 NORSE STORIES 
 
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 
 
 FOREST OF ARDEN 
 
 CHILD OF NATURE . 
 
 WORK AND DAYS
 
 NORSE STORIES RETOLD 
 
 FROM THE EDDAS * * BY 
 HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE 
 
 NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY 
 DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 
 MDCCCCII
 
 Copyright, 1882 
 BY ROBERTS BROTHERS 
 
 Copyright, 1900 
 BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
 
 STACK 
 ANNEX 
 
 TO 
 
 J. T. M.
 
 Contents 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. THE MAKING OF THE WORLD . . i 
 
 II. GODS AND MEN 13 
 
 III. ODIN'S SEARCH FOR WISDOM . . 24 
 
 IV. How ODIN BROUGHT THE MEAD 
 
 TO ASGARD 36 
 
 V. THE WOOING OF GERD .... 54 
 
 VI. THE MAKING OF THE HAMMER . 69 
 
 VII. ODIN IN GEIRROD'S PALACE . . 84 
 
 VIII. THE APPLES OF IDUN .... 99 
 
 IX. THOR GOES A FISHING . . . . 113 
 
 X. How THOR FOUND HIS HAMMER . 127 
 
 XI. How THOR FOUGHT THE GIANT 
 
 HRUNGNER 141 
 
 XII. THE BINDING OF THE WOLF . . 156 
 
 XIII. THOR'S WONDERFUL JOURNEY . 171 
 
 XIV. THE DEATH OF BALDER . . . 197 
 XV. How LORE WAS PUNISHED . . . 222 
 
 XVI. THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS . . 234 
 
 XVII. THE NEW EARTH 244 
 
 VII
 
 Norse Stories 
 9 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 The Making of the World 
 
 EIGHT hundred years ago, when 
 the galleys of the bold Norse- 
 men were scudding through storm 
 and mist far into the unknown west- 
 ern seas, or, in the soft summer of 
 the Mediterranean, riding at anchor 
 in the ports of Italy and Northern 
 Africa, the old stories of the battles 
 of the gods and the giants that had 
 been repeated for hundreds of years 
 by Norse firesides in the long winter 
 evening were brought together by 
 some unknown man in Iceland, and 
 were known henceforth as the Elder
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Edda ; and a hundred years later 
 Snorre Sturleson retold the same old 
 stories, with others equally marvel- 
 lous, in the Younger Edda. These 
 ancient books, which a brave and 
 noble race carried in its heart through 
 all its wide wanderings and conquests, 
 take one back to the beginning of 
 time, and tell of the birth of the 
 worlds and the coming of the gods 
 to rule over them. 
 
 Norway faces the sea with a line 
 of cliffs so massive that their founda- 
 tions seem everlasting. Islands with- 
 out number rise out of the tossing 
 waves ; the deep, tranquil waters of 
 the fjords, overhung with fir-covered 
 mountains, and bright at night with 
 the quenchless splendour of the stars, 
 flow through narrow channels to the 
 outer ocean ; and against the sky 
 great mountains stand vast and im- 
 
 2
 
 The Making of the World 
 
 movable, as if from eternity to eter- 
 nity. No Norseman, steering his 
 adventurous galley along these rocky 
 shores, seeing, perhaps, the mighty 
 rush of the polar seas against the 
 North Cape, and hearing the long 
 .reverberation of Thor's hammer roll 
 from mountain peak to mountain 
 peak, would have believed that these 
 things had not been as he saw them 
 from the very beginning, if the Ed- 
 das, wiser than any wisdom of man, 
 had not told him of a time when 
 even the gods had not begun to 
 live, and in the vast space where 
 no worlds hung and no heavens 
 shone there was nothing but the un- 
 seen spirit of the great All-father, 
 solitary and silent in the depths. 
 
 Not even the Eddas are able to 
 reveal his thoughts or to describe his 
 life in the awful solitariness of a si- 
 3
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 lent universe ; they can only declare 
 that in his own good time he began 
 to build the worlds, and far in the 
 north Niflheim rose out of the depths, 
 the land of eternal winter wrapped in 
 fogs and mists, and far in the south 
 Muspelheim, the land of quenchless 
 fire, glowing with unspeakable heat 
 and overhung with clouds and fiery 
 sparks, in the midst of whose blind- 
 ing heat and light sat Surt, guarding 
 the kingdom of fire with a flaming 
 sword. Between the land of ice and 
 the land of fire yawned the bottom- 
 less abyss, Ginungagap, black and 
 fathomless, and into it the rivers of 
 Niflheim poured with soundless fury, 
 and as the icy streams fell into the 
 darkness they congealed and hung 
 in great masses from the northern 
 edges of the abyss ; and over the 
 awful chasm and the silent cataracts 
 4
 
 The Making of the World 
 
 icy fogs gathered and bitter winds 
 swept. 
 
 Against the whirling snows and 
 shifting fogs of Niflheim glowed 
 the wandering flames and floating 
 fires of Muspelheim, throwing broad 
 beams of light far into the sunless 
 abyss, and sending a wide glow 
 through the drifting snow. Glitter- 
 ing sparks shot into the silent space 
 above and floated far off towards 
 the north like stars that had wandered 
 from their courses ; and as the icy 
 mist met the burning heat in the 
 upper air, it hung motionless for a 
 brief moment and then fell drop by 
 drop into the abyss, and there, out 
 of heat and cold, fire and fog, in 
 darkness and solitude, the giant Ymer 
 grew into life. To give him food 
 the cow Audhumbla was made, and 
 as she stood nourishing the giant 
 5
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 with her milk, she licked the icy 
 stones which were covered with salt, 
 and straightway the head of a man 
 began to take shape, grew larger, and 
 on the third day the man stood up- 
 right, fair of face and mighty of 
 stature ; and his name was Bure. 
 Now Bure had a son, whom he 
 called Bor, and Bor, in turn, became 
 the father of Odin, Vile, and Ve, the 
 first of the gods. The giant Ymer 
 also was the father of many children 
 who were frost-giants and enemies of 
 the gods. 
 
 Ymer grew to such vast size, and 
 was so full of evil, that Odin, Vile, and 
 Ve could not live in peace with him, 
 and at last they fell upon him, and 
 slew him, and the blood poured in such 
 torrents from his great body that all 
 the giants, save Bergelmer and his 
 wife, were drowned ; these two alone 
 6
 
 The Making of the World 
 
 escaped on a chest, and from them the 
 whole race of the frost-giants sprang. 
 The gods dragged Ymer's body into 
 the centre of the abyss, and there they 
 fashioned the world out of it. They 
 wrought with divine beauty and 
 power, spreading out the great 
 plains, cutting the deep valleys 
 through the hills, filling the wide 
 seas and sending the waters far up 
 into the deep fjords ; and over all 
 they stretched the bending heaven, 
 and north, south, east, and west set 
 a dwarf to keep it in place ; and they 
 caught the great sparks that floated 
 out of Muspelheim and set them in 
 the sky, until the splendour of the 
 stars shone over the whole earth. 
 Around the world lay the deep sea, 
 an endless circle of waters, and beyond 
 it were the dreary shores of Jotun- 
 heim, the home of the frost-giants. 
 7
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 To the giantess Night, and to her 
 beautiful son Day, whose father was 
 of their own number, the gods gave 
 chariots and swift horses that they 
 might ride through the sky once in 
 every twenty-four hours. Night 
 drove first behind the fleet Hrim- 
 faxe, and as she ended her course at 
 dawn bedewed the waiting earth with 
 drops from his bit; Day flew swiftly 
 after his dusky mother, the shining 
 mane of his horse, Skinfaxe, filling 
 the heavens with light. There was 
 also one Mundilfare, who had a 
 son and daughter of such exceed- 
 ing beauty that he called the one 
 Maane, or Moon, and the other 
 Sol, or Sun ; and the gods were so 
 angry at his daring that they set the 
 one to guide the Sun and the other 
 the Moon in their daily courses 
 around the world. So day and night, 
 8
 
 The Making of the World 
 
 summer and winter, seed-time and 
 harvest, were established. 
 
 In the very centre of the earth rose 
 a lofty mountain, and on the top of 
 it was the beautiful plain of Ida, 
 overlooking all lands and seas. Here 
 the gods came when their work was 
 done, and looked upon all that they 
 had made and saw that it was fair; 
 the earth, green and fruitful, blos- 
 somed at their feet, and the heavens 
 bent over them radiant with sun by 
 day and filled with the soft splendour 
 of moon and stars by night. And 
 they chose the plain of Ida for their 
 home, and built the shining city of 
 Asgard. In the midst of it stood a 
 hall of pure gold, whose walls were 
 circled with the thrones of the twelve 
 gods, and they called it Gladsheim. 
 There was a noble hall for the god- 
 desses also, and homes for all the 
 9
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 gods. They made ready a great 
 smithy, and filled it with all manner 
 of tools, anvils, hammers, and tongs, 
 with which to forge the weapons that 
 were to slay the giants and keep 
 the world in order. From earth 
 to heaven they stretched Bifrost, 
 the rainbow bridge, over which they 
 passed and repassed in their journey- 
 ings. 
 
 When the work was done, and 
 Asgard shone like a beautiful cloud 
 overhanging the world, there came a 
 time so peaceful and happy that it 
 was called the Age of Gold. The 
 gods had endless sport in games of 
 skill and strength on the plains of 
 Ida, and day and night the fires 
 blazed in the smithy, as, with won- 
 derful skill, they fashioned all kinds 
 of curious things. There was no 
 care nor sorrow anywhere; no clouds 
 10
 
 The Making of the World 
 
 darkened the sun, no blights fell on 
 the growing fields, no mighty tasks 
 pressed on the hearts of the gods 
 summoning them out of ease and 
 pleasure to great enterprises and aw- 
 ful perils. At last the happy time 
 came to an end, for one day the 
 Norns, or fates, the three terrible 
 sisters, Urd, Verdande, and Skuld, 
 who determined the course of events 
 and shaped the lives of things, took 
 their abode at the foot of the tree 
 Ygdrasil, and henceforth not even 
 the gods were free from care. 
 
 The earth was fruitful, but no one 
 tilled its field or crossed its seas ; 
 the shouts of children at play and 
 the ringing voices of the reapers and 
 harvesters were never heard. So the 
 gods took the earth-mould and out 
 of it they made the dwarfs and set 
 them to work in the veins of metal 
 ii
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 and in dark caverns under ground. 
 It happened also one day that Odin, 
 Hoener, and Loder were walking 
 together along the shore of the sea, 
 and they came upon an ash and an 
 elm, two beautiful trees, straight and 
 symmetrical and crowned with foliage. 
 Odin looked at them long, and a 
 great thought came into his mind. 
 
 " Out of these trees," he said at 
 last, "let us make man to fill the 
 earth and make it fruitful, and he 
 shall be our child, and we will care 
 for him." 
 
 And out of the ash and the elm 
 the first man and woman were made, 
 and the gods called the man Ask 
 and the woman Embla. 
 
 12
 
 Chapter II 
 
 Gods and Men 
 
 A GREAT many hundreds of 
 years after the creation of the 
 world, there ruled in Sweden a wise 
 king whose name was Gylfe ; and 
 the wisdom of this king, like all wis- 
 dom, was in part knowledge and in 
 larger part goodness. He knew how 
 to give as well as how to receive. A 
 wayfaring woman once found shelter 
 at his hands, and, in return told him 
 many wonderful stories; which so 
 pleased the king that he gave her, as 
 a reward, as much land as four oxen 
 could plough in a day and a night. 
 Now this woman was of the race of 
 the gods and her name was Gefjun. 
 She took four great oxen from Jotun- 
 '3
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 helm, who were the offspring of a 
 giant, and set them before the plough 
 and drove them forth into the land 
 which the king had set apart for her. 
 And the plough, being drawn by 
 giants, cut so deep into the soil, that 
 it tore away a great piece of land, and 
 carried it into the sea to the west, 
 and there left it. Gefjun called this 
 new country which she had taken 
 from the mainland, Seeland ; and 
 the place from which the land was 
 taken was filled by the sea and formed 
 a lake which is now called Logrinn. 
 
 This was but the beginning of 
 King Gylfe's acquaintance with the 
 gods ; for he was a seeker after wis- 
 dom and he who searches for wisdom 
 must go to the gods to find it. He 
 saw the wonderful things which the 
 gods did and the marvellous ways in 
 which their will was done in Asgard, 
 14
 
 Gods and Men 
 
 and upon the earth, and he thought 
 much upon their power and wondered 
 whence it came. He could not make 
 up his mind whether these gods, of 
 whom he had heard and whose 
 mighty works he saw, were powerful 
 by reason of the force in themselves, 
 or whether they were made strong 
 by other and greater gods. After 
 thinking much about these things 
 and finding that no man could 
 answer the questions which he was 
 continually asking himself, Gylfe 
 assumed the form of a very old man 
 and made the long journey to As- 
 gard, thinking to learn the secrets 
 of the gods without letting them 
 know who he was. 
 
 The gods know all things, and 
 
 they not only knew that the old 
 
 man who one day came to Asgard 
 
 was Gylfe, but they knew that he 
 
 15
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 was to make the journey long before 
 he had so much as thought of it. 
 They received him, however, as if 
 they thought he was what he ap- 
 peared to be, and he learned as much 
 as he could understand ; which is as 
 much as a man ever learns. 
 
 The gods have often visited men, 
 but men have rarely visited the gods, 
 and the King's coming to Asgard 
 was the beginning of a new wisdom 
 among men. 
 
 No sooner did he enter the home 
 of the gods than he found himself in 
 a great hall, so high that he could 
 hardly see over it. And the roof of 
 this hall was thatched with shields of 
 gold in place of shingles: 
 
 Thinking thatchers 
 Thatched the roof; 
 The beams of the burg 
 Beamed with gold. 
 16
 
 Gods and Men 
 
 When Gylfe came to the door of 
 this great hall he saw a man playing 
 with swords with such wonderful 
 quickness and skill that he kept 
 seven flashing in the air at one time. 
 When this player with swords asked 
 his name, the king speaking as an 
 old man, answered that he was 
 Ganglere, or the Walker, that he 
 had come a long distance and that 
 he begged a lodging for the night; 
 and he asked, as if it were a very 
 unimportant matter, who owned 
 the hall. The man, who was a god 
 in disguise, replied that it belonged 
 to their king and that he would take 
 Ganglere to him. 
 
 "You may ask him his name 
 yourself when you see him," he 
 added. 
 
 Then the man led the way into 
 
 the hall and no sooner were they 
 2 I7
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 within its walls than the doors were 
 shut. There were many rooms 
 under the shining roof and every 
 room seemed to be full of people, 
 some of whom were playing games, 
 and some were drinking out of great 
 horns or cups, and some were right- 
 ing with different kinds of weapons; 
 and Gylfe did not understand half of 
 the things he saw. He was not at all 
 frightened by his ignorance, however, 
 and he said to himself: 
 
 Gates all, 
 
 Before in you go, 
 You must examine well ; 
 
 For you cannot know 
 Where enemies sit 
 
 In the house before you. 
 
 When Gylfe had looked about 
 him he saw three seats or thrones 
 and upon each of these a man sat 
 18
 
 Gods and Men 
 
 high above the throng which played 
 and drank and fought. 
 
 " What are the names of these 
 kings ? " he asked. And the man 
 who led him into the hall answered 
 that he who sat on the lowest 
 of the three thrones was the king 
 and was called Har, and that he who 
 sat on the throne next above him 
 was called Jafnhar, and he who 
 sat on the highest throne was called 
 Thride. Now these three gods were 
 as many different forms of Odin, 
 and Gylfe was really seeing one god 
 when he seemed to be seeing three. 
 
 Then Har, or Odin, spoke in a 
 deep and wonderful tone and asked 
 Gylfe who he was, and why he had 
 come there, and bade him welcome 
 by inviting him to eat and drink as 
 much and often as he chose. But 
 Gylfe was so bent upon learning the 
 19
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 secrets of the gods that he did not 
 think of food or drink, nor did he 
 stop to answer Har's questions. He 
 replied boldly that he wanted to find 
 a wise man if there were one. Then 
 Har answered him, as the gods often 
 answer men, in words which were so 
 full of meaning that he did not under- 
 stand them until long afterwards : 
 
 " You shall not go from this place 
 unharmed unless you go wiser than 
 you came." 
 
 It is dangerous to seek the gods, 
 unless we profit by what they tell us; 
 for it is better to be ignorant than to 
 possess knowledge and not live by it. 
 
 Then Gylfe stood boldly before 
 Odin, a man standing in the pres- 
 ence of God and seeking for knowl- 
 edge, and asked many and deep 
 questions about the gods and their 
 ways and power ; and about the 
 20
 
 Gods and Men 
 
 giants, and their homes ; and about 
 the making of the world and the crea- 
 tion of man ; and about the sun and 
 moon and stars ; and about the sea- 
 sons and the wind and fire. And 
 Odin answered his questions and told 
 ,him the things which men are eager 
 to know, but cannot learn unless 
 the gods teach them. 
 
 When Odin had told Gylfe all 
 that a man could understand of these 
 deep mysteries he refused to answer 
 any more questions and bade the 
 questioner make the best use of what 
 had been told him, and when Odin 
 had spoken these words Gylfe heard 
 a great noise and found himself stand- 
 ing alone in a great plain, and the 
 hall and Asgard had vanished utterly. 
 Then, filled with wonder by all he 
 had heard and seen, he went home to 
 his own kingdom, and told of the 
 
 21
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 marvellous things which had befallen 
 him on his journey to the home of 
 the gods ; and what he said was re- 
 membered by those who heard the 
 wonderful stories and told again to 
 their children and their children's 
 children to the latest generations. 
 
 Now Gylfe was not the only man 
 who talked with the gods ; for -^Eger, 
 who lived on the island called Hler's 
 Isle and was also a man of great wis- 
 dom, made the journey to Asgard 
 and the gods knew of his coming be- 
 fore he came and prepared a great 
 feast for him. When the feast began 
 Odin had swords brought into the 
 hall and these swords were of such 
 brightness that they lighted the hall 
 without the aid of fire or lamps ; 
 and the hall was hung with glittering 
 shields. The gods sat on their thrones 
 and ate and drank with j'Eger, and 
 
 22
 
 Gods and Men 
 
 Brage told him strange and wonder- 
 ful tales of the things which had be- 
 fallen the gods. 
 
 And this is the way in which men 
 came to know the stories which are 
 told in this book.
 
 Chapter III 
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 THE wonderful ash-tree, Ygdra- 
 sil, made a far-spreading shade 
 against the fierce heat of the sun in 
 summer, and a stronghold against the 
 piercing winds of winter. No man 
 could remember when it had been 
 young. Little children played under 
 its branches, grew to be strong men 
 and women, lived to be old and weary 
 and feeble, and died ; and yet the ash- 
 tree gave no signs of decay. Forever 
 preserving its freshness and beauty, it 
 was to live as long as there were men to 
 look upon it, animals to feed under it, 
 birds to flutter among its branches. 
 This mighty ash-tree touched and 
 
 bound all the worlds together in its 
 24
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 wonderful circle of life. One root 
 it sent deep down into the sightless 
 depths of Hel, where the dead lived ; 
 another it fastened firmly in Jotun- 
 heim, the dreary home of the giants ; 
 and with the third it grasped Mid- 
 'gard, the dwelling-place of men. Ser- 
 pents and all kinds of worms gnawed 
 continually at its roots, but were never 
 able to destroy them. Its branches 
 spread out over the whole earth, and 
 the topmost boughs swayed in the 
 clear air of Asgard itself, rustling 
 against the Valhal, the home of the 
 heroes who had done great deeds or 
 died manfully in battle. At the foot 
 of the tree sat the three Norns,wonder- 
 ful spinners of fate, who weave the 
 thread of every man's life, making it 
 what they will ; and a strange weav- 
 ing it often was, cut off when the pat- 
 tern was just beginning to show itself. 
 25
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 And every day these Norns sprinkled 
 the tree with the water of life from 
 the Urdar fountain, and so kept 
 it forever green. In the topmost 
 branches sat an eagle singing a strange 
 song about the birth of the world, its 
 decay and death. Under its branches 
 browsed all manner of animals ; among 
 its leaves every kind of bird made its 
 nest ; by day the rainbow hung under 
 it; at night the pale northern light 
 flashed over it, and as the winds swept 
 through its rustling branches, the mul- 
 titudinous murmur of the leaves told 
 strange stories of the past and of the 
 future. 
 
 The giants were older than the 
 gods, and knew so much more of 
 the past that the gods had to go to 
 them for wisdom. After a time, how- 
 ever, the gods became wiser than the 
 giants, or they would have ceased to 
 26
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 be gods, and been destroyed by the 
 giants, instead of destroying them. 
 When the world was still young, and 
 there were still many things which 
 even the gods had to learn, Odin was 
 so anxious to become wise that he went 
 ,to a deep well whose waters touched 
 the roots of Ygdrasil itself. The 
 keeper of the well was a very old 
 and very wise giant, named Mimer, 
 or Memory, and he gave no draughts 
 out of the well until he was well 
 paid ; for the well contained the 
 water of wisdom, and whoever drank 
 of it became straightway wonderfully 
 wise. 
 
 " Give me a draught of this clear 
 water, O Mimer," said Odin, when he 
 had reached the well, and was look- 
 ing down into its clear, fathomless 
 depths. 
 
 Mimer, the keeper, was so old that 
 27
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 he could remember everything that 
 had ever happened. His eyes were 
 clear and calm as the stars, his face 
 was noble and restful, and his long 
 white beard flowed down to his waist. 
 
 " This water is only to be had at 
 a great price," he said in a wonder- 
 fully sweet, majestic tone. " I can- 
 not give to all who ask, but only to 
 those who are able and willing to give 
 greatly in return," he continued. 
 
 If Odin had been less of a god he 
 would have thought longer and bar- 
 gained sharper, but he was so godlike 
 that he cared more to be wise and 
 great than for anything else. 
 
 " I will give you whatever you ask," 
 he answered. 
 
 Mimer thought a moment. " You 
 must leave an eye," he said at last. 
 
 Then he drew up a great draught 
 of the sparkling water, and Odin 
 28
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 quenched his divine thirst and went 
 away rejoicing, although he had left 
 an eye behind. Even the gods could 
 not be wise without struggle and toil 
 and sacrifice. 
 
 So Odin became the wisest in all 
 ^the worlds, and there was no god or 
 giant that could contend with him. 
 There was one giant, however, who 
 was called all-wise in Jotunheim, with 
 whom many had contended in knowl- 
 edge, with curious and difficult ques- 
 tions, and had always been silenced 
 and killed, for then, as now, a man's 
 life often depended on his wisdom. 
 Of this giant, Vafthrudner, and his 
 wisdom many wonderful stories were 
 told, and even among the gods his 
 fame was great. One day as Odin 
 sat thinking of many strange things 
 in the worlds, and many mysterious 
 things in the future, he thought of 
 29
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Vafthrudner. " I will go to Jotun- 
 heim and measure wisdom with Vaf- 
 thrudner, the wisest of the giants," said 
 he to Frigg, his wife, who was sitting 
 by. 
 
 Then Frigg remembered those who 
 had gone to contend with the all-wise 
 giant and had never come back, and a 
 fear came over her that the same fate 
 might befall Odin. 
 
 " You are wisest in all the worlds, 
 All-Father," she said ; " why should 
 you seek a treacherous giant who 
 knows not half so much as you ? " 
 
 But Odin, who feared nothing, 
 could not be persuaded to stay, and 
 Frigg sadly said good-by as he passed 
 out of Asgard on his journey tojotun- 
 heim. His blue mantle set with stars 
 and his golden helmet he left behind 
 him, and as hejourneyed swiftly those 
 who met him saw nothing godlike in 
 3
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 him ; nor did Vafthrudner when at 
 last he stood at the giant's door. 
 
 " I am a simple traveller, Gangraad 
 by name," he said, as Vafthrudner 
 came gruffly toward him. " I ask 
 your hospitality and a chance to strive 
 .with you in wisdom." The giant 
 laughed scornfully at the thought of a 
 man coming to contend with him for 
 mastery in knowledge. 
 
 "You shall have all you want of 
 both," he growled, " and if you can- 
 not answer my questions you shall 
 never go hence alive." 
 
 He did not even ask Odin to sit 
 down, but let him stand in the hall, 
 despising him too much to show him 
 any courtesy. After a time he began 
 to ask questions. 
 
 " Tell me, if you can, O wise Gan- 
 graad, the name of the river which di- 
 vides Asgard from Jotunheim." 
 31
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 "The river Ifing, which never 
 freezes over," answered Odin quickly, 
 as if it were the easiest question in the 
 world ; and indeed it was to him, al- 
 though no man could have answered 
 it. Vafthrudner looked up in great 
 surprise when he heard the reply. 
 
 " Good," he said, " you have an- 
 swered rightly. Tell me, now, the 
 names of the horses that carry day and 
 night across the sky." 
 
 Before the words were fairly spoken 
 Odin replied, " Skinfaxe and Hrim- 
 faxe." The giant could not conceal 
 his surprise that a man should know 
 these things. 
 
 " Once more," he said quickly, as 
 if he were risking everything on one 
 question ; " tell me the name of the 
 plain where the Last Battle will be 
 fought." 
 
 This was a terrible question, for the 
 32
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 Last Battle was still far off in the fu- 
 ture, and only the gods and the great- 
 est of the giants knew where and when 
 it would come. Odin bowed his head 
 when he heard the words, for to be 
 ready for that battle was the divine 
 work of his life, and then said, slowly 
 and solemnly, " On the plain of 
 Vigrid, which is one hundred miles on 
 each side." 
 
 Vafthrudner rose trembling from 
 his seat. He knew now that Gan- 
 graad was some great one in disguise, 
 and that his own life hung on the an- 
 swers he himself would soon be forced 
 to make. 
 
 " Sit here beside me," he said, " for, 
 whoever you are, worthier antagonist 
 has never entered these walls." 
 
 Then they sat down together in the 
 rude stone hall, the mightiest of the 
 gods and the wisest of the giants, and 
 3 33
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 the great contest in wisdom, with a 
 life hanging in either scale, went on 
 between them. Wonderful secrets 
 of the time when no man was and the 
 time when no man will be, those silent 
 walls listened to as Vafthrudner asked 
 Odin one deep question after another, 
 the answer coming swiftly and surely. 
 
 After a time the giant could ask no 
 more, for he had exhausted his wisdom. 
 
 " It is my turn now," said Odin, 
 and one after another he drew out from 
 Vafthrudner the events of the past, 
 then the wonderful things of the race 
 of giants, and finally he began to ques- 
 tion him of that dim, mysterious 
 future whose secrets only the gods 
 know; and as he touched these won- 
 derful things Odin's eyes began to 
 flash, and his form to grow larger and 
 nobler until he seemed no longer the 
 humble Gangraad, but the mighty god 
 34
 
 Odin's Search for Wisdom 
 
 he was, and Vafthrudner trembled as 
 he felt the coming doom nearing him 
 with every question. 
 
 So hours went by, until at last Odin 
 paused in his swift questioning, 
 stooped down and asked the giant, 
 " What did Odin whisper in the ear of 
 Balder as he ascended the funeral 
 pile ? " 
 
 Only Odin himself could answer 
 this question, and Vafthrudner re- 
 plied humbly and with awe, " Who 
 but thyself, All-father, knoweth the 
 words thou didst say to thy son in the 
 days of old ? I have brought my 
 doom upon myself, for in my ignor- 
 ance I have contended with wisdom it- 
 self. Thou art ever the wisest of all." 
 
 So Odin conquered, and Wisdom 
 was victorious, as she always has 
 been even when she has contended 
 with giants. 
 
 35
 
 Chapter IV 
 
 How Odin brought the Mead 
 to Asgard 
 
 BESIDES the gods who lived in 
 Asgard and ruled over Mid- 
 gard, the world of men, there were 
 the Vans, who ruled the seas and 
 the air. The greatest of these was 
 Njord, who kept the winds in the 
 hollow of his hand and vexed the 
 seas with storms or spread over them 
 the peace of a great calm. His son 
 Frey sent rain and sunshine upon 
 the earth and cared for the harvests, 
 while his daughter Freyja was so full 
 of love that she made the whole 
 world beautiful with tenderness, and 
 filled the hearts of men with the 
 sweetest joys they ever knew. 
 36
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 It happened almost at the begin- 
 ning that the gods and the Vans 
 went to war with each other, and 
 long and fierce was the struggle be- 
 tween them. When peace was made 
 at last, Njord, Frey, and Freyja 
 found homes for themselves in As- 
 gard, and henceforth they were all as 
 one family. 
 
 While the council at which peace 
 was made was being held, a great jar 
 stood in the open space between the 
 two parties, and when the meeting 
 was over the gods were so glad to be 
 rid of the troublesome war that they 
 resolved to create something that 
 should always remind them of the 
 council. So they took the great jar 
 and out of it they moulded the form 
 of a man, and called him Kvaser. 
 
 Kvaser was grown up when he was 
 born, and a wonderful man he was 
 37
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 too. In all the world there was no- 
 body so wise as he ; ask him any 
 question, and he could answer it. 
 He knew how the gods lived, how 
 the world was made, and what sort 
 of places heaven and hell were. 
 Kvaser was good, too, as all really 
 wise men are. He was a great trav- 
 eller, always going from place to 
 place, and always welcome, because 
 wherever he went he made men wiser 
 and better. People sometimes think 
 poets rather useless sort of men ; but 
 that was not the opinion of the gods, 
 for when they made the first poet 
 they made the very best man they 
 could think of. 
 
 But poets cannot keep out of 
 trouble any easier than other men, 
 and sometimes not half so well. 
 One night as Kvaser was travelling 
 along through one of those deep 
 38
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 valleys that run down to the sea 
 in that country, he came to the 
 house of two dwarfs with very queer 
 names, Galar and Fjalar. They 
 were not only little in size, but small 
 and mean in nature, and like all 
 other people of little nature, they 
 were very envious and cruel, and 
 they hated Kvaser because he was so 
 much nobler than they. Galar had 
 a dark, ugly face, which looked still 
 uglier when he saw Kvaser coming 
 towards the house. 
 
 " Fjalar ! Fjalar ! " he called out, 
 " here comes the wise man who al- 
 ways talks in rhymes, and thinks he 
 knows so much more than anybody 
 else." 
 
 And when Fjalar saw the poet 
 
 walking across the fields, a black 
 
 shadow came over his face like a 
 
 thunder-cloud. " Galar," he whis- 
 
 39
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 pered, looking around to see that 
 nobody could hear, "we've got him 
 alone ; let 's kill him, and see how 
 much good his wisdom will do him." 
 Meanwhile Kvaser was slowly ap- 
 proaching the house, and the sea, 
 as it dashed against the rocks, was 
 making a song in his mind. If you 
 had heard him sing it, you would 
 have heard the voices of the waves 
 as they toss their white caps and 
 chase each other foaming and roaring 
 and tumbling on the beach. When 
 Kvaser came up to the dwarfs they 
 pretended to be very glad to see him, 
 and told him he was the one person 
 above all others they had wanted to 
 see, because they had a question they 
 had been waiting a long time to ask 
 him. Kvaser was so noble himself 
 that he never thought evil of any 
 one, and when they asked him to 
 40
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 go with them into a very dark and 
 lonely part of the valley, so that 
 nobody could hear their talk, he had 
 no suspicion that they meant any 
 harm ; but no sooner had they come 
 to the place than they struck him 
 down from behind. Having killed 
 him, they caught his blood in two 
 jars and a kettle, and mixed it with 
 honey, and so the wonderful mead 
 was made. It took not only sweet- 
 ness but life to make true poetry. 
 
 Not long after this Galar and Fja- 
 lar killed a giant named Gilling, and 
 were punished for it too ; for the 
 giant's son, Suttung, when he dis- 
 covered how his father had been put 
 to death, took the dwarfs out to sea 
 and put them on a little rocky island 
 where they would certainly be drowned 
 when the tide came in, and rowed off 
 to leave them ; but the rascals begged 
 41
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 so hard to be taken off, that he final- 
 ly promised to let them live if they 
 would give him the mead. Then 
 Suttung took the mead home and put 
 it in his cellar, and told his daughter 
 Gunlad to watch it day and night, 
 for he knew what a precious drink it 
 was. So the mead passed out of the 
 dwarfs' hands into the keeping of a 
 giant. 
 
 Now the gods were very fond of 
 Kvaser, and when a long time had 
 passed without any word from him, 
 they asked Galar and Fjalar if they 
 knew anything about him, and the 
 dwarfs said he had been choked by 
 his own wisdom ; but Odin knew that 
 this was a false story. He kept his 
 own counsel, and said nothing about 
 what he was going to do, but one day 
 the gods missed him, and knew he 
 had gone on one of his long journeys. 
 42
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 As he walked along nobody took him 
 for a god ; he looked like a very hand- 
 some labourer, and in fact that is what 
 he really was. He had pretty much 
 the whole world in his charge, and 
 he had to work very hard to keep it 
 ^in any kind of order. Words could 
 hardly describe the beautiful country 
 through which Odin took his way, 
 its deep, quiet green valleys, with 
 the sparkling cold streams rushing 
 through them ; its steep mountains, 
 crowned with fir and pine ; its great 
 crags standing out into the sea ; and 
 its fjords breaking the coast into num- 
 berless bays. Odin enjoyed it all, 
 for the gods love beauty, but he was 
 thinking all the time how he should 
 get the mead out of the giant's cellar. 
 He knew perfectly well that Suttung 
 would never give it up willingly, and 
 that he must get it either by force or by 
 43
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 stratagem. Suttung was very strong, 
 and the cellar was cut out of the solid 
 rock; and the more Odin thought 
 about it the harder it seemed to him. 
 If he had been a man he would have 
 given up, but that was not his way ; 
 besides, he had loved Kvaser, and the 
 mead was his blood, and he meant to 
 bring it to heaven. 
 
 Now Suttung had a brother named 
 Bauge, who was a farmer, and one 
 afternoon, as his nine thralls were 
 mowing in the fields, they saw a 
 stranger coming towards them. It 
 was a very uncommon thing to see a 
 stranger in that out-of-the-way place, 
 and the men all stopped work to 
 watch him. He was a farm labourer 
 like themselves, but he was very large 
 in stature, and had a very noble face 
 and manner. 
 
 "A fine meadow of grass," he said 
 44
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 in a deep musical voice as he joined 
 them, " but you find it hard work ; 
 your scythes are dull." 
 
 They certainly did look tired and 
 overworked. 
 
 " Hand me your scythes and I will 
 whet them for you," continued the 
 stranger. The thralls were very glad 
 to have anybody do that for them, 
 so they gave him their scythes with- 
 out saying a word. In a moment the 
 valley rang with the quick strokes of 
 the stone on the hard metal, and the 
 sparks flew in showers around them. 
 The men had never seen such a 
 whetting of scythes before, and their 
 astonishment grew greater still when 
 they found that the grass seemed to 
 fall like magic before them. The 
 mowing, which had been so hard, 
 was now the easiest thing in the 
 world. 
 
 45
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 " Sell us the whetstone," they 
 shouted, crowding around the stranger. 
 
 " Well," said he very coolly, " I 
 will sell it, but I must have a good 
 price for it." 
 
 Then each demanded it for him- 
 self, and while they were quarrel- 
 ling as to which should have it, the 
 stranger threw it high into the air, 
 and bade them fight for it, which 
 they did so fiercely that each slew 
 his fellow with his scythe, and the 
 stranger was left alone in the field. 
 He threw the whetstone away, walked 
 off, and as the sun was going down, 
 came to the giant's house and asked 
 if he might stay all night. Bauge 
 was willing, as people were in those 
 days, to give supper and a bed to 
 the stranger, and asked him in. 
 
 After supper they talked together, 
 and Bauge told the stranger that his 
 46
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 nine thralls had been fighting in the 
 field and had killed each other, and 
 that he was in great trouble because 
 he did not know where to get men 
 to do his work. 
 
 " I '11 do it," said the stranger. 
 "Yes," said Bauge, "but you are 
 only one." 
 
 "That is true," he answered, "but 
 try me and I '11 do the work of all 
 nine." 
 
 Bauge looked as if he did n't be- 
 lieve it, but it was one good man 
 gained, at least, and that was some- 
 thing. 
 
 " What shall I pay you ? " con- 
 tinued Bauge, determined to finish 
 the bargain before the man had time 
 to change his mind. The stranger 
 thought a few moments as if he were 
 uncertain what pay he wanted. 
 
 " I '11 do the work," he said slowly, 
 47
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 at last, " if you will give me a drink 
 of the mead in your brother's cellar." 
 Bauge was very much surprised ; he 
 could not understand how the man 
 knew anything about the mead. He 
 was very sure, however, that Suttung 
 would not give him a drop of it, and 
 he thought it was a good chance to 
 get his work done for nothing. 
 "Well," said he, " I can't promise 
 you that, for Suttung takes precious 
 good care of the mead, but I '11 do 
 what I can to help you get it." 
 
 So the bargain was made, and the 
 next morning the stranger was at 
 work; and all summer, early and 
 late, he was in the fields doing the 
 work of nine men. Bauge often 
 wondered what kind of a man his 
 new farm-hand was ; but so long as 
 the work was done he cared for 
 nothing more, and he asked no ques- 
 48
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 tions. The stranger once said his 
 name was Bolverk, and that was all 
 he ever said about himself. The 
 months went by, winter came, the 
 work was all done, and Bolverk 
 demanded his pay. 
 ' "We'll go and ask my brother 
 about it," said Bauge ; so they both 
 went to Suttung. Bauge told his 
 brother the bargain he had made 
 with his workman, and asked for a 
 little of the mead. 
 
 " No," said Suttung very crossly, 
 and looking suspiciously at Bolverk; 
 "it's no bargain of mine, and not a 
 drop shall you have." 
 
 Bolverk seemed not at all sur- 
 prised at his ill fortune, and Bauge 
 thought that he had gotten his work 
 done for nothing ; but after they had 
 gone a little way together and were 
 hidden from the house by the trees, 
 4 49
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Bolverk drew out an auger from 
 under his clothing. 
 
 " Bauge," said he, " you promised 
 to help me get that mead. I am 
 going into Suttung's cellar for it." 
 
 Bauge smiled at the idea of cut- 
 ting through a thick rock and getting 
 into the cellar with that auger, but 
 when it was handed to him he took 
 it without saying a word and began 
 to bore. It was an astonishing au- 
 ger, for no sooner had he pressed it 
 against the rock than it began to fly 
 around with wonderful rapidity, the 
 chips of stone fairly making a cloud 
 about him. Once he stopped, for he 
 was afraid he really would get into 
 the cellar, and told Bolverk he had 
 bored through, but Bolverk knew 
 that couldn't be true, because the 
 chips still flew out; so he told Bauge 
 to go on. In a little time the au- 
 50
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 ger slipped through. Bauge looked 
 around, but there was no Bolverk, 
 and while he stared in every direction 
 a large worm crept up the rock and 
 into the hole. When Bauge caught 
 sight of it he thrust the auger hastily 
 into the hole, but Bolverk's voice 
 answered back from the cellar, "Too 
 late, Bauge ; you need n't bore any 
 longer." 
 
 Then Bauge suspected that a man 
 who had done the work of nine men 
 all summer, and suddenly changed 
 himself into a worm, must be some- 
 body more than common. Bolverk 
 was actually in Suttung's house, but 
 how was he to get out again with the 
 mead? 
 
 Gunlad, the young lady who had 
 been charged by her father to watch 
 
 O J 
 
 the precious drink day and night, 
 
 was sitting quietly beside it, when she 
 
 5*
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 was suddenly surprised, and not a 
 little frightened, by the apparition of 
 a young and beautiful man standing 
 before her. What the handsome 
 young man said to her nobody 
 knows, but he probably told her he 
 was very much exhausted, and hinted 
 that she was very lovely; that he 
 had never seen any one he admired 
 so much before. At any rate, he 
 persuaded her to let him drink three 
 draughts of the mead, only three. 
 They were certainly the most as- 
 tonishing draughts anybody ever 
 heard of, for with the first he 
 emptied one jar, with the second 
 he emptied the other jar, and with 
 the third he finished the kettle. 
 
 And now another wonderful change 
 
 took place. Bolverk had entered as 
 
 a worm, but no sooner had he drunk 
 
 the mead than in an instant he be- 
 
 52
 
 How Odin Brought the Mead 
 
 came an eagle, and before Gunlad 
 knew what had happened, with 
 splendid wings outspread he was 
 rising upward in broad, easy flight. 
 Through the still air, faster and 
 faster, higher and higher, in wide 
 circles that swept far round the sum- 
 mits of the mountains, in swift ma- 
 jestic flight he rose until the earth 
 had vanished out of sight, and his 
 mighty pinions beat against the gates 
 of Asgard. 
 
 So Odin brought the mead to 
 heaven, where it remains to this day, 
 and only those whom the gods love 
 are permitted to drink of it. 
 
 53
 
 Chapter V 
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 FREY was busy enough in sum- 
 mer, when the sunlight was to 
 fall warm and fruitful along the moun- 
 tain ridges and deep into the val- 
 leys, and the gentle showers were to 
 be gathered far out at sea and driven 
 by the winds across the heavens, weav- 
 ing soft draperies of mist about the 
 hills, or folding the landscape in 
 with blinding curtains of rain as 
 they passed ; for the sowing and the 
 harvesting and the ripening of the 
 fruit were his to watch over and 
 care for. But when winter came, 
 Frey was idle day in and day out, 
 and so it happened, in this long dull 
 54
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 season, that he was wandering rest- 
 lessly one morning about Asgard, 
 when he saw that Odin's throne was 
 empty. To sit upon it and look 
 out over the world was the thought 
 that flashed into Frey's mind and 
 out again, leaving him more idle and 
 restless than before. Neither man 
 nor god, save Odin, had dared to sit 
 in that awful seat, from which noth- 
 ing was hidden ; but when one has 
 nothing to do, it is easy to do wrong. 
 Frey wandered about a little longer, 
 and then boldly mounted the steps 
 and sat down on the throne of the 
 world. 
 
 What a wonderful view it was ! 
 There lay Asgard beautiful in the 
 morning light ; there were the rol- 
 ling clouds like great waves in the 
 clear heaven ; there was the world 
 with its steep mountains and tossing 
 55
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 seas ; and there was Jotunheim, the 
 home of the giants, gloomy and for- 
 bidding, great black cliffs standing 
 along the coast like grim sentinels. 
 Frey looked long and earnestly at 
 this dreary place where the enemies 
 of the gods lived, hating the sun- 
 shine and the summer, and always 
 plotting to bring back winter and 
 barrenness to the earth ; and as he 
 looked he saw a massive house 
 standing alone amid the hills. Dark 
 shadows lay across the gloomy land- 
 scape, cold winds swept over the 
 stony valleys, and not one bright or 
 beautiful thing was visible in all the 
 country round. In a moment, how- 
 ever, a figure moved out of the shad- 
 ows, and a maiden walked slowly to 
 the desolate house, mounted the 
 steps, paused a moment at the door, 
 and then raised her arms to loosen 
 56
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 the latch. Straightway a wonder- 
 ful warmth and light stole over the 
 hills. As she stood with uplifted 
 arms she was so beautiful that earth 
 and air were flooded with her loveli- 
 ness, and even the heavens were 
 radiant. When she opened the door 
 and closed it behind her the shadows 
 deepened among the hills, and Frey's 
 heart was fast bound among the 
 rocks of Jotunheim. He had been 
 punished for sitting in the seat of 
 Odin. 
 
 For days Frey neither ate, slept, 
 nor spoke. He wandered about, 
 silent and gloomy as a cloud, and no 
 one dared ask him why he was 
 so sorrowful. Njord, Frey's father, 
 waited until he could wait no longer, 
 and then with a heavy heart sent for 
 Skirner, whom Frey loved as his 
 own brother, and begged him to find 
 57
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 the cause of all this sadness. Skirner 
 came upon Frey walking about with 
 folded arms and eyes cast gloomily 
 upon the ground. 
 
 " Why do you stay here all day 
 alone?" he asked. "Where are 
 the light and joy that have always 
 been yours ? " 
 
 " The sun shines every day, but 
 not for me," answered Frey. 
 
 " We were children together," said 
 Skirner, laying his hand on Frey's 
 arm ; " we trust each other's truth ; 
 tell me your sorrow." 
 
 And Frey told him how he had 
 climbed into the seat of Odin and 
 looked upon Jotunheim and seen 
 the beautiful maiden like a sunbeam 
 among shadows, like a sudden coming 
 of summer when snows are deep, and 
 that he could never be happy again 
 until he had won her for himself. 
 58
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 " If that is all, it is easily managed," 
 said Skirner when he had heard the 
 story. " Give me your swiftest horse 
 that can ride through fire and flame, 
 and the sword which swings itself 
 when giants are opposed, and I will 
 go to Jotunheim." 
 
 Frey was too glad to get the desire 
 of his heart to delay about giving up 
 the horse and the sword, and Skirner 
 was soon mounted and riding like the 
 wind on his dreary journey. Night 
 came on, the black shadows of the 
 mountains lay across the fjords as he 
 passed, and one by one the endless 
 procession of the stars moved along 
 the summits of the hills as if they 
 would bear him company. All night 
 the hard hoofs rang on the stony way, 
 scattering showers of sparks at every 
 step. Faster and faster the daring 
 rider drove the faithful horse until 
 59
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 his flight was like the flash and roar 
 of the thunderbolt. 
 
 " Rush on, brave horse," shouted 
 Skirner; "we shall return with the 
 prize or the mighty giant will keep 
 us both." 
 
 At last the long journey was over 
 and the gloomy house reached. It was 
 the home of the frost-giant Gymer, 
 and the beautiful maiden who stood 
 at the door when Frey was on Odin's 
 throne was Gerd, the giant's daughter. 
 Fierce dogs were chained about the 
 gate and rushed savagely upon Skir- 
 ner, barking furiously as if they 
 would tear him limb from limb. 
 So he turned aside and rode up to 
 a shepherd sitting on a mound near 
 by. 
 
 " Shepherd, how shall I quiet these 
 dogs and speak with Gymer's daugh- 
 ter ? " he asked. 
 
 60
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 The shepherd looked at him with 
 wonder in his eyes. 
 
 "Who are you," he answered, 
 " and whence do you come ? Are 
 you doomed to die, or are you a ghost 
 already? Whoever you are, you 
 will never get speech with Gymer's 
 daughter." 
 
 "I am not afraid," said Skirner 
 proudly ; " fate has already fixed the 
 day of my death, and it cannot be 
 changed." 
 
 Skirner's voice rang clear and strong 
 above the howling of the dogs, and 
 Gerd in her chamber heard the brave 
 words. 
 
 " What noise is that ? " she called 
 to her maidens. "The very earth 
 shakes and the foundations tremble." 
 
 One of the maidens looked out and 
 saw Skirner. 
 
 "A warrior stands without the 
 61
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 wall," she answered; "and while he 
 waits, his horse eats the grass before 
 the gates." 
 
 " Bid him enter at once and quaff 
 the pleasant mead, for I fear the slay- 
 er of my brother has come." 
 
 Skirner needed no second invita- 
 tion, and, quickly springing to the 
 ground, walked through the stony 
 halls and stood before the beautiful 
 Gerd. She looked keenly at him for 
 a moment and knew from his bright- 
 ness and beauty that he was from 
 Asgard. 
 
 "Are you god, or elf ? " she ask- 
 ed ; " and why have you come through 
 night and flame to visit Gymer's 
 halls?" 
 
 " I am neither elf nor god," said 
 
 Skirner ; " and yet I have come to your 
 
 home through night and flame. Frey, 
 
 beautiful among the gods and loved 
 
 62
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 of all the earth, has seen your beauty 
 and can never be happy again until 
 he has won you for himself. I bring 
 you eleven beautiful apples if you will 
 go back with me." 
 
 " I will not go," was Gerd's quick 
 answer. 
 
 " This wonderful ring, which every 
 ninth night drops eight other rings 
 as rich as itself, shall be yours," said 
 Skirner, holding Draupner in his hand 
 and gently urging her. 
 
 Gerd frowned angrily. " I will not 
 take your wondrous ring. I have 
 gold enough in my father's house." 
 
 " Then," said Skirner, casting aside 
 his gentleness, " look at this flashing 
 sword ! If you will not return I will 
 strike your fair head from your body." 
 
 Gerd drew herself up to her full 
 height and answered, with flashing 
 eyes, " I will never be won by force. 
 63
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 As for your threats, my father will 
 meet you sword for sword." 
 
 " I will quickly slay him," said 
 Skirner angrily. But Gerd only 
 smiled scornfully ; she was too cold 
 to be won by gifts and too proud to 
 be moved by threats. 
 
 Skirner's face suddenly changed. 
 He drew out a magic wand, and with 
 eyes fixed upon her and in a solemn 
 voice, as he waved it over her, he 
 chanted an awful mystic curse. 
 There was breathless silence in the 
 room while Skirner with slow move- 
 ments of the wand wove about Gerd 
 dread enchantments and breathed over 
 her the direful incantation : 
 
 " If you refuse, may you sit in ev- 
 erlasting darkness on some dreary 
 mountain top ; may terrors crowd 
 round you in awful shapes and 
 tears never cease to fall from your 
 64
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 eyes ; hated of gods and men, may 
 you pass your life in solitude and des- 
 olation ! 
 
 " 'T is done ! I wind the mystic charm ; 
 Thus, thus I trace the giant form ; 
 And three fell characters below, 
 Fury, and Lust, and Restless Woe. 
 E'en as I wound, I straight unwind 
 This fatal spell, if you are kind." * 
 
 Skirner stopped, and an awful still- 
 ness followed. Gerd, trembling under 
 the terrible curse, stood quivering 
 with bowed head and clasped hands. 
 Her pride could not yield, but some- 
 thing told her that to live with a god 
 was better than to stay in the home 
 of a frost-giant. A gentle warmth 
 seemed to steal through and melt her 
 icy coldness. She raised her face, 
 and it was so softened that they hard- 
 ly knew her. 
 
 i Andersen's Norse Mythology 
 5 65
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 " I greet you," she said, " with this 
 brimming cup of mead, but I did 
 not think that I should ever love 
 a god." 
 
 When Skirner pressed her to go 
 back with him, she promised to meet 
 Frey nine days hence and become his 
 bride in the groves of Bar-isle. 
 
 Skirner was soon mounted and rid- 
 ing homeward as fast as his horse 
 could carry him. He was so happy 
 in the thought of Frey's happiness 
 that the distance seemed short, and as 
 he drew near he saw Frey standing be- 
 fore his father's halls, looking anxious- 
 ly for his coming. 
 
 " She is yours ! " he shouted, urg- 
 ing his horse into swifter flight. 
 
 " When ? " said Frey eagerly. 
 
 " Nine days hence, in the groves of 
 Bar-isle," joyfully replied Skirner, 
 who expected to be loaded with 
 66
 
 The Wooing of Gerd 
 
 thanks. Frey, however, was so eager 
 that he forgot what night and flame 
 his friend had ridden through for love 
 of him. 
 
 " One day is long ; long, indeed, 
 are two. How shall I wait for 
 three ? " was all the thanks Skirner 
 got. 
 
 The days that followed were long 
 enough for Frey ; but even the long- 
 est day comes to an end, and at last 
 the ninth day came. Never sun 
 shone so brightly or south wind 
 blew so musically as on the morning 
 when at Bar-isle, under the branches 
 of the great trees, Frey found the 
 beautiful Gerd waiting for his com- 
 ing, far lovelier than when she stood 
 before her father's door. And the 
 whole earth was happy in them, for 
 while they stood with clasped hands 
 the skies grew soft, the trees put on 
 67
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 a tender green, the flowers blossomed 
 along the mountain side, the ripening 
 grain swayed in the fields, and sum- 
 mer lay warm and fragrant over the 
 land. 
 
 68
 
 Chapter VI 
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 ONE day as Sif, Thor's beautiful 
 wife, was sitting in the palace 
 Bilskirner in Thrudvang, or thunder- 
 world, she fell asleep, with her long 
 hair falling about her shoulders like 
 a shower of gold. She made a very 
 pretty picture as she sat there in the 
 sunlight ; at least Loke thought so 
 as he passed by and saw her motion- 
 less, like the statue of a goddess in a 
 great temple, instead of a living god- 
 dess in her own palace. Loke never 
 saw anything beautiful without the 
 wish that somehow he might spoil 
 it ; and when he noticed that Sif was 
 asleep he thought it was a good time 
 to carry off her golden hair, and so 
 69
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 rob her of that of which Thor was 
 most proud. As noiselessly as he 
 could, and more like a thief than a 
 god, he stole into the palace, cut off 
 the golden locks and carried them 
 away, without leaving one behind as 
 a trace of his evil deed. When Sif 
 awoke and found her beautiful hair 
 gone, she went and hid herself, lest 
 Thor coming home should miss the 
 beauty which had always been like 
 light to his eyes. 
 
 And presently Thor came ; but 
 no Sif was there to meet him, mak- 
 ing him forget with one proud look 
 from her tender eyes the dangers 
 and labours of his life. She had 
 never failed to greet him at the 
 threshold before ; and the strong 
 god's heart, which had never beat a 
 second quicker at sight of the great- 
 est giant in the world, grew faint 
 70
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 with fear that in his absence some 
 mishap had befallen her. He ran 
 quickly from room to room in the 
 palace, and at last he came upon Sif, 
 hidden behind a pillar, her shorn 
 head in her hands, weeping bitterly. 
 In a few broken words she told 
 Thor what had happened, and as 
 she went on, Thor's wrath grew 
 hotter and hotter until he was ter- 
 rible to behold. Lightnings flashed 
 out of his deep-set eyes, the palace 
 trembled under his angry strides, 
 and it seemed as if his fury would 
 burst forth like some awful tempest 
 uprooting and destroying everything 
 in its path. 
 
 " I know who did it," he shouted, 
 when Sif had ended her story. " It 
 was that rascally Loke, and I'll break 
 every bone in his thievish body ; " 
 and without as much as saying good- 
 7'
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 by to his sobbing wife, he strode off 
 like a thunder-cloud to Asgard, and 
 there, coming suddenly upon Loke, 
 he seized him by the neck and would 
 have killed him on the spot had not 
 Loke confessed his deed and prom- 
 ised to restore the golden hair. 
 
 " I '11 get the swarthy elves to 
 make a crown of golden hair for Sif 
 more beautiful than she used to 
 wear," gasped Loke, in the iron 
 grasp of the angry Thor ; and Thor, 
 who cared more for Sif's beauty than 
 for Loke's punishment, let the thief 
 go, having bound him by solemn 
 pledges to fulfil his promise without 
 delay. 
 
 Loke lost no time, but went far 
 underground to the gloomy smithy 
 of the dwarfs, who were called 
 Ivald's sons, and who were wonder- 
 ful workers in gold and brass. 
 72
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 " Make me a crown of golden 
 hair," said Loke, " that will grow 
 like any other hair, and I will give 
 you whatever you want for your 
 work." 
 
 The bargain was quickly made, 
 and the busy little dwarfs were soon 
 at their task, and in a little time they 
 had done all that Loke asked, and 
 more too ; for in addition to the 
 shining hair they gave Loke the 
 spear Gungner and the famous ship 
 Skidbladner. 
 
 With these treasures in his arms 
 Loke came into Asgard and began 
 boasting of the wonderful things he 
 had brought from the smithy of 
 Ivald's sons. 
 
 " Nobody like the sons of Ivald 
 to work in metal ! " he said. " The 
 other dwarfs are all stupid little 
 knaves compared with them." 
 73
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Now it happened that the dwarf 
 Brok was standing by and heard 
 Loke's boasting ; his brother Sindre 
 was so cunning a workman that most 
 of the dwarfs thought him by far the 
 best in the world. It made Brok 
 angry, therefore, to hear the sons of 
 Ivald called the best workmen, and 
 he spoke up and said, " My brother 
 Sindre can make more wonderful 
 things of gold and iron and brass 
 than ever the sons of Ivald thought 
 of." 
 
 "Your brother Sindre," repeated 
 Loke scornfully. " Who is your 
 brother Sindre ? " 
 
 " The best workman in the world," 
 answered Brok. 
 
 Loke laughed loud and long. 
 
 " Go to your wonderful brother 
 
 Sindre," said he, "and tell him if 
 
 he can make three such precious 
 
 74
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 things as the spear, the ship, and the 
 golden hair, he shall have my head 
 for his trouble." And Loke laughed 
 longer and louder than before. 
 
 Brok was off to the underworld 
 before the laugh died out of his ears, 
 determined to have Loke's head if 
 magic and hard work could do it. 
 He went straight to Sindre and told 
 him of the wager he had laid with 
 Loke, and in a little while Sindre 
 was hard at work in his smithy. It 
 was a queer place for such wonder- 
 ful work as was done in it, for it was 
 nothing but a great cavern under- 
 ground, with tools piled up in little 
 heaps around its sides, and thick 
 darkness everywhere when the fur- 
 nace fire was not sending its glow 
 out into the blackness. If you had 
 looked in now, you would have seen 
 a broad glare of light streaming out 
 75
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 from the furnace, for Brok was blow- 
 ing the bellows with all his might, 
 and the coals were fairly blazing with 
 heat. When all was ready Sindre 
 took a swine-skin, put it into the 
 furnace, and telling Brok to blow 
 the bellows until his return, went 
 out of the smithy. Brok kept 
 steadily at work, although a gad-fly 
 flew in, buzzed noisily about, and, 
 finally settling on his hand, stung 
 him so that he could hardly bear 
 it. After a while Sindre came back 
 and took out of the furnace a won- 
 derful boar with bristles of pure 
 gold. 
 
 Then Sindre took some gold, and 
 placing it in the furnace bade Brok 
 blow as if his life depended on 
 it, and went out a second time. 
 Brok had no sooner begun blowing 
 than the troublesome gad-fly came 
 76
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 back, and fastening upon his neck 
 stung him so fiercely that he could 
 hardly keep his hands away from his 
 neck ; but Brok was a faithful dwarf, 
 who meant to do his work thoroughly 
 if he died for it, and so he blew 
 away as if it were the easiest thing in 
 the world, until Sindre came back 
 and took a shining ring from the 
 fire. The third time Sindre put 
 iron into the fire, and bidding Brok 
 blow without ceasing, went out again. 
 No sooner had he gone than the 
 gad-fly flew in, and settling between 
 Brok's eyes stung him so sharply 
 that drops of blood ran down into 
 his eyes, and he could not see what 
 he was doing. He blew away as 
 bravely as he could for some time, 
 but the pain was so keen, and he 
 was so blind, that at last he raised 
 his hand quickly to brush the fly 
 77
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 away. That very instant Sindre 
 returned. 
 
 " You have almost spoiled it," he 
 said, as he took out of the glowing 
 furnace the wonderful hammer Mjol- 
 ner. " See how short you have made 
 the handle ! But you can't lengthen 
 it now. So carry the gifts to Asgard, 
 and bring me Loke's head." 
 
 Brok started off with the golden 
 boar, the shining ring, and the terri- 
 ble hammer. 
 
 When he came through the great 
 gate of Asgard the gods were very 
 anxious to see the end of this strange 
 contest, and taking their seats on 
 their shining thrones they appointed 
 Odin, Thor, and Frey to judge be- 
 tween Loke and Brok, as to which 
 had the most wonderful things. 
 Then Loke brought out the spear 
 Gungner, which never misses its 
 78
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 mark, and gave it to Odin ; and the 
 golden hair he gave to Thor, who 
 placed it on Sif's head, and straight- 
 way it began to grow like any other 
 hair, and Sif was as beautiful as on 
 the day when Loke saw her in 
 Thor's palace, and robbed her of 
 her tresses ; and to Frey he gave 
 the marvellous ship Skidbladner, 
 which always found a breeze to drive 
 it wherever its master would go, no 
 matter how the sea was running, nor 
 from what quarter the wind was 
 blowing, and which could be folded 
 up and carried in one's pocket. 
 Then Loke laughed scornfully. 
 
 " Bring out the trinkets which that 
 wonderful brother of yours has made," 
 he said. 
 
 Brok came forward, and stood be- 
 fore the wondering gods with his 
 treasures. 
 
 79
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 <c This ring," said he, handing it to 
 Odin, " will cast off, every ninth night, 
 eight other rings as pure and heavy 
 as itself. This boar," giving it to 
 Frey, "will run more swiftly in the 
 air, and on the sea, by night or by 
 day, than the swiftest horse, and no 
 night will be so dark, no world so 
 gloomy, that the shining of these bris- 
 tles shall not make it light as noon- 
 day. And this hammer," placing 
 Mjolner in Thor's strong hands, 
 " shall never fail, no matter how big 
 nor how hard that which it smites 
 may be ; no matter how far it is 
 thrown, it will always return to your 
 hand ; you may make it so small that 
 it can be hidden in your bosom, and 
 its only fault is the shortness of its 
 handle." 
 
 Thor swung it round his head, and 
 lightning flashed and flamed through 
 80
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 Asgard, deep peals of thunder rolled 
 through the sky, and mighty masses 
 of cloud piled quickly up about him. 
 The gods gathered around, and 
 passed the hammer from one to the 
 other, saying that it would be their 
 greatest protection against their ene- 
 mies, the frost-giants, who were 
 always trying to force their way into 
 Asgard, and they declared that Brok 
 had won the wager. Brok's swarthy 
 little face was as bright as his brother's 
 furnace fire, so delighted was he to 
 have beaten the boastful Loke. But 
 how was he to get his wager, now he 
 had won it ? It was no easy matter 
 to take the head off a god's shoulders. 
 Brok thought a moment. " I will 
 take Loke's head," he said finally, 
 thinking some of the other gods 
 might help him. 
 
 " I will give you whatever you 
 6 81
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 want in place of my head," growled 
 Loke, angry that he was beaten, and 
 having no idea of paying his wager 
 by losing his head. 
 
 " I will have your head or I will 
 have nothing," answered the plucky 
 little dwarf, determined not to be 
 cheated out of his victory. 
 
 "Well, then, take it," shouted 
 Loke ; but by the time Brok reached 
 the place where he had been stand- 
 ing, Loke was far away, for he wore 
 shoes with which he could run through 
 the air or over the water. Then Brok 
 asked Thor to find Loke and bring 
 him back, which Thor did promptly, 
 for the gods always saw to it that 
 people kept their promises. When 
 Loke was brought back Brok wanted 
 to cut his head off at once. 
 
 "You may cut off my head, but 
 you have no right to touch my neck," 
 82
 
 The Making of the Hammer 
 
 said Loke, who was cunning, as well 
 as wicked. That was true, and of 
 course the head could not be taken 
 off without touching the neck, so 
 Brok had to give it up. 
 
 But he determined to do something 
 to make Loke feel that he had won 
 his wager, so he took an awl and a 
 thong and sewed his lips together 
 so tightly that he could make no 
 more boastings.
 
 Chapter VII 
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 IT was as lovely a morning as ever 
 dawned when Geirrod and Agnar, 
 sons of old King Hraudung, pushed 
 their boat out from the rocky shore 
 for a day's fishing. The sky over- 
 head was as blue as Odin's wonder- 
 ful mantle ; and the sea beneath them 
 as blue as the sky. They could see 
 the mountain tops far off behind them 
 and every rock along the beach for 
 miles and miles away. It was happi- 
 ness just to be out of doors in such 
 weather, and as the rowers bent to their 
 work there was such strength and joy 
 in them that the boat skimmed over 
 the water like a living thing. When 
 84
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 they were fairly out where the wind 
 blew freshly and the waves danced 
 merrily, they let their lines into the sea 
 and began to lay wagers on the luck. 
 Geirrod, who was selfish and pushing, 
 generally got the best of things, and 
 was very certain that he would carry 
 home more fish than Agnar. But be- 
 fore they had talked much about it they 
 were too busy to talk at all. Such luck 
 befell them as they had never had be- 
 fore. No sooner did the line touch 
 the water than it was travelling off in 
 the mouth of some hungry fish who 
 was quickly landed in the bottom of 
 the boat. All the morning the boys 
 were so busy that they did not once 
 look at the sky, and when the' sun 
 began to sink a little toward the west 
 they took no thought of the dark 
 clouds scudding along overhead nor 
 of the rising wind whistling over the 
 85
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 white caps. And while they let down 
 and drew up their lines the sky grew 
 darker and darker, until not a spot 
 of blue was to be seen anywhere, and 
 the wind rose higher and higher, 
 driving the sea in spray before it. 
 When at last the storm broke on 
 Geirrod and Agnar it was too late to 
 reach the shore. The waves ran so 
 high that the boat was almost swamp- 
 ed in the trough of the sea, and the 
 next minute the angry waters had 
 snatched both oars out of the hands 
 of the rowers and flung them far off 
 to leeward. There was nothing to 
 do but to sit still and be carried on 
 by wave and wind. The boys were 
 good Norsemen, and though they 
 were drenched to the skin, and blind- 
 ed by spray, they were cool and brave. 
 The roar of the sea and the tempest 
 was sweeter music in their ears than 
 86
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 the melody of harp-strings in their 
 father's palace. Holding on as best 
 they could they watched the rushing 
 clouds until darkness fell on the sea 
 and they were alone with the tempest. 
 They could not speak to each other, 
 for the uproar of the wind and the 
 waves drowned all other sounds ; they 
 could do nothing; they could only 
 wait ; and as they waited the night 
 wore on. Suddenly there came a 
 sound they both knew, and which 
 made even their bold hearts beat a 
 little faster, the sound of the break- 
 ers. They strained their eyes, peer- 
 ing anxiously into the darkness, but 
 not a thing could they see. They 
 were driven on faster and faster, until 
 a mighty wave lifted the boat a mo- 
 ment in mid-air and then flung it 
 broken and shattered on to the rocks. 
 How Geirrod and Agnar got ashore 
 87
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 they could never tell. They remem- 
 bered nothing but an awful crash, a 
 blinding rush of waters, and then, 
 coming slowly back to life they found 
 themselves bruised and bleeding on 
 the shore of an island far off the coast 
 they had sailed from. When morn- 
 ing broke at last, clear and cold, as 
 if the earth had been made over in- 
 stead of torn to pieces in the night, 
 they made their way slowly and pain- 
 fully back from the shore. They had 
 gone but a little way when they were 
 overjoyed to see a thin column of 
 smoke rising into the clear air, and a 
 moment after they were at the door 
 of a little farm-house. The farmer 
 was very poor, for the island was small 
 and rocky, but he had a striking form, 
 and a face more noble than any the 
 boys had ever seen at their father's 
 court.
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 " We have been wrecked upon 
 this island," said Geirrod, who was 
 always the first to speak. " Can 
 you give us food ? " 
 
 The farmer looked at them thought- 
 fully, as if he saw a great deal in their 
 faces that was interesting. 
 
 " Certainly we can," said he, in a 
 deep, musical voice. " No man ever 
 went hungry from Grimner's door. 
 Here, wife," turning back to the 
 open door, " set what you have 
 before these young sailors." 
 
 Geirrod and Agnar had sat at 
 kings' tables all their lives, but they 
 had never eaten at such a feast as 
 the farmer's good wife spread for 
 them on the plain table. Like her 
 husband, she was very large of form 
 and beautiful of feature, and she 
 looked as if she might be the mother 
 of half of the world, as indeed she 
 89
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 was, and of the other half too. 
 Breakfast over, the boys told the 
 story of their parentage, their fish- 
 ing, the storm and the wreck, the 
 farmer glancing at his wife, from 
 time to time, as if it greatly pleased 
 him. 
 
 " Boys," said he when the story 
 was told, " the season changed with 
 the storm which brought you here. 
 Winter has set in, and you must 
 stay under our roof until spring. 
 The house is not very large, but it 
 will keep us all, I trust." 
 
 The good wife nodded approval, 
 and the boys themselves were not 
 sorry to stay, so great a fancy had 
 they already taken to the pair. What 
 a winter that was ! The days were 
 so short that they could hardly be 
 called days at all. The cold was 
 bitter, the winds roared about the 
 90
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 little island, and the sea rushed upon 
 it as if it meant to sweep the little 
 piece of earth out of sight forever; 
 but the boys cared for none of these 
 things. Agnar spent all his time 
 with the farmer's wife, and learned 
 to love her as if she were his mother ; 
 but Geirrod never left Grimner's 
 side for an hour if he could help it. 
 Never was there such a farmer be- 
 fore. He seemed to know every- 
 thing, and he was willing to tell the 
 boy all he knew himself. He told 
 him stories of the strong and valiant 
 Norsemen who had made perilous 
 voyages and performed mighty deeds 
 of valour ; he described the wonders 
 of the heavens and the secrets of the 
 sea and the mysteries of earth ; he 
 even once or twice spoke of the 
 gods themselves, and of Asgard, 
 where they dwelt a glorious com- 
 91
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 pany of strong spirits ; and when he 
 spoke of these things his eyes flashed 
 and his form grew so large that he 
 seemed to Geirrod no longer the 
 island farmer, but a god in human 
 guise. He spoke of courage too, 
 and of honour, truthfulness and hos- 
 pitality, until the boy's selfish heart 
 grew generous for a little while, and 
 he wanted to do some noble thing 
 himself. 
 
 In such talks as these, and with 
 short wanderings about the storm- 
 beaten shores of the island, the 
 winter passed quickly away, and be- 
 fore the boys were ready to go the 
 sky had grown soft and the water 
 calm again. Grimner built a new 
 boat for them, and one morning, 
 when all was ready, they pushed out, 
 with many farewells, from the home 
 that had sheltered them so many 
 92
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 months, and rowed swiftly home- 
 ward. Grimner's last earnest word 
 to Geirrod was, " Be true and noble." 
 But Geirrod was too selfish to carry 
 away the great thoughts which the 
 farmer had given him ; the burning 
 words, the stories of great deeds he 
 had listened to had made him ambi- 
 tious to be strong, but not to be 
 good. No sooner were the boys 
 afloat than evil thoughts took pos- 
 session of him and held him until 
 the boat touched shore on the main- 
 land, and then they mastered him 
 entirely, so that he sprang out on to 
 the land and gave the boat a mighty 
 lurch back into the sea, shouting to 
 Agnar, " Go away and may the evil 
 spirits seize you ! " 
 
 Then, without looking back, he 
 hastened to the palace, where he was 
 at once greeted as King, for his 
 93
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 father was dead. Agnar, after many 
 adventures, landed in a far-off part 
 of the country, and ended by marry- 
 ing a giantess. 
 
 Years passed away, and Geirrod 
 had almost forgotten the evil he had 
 done his brother ; but the Fates 
 never let the sins of men go unpun- 
 ished. It happened one day that as 
 Odin, the father of the gods and of 
 men, and his wife Frigg were sitting 
 upon their throne overlooking the 
 whole earth, they spoke of the boys 
 who had been with them on the 
 island; for the farmer Grimner and 
 his wife were none other than the 
 greatest of the gods. 
 
 " Look at Agnar," said Odin, 
 " whom you brought up, wasting his 
 time with a giantess, while my foster 
 son Geirrod rules his kingdom right 
 royally." 
 
 94
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 Now although Frigg was a god- 
 dess, she had some weaknesses like 
 the rest of us, and she was annoyed 
 that her teaching had done so little 
 for Agnar, and that Odin should 
 notice it too, so she answered, " It 's 
 all very well to talk about Geirrod's 
 reigning right royally, but he is no 
 true King, for he puts his guests to 
 torture." 
 
 Odin was indignant that such a 
 charge should be brought against his 
 favourite, and after much dispute the 
 two laid a wager, and Odin said he 
 would visit Geirrod in disguise and 
 settle the matter himself. 
 
 Now Geirrod was not really in- 
 hospitable, but Frigg sent word to 
 him to keep a sharp look-out for a 
 dangerous wizard who was coming 
 his way ; and so it happened that 
 one morning when a very old man, 
 95
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 in a long robe of grey fur, stopped 
 at the door and asked shelter, the 
 King had him brought into the great 
 council chamber, and began to ques- 
 tion him. He asked him who he 
 was, from what country he came, 
 and what was the end of his journey, 
 but not a word would the old man 
 answer. Whereupon Geirrod, get- 
 ting very angry and not a little 
 frightened, had two fires built on 
 the stone floor, and bound the 
 stranger between them. Eight days 
 the old man sat there in the awful 
 heat, silent and motionless. No one 
 gave him a thought of pity or a 
 word of comfort save little Agnar, 
 Geirrod's son, who brought him a 
 cooling drink, and told him how 
 cruel he thought his father was. On 
 the last day the fires had crept so 
 near that the fur coat began to burn, 
 96
 
 Odin in Geirrod's Palace 
 
 and then suddenly the old man found 
 his voice, and what a voice it was ! 
 It filled the council chamber like the 
 tones of some great organ, so sweet 
 and deep and wonderful it was. 
 Bound between the blazing flames 
 that joined their fiery tongues above 
 his head and beat fiercely against the 
 vaulted roof, the old man broke into 
 such a song as had never been heard 
 on earth before. He sang the birth 
 of gods, the glories of Asgard, the 
 secrets of fate, such things as only 
 Odin himself could know ; and as 
 the song deepened in its tone, and 
 the awful secrets of the other world 
 were revealed, Geirrod's throne trem- 
 bled beneath him, for in the tortured 
 stranger he saw now the mighty Odin 
 himself. He started up to break the 
 bonds and scatter the flaming brands, 
 dropped his sword, caught it by a 
 7 97
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 swift thrust, slipped suddenly, fell on 
 the glittering blade, and rolled dead 
 at Odin's feet. His sin was pun- 
 ished. Odin vanished, and little 
 Agnar was King.
 
 Chapter VIII 
 
 The Apples of I dun 
 
 ONCE upon a time Odin, Loke, 
 and Hoener started on a 
 journey. They had often travelled 
 together before on all sorts of errands, 
 for they had a great many things to 
 look after, and more than once they 
 had fallen into trouble through the 
 prying, meddlesome, malicious spirit 
 of Loke, who was never so happy as 
 when he was doing wrong. When 
 the gods went on a journey they 
 travelled fast and hard, for they were 
 strong, active spirits who loved noth- 
 ing so much as hard work, hard 
 blows, storm, peril, and struggle. 
 There were no roads through the 
 country over which they made their 
 99
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 way, only high mountains to be 
 climbed by rocky paths, deep valleys 
 into which the sun hardly looked 
 during half the year, and swift-rush- 
 ing streams, cold as ice, and treach- 
 erous to the surest foot and the 
 strongest arm. Not a bird flew 
 through the air, not an animal 
 sprang through the trees. It was 
 as still as a desert. The gods walked 
 on and on, getting more tired and 
 hungry at every step. The sun was 
 sinking low over the steep, pine- 
 crested mountains, and the travellers 
 had neither breakfasted nor dined. 
 Even Odin was beginning to feel the 
 pangs of hunger, like the most ordin- 
 ary mortal, when suddenly, entering 
 a little valley, the famished gods 
 came upon a herd of cattle. It was 
 the work of a minute to kill a great 
 ox and to have the carcass swing- 
 100
 
 The Apples of Idun 
 
 ing in a huge pot over a roaring 
 fire. 
 
 But never were gods so unlucky 
 before! In spite of their hunger 
 the pot would not boil. They piled 
 on the wood until the great flames 
 crackled and licked the pot with their 
 fiery tongues, but every time the 
 cover was lifted there was the meat 
 just as raw as when it was put in. 
 It is easy to imagine that the trav- 
 ellers were not in very good humor. 
 As they were talking about it, and 
 wondering how it could be, a voice 
 called out from the branches of the 
 oak overhead, " If you will give me 
 my fill I '11 make the pot boil." 
 
 The gods looked first at each 
 other and then into the tree, and 
 there they discovered a great eagle. 
 They were glad enough to get their 
 supper on almost any terms, so they 
 
 101
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 told the eagle he might have what 
 he wanted if he would only get the 
 meat cooked. The bird was as good 
 as his word, and in less time than it 
 takes to tell it supper was ready. 
 Then the eagle flew down and picked 
 out both shoulders and both legs. 
 This was a pretty large share, it must 
 be confessed, and Loke, who was 
 always angry when anybody got more 
 than he, no sooner saw what the 
 eagle had taken than he seized a 
 great pole and began to beat the 
 rapacious bird unmercifully. Where- 
 upon a very singular thing happened, 
 as singular things always used to 
 happen when the gods were con- 
 cerned : the pole stuck fast in the 
 huge talons of the eagle at one end, 
 and Loke stuck fast at the other end. 
 Struggle as he might, he could not 
 get loose, and as the great bird sailed 
 
 IO2
 
 The Apples of Idun 
 
 away over the tops of the trees, Loke 
 went pounding along on the ground, 
 striking against rocks and branches 
 until he was bruised half to death. 
 
 The eagle was not an ordinary 
 bird by any means, as Loke soon 
 found when he begged for mercy. 
 The giant Thjasse happened to be 
 flying abroad in his eagle plumage 
 when the hungry travellers came 
 under the oak and tried to cook the 
 ox. It was into his hands that Loke 
 had fallen, and he was not to get 
 away until he had promised to pay 
 roundly for his freedom. 
 
 If there was one thing which the 
 gods prized above their other treas- 
 ures in Asgard, it was the beautiful 
 fruit of Idun, kept by the goddess in 
 a golden casket and given to the 
 gods to keep them forever young and 
 fair. Without these Apples all their 
 103
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 power could not have kept them from 
 getting old like the meanest of mor- 
 tals. Without these Apples of Idun 
 Asgard itself would have lost its 
 charm ; for what would heaven be 
 without youth and beauty forever 
 shining through it? 
 
 Thjasse told Loke that he could 
 not go unless he would promise 
 to bring him the Apples of Idun. 
 Loke was wicked enough for any- 
 thing ; but when it came to robbing 
 the gods of their immortality, even 
 he hesitated. And while he hesi- 
 tated the eagle dashed hither and 
 thither, flinging him against the sides 
 of the mountains and dragging him 
 through the great tough boughs of 
 the oaks until his courage gave out 
 entirely, and he promised to steal the 
 Apples out of Asgard and give them 
 to the giant. 
 
 104
 
 The Apples of Idun 
 
 Loke was bruised and sore enough 
 when he got on his feet again to 
 hate the giant who handled him so 
 roughly, with all his heart, but he 
 was not unwilling to keep his prom- 
 ise to steal the Apples, if only for 
 the sake of tormenting the other 
 gods. But how was it to be done ? 
 Idun guarded the golden fruit of 
 immortality with sleepless watchful- 
 ness. No one ever touched it but 
 herself, and a beautiful sight it was 
 to see her fair hands spread it forth 
 for the morning feasts in Asgard. 
 The power which Loke possessed 
 lay not so much in his own strength, 
 although he had a smooth way of 
 deceiving people, as in the goodness 
 of others who had no thought of his 
 doing wrong because they never did 
 wrong themselves. 
 
 Not long after all this happened, 
 105
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Loke came carelessly up to Idun as 
 she was gathering her Apples to put 
 them away in the beautiful carven 
 box which held them. 
 
 " Good morning, goddess," said he. 
 " How fair and golden your Apples 
 are ! " 
 
 " Yes," answered Idun ; " the 
 bloom of youth keeps them always 
 beautiful." 
 
 " I never saw anything like them," 
 continued Loke slowly, as if he were 
 talking about a matter of no import- 
 ance, "until the other day." 
 
 Idun looked up at once with the 
 greatest interest and curiosity in her 
 face. She was very proud of her 
 Apples, and she knew no earthly 
 trees, however large and fair, bore 
 the immortal fruit. 
 
 " Where have you seen any Apples 
 like them ? " she asked. 
 1 06
 
 The Apples of Idun 
 
 " Oh, just outside the gates," said 
 Loke indifferently. "If you care to 
 see them I '11 take you there. It 
 will keep you but a moment. The 
 tree is only a little way off." 
 
 Idun was anxious to go at once. 
 
 " Better take your Apples with you 
 to compare them with the others," said 
 the wily god, as she prepared to go. 
 
 I dun gathered up the golden Apples 
 and went out of Asgard, carrying with 
 her all that made it heaven. No 
 sooner was she beyond the gates than 
 a mighty rushing sound was heard, 
 like the coming of a tempest, and 
 before she could think or act, the 
 giant Thjasse, in his eagle plumage, 
 was bearing her swiftly away through 
 the air to his desolate, icy home in 
 Thrymheim, where, after vainly try- 
 ing to persuade her to let him eat 
 the Apples and be forever young 
 107
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 like the gods, he kept her a lonely 
 prisoner. 
 
 Loke, after keeping his promise 
 and delivering Idun into the hands 
 of the giant, strayed back into As- 
 gard as if nothing had happened. 
 The next morning, when the gods 
 assembled for their feast, there was 
 no Idun. Day after day went past, 
 and still the beautiful goddess did 
 not come. Little by little the light 
 of youth and beauty faded from the 
 home of the gods, and they them- 
 selves became old and haggard. 
 Their strong, young faces were lined 
 with care and furrowed by age, their 
 raven locks passed from gray to 
 white, and their flashing eyes be- 
 came dim and hollow. Brage, the 
 god of poetry, could make no music 
 while his beautiful wife was gone he 
 knew not whither. 
 1 08
 
 The Apples of I dun 
 
 Morning after morning the faded 
 light broke on paler and ever paler 
 faces, until even in heaven the eternal 
 light of youth seemed to be going 
 out forever. 
 
 Finally the gods could bear the 
 loss of power and joy no longer. 
 They made rigorous inquiry. They 
 tracked Loke on that fair morning 
 when he led Idun beyond the gates ; 
 they seized him and brought him into 
 solemn council, and when he read 
 in their haggard faces the deadly 
 hate which flamed in all their hearts 
 against his treachery, his courage 
 failed, and he promised to bring Idun 
 back to Asgard if the goddess Freyja 
 would lend him her falcon-guise. 
 No sooner said than done ; and with 
 eager gaze the gods watched him as 
 he flew away, becoming at last only a 
 dark moving speck against the sky. 
 109
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 After long and weary flight Loke 
 came to Thrymheim, and was glad 
 enough to find Thjasse gone to sea 
 and Idun alone in his dreary house. 
 He changed her instantly into a nut, 
 and taking her thus disguised in his 
 talons, flew away as fast as his falcon 
 wings could carry him. And he had 
 need of all his speed, for Thjasse, 
 coming suddenly home and finding 
 Idun and her precious fruit gone, 
 guessed what had happened, and, 
 putting on his eagle plumage, flew 
 forth in a mighty rage, with ven- 
 geance in his heart. Like the rush- 
 ing wings of a tempest, his mighty 
 pinions beat the air and bore him 
 swiftly onward. From mountain 
 peak to mountain peak he measured 
 his wide course, almost grazing at 
 times the murmuring pine forests, 
 and then sweeping high in mid-air 
 
 no
 
 The Apples of Idun 
 
 with nothing above but the arching 
 sky, and nothing beneath but the 
 tossing sea. 
 
 At last he sees the falcon far ahead, 
 and now his flight becomes like the 
 flash of the lightning for swiftness, 
 and like the rushing of clouds for 
 uproar. The haggard faces of the 
 gods line the walls of Asgard and 
 watch the race with tremulous eager- 
 ness. Youth and immortality are 
 staked upon the winning of Loke. 
 He is weary enough and frightened 
 enough too, as the eagle sweeps on 
 close behind him ; but he makes 
 desperate efforts to widen the dis- 
 tance between them. Little by little 
 the eagle gains on the falcon. The 
 gods grow white with fear ; they 
 rush off and prepare great fires upon 
 the walls. With fainting, drooping 
 wing the falcon passes over and 
 in
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 drops exhausted by the wall. In an 
 instant the fires have been lighted, 
 and the great flames roar to heaven. 
 The eagle sweeps across the fiery 
 line a second later, and falls, maimed 
 and burned, to the ground, where a 
 dozen fierce hands smite the life out 
 of him, and the great giant Thjasse 
 perishes among his foes. 
 
 I dun resumes her natural form as 
 Brage rushes to meet her. The gods 
 crowd round her. She spreads the 
 feast, the golden Apples gleaming 
 with unspeakable lustre in the eyes 
 of the gods. They eat; and once 
 more their faces glow with the beauty 
 of immortal youth, their eyes flash 
 with the radiance of divine power, 
 and, while Idun stands like a star for 
 beauty among the throng, the song of 
 Brage is heard once more ; for poetry 
 and immortality are wedded again. 
 
 112
 
 Chapter IX 
 
 Thor goes a fishing 
 
 MIDWAY between Niflheim 
 and Muspelheim lay Mid- 
 gard, the home of men, its round 
 disk everywhere encircled by the 
 ocean, which perpetually rushed upon 
 it, gently in still summer afternoons, 
 but with a terrible uproar in winter. 
 Ages ago, when the Midgard-serpent 
 had grown so vast that even the gods 
 were afraid of him, Odin cast him 
 into the sea, and he lay flat at the 
 bottom of the ocean, grown to such 
 monstrous size that his scaly length 
 encircled the whole world. Holding 
 the end of his tail in his mouth, he 
 sometimes lay motionless for weeks 
 
 8 113
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 at a time, and looking across the 
 water no one would have dreamed 
 that such a monster was asleep in its 
 depths. But when the Midgard- 
 serpent was aroused his wrath was 
 terrible to behold. He lashed the 
 ocean into great sheets of foam, he 
 piled the waves mountain high, he 
 dashed the spray into the very 
 heavens, and woe to the galleys that 
 were sailing homeward. 
 
 It happened once that the gods 
 were feasting with ^Eger, the sea-god, 
 and the ale gave out, and ^Eger had 
 no kettle in which to brew a new 
 supply. 
 
 " Thor," said ^Eger, after he had 
 thought a moment, "will you get 
 me a kettle?" 
 
 Thor was always ready for any 
 hard or dangerous thing. 
 
 "Of course I will," was his quick 
 114
 
 Thor goes a Fishing 
 
 reply, "only tell me where to get 
 one." 
 
 That, however, was no easy thing 
 to do. Kettles big enough to brew 
 ale for Asgard were not to be picked 
 up at a moment's notice. Every- 
 body wanted more ale, but nobody 
 could tell Thor where to find a ket- 
 tle, until Tyr, the god of courage, 
 spoke up : " East of the rivers Eliv- 
 agar lives my father, Hymer, who 
 has a kettle marvellously strong and 
 one mile deep." 
 
 This was large enough even for the 
 gods. 
 
 " Do you think we can get it ? " 
 asked Thor, who always wanted to 
 succeed in his undertakings. 
 
 "If we cannot get it by force we 
 
 can by stratagem," answered Tyr, 
 
 and they started off at once, Thor 
 
 taking the disguise of a young man. 
 
 "5
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 The goats drew them swiftly to Egil, 
 with whom Thor left them while he 
 and Tyr pushed on to finish the 
 journey afoot. It was rough and 
 perilous travelling, but they reached 
 Hymer's hall without accident, and 
 there Tyr found his grandmother, 
 a frightfully ugly giantess, and his 
 mother, a wonderfully beautiful wo- 
 man, with fair hair, and a face so 
 radiant that the sun seemed to be 
 always shining upon it. The latter 
 advised them to hide under the great 
 kettles in the hall, because when 
 Hymer came home in bad temper 
 he was sometimes cruel to strangers. 
 Late in the evening Hymer came 
 home from his fishing. A cold wind 
 swept through the hall as he entered, 
 his eyes were piercing as the stars 
 on a winter's night, and his beard 
 was white with frost. 
 116
 
 Thor goes a Fishing 
 
 " I welcome you home," said Tyr's 
 beautiful mother; "our son, for whom 
 we have been looking so long, has 
 come home, bringing with him the 
 enemy of giants and the protector of 
 Asgard. See how they hide them- 
 selves behind that pillar yonder." 
 
 She pointed to a pillar at the farther 
 end of the hall. Hymer turned and 
 looked at it with his piercing, icy 
 glance, and in an instant it snapped in- 
 to a thousand pieces ; the beam over- 
 head broke, and eight kettles fell with 
 a crash on the stone floor. Only one 
 out of the eight remained unbroken, 
 and from it Thor and Tyr came forth. 
 Hymer was not glad to see Thor 
 standing there under his own roof, 
 but he could not turn him out, so he 
 made the best of it and ordered three 
 oxen to be served for supper. Thor 
 had travelled a long distance and was 
 117
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 very hungry, and ate two of the oxen 
 before he was satisfied. 
 
 " If you eat like that," said Hymer, 
 " we will have to live on fish to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 Early the next morning, before the 
 sun was up, Thor heard Hymer get- 
 ting ready for a day of fishing. He 
 dressed himself quickly and went out 
 to the giant. " Good morning, Hy- 
 mer," he said pleasantly. " I am 
 fond of fishing ; let me row out to sea 
 with you." 
 
 " Oho," answered the giant scorn- 
 fully, not at all pleased with the idea 
 of having his powerful enemy in the 
 boat with him, " such a puny young 
 fellow can be of no use to me, and if 
 I go as far out to sea as I generally 
 do, and stay as long, you will catch 
 a cold that will be the death of 
 you." 
 
 118
 
 Thor goes a Fishing 
 
 Thor was so angry at this insult 
 that he wanted to let his hammer ring 
 on the giant's head, but he wisely 
 kept his temper. 
 
 " I will row as far from the land as 
 you care to go," was his answer, " and 
 it is by no means certain that I shall 
 be the first to want to put in again. 
 What do you bait with ?" 
 
 " Find a bait for yourself," was the 
 giant's surly reply. 
 
 Thor ran up to a herd of Hymer's 
 cattle, seized the largest bull, wrung 
 off its head without any trouble, and 
 put it in the boat. Then they both 
 pushed off and were soon rowing sea- 
 ward. Thor rowed aft, and the boat 
 fairly shot through the water. Hy- 
 mer could pull a strong oar, but he 
 had never seen such a stroke as Thor's 
 before. The boat fairly trembled un- 
 der the force of it. In a few moments 
 119
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 they reached Hymer's fishing-ground, 
 and he called out to Thor to stop. 
 
 " Oh, no, not yet," said Thor, 
 bending steadily over his oars ; " we 
 must go a good distance beyond this." 
 
 Thor pulled with such tremendous 
 power that they were soon far out to 
 sea, and Hymer began to be fright- 
 ened. 
 
 "If you don't stop," he called out, 
 "we shall be over the Midgard-ser- 
 pent." 
 
 Thor paid no attention, but rowed 
 on until they were far out of sight of 
 land and about where he thought the 
 great snake was coiled in the bottom 
 of the sea ; then he laid down the oars 
 as fresh and strong apparently as when 
 he got into the boat. It was the 
 strangest fishing party the world ever 
 saw, and the most wonderful fishing. 
 No sooner had Hymer's bait touched 
 
 120
 
 Thor goes a Fishing 
 
 water than it was seized by two whales. 
 Thor smiled quietly at the giant's 
 luck, took out a fishing-line, made 
 with wonderful skill, and so strong 
 that it could not be broken, fastened 
 the bull's head upon the hook and 
 cast it into the sea. The Midgard- 
 serpent instantly seized it, and in a 
 second the hook was fast in its palate. 
 Then came a furious struggle between 
 the strong god and the terrible mon- 
 ster which was the dread of the whole 
 earth. 
 
 Stung by the pain, the serpent 
 writhed and pulled so hard that Thor 
 had to brace himself against the side 
 of the boat. When he found that the 
 snake had taken his hook his wrath 
 rose, and his divine strength came 
 upon him. He pulled the line with 
 such tremendous force that his feet 
 went straight through the bottom of 
 
 121
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 the boat, and he stood on the bed of 
 the ocean while he drew the snake up 
 to the side of the boat. The monster, 
 convulsed with pain, reared its terrible 
 head out of the water, its glittering 
 eyes flashing, its whole vast body 
 writhing and churning the ocean into 
 a whirlpool of eddying foam. Thor's 
 eyes blazed with wrath, and he held 
 the serpent in a grasp like a vise. 
 The uproar was like a terrible storm, 
 and the boat, the fishers, and the snake 
 were hidden by columns of foam that 
 rose in the air. No one can tell what 
 the end would have been if Hymer, 
 trembling with fright and seeing the 
 boat about to sink, had not sprung 
 forward and cut the line just as Thor 
 was raising his hammer to crush the 
 serpent's head. The snake sank at 
 once to the bottom of the sea, and 
 Thor, turning upon the giant, struck 
 
 122
 
 Thor goes a Fishing 
 
 him such a blow under the ear that he 
 fell headlong into the water. The 
 giant got back to the boat, however> 
 and they rowed to land, taking the 
 two whales with them. 
 
 When they reached shore Thor was 
 still filled with rage at the meddlesome 
 giant, because he had lost him the ser- 
 pent, but he quietly picked up the 
 boat and carried it home, Hymer tak- 
 ing the whales. Once more under 
 his own roof, the giant's courage re- 
 turned, and he challenged Thor to 
 show his strength by breaking his 
 drinking-cup. Thor sat down and, 
 taking the cup, hurled it against a 
 pillar. It flew through the air, crash- 
 ed against the stone, bounded back, 
 and was picked up as whole and per- 
 fect as when it came into Thor's 
 hands. He was puzzled, but Tyr's 
 beautiful fair-haired mother whispered 
 123
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 to him, " Throw it at Hymer's fore- 
 head ; it is harder than any drinking- 
 cup." 
 
 Thor drew in all his godlike 
 strength and dashed the cup with a 
 terrific effort at Hymer. The fore- 
 head was unharmed, but the cup was 
 scattered in a thousand pieces over 
 the floor. Hymer had lost a great 
 treasure by the experiment, but he 
 only said, " That drink was too hot. 
 Perhaps you will take the kettle off 
 now," he added with a sneer. 
 
 Tyr immediately laid hands on the 
 kettle, but he could not move it an 
 inch. Then Thor took the great 
 pot in his hands and drew it up with 
 such a mighty effort that his feet went 
 through the stone floor of the hall, but 
 he lifted it and, placing it on his head 
 like a mighty helmet, walked off, the 
 rings of the kettle clanging about his 
 124
 
 Thor goes a Fishing 
 
 feet. The two gods walked swiftly 
 away from the hall where so many 
 troubles and labours had awaited 
 them, and it was a long time before 
 Thor turned to look back. When 
 he did, it was not a moment too soon, 
 for Hymer was close behind, with 
 a multitude of many-headed giants, 
 in hot pursuit. 
 
 In one minute Thor had lifted the 
 kettle off his head and put it on the 
 ground, in another he was swinging 
 the hammer among the giants, and 
 in another, when the lightnings had 
 gone out and the thunder had died 
 in awful echoes among the hills, 
 Tyr and Thor were alone on the 
 field. 
 
 They went on to Egil, mounted 
 
 the chariot and drove the goats 
 
 swiftly on to ^Eger's, where the 
 
 gods were impatiently waiting for 
 
 125
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 the kettle. There was straightway a 
 mighty brewing of ale, Thor told the 
 story of his adventures in search of 
 the kettle, and the feast went mer- 
 rily on. 
 
 126
 
 Chapter X 
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 THE frost-giants were always try- 
 ing to get into Asgard. For 
 more than half the year they held the 
 world in their grasp, locking up the 
 streams in their rocky beds, hushing 
 their music and the music of the birds 
 as well, and leaving nothing but a 
 wild waste of desolation under the 
 cold sky. They hated the warm sun- 
 shine which stirred the wild flowers 
 out of their sleep, and clothed the 
 steep mountains with verdure, and 
 set all the birds a-singing in the 
 swaying tree-tops. They hated the 
 beautiful god Balder, with whose 
 presence summer came back to the 
 ice-bound earth, and, above all, they 
 127
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 hated Thor, whose flashing hammer 
 drove them back into Jotunheim, and 
 guarded the summer sky with its sud- 
 den gleamings of power. So long as 
 Thor had his hammer Asgard was 
 safe against the giants. 
 
 One morning Thor started up out 
 of a long, deep sleep, and put out 
 his hand for the hammer; but no 
 hammer was there. Not a sign of it 
 could be found anywhere, although 
 Thor anxiously searched for it. 
 Then a thought of the giants came 
 suddenly in his mind ; and his anger 
 rose till his eyes flashed like great 
 fires, and his red beard trembled 
 with wrath. 
 
 " Look, now, Loke," he shouted, 
 "they have stolen Mjolner by en- 
 chantment, and no one on -earth or 
 in heaven knows where they have 
 hidden it." 
 
 128
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 " We will get Freyja's falcon-guise 
 and search for it," answered Loke, who 
 was always quick to get into trouble 
 or to get out of it again. So they 
 went quickly to Folkvang and found 
 Freyja surrounded by her maidens 
 and weeping tears of pure gold, as 
 she had always done since her hus- 
 band went on his long journey. 
 
 " The hammer has been stolen by 
 enchantment," said Thor. " Will 
 you lend me the falcon-guise that 
 I may search for it ? " 
 
 "If it were silver, or even gold, 
 you should have it and welcome," 
 answered Freyja, glad to help Thor 
 find the wonderful hammer that kept 
 them all safe from the hands of the 
 frost-giants. 
 
 So the falcon-guise was brought, 
 and Loke put it on and flew swiftly 
 out of Asgard to the home of the 
 9 129
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 giants. His great wings made broad 
 shadows over the ripe fields as he 
 swept along, and the reapers, look- 
 ing up from their work, wondered 
 what mighty bird was flying seaward. 
 At last he reached Jotunheim, and 
 no sooner had he touched ground 
 and taken off the falcon-guise than 
 he came upon the giant Thrym, sit- 
 ting on a hill twisting golden collars 
 for his dogs and stroking the long 
 manes of his horses. 
 
 " Welcome, Loke," said the giant. 
 " How fares it with the gods and 
 the elves, and what has brought you 
 to Jotunheim ? " 
 
 "It fares ill with both gods and 
 elves since you stole Thor's ham- 
 mer," replied Loke, guessing quickly 
 that Thrym was the thief; " and I 
 have come to find where you have 
 hidden it." 
 
 130
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 Thrym laughed as only a giant 
 can when he knows he has made 
 trouble for somebody. 
 
 "You won't find it," he said at 
 last. " I have buried it eight miles 
 under ground, and no one shall take 
 it away unless he gets Freyja for me 
 as my wife." 
 
 The giant looked as if he meant 
 what he said, and Loke, seeing no 
 other way of finding the hammer, 
 put on his falcon-guise and flew back 
 to Asgard. Thor was waiting to 
 hear what news he brought, and 
 both were soon at the great doors 
 of Folkvang. 
 
 " Put on your bridal dress, Freyja," 
 said Thor bluntly, after his fashion, 
 "and we will ride swiftly to Jotun- 
 heim." 
 
 But Freyja had no idea of marry- 
 ing a giant just to please Thor ; and,
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 in fact, that Thor should ask her to 
 do such a thing threw her into such 
 a rage that the floor shook under 
 her angry tread, and her necklace 
 snapped in pieces. 
 
 " Do you think I am a weak love- 
 sick girl, to follow you to Jotun- 
 heim and marry Thrym ? " she cried 
 indignantly. 
 
 Finding they could do nothing 
 with Freyja, Thor and Loke called 
 all the gods together to talk over the 
 matter and decide what should be 
 done to get back the hammer. The 
 gods were very much alarmed, be- 
 cause they knew the frost-giants 
 would come upon Asgard as soon as 
 they knew the hammer was gone. 
 They said little, for they did not 
 waste time with idle words, but they 
 thought long and earnestly, and still 
 they could find no way of getting 
 132
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 hold of Mjolner once more. At 
 last Heimdal, who had once been a 
 Van, and could therefore look into 
 the future, said : " We must have 
 the hammer at once or Asgard will 
 be in danger. If Freyja will not go, 
 let Thor be dressed up and go in 
 her place. Let keys jingle from his 
 waist and a woman's dress fall about 
 his feet. Put precious stones upon 
 his breast, braid his hair like a 
 woman's, hang the necklace around 
 his neck, and bind the bridal veil 
 around his head." 
 
 Thor frowned angrily. " If I 
 dress like a woman," he said, "you 
 will jeer at me." 
 
 "Don't talk of jeers," retorted 
 Loke; "unless that hammer is 
 brought back quickly the giants 
 will rule in our places." 
 
 Thor said no more, but allowed 
 133
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 himself to be dressed like a bride, 
 and soon drove off to Jotunheim 
 with Loke beside him disguised as 
 a servant-maid. There was never 
 such a wedding journey before. 
 They rode in Thor's chariot and the 
 goats drew them, plunging swiftly 
 along the way, thunder pealing 
 through the mountains and the 
 frightened earth blazing and smok- 
 ing as they passed. When Thrym 
 saw the bridal party coming he was 
 filled with delight. 
 
 " Stand up, you giants," he shouted 
 to his companions ; " spread cush- 
 ions upon the benches and bring in 
 Freyja, my bride. My yards are 
 full of golden-horned cows, black 
 oxen please my gaze whichever way 
 I look, great wealth and many treas- 
 ures are mine, and Freyja is all I 
 lack."
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 It was evening when the bride 
 came driving into the giant's court 
 in her blazing chariot. The feast 
 was already spread against her com- 
 ing, and with her veil modestly 
 covering her face she was seated at 
 the great table, Thrym fairly beside 
 himself with delight. It was n't 
 every giant who could marry a 
 goddess ! 
 
 If the bridal journey had been so 
 strange that any one but a foolish 
 giant would have hesitated to marry 
 a wife who came in such a turmoil 
 of fire and storm, her conduct at the 
 table ought certainly to have put 
 Thrym on his guard ; for never had 
 bride such an appetite before. The 
 great tables groaned under the load 
 of good things, but they were quickly 
 relieved of their burden by the vora- 
 cious bride. She ate a whole ox
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 before the astonished giant had fairly 
 begun to enjoy his meal. Then she 
 devoured eight large salmon, one 
 after the other, without stopping to 
 take breath ; and having eaten up the 
 part of the feast specially prepared for 
 the hungry men, she turned upon the 
 delicacies which had been made for the 
 women, and especially for her own fas- 
 tidious appetite. 
 
 Thrym looked on with wondering 
 eyes, and at last, when she had added 
 to these solid foods three whole 
 barrels of mead, his amazement was 
 so great that, his astonishment get- 
 ting the better of his politeness, he 
 called out, " Did any one ever see 
 such an appetite in a bride before, or 
 know a maid who could drink so 
 much mead ? " 
 
 Then Loke, who was playing the 
 part of a serving-maid, thinking that 
 136
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 the giant might have some suspicions, 
 whispered to him, " Freyja was so 
 happy in the thought of coming here 
 that she has eaten nothing for eight 
 whole days." 
 
 Thrym was so pleased at this evi- 
 dence of affection that he leaned for- 
 ward and raised the veil as gently 
 as a giant could, but he instantly 
 dropped it and sprang back the 
 whole length of the hall before the 
 bride's terrible eyes. 
 
 "Why are Freyja's eyes so sharp ? " 
 he called to Loke. " They burn me 
 like fire." 
 
 " Oh," said the cunning serving- 
 maid, " she has not slept for a week, 
 so anxious has she been to come 
 here, and that is why her eyes are 
 so fiery." 
 
 Everybody looked at the bride 
 and nobody envied Thrym. They
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 thought it was too much like marry- 
 ing a thunder-storm. 
 
 The giant's sister came into the 
 hall just then, and seeing the veiled 
 form of the bride sitting there went 
 up to her and asked for a bridal gift. 
 " If you would have my love and 
 friendship give me those rings of 
 gold upon your fingers." 
 
 But the bride sat perfectly silent. 
 No one had yet seen her face or 
 heard her voice. 
 
 Thrym became very impatient. 
 " Bring in the hammer," he shouted, 
 " that the bride may be consecrated, 
 and wed us in the name of Var." 
 
 If the giant could have seen the 
 bride's eyes when she heard these 
 words he would have sent her home 
 as quickly as possible, and looked 
 somewhere else for a wife. 
 
 The hammer was brought and 
 138
 
 How Thor found his Hammer 
 
 placed in the bride's lap, and every- 
 body looked to see the marriage 
 ceremony ; but the wedding was 
 more strange and terrible than the 
 bridal journey had been. No sooner 
 did the bride's fingers close round 
 the handle of Mjolner than the veil 
 which covered her face was torn off 
 and there stood Thor, the giant- 
 queller, his terrible eyes blazing with 
 wrath. The giants shuddered and 
 shrank away from those flaming eyes, 
 the sight of which they dreaded more 
 than anything else in all the worlds ; 
 but there was no chance of escape. 
 Thor swung the hammer round his 
 head and the great house rocked on 
 its foundations. There was a vivid 
 flash of lightning, an awful crash of 
 thunder, and the burning roof and 
 walls buried the whole company in 
 one common ruin.
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Thrym was punished for stealing 
 the hammer, his wedding guests got 
 crushing blows instead of bridal gifts, 
 and Thor and Loke went back to 
 Asgard, where the presence of Mjol- 
 ner made the gods safe once more. 
 
 140
 
 Chapter XI 
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 Hrungner 
 
 ONE bright summer morning, 
 Thor, the God of Thunder, 
 rode out of Asgard far eastward, 
 righting giants as he went and slaying 
 them with his mighty hammer, Mjol- 
 ner; but Odin, his beautiful blue 
 mantle shining with stars and his 
 helmet of gold glittering in the clear 
 air, mounted his swift horse Sleipner, 
 and went to Jotunheim, the home 
 of the greatest giant of them all. As 
 he swept along every one stopped 
 to look, for such a horse and such 
 a rider were rarely seen on earth. 
 Sometimes the swift hoofs clattered 
 141
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 along the rocky roads across the open 
 country, sometimes they struck quick 
 echoes out of the mountain sides in 
 the deep dells, sometimes they rang 
 along the very summits of the hills ; 
 and again, in an instant, horse and 
 rider swept noiseless through the air 
 like a strange phantom in the clear 
 mid-day. 
 
 When Odin reached Jotunheim he 
 came upon Hrungner, the strongest 
 of the giants. 
 
 " Who are you, riding through air 
 with golden helmet and flowing man- 
 tle ? " asked the giant. " You have 
 a splendid horse." 
 
 " None half so good in Jotun- 
 heim ! " was Odin's answer. 
 
 Odin's boast made the giant angry. 
 " None half so good ? " he repeated. 
 " I '11 show you a better myself." 
 
 Whereupon he sprang on Goldfax 
 142
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 and off they both went like a rushing 
 wind. Neither gods nor men ever 
 saw such a race before as these ran 
 over earth and through air, Sleipner 
 dashing with foaming flanks ahead 
 and Goldfax close behind with flam- 
 ing eye and mane outspread. So 
 eager was the chase and so full of rage 
 and desire the mind of Hrungner 
 that before he knew it he was carried 
 within the gates of Asgard, where the 
 welcome of the gods, as they gathered 
 round the foaming chargers, almost 
 made him forget that he was among 
 his enemies. 
 
 They led him into the great hall 
 where the feasts were held, and after 
 their usual manner set out the great 
 tankards brimming with wine, and 
 filled for him the hollow horns from 
 which Thor often drank deep and 
 long. As they were set before him
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 the giant drained them one by one 
 at a single draught ; and after a time, 
 as horn after horn of sparkling wine 
 was poured down Hrungner's capa- 
 cious throat, he forgot his peril, and 
 after the manner of drunken men 
 began to boast of his mighty deeds 
 and of the terrible things he meant 
 to do against the gods. 
 
 " Oho," he shouted, " I '11 pick up 
 this little Valhal in one hand and 
 carry it off to Jotunheim ; I '11 pull 
 this high-walled Asgard down stone 
 after stone, and knock the heads of 
 all these puny gods together until 
 none are left save Freyja and Sif, and 
 they shall boil my pot and keep my 
 house for me." And so this drunken 
 giant disturbed the peace of heaven, 
 and the gods were sorry enough that 
 he had ever ridden within their gates ; 
 but he was their guest, and the rites 
 144
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 of hospitality must be respected even 
 with a drunken braggart. So Freyja 
 rilled his horn again and again, until 
 he roared out in a drunken fury, 
 " I '11 drink every drop of wine in 
 Asgard before I leave." 
 
 This boast made the gods, already 
 weary of his boasting, indignant, and 
 they called on Thor to rid them of 
 the braggart. The God of Thun- 
 der came striding into the hall swing- 
 ing his mighty hammer, with anger 
 on his brow and in his eye, to hear 
 the gods insulted under the very roof 
 of Asgard. 
 
 " Why does this stupid giant sit 
 here in Asgard drinking our wine as 
 if he were a god ? " shouted Thor, 
 glaring at Hrungner as if he would 
 smite him on the spot; but Hrung- 
 ner, full of drunken courage, glared 
 back at Thor. 
 
 10 145
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 " I came here with Odin," he 
 growled, " and the hospitality of the 
 gods will suffer more than I if a hand 
 is laid on me." 
 
 " You may rue that hospitality be- 
 fore you are out of Asgard," was the 
 angry reply of Thor. 
 
 " Small honour to you if you slay 
 me here unarmed and solitary ; if you 
 want to prove your boasted valour 
 meet me face to face at Grjottungard. 
 Foolish it was in me to leave my 
 shield and flint-stone at home ; had I 
 those weapons I would challenge you 
 to fight me here and now, but if you 
 kill me unarmed I proclaim you a 
 coward in the face of all Asgard." 
 
 " I will meet you, braggart, when 
 and where you will," hotly retorted 
 Thor, whom no giant had ever be- 
 fore challenged to a holmgang^ or 
 single combat. And Hrungner got 
 146
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 himself safely out of Asgard and 
 journeyed as fast as he could to 
 Jotunheim to make ready for the 
 fight. 
 
 When the news of these things 
 spread there was nothing heard of 
 among the giants but Hrungner's 
 journey and the holmgang he was to 
 fight with Thor. Nobody thought 
 or talked of anything else, for if 
 Hrungner, the most powerful of 
 them all, should be beaten, Thor 
 would never cease to make war upon 
 them. Long and earnest was the 
 talk among the giants, for Thor's ter- 
 rible hammer had often rung among 
 the hills, and they dreaded the flash 
 of it through the air and the crash 
 of it as it fell smiting and crush- 
 ing whatsoever opposed it. To give 
 Hrungner courage they built an im- 
 mense giant of clay at Grjottungard,
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 but they could find no heart big 
 enough for such a huge body, and 
 so they were obliged at last to use 
 a mare's heart, which fluttered and 
 throbbed terribly when Thor came; 
 for it is the heart and not the size of 
 the body which makes one strong 
 and great. The clay giant, when 
 finished, was so vast that the shadow 
 of him was like a cloud upon the 
 landscape. When all was ready 
 Hrungner stood beside the false 
 giant ready for the fight, and a ter- 
 rible foe he was, too ; for his heart 
 was as hard as rock, his head was of 
 stone, and so was the great broad 
 shield he held before him. And 
 swung on his shoulder was the huge 
 flint-stone which he meant to hurl 
 at Thor. 
 
 Thor meanwhile was on his way 
 to Grjottungard with his servant 
 148
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 Thjalfe, and Thjalfe ran ahead, and 
 when he saw Hrungner, called out, 
 "You stand unguarded, giant; you 
 hold your shield before you, and 
 Thor has seen you, and will come 
 violently upon you from beneath 
 the earth." 
 
 Then Hrungner threw his shield 
 on the ground and stood upon 
 it, grasping the flint-stone in both 
 hands. 
 
 In a moment the sky began to 
 darken with rushing clouds, broad 
 flashes of lightning blazed across the 
 heavens, and deafening peals of 
 thunder rolled crashing over the 
 terror-stricken earth. Striding from 
 cloud to cloud, swinging his terrible 
 hammer in an awful uproar of light- 
 ning and storm, Thor came rushing 
 on in all his godlike might. The 
 heavens were on fire, the mountains 
 149
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 shook on their foundations, and the 
 earth rocked to and fro as the god 
 of strength moved on to battle. 
 
 Poor Mokkerkalfe, the clay giant, 
 was so frightened that the perspi- 
 ration poured in streams from his 
 great body, and his cowardly heart 
 fluttered like an imprisoned bird. 
 Then Thor, swinging the flashing 
 hammer with all his might, hurled it 
 at Hrungner, and on the very in- 
 stant the giant flung the flint-stone. 
 The two rushed like meteors and 
 met with a tremendous crash in mid- 
 air. The flint-stone broke in pieces, 
 one falling to the ground and mak- 
 ing a mountain where it lay, and 
 the other striking Thor with such 
 force that he fell full-length on the 
 ground ; but the terrible hammer 
 struck Hrungner in the very centre 
 of his forehead, crushed his head
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 into small pieces, and threw him 
 with his foot across Thor's neck. 
 Thjalfe meanwhile had thrown him- 
 self on Mokkerkalfe, and the clay 
 giant, like a great many other sham 
 giants, fell into pieces at the very 
 first blow ; and so Thor was victor 
 of the holmgang. 
 
 But how was Thor to get up ? 
 The dead giant's foot lay across his 
 neck, and, try as he might with all 
 his strength, he could not lift it off. 
 Then Thjalfe came and tried in vain 
 to set Thor free ; and when the gods 
 heard of the trouble Thor was in 
 they all came, and one by one tried 
 to lift Hrungner's foot, and not one 
 of them could do it ; so although 
 Thor had killed the giant it looked 
 as if the giant had beaten him too. 
 After a time Thor's little son Magne, 
 or strength, came that way. He
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 was only three days old, but he 
 walked quickly up to his father, 
 quietly lifted the immense foot and 
 threw it on the ground as if it were 
 the easiest thing in the world, saying 
 as he did so, "It was a great mishap 
 that I came so late, father ; for I 
 believe I could have slain this giant 
 with my fist." 
 
 Thor rose up quickly and greeted 
 his son as if he were prouder of him 
 than of the slaying of the giant, and 
 declared that he should have the 
 giant's beautiful horse Goldfax for a 
 reward ; but Odin would not listen 
 to it, and so Magne had to content 
 himself with his father's praise and 
 the glory of his wonderful deed. 
 
 Even now Thor's troubles were 
 not ended, for the piece of flint-stone 
 which struck his head so violently that 
 it threw him to the ground remained
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 imbedded in it, and made the strong 
 god so much trouble that when he 
 had reached Thrudvang, or thunder- 
 world, he sent for the sorceress 
 Groa, the wife of the wise Orvandel, 
 that she might remove the unwieldy 
 stone. Groa came with all her wis- 
 dom and began weaving magic spells 
 about Thor, and singing strange 
 incantations to the most weird and 
 mysterious airs in the world, until 
 the flint-stone became entirely loose. 
 When he felt the stone gradually 
 loosened, and knew that Groa could 
 take it out in a moment, Thor was 
 so glad that he tried to think how 
 he might reward her in some way 
 for the good service she had done 
 him ; and as even a god cannot give 
 anything greater than happiness, he 
 bethought himself of something which 
 would make her very happy. So he
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 began to speak of Orvandel, who 
 had long been absent from her, and 
 whom she greatly loved. He told 
 her that he had entered Jotunheim 
 from the north, wading the deep 
 rivers, and had secreted Orvandel in 
 a basket, and so borne him out of 
 the giant's country, and that as they 
 journeyed along in the bitter weather 
 one of Orvandel's toes protruded 
 from the basket and was frozen, and 
 he, Thor, broke it off and threw it 
 into the shining sky, where it had 
 become the star called " Orvandel's 
 Toe " ; and then he added that 
 Orvandel would shortly come to his 
 home again. 
 
 When Groa heard this news of 
 her husband she was filled with such 
 joy that all her magical songs and 
 wonderful incantations went straight 
 out of her head and she could not
 
 How Thor fought the Giant 
 
 get them back again, and the stone 
 remains in Thor's head to this day. 
 And this is the reason why no 
 one must ever throw a flint-stone 
 across the floor, because when this 
 happens the stone in Thor's head 
 moves, and the strong god is very 
 uncomfortable.
 
 Chapter XII 
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 LOKE looked like a god and had 
 many of the wonderful gifts 
 which the gods possessed, but at 
 heart he was one of those giants 
 who were always trying to cross 
 Bifrost, the shining rainbow-bridge, 
 at the heavenly end of which Heim- 
 dal kept guard day and night, with 
 eyes so keen that in the darkness as 
 easily as in the light he could see a 
 hundred miles distant, and with ears 
 so sharp that he could hear the noise- 
 less blossoming of the grass in the 
 deepest valley, and the growing of 
 the wool upon the backs of sheep 
 browsing along the hill-tops. Loke 
 156
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 had the mind of the gods, who were 
 always working to bring order and 
 beauty into the world, but he had 
 the heart of the giants, who were 
 striving to undo the good and cover 
 the earth with howling storms and 
 icy desolation. After he had been 
 in Asgard for a time he wanted to 
 get back to Jotunheim, where his 
 true home was. There he married 
 a terrible giantess, and three children 
 were born to him more repulsive 
 than their mother, Hel, the Mid- 
 gard-serpent, and the Fenris-wolf. 
 These monsters grew to be very 
 strong and horrible to look upon 
 before the gods thought of destroy- 
 ing them ; but one day, as Odin 
 looked over the worlds from his 
 throne, a shadow fell upon his face, 
 for he saw how powerful the chil- 
 dren of Loke were becoming, and he 
 '57
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 knew they would work endless mis- 
 chief and misery for gods and men ; 
 so he sent some of the gods to bring 
 the monsters to Asgard. It was a 
 strange sight when Loke's children 
 were brought into heaven, Hel's 
 terrible face turning into stone every 
 one who looked, unless he were a 
 god ; the Midgard-serpent coiling 
 its immense length into great circles 
 over which the glittering eyes wan- 
 dered restlessly ; and the Fenris- 
 wolf growling with a deep, cruel 
 voice. Odin looked sternly at 
 Loke, the evil god who had brought 
 such savage beings among men, and 
 then with a dark brow he cast Hel 
 down into the dusky kingdoms of 
 the dead, and hurled the snake into 
 the deep sea, where he grew until he 
 coiled around the whole earth ; but 
 Fenrer, the wolf, was permitted to 
 '58
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 grow up in Asgard. He was so 
 fierce that only Tyr, the sword-god, 
 could feed him. He roamed about 
 Asgard, his huge body daily growing 
 stronger, and his hungry eyes flash- 
 ing more and more fiercely. 
 
 After a time another shadow fell 
 upon Odin's face, for Fenrer was 
 fast becoming the most terrible 
 enemy of the gods, and the oracles 
 who could look into the future, said 
 that at the last great battle he would 
 destroy Odin himself. So Odin 
 called all the gods together, and as 
 they came into the great hall the 
 wolf crouched at the door, with a 
 look that made even their strong 
 hearts shudder. 
 
 " Our most dangerous enemy is 
 growing stronger every day under 
 our roof and by our hands," said 
 Odin, " and we shall cease to be
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 gods if we are so blind as to nourish 
 our own destroyer." 
 
 " Kill him ! " muttered some one. 
 
 " No," said Odin ; " although he 
 is to devour me, no blood shall stain 
 the sacred seats of the gods." 
 
 " Chain him ! " said Thor. 
 
 That was a good plan, they all 
 agreed, but how was it to be done ? 
 
 " Leave that to me," answered 
 Thor, full of courage, for he had done 
 many wonderful things, and there 
 was nothing of which he was afraid. 
 
 That night the fires in the great 
 smithy blazed and roared so fiercely 
 that the heavens far around were 
 lighted with the glow, and in the 
 dusky light the strong forms of 
 the gods moved to and fro as they 
 worked on the chain with which they 
 meant to bind the Fenris-wolf. All 
 night Thor's mighty strokes rang 
 160
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 on the hard iron, and when the 
 morning came the chain was done, 
 and they called it Leding. Then 
 the gods called Fenrer, spread out 
 the chain, and asked him to show 
 his wonderful strength by break- 
 ing it. 
 
 The wolf knew better than the 
 gods how strong he had grown, and 
 that the breaking of Leding would 
 be a very small matter for him ; so 
 he permitted them to bind the great 
 links around his shaggy body and 
 about his feet, and to rivet the ends 
 so fast that it seemed as if nothing 
 on earth could ever break them 
 apart again. When it was all done, 
 and Thor's eyes were beginning to 
 smile at his success, the wolf got 
 quietly upon his feet, stretched him- 
 self as easily as if a web of silk were 
 cast over him, snapped the massive 
 " 161
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 chain in a dozen places, and walked 
 off, leaving the gods to gather up 
 the broken links. 
 
 " He has grown terribly strong," 
 said Odin, looking at the great pieces 
 of iron. 
 
 "Yes," answered sturdy Thor, 
 " stronger than I thought ; but I 
 will forge another chain, which even 
 he cannot break." 
 
 Again the red glow shone in the 
 sky over Asgard, the fires flashed and 
 blazed, and the great hammers rang 
 far into the night, and the next day 
 the mighty chain Drome, twice as 
 strong as Leding, was finished. 
 
 " Come, Fenrer," said Thor, " you 
 are already famous for your strength ; 
 but if you can break this chain no 
 one will ever be able to deny your 
 strength, and you will win great hon- 
 our among gods and men." 
 162
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 The wolf growled as he looked at 
 the great chain, for he knew that the 
 gods feared him and wanted to make 
 him harmless. He knew also that 
 he could break the chain which they 
 had forged with so much toil to bind 
 him with, and so he let them fasten 
 him as before. When all was done, 
 the gods began to smile again, for 
 they had made the strongest chain that 
 ever was or could be made, and now 
 surely the wolf was forever harmless. 
 
 But Fenrer knew better than they. 
 He rose slowly, with the massive links 
 bound closely about him, shook him- 
 self fiercely, stretched himself, and then 
 with a mighty effort dashed himself on 
 the ground; the earth shook, the chain 
 burst, and its links flew through the 
 air and buried themselves in the 
 ground, so tremendous was the effort 
 with which the wolf freed himself. 
 163
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 A fierce joy gleamed in his eyes as he 
 walked away with deep growls, leav- 
 ing the gods to console themselves 
 as best they might, for there were no 
 more chains to be made. 
 
 Long and anxiously they talked to- 
 gether, but no one could think of 
 anything which could hold Fenrer 
 until Odin called to Skirner, Frey's 
 swiftest messenger : " Go to Svartalf- 
 heim as fast as the flash of Thor's 
 hammer, and the dwarfs shall make 
 us an enchanted chain which even he 
 cannot break.'* 
 
 Skirner was off almost before Odin 
 had done speaking. Travelling over 
 land and sea he soon came to the 
 dark entrance of the under-world 
 where the dwarfs lived, and in a very 
 short time he was in the dusky home 
 of the wonderful little workers in iron. 
 They were rushing about with black 
 164
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 faces and dirty hair when Skirner 
 called them together and said, " You 
 must make for the gods an enchanted 
 chain so slight that Fenrer will be will- 
 ing to be bound by it, and so strong 
 that when he has allowed himself to 
 be tied he cannot break loose again." 
 The dwarfs whispered together for 
 a few moments, and then scattered in 
 every direction ; for they were going 
 to make the most wonderful chain 
 that was ever put together, and there 
 were many things to be looked after 
 before it could be done. Skirner sat 
 in the darkness until the busy little 
 workers had finished the band, and 
 then he carried it quickly to Asgard, 
 where all the gods were waiting 
 anxiously for his coming and Fenrer 
 was stealthily stealing from place to 
 place through the city. Skirner 
 spread the string out for the gods to 
 165
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 look at, and they could hardly believe 
 it was strong enough. It was very 
 long, but so small and soft that it 
 seemed no more than silken twine ; 
 it was made out of such things as the 
 sound of a cat's footsteps, the roots 
 of the mountains, the breath of a fish, 
 and the sinews of a bear, and nothing 
 could break it. 
 
 The gods were so happy in the 
 hope of being relieved of their enemy 
 that they could not thank Skirner 
 enough. They all went to a rocky 
 island in a lake called Amsvartner, 
 taking the wolf with them. Thor 
 showed the silken twine to Fenrer. 
 "You have broken Leding and 
 Drome," he said, " and now you will 
 break this also, although it is some- 
 what stronger than one would think, 
 to look at it." 
 
 Then he handed the magic cord 
 166
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 from one god to another and each 
 tried to break it, but no one succeeded. 
 
 "We cannot do it," they all said 
 after it had been handed around the 
 circle, " but Fenrer can." 
 
 The wolf looked at it suspiciously. 
 
 " It is such a slender thread," he 
 answered, " that I shall get no credit 
 if I break it ; and if it is made with 
 magic, slight as it looks I shall never 
 get loose from it again." 
 
 The gods looked at one another 
 and smiled. 
 
 " Oh, you will easily break so 
 slim a band as that," they replied, 
 " since you have already broken the 
 heaviest chains in the world; and 
 if you cannot break it we will loosen 
 you again." 
 
 "If you bind me so fast that I 
 am not able to get myself free, I 
 shall get little help from you," said 
 167
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 the wolf truthfully enough. " I am 
 very unwilling to have this twine 
 bound about me ; but that you may 
 not be able to call me cowardly, I 
 will do it if some one of you will lay 
 his hand in my mouth as a pledge 
 that there is no deceit about this 
 thing." 
 
 The gods looked at each other 
 when they heard these words. Fen- 
 rer had spoken the truth, there was 
 no denying that. He must be 
 chained now, however, or they would 
 all be destroyed ; but who would 
 lose a hand to save the rest? Thor's 
 hands were needed to swing the ham- 
 mer against the giants, and every- 
 body could think of some very good 
 reason why his hand should not be 
 lost. There was an awful pause, and 
 then Tyr, the god of honour and 
 courage, who had never stood still 
 168
 
 The Binding of the Wolf 
 
 when he ought to go forward, 
 stretched out his right hand and 
 laid it in the wolfs hungry mouth. 
 Then the gods bound the slender 
 cord tightly around Fenrer, fold on 
 fold, winding its whole length about 
 him and tying the ends tightly 
 together. It was so slight that it 
 seemed as if it must break in fifty 
 places as soon as the wolf began to 
 stretch himself. So perhaps thought 
 Fenrer himself; but the harder he 
 strove to break loose, the closer the 
 cord drew about him. He sprang 
 from side to side, he threw himself 
 on the ground, he stretched his 
 mighty limbs with all his strength, 
 but the twine only cut the deeper. 
 Then a mighty rage filled the wolf 
 because he had suffered himself to be 
 deceived, his eyes flamed with fury, 
 and the foam ran out of his mouth. 
 169
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 The gods were so delighted when they 
 found the wolf really fast at last that 
 they began to laugh, all except brave 
 Tyr, who lost his right hand. 
 
 They took the wonderful silken 
 chain and drew it through the middle 
 of a rock and sunk the rock so deep 
 in the earth that nothing but an 
 earthquake could stir it. Fenrer, 
 wild with pain and rage, rushed 
 from side to side so violently that 
 the earth rocked beneath him, and 
 opening his tremendous jaws sprang 
 upon the gods ; whereupon they 
 thrust a sword into his cruel jaws 
 so that the hilt stood on his lower 
 jaw and the point pierced the roof 
 of the mouth. 
 
 So the Fenris-wolf was bound and 
 made fast to the rocky island, his 
 jaws spread far apart, foaming and 
 growling until the last great day. 
 170
 
 Chapter XIII 
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 THOR made many journeys and 
 had many strange adven- 
 tures; but there was one journey 
 which was more wonderful than all 
 the others, and which proves, more- 
 over, that the strongest and truest 
 are sometimes deceived by those who 
 are weaker than themselves. The 
 giants in old Norse times were not 
 easy to conquer; but generally it 
 was when they hid themselves be- 
 hind lies and appeared to be what 
 they were not that they succeeded 
 for a time. Thor's strength was a 
 noble thing because he used it to 
 help men ; but his truthfulness and 
 honesty were nobler still. 
 171
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 One morning, just as the sun was 
 beginning to shine through the mists 
 that overhung the world, the gates 
 of Asgard opened and Thor's chariot, 
 drawn by the goats, rattled along the 
 road. Thor and Loke were evidently 
 off for a journey ; but Thor was 
 always going off somewhere, and no- 
 body who saw him now thought that 
 he was starting out to try his strength 
 with the most powerful things in the 
 whole earth. Nor did he know it. 
 All day long the chariot rolled across 
 the level stretches of meadow and 
 through the valleys, leaving the echoes 
 shouting to each other from the over- 
 hanging mountains as it passed by. 
 At night it stopped at the house of a 
 poor peasant, and Thor stepped down 
 and stood in the doorway. 
 
 " Can you lodge two travellers 
 over night ? " he asked. 
 172
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 "Certainly," said the peasant, "but 
 we can give you nothing to eat, for 
 we have nothing for ourselves." 
 
 " Give yourselves no trouble about 
 that," answered Thor cheerfully ; " I 
 can provide for all." 
 
 He went back to Loke, who got 
 
 ' O 
 
 out of the chariot ; and then, to the 
 great astonishment of the people in 
 the house, Thor killed both his goats, 
 and in a minute they were ready for 
 cooking. The great pot was soon 
 sending savory odours through the 
 house, and the whole family with 
 their strange guests sat down shortly 
 to a bountiful supper. 
 
 "The more you eat the better 
 I shall like it," said Thor, as they 
 took their places at the table, " but 
 do not on any account break the 
 bones ; when you have done with 
 them throw them into the skins
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 which I have spread out on the 
 hearth." 
 
 The peasant and his wife and 
 Thjalfe and Roskva, their two chil- 
 dren, ate bountifully ; but Thjalfe 
 broke one of the bones to get the 
 marrow. The next morning Thor 
 was up with the sun, and when he 
 dressed himself he took the hammer 
 and held it over the goat-skins : and 
 immediately the bones flew into place, 
 and the skins covered them, and 
 there were the two goats as full of 
 life as when they started out the 
 day before. But one of the goats 
 limped ; and when Thor saw it he 
 was so angry that he looked like a 
 thunder-cloud, and his fingers closed 
 so tightly round Mjolner that his 
 knuckles were white. Thjalfe, who 
 had been looking with the rest of the 
 family in speechless wonder, was
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 frightened half out of his wits when 
 he saw Thor's rage, and would have 
 run away if he could. The poor 
 peasant and his wife were equally 
 terrified, and besought Thor that he 
 would not destroy them. t Seeing 
 them in such misery Thor's anger 
 died out, and he said he would for- 
 give them, but Thjalfe and Roskva 
 must henceforth be his servants. So 
 taking the two children, and leaving 
 the goats with their parents for safe 
 keeping, Thor and Loke set out 
 again. 
 
 Thor had decided to go to Jotun- 
 heim, and all the morning they trav- 
 elled eastward until they reached the 
 shore of the sea. They crossed the 
 wide waters quickly and climbed up 
 on the further shore of Jotunheim. 
 Mists floated over the land, and great 
 rocks rose along the coast so stern
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 and black from the wash of the sea 
 and the fury of storms that they 
 seemed like strong giants guarding 
 their country against the giant-queller. 
 Thor led the way, and they soon 
 entered a deep forest through which 
 they travelled until nightfall, Thjalfe, 
 who was very fleet of foot, carrying 
 the sack of provisions. As night 
 came on they looked about for shel- 
 ter, and came upon an immense 
 building with a whole side opening 
 into a great room off which they 
 found five smaller rooms. This was 
 just what he wanted, although they 
 could not imagine why any one had 
 built such a house in that lonely 
 place. After supper, weary with the 
 long journey, they were soon in a 
 deep sleep. 
 
 Three or four hours went by 
 quietly enough, but about midnight 
 176
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 they were suddenly awakened by an 
 awful uproar, which shook the build- 
 ing to its foundations and made the 
 whole earth tremble. Thor called 
 the others and told them to go into 
 the further rooms. Half dead with 
 fright they did so, but Thor stretched 
 himself, hammer in hand, at the wide 
 entrance. As soon as there was light 
 enough to see about him Thor went 
 into the woods, and had gone but a 
 little way when he came upon an 
 enormous giant, fast asleep, and snor- 
 ing so loudly that the very trees 
 shook around him. Thor quickly 
 buckled on his belt of strength, and 
 had no sooner done so than the giant 
 awoke and sprang to his feet. The 
 whole earth shook under him, and 
 he towered as far over Thor, as a 
 great oak does over the fern that 
 grows at its foot. Thor was never 
 
 12 I 77
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 frightened, but he had never heard 
 of such a giant before and he looked 
 at him with honest surprise. 
 
 " Who are you ? " he said, after 
 looking up to the great face a 
 minute. 
 
 " I am Skrymer," answered the 
 giant, " but I don't need to ask your 
 name. You are Thor. But what 
 have you done with my glove ? " 
 
 And stretching out his great hand 
 the giant picked up his glove, which 
 was nothing less than the building 
 Thor and the others had spent the 
 night in. 
 
 " Would you like to have me 
 travel with you ? " continued the 
 giant. 
 
 " Certainly," said Thor, although 
 
 it was plainly to be seen that neither 
 
 Thjalfe nor Roskva wanted such a 
 
 companion. Skrymer thereupon un- 
 
 178
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 tied his sack and took out his break- 
 fast, and the others followed his 
 example, taking care, however, to 
 put a comfortable distance between 
 themselves and their dangerous fel- 
 low-traveller. After breakfast Skry- 
 mer proposed that they should put 
 all their provisions into one bag, to 
 which Thor consented, and they 
 started off, the giant tramping on 
 ahead, and carrying the sack on his 
 broad back. 
 
 All day long he walked steadily 
 on, taking such tremendous strides 
 that the others could hardly keep up 
 with him. When night came he 
 stopped under a great oak. 
 
 "There," said he, throwing down 
 the sack ; " take that and get some 
 supper ; I am going to sleep." 
 
 The words were hardly out of his 
 mouth before he began to snore as 
 179
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 loudly as the night before. Thor 
 took the sack, but the harder he 
 tried to loosen the string the tighter 
 it drew, and with all his strength he 
 could not untie a single knot. Find- 
 ing he could not get into the sack, 
 and hearing the giant snore so peace- 
 fully at his side, Thor's anger blazed 
 out, and grasping the hammer he 
 struck the giant full on the head. 
 Skrymer opened his eyes drowsily. 
 
 " Did a leaf fall on my head ? " he 
 called out sleepily, without getting 
 up. " Have you had your supper 
 yet, and are you going to bed ? " 
 
 In a minute he was snoring again. 
 Thor went and lay down under an- 
 other oak ; but at midnight the giant 
 began to snore so heavily that the 
 forest resounded with the noise. 
 Thor was fairly beside himself with 
 rage, and swinging his hammer struck 
 180
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 Skrymer such a tremendous blow 
 that the hammer sank to the handle 
 in his head. The giant opened his 
 eyes and sat up. 
 
 " What is the matter now ? " he 
 called out ; " did an acorn fall on 
 my head? How are you getting 
 on, Thor?" 
 
 " Oh, I am just awake," said 
 Thor, stepping back quickly. " It 
 is only midnight, and we may sleep 
 awhile longer." 
 
 Thor watched until the giant had 
 fallen asleep again, and just at day- 
 break dealt him the most terrible 
 blow that he had ever given with the 
 hammer. It flashed through and 
 buried itself out of sight in Skrymer's 
 forehead. The giant sprang on his 
 feet and began to stroke his beard. 
 
 " Are there any birds up there ? " 
 he asked, looking into the oak. " I 
 181
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 thought a feather dropped on my 
 head. Are you awake, Thor? It 
 is full time to dress, and you are 
 near the end of your journey. The 
 city of Utgard is not far off. I 
 heard you whispering together that 
 I was a man of great stature, but 
 you will find much larger men in 
 Utgard. Take my advice, and when 
 you get there don't boast very much, 
 for they will not take boasting from 
 such little fellows as you are. You 
 would do well to turn back and go 
 home while you have a chance ; but 
 if you will go on, take the road to 
 the eastward, my way takes me to 
 the north." And, swinging the sack 
 of provisions over his shoulder, 
 Skrymer plunged into the forest and 
 was soon out of sight. 
 
 Thor and his companions pushed 
 on as fast as they could until noon, 
 i8a
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 when suddenly a great city rose 
 before them, on a' vast plain, the 
 walls of which were so high that 
 they had to lean back as far as they 
 could to see the top. A great gate, 
 heavily barred, stopped them at the 
 entrance ; but they crept between 
 the bars. After going a little dis- 
 tance they came upon a palace, and 
 the doors being open went in, and 
 found themselves in a great hall with 
 long seats on either side, and on 
 these seats rows of gigantic men 
 larger than Skrymer. When they 
 saw Utgard-Loke, who was the king 
 of that country, they saluted him ; 
 but he sat for a long time without 
 taking any notice of them. At last 
 smiling contemptuously he said : "It 
 is tiresome for travellers to be asked 
 about a long journey ; but if I am 
 not mistaken this little fellow is 
 183
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 Thor. Perhaps, however, you are 
 really larger than you seem to be. 
 What feats of strength can you show 
 us ? No one is permitted to stay 
 here unless he excels in some diffi- 
 cult thing." 
 
 Hearing these words, in a very in- 
 sulting tone, Loke answered loudly, 
 " There is one feat in which no one 
 can equal me, and I am ready to 
 perform it at once. I can devour 
 food faster than any one here." 
 
 "Truly, that would be a feat if 
 you could do it," said the scornful 
 king ; and he called to a man named 
 Loge to contend with Loke. 
 
 A great trough full of meat was 
 placed in the centre of the hall, and 
 commencing at either end the con- 
 testants began to eat voraciously, 
 and so fast that it is disagreeable 
 even to think of it. They reached 
 184
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 the middle of the trough at exactly 
 the same moment ; but Loke had 
 eaten only the meat, while Loge had 
 devoured meat, bones, trough and 
 all. There was nothing left on his 
 side, and Loke had to confess him- 
 self beaten. 
 
 Then the king, looking at Thjalfe, 
 asked, "What can you do, young 
 man?" 
 
 " I will run a race with any one 
 you will select," answered Thjalfe 
 promptly. 
 
 " If you can outrun any one I can 
 select, it will certainly be a splendid 
 feat," said Utgard-Loke ; " but you 
 must be very swift-footed to do it." 
 
 There was a noble race-ground just 
 outside the palace, and every one hur- 
 ried out to see the race. The king 
 called a slender young fellow named 
 Huge, and told him to run with Thjalfe. 
 185
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 There was never such running 
 since the world began. Thjalfe ran 
 like the wind ; but Huge reached 
 the goal first, and turned about to 
 meet Thjalfe as he came breathless 
 to the post. 
 
 " You must use your legs better 
 than that if you intend to win," said 
 the king, as Thjalfe walked back ; 
 " although you are the fastest runner 
 that ever came here." 
 
 They ran a second time, but when 
 Huge reached the goal and turned 
 around, Thjalfe was a full bow-shot 
 behind. 
 
 " Well run ! " shouted Utgard- 
 Loke ; " well run ! a third race shall 
 decide it." 
 
 A third time they were at the 
 
 starting-place and again they were 
 
 speeding down the course, while 
 
 everybody strained his eyes to look 
 
 186
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 at them ; and a third time Huge 
 reached the goal and turned to find 
 Thjalfe not half-way. 
 
 " We have had racing enough ! " 
 cried the giants, and they all went 
 back into the palace again. 
 
 And now it was Thor's turn to 
 show his wonderful strength ; but he 
 did not dream that he was going to 
 measure strength with the most tre- 
 mendous forces in the whole earth. 
 
 " Your fame fills all the worlds, 
 Thor," called out Utgard-Loke, 
 when they had seated themselves on 
 the benches along the great hall ; 
 " give us some proof of your won- 
 derful power." 
 
 Thor never waited to be asked a 
 second time. 
 
 " I will contend in drinking with 
 any one you may select," was his 
 prompt acceptance of the challenge. 
 187
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 " Well answered," said the king. 
 " Bring out the great horn." 
 
 A giant went out, and speedily came 
 back bearing a very deep horn, which 
 the king said his men were compelled 
 to empty as a punishment. 
 
 " A good drinker will empty that 
 horn at a single draught," said 
 Utgard-Loke, as it was rilled and 
 handed to Thor ; "a few men need to 
 drink twice, but only a milksop 
 needs a third pull at it." 
 
 Thor thought the horn not over 
 large, although very long, and as he 
 was very thirsty he put it to his lips 
 without further ado, and drank so 
 long and deep that he thought it cer- 
 tainly must be empty, but when he 
 set the horn down and looked into it 
 he was astonished to find that the 
 liquor rose almost as high as when 
 he set his lips to it. 
 1 88
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 " That was fairly well drunk," 
 said the king, " but not unusually 
 so ; if anybody had told me Thor 
 could do no better than that I would 
 not have believed him. But of 
 course you will finish it at a second 
 draught." 
 
 Thor said nothing, although he 
 was very angry, but setting the horn 
 to his lips a second time he drank 
 longer and deeper than before. 
 When he had stopped to take 
 breath, and looked at it again, he 
 had drunk less than the first time. 
 
 " How now, Thor," cried Utgard- 
 Loke, " you have left more for the 
 third draught than you can manage. 
 If there are no other feats which you 
 can perform better than this you 
 must not expect to be considered as 
 great here as among the gods." 
 
 Thor became very angry when he 
 189
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 heard these words, and seizing the 
 horn he drank deep, fast, and furi- 
 ously until he thought it certainly- 
 must be empty ; but when he looked 
 into it the liquor had fallen so little 
 that he could hardly see the differ- 
 ence ; and he handed it to the cup- 
 bearer, and would drink no more. 
 
 " It is plain," spoke up the king 
 in a very insulting tone, " that you 
 are not so strong as we thought you 
 were ; you cannot succeed in this 
 strife, certainly ; will you try some- 
 thing else ? " 
 
 " I will certainly try something 
 else," said Thor, who could not 
 understand why he had failed to 
 drain the horn ; " but I am sure 
 that even among the gods such 
 draughts would not be counted 
 small. What game do you propose 
 now ? " 
 
 190
 
 " Oh, a very easy one," replied 
 the king, " which, my youngsters 
 here make nothing of; simply to lift 
 a cat from the floor. I should not 
 think of asking you to try it if I did 
 not see that you are much less of a 
 man than I have always supposed." 
 
 He had no sooner said this than a 
 large grey cat ran out into the hall. 
 Thor put his hand under it and 
 tried to lift it, but the cat arched 
 its back as high as Thor stretched 
 his hands, and, do his best, he 
 could only get one foot off the floor. 
 
 " It is just as I expected," cried 
 Utgard-Loke in a loud voice ; " the 
 cat is very large, and Thor is a very 
 little fellow compared with the rest 
 of us." 
 
 Thor's eyes flashed fire. " Little 
 as I am," he shouted, " I challenge 
 any of you to wrestle with me." 
 191
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Utgard-Loke looked up and down 
 the benches as if he would call out 
 some one from the two rows of 
 giants. Then he shook his head, 
 saying ; " There is no one here who 
 would not think it child's play to 
 wrestle with you ; but let some one 
 call in Ellie, my old nurse ; she 
 shall try her strength with you. 
 She has brought many a stronger 
 man than you to earth." 
 
 An old woman came creeping into 
 the hall, bent, wrinkled, and tooth- 
 less. Thor seized her, but the 
 tighter his grasp became the firmer 
 she stood. Her thin arms gripped 
 him like a vise, her strength seemed 
 to grow as she put it forth, and at 
 last after a hard struggle, in which 
 Thor strained every muscle to the 
 breaking point, he sank on one 
 knee. 
 
 192
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 " That is enough," said Utgard- 
 Loke, and the old woman crept 
 feebly out of the hall, leaving Thor 
 stunned and bewildered in the midst 
 of the silent giants. There were no 
 more trials of strength, and Thor 
 and his companions were generously 
 feasted after their defeats. 
 
 The next morning, after they had 
 partaken of a bountiful breakfast of 
 meat and drink, they started on their 
 journey homeward. Utgard-Loke 
 went with them as far as the gate of 
 the city, where he stopped. 
 
 " How do you think your journey 
 has turned out ? " he asked Thor ; 
 " and have you met any men 
 stronger than yourself? " 
 
 " I have brought shame upon my- 
 self," answered Thor frankly and 
 honestly, after his nature, " and it 
 vexes me to think that you will 
 '3 193
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 hereafter speak of me as a weak 
 fellow." 
 
 " Now that you are out of the 
 city I will tell you the truth about 
 these things," said Utgard-Loke. 
 " If I had known how mighty you 
 are I would never have allowed you 
 to enter the gates, and you may be 
 very sure you will never get in a 
 second time. I have beaten you by 
 deception, not by strength. I have 
 been deluding you from the start. 
 In the forest I tied the sack with a 
 tough iron wire in such a way you 
 could not discern the secret of the 
 knot. Thrice you struck at me 
 with your hammer, and the first 
 blow, though the lightest, would 
 have killed me had it fallen on me ; 
 but each time I slipped a mountain 
 between myself and the hammer, and 
 the blows made three deep clefts 
 194
 
 Thor's Wonderful Journey 
 
 in its stony sides. I have deluded 
 you, too, in all the trials of strength 
 and skill. Loke was very hungry, 
 and ate voraciously, but he con- 
 tended against fire itself, which goes 
 like the wind and devours every- 
 thing in its path ; Thjalfe ran as 
 man never ran before, but Huge, 
 who raced with him, was no other 
 than my thought, and what man is 
 so swift as thought ? The horn 
 which you strove in vain to empty 
 had its further end in the sea, and so 
 mighty were your draughts that over 
 the wide sea the waters have sunk to 
 the ebb. Your strength was no less 
 wonderful when you lifted the cat ; 
 when we saw one foot raised from the 
 floor our hearts sank in terror, for 
 it was the Midgard-serpent, encir- 
 cling the whole earth, which you 
 really contended against, and you 
 195
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 held it aloft so near heaven that the 
 world was hardly enclosed by its 
 folds. Most marvellous of all was 
 the wrestling with Ellie, who was 
 none other than old age itself, who 
 sooner or later must bring all things 
 to the ground. We must part, I 
 hope never to meet again ; for I can 
 only defend myself against you by 
 spells of magic such as these." 
 
 Thor was so enraged when he 
 heard these words that he swung his 
 hammer high in air to crush the ly- 
 ing Utgard-Loke, but he had van- 
 ished, and when Thor turned to look 
 for the city he saw only a beauti- 
 ful plain spreading its blossoming 
 meadows to the far mountains ; and 
 he went thoughtfully back to Asgard. 
 
 196
 
 Chapter XIV 
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 THERE was one shadow which 
 always fell over Asgard. Some- 
 times in the long years the gods al- 
 most forgot it, it lay so far off, like a 
 dim cloud in a clear sky ; but Odin 
 saw it deepen and widen as he looked 
 out into the universe, and he knew 
 that the last great battle would surely 
 come, when the gods themselves 
 would be destroyed and a long twi- 
 light would rest on all the worlds ; 
 and now the day was close at hand. 
 Misfortunes never come singly to 
 men, and they did not to the gods. 
 Idun, the beautiful goddess of youth, 
 whose apples were the joy of all 
 197
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Asgard, made a resting place for her- 
 self among the massive branches of 
 Ygdrasil, and there every evening 
 came Brage, and sang so sweetly that 
 the birds stopped to listen, and even 
 the Norns, those implacable sisters 
 at the foot of the tree, were softened 
 by the melody. But poetry cannot 
 change the purposes of fate, and one 
 evening no song was heard of Brage 
 or birds, the leaves of the world-tree 
 hung withered and lifeless on the 
 branches, and the fountain from 
 which they had daily been sprinkled 
 was dry at last. Idun had fallen into 
 the dark valley of death, and when 
 Brage, Heimdal, and Loke went to 
 
 O * ' 
 
 question her about the future she 
 could answer them only with tears. 
 Brage would not leave his beautiful 
 
 D 
 
 wife alone amid the dim shades that 
 
 crowded the dreary valley, and so 
 
 198
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 youth and genius vanished out of 
 Asgard forever. 
 
 Balder was the most god-like of 
 all the gods, because he was the 
 purest and the best. Wherever he 
 went his coming was like the coming 
 of sunshine, and all the beauty of 
 summer was but the shining of his 
 face. When men's hearts were white 
 like the light, and their lives clear 
 as the day, it was because Balder was 
 looking down upon them with those 
 soft, clear eyes that were open win- 
 dows to the soul of God. He had 
 always lived in such a glow of 
 brightness that no darkness had ever 
 touched him ; but one morning, after 
 Idun and Brage had gone, Balder's 
 face was sad and troubled. He 
 walked slowly from room to room in 
 his palace Breidablik, stainless as the 
 sky when April showers have swept 
 199
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 across it because no impure thing 
 had ever crossed the threshold, and 
 his eyes were heavy with sorrow. In 
 the night terrible dreams had broken 
 his sleep, and made it a long torture. 
 The air seemed to be full of awful 
 changes for him, and for all the gods. 
 He knew in his soul that the shadow 
 of the last great day was sweeping 
 on ; as he looked out and saw the 
 worlds lying in light and beauty, 
 the fields yellow with waving grain, 
 the deep fiords flashing back the sun- 
 beams from their clear depths, the 
 verdure clothing the loftiest moun- 
 tains, and knew that over all this 
 darkness and desolation would come, 
 with silence of reapers and birds, 
 with fading of leaf and flower, a 
 great sorrow fell on his heart. 
 
 Balder could bear the burden no 
 longer. He went out, called all the 
 200
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 gods together, and told them the ter- 
 rible dreams of the night. Every 
 face was heavy with care. The 
 death of Balder would be like the 
 going out of the sun, and after a 
 long, sad council the gods resolved 
 to protect him from harm by pledg- 
 ing all things to stand between him 
 and any hurt. So Frigg, his mother, 
 went forth and made everything 
 promise, on a solemn oath, not to 
 injure her son. Fire, iron, all kinds 
 of metal, every sort of stone, trees, 
 earth, diseases, birds, beasts, snakes, 
 as the anxious mother went to them, 
 solemnly pledged themselves that no 
 harm should come near Balder. 
 Everything promised, and Frigg 
 thought she had driven away the 
 cloud ; but fate was stronger than her 
 love, and one little shrub had not 
 sworn. 
 
 201
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 Odin was not satisfied even with 
 these precautions, for whichever way 
 he looked the shadow of a great 
 sorrow spread over the worlds. He 
 began to feel as if he were no longer 
 the greatest of the gods, and he could 
 almost hear the rough shouts of the 
 frost-giants crowding the rainbow 
 bridge on their way into Asgard. 
 When trouble comes to men it is 
 hard to bear, but to a god who had 
 so many worlds to guide and rule it 
 was a new and terrible thing. Odin 
 thought and thought until he was 
 ' weary, but no gleam of light could 
 he find anywhere ; it was thick dark- 
 ness everywhere. 
 
 At last he could bear the suspense 
 no longer, and saddling his horse he 
 rode sadly out of Asgard to Nifl- 
 heim, the home of Hel, whose face 
 was as the face of death itself. As 
 
 202
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 he drew near the the gates, a mons- 
 trous dog came out and barked furi- 
 ously, but Odin rode a little eastward 
 of the shadowy gates to the grave of 
 a wonderful prophetess. It was a 
 cold, gloomy place, and the soul of 
 the great god was pierced with a 
 feeling of hopeless sorrow as he dis- 
 mounted from Sleipner, and bending 
 over the grave began to chant weird 
 songs, and weave magical charms 
 over it. When he had spoken those 
 wonderful words which could waken 
 the dead from their sleep, there was 
 an awful silence for a moment, and 
 then a faint ghost-like voice came 
 from the grave. 
 
 " Who art thou ? " it said. " Who 
 breaketh the silence of death, and 
 calleth the sleeper out of her long 
 slumbers ? Ages ago I was laid at 
 rest here, snow and rain have fallen 
 203
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 upon me through myriad years ; 
 why dost thou disturb me ? " 
 
 " I am Vegtam," answered Odin, 
 "and I come to ask why the couches 
 of Hel are hung with gold and 
 the benches strewn with shining 
 rings ? " 
 
 "It is done for Balder," answered 
 
 the awful voice ; " ask me no more." 
 
 Odin's heart sank when he heard 
 
 these words; but he was determined 
 
 to know the worst. 
 
 " I will ask thee until I know 
 all. Who shall strike the fatal 
 blow?" 
 
 " If I must, I must," moaned the 
 prophetess. " Hoder shall smite his 
 brother Balder and send him down 
 to the dark home of Hel. The 
 mead is already brewed for Balder, 
 and the despair draweth near." 
 Then Odin, looking into the 
 204
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 future across the open grave, saw 
 all the days to come. 
 
 " Who is this," he said, seeing 
 that which no mortal could have 
 seen, " who is this that will not 
 weep for Balder? " 
 
 Then the prophetess knew that it 
 was none other than the greatest of 
 the gods who had called her up. 
 
 "Thou art not Vegtam," she ex- 
 claimed, " thou art Odin himself, 
 the king of men." 
 
 "And thou," answered Odin 
 angrily, "art no prophetess, but 
 the mother of three giants." 
 
 " Ride home, then, and exult in 
 what thou hast discovered," said the 
 dead woman. "Never shall my 
 slumbers be broken again until Loke 
 shall burst his chains and the great 
 battle come." 
 
 And Odin rode sadly homeward 
 205
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 knowing that already Niflheim was 
 making itself beautiful against the 
 coming of Balder. 
 
 The other gods meanwhile had 
 become merry again; for had not 
 everything promised to protect their 
 beloved Balder? They even made 
 sport of that which troubled them, 
 for when they found that nothing 
 could hurt Balder, and that all things 
 glanced aside from his shining form, 
 they persuaded him to stand as a 
 target for their weapons ; hurling 
 darts, spears, swords, and battle-axes 
 at him, all of which went singing 
 through the air and fell harmless at 
 his feet. But Loke, when he saw 
 these sports, was jealous of Balder, 
 and went about thinking how he 
 could destroy him. 
 
 It happened that as Frigg sat 
 spinning in her house Fensal, the 
 206
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 soft wind blowing in at the windows 
 and bringing the merry shouts of the 
 gods at play, an old woman entered 
 and approached her. 
 
 " Do you know," asked the new- 
 comer, "what they are doing in 
 Asgard? They are throwing all 
 manner of dangerous weapons at 
 Balder. He stands there like the 
 sun for brightness, and against his 
 glory, spears and battle-axes fall 
 powerless to the ground. Nothing 
 can harm him." 
 
 " No," answered Frigg joyfully ; 
 " nothing can bring him any hurt, for 
 I have made everything in heaven and 
 earth swear to protect him." 
 
 " What !" said the old. woman, "has 
 everything sworn to guard Balder ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Frigg, "everything 
 has sworn except one little shrub 
 which is called Mistletoe, and grows 
 207
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 on the eastern side of Valhal. I did 
 not take an oath from that because I 
 thought it too young and weak." 
 
 When the old woman heard this a 
 strange light came into her eyes ; she 
 walked off much faster than she had 
 come in, and no sooner had she passed 
 beyond Frigg's sight than this same 
 feeble old woman grew suddenly erect, 
 shook off her woman's garments, and 
 there stood Loke himself. In a mo- 
 ment he had reached the slope east of 
 Valhal, had plucked a twig of the un- 
 sworn Mistletoe, and was back in the 
 circle of the gods, who were still at 
 their favourite pastime with Balder. 
 Hoder was standing silent and alone 
 outside the noisy throng, for he was 
 blind. Loke touched him. 
 
 "Why do you not throw something 
 at Balder?" 
 
 " Because I cannot see where Bal- 
 208
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 der stands, and have nothing to throw 
 if I could," replied Hoder. 
 
 " If that is all," said Loke, " come 
 with me. I will give you something 
 to throw, and direct your aim." 
 
 Hoder, thinking no evil, went with 
 Loke and did as he was told. 
 
 The little sprig of Mistletoe shot 
 through the air, pierced the heart of 
 Balder, and in a moment the beautiful 
 god lay dead upon the field. A shad- 
 ow rose out of the deep beyond the 
 worlds and spread itself over heaven 
 and earth, for the light of the universe 
 had gone out. 
 
 The gods could not speak for hor- 
 ror. They stood like statues for a 
 moment, and then a hopeless wail 
 burst from their lips. Tears fell like 
 rain from eyes that had never wept 
 before, for Balder, the joy of Asgard, 
 had gone to Niflheim and left them 
 14 209
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 desolate. But Odin was saddest of 
 all, because he knew the future, and 
 he knew that peace and light had fled 
 from Asgard forever, and that the last 
 day and the long night were hurrying 
 on. 
 
 Frigg could not give up her beau- 
 tiful son, and when her grief had spent 
 itself a little, she asked who would go 
 to Hel and offer her a rich ransom if 
 she would permit Balder to return to 
 Asgard. 
 
 " I will go," said Hermod ; swift at 
 the word of Odin Sleipner was led 
 forth, and in an instant Hermod was 
 galloping furiously away. 
 
 Then the gods began with sorrow- 
 ful hearts to make ready for Balder's 
 funeral. When the once beautiful 
 form had been arrayed in grave-clothes 
 they carried it reverently down to the 
 deep sea, which lay, calm as a summer 
 
 2IO
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 afternoon, waiting for its precious bur- 
 den. Close to the water's edge lay 
 Raider's Ringhorn, the greatest of all 
 the ships that sailed the seas, but when 
 the gods tried to launch it they could 
 not move it an inch. The great ves- 
 sel creaked and groaned, but no one 
 could push it down to the water. 
 Odin walked about it with a sad face, 
 and the gentle ripple of the little 
 waves chasing each other over the 
 rocks seemed a mocking laugh to 
 him. 
 
 " Send to Jotunheim for Hyrro- 
 ken," he said at last; and a messen- 
 ger was soon flying for that mighty 
 giantess. 
 
 In a little time, Hyrroken came 
 riding swiftly on a wolf so large and 
 fierce that he made the gods think of 
 Fenrer. When the giantess had a- 
 lighted, Odin ordered four Berserkers 
 
 211
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 of mighty strength to hold the wolf, 
 but he struggled so angrily that they 
 had to throw him on the ground be- 
 fore they could control him. Then 
 Hyrroken went to the prow of the 
 ship and with one mighty effort sent 
 it far into the sea, the rollers under- 
 neath bursting into flame, and the 
 whole earth trembling with the shock. 
 Thor was so angry at the uproar that 
 he would have killed the giantess on 
 the spot if he had not been held back 
 by the other gods. The great ship 
 floated on the sea as she had often done 
 before, when Balder, full of life and 
 beauty, set all her sails and was borne 
 joyfully across the tossing seas. 
 Slowly and solemnly the dead god 
 was carried on board, and as Nanna, 
 his faithful wife, saw her husband 
 borne for the last time from the earth 
 which he had made dear to her and 
 
 212
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 beautiful to all men, her heart broke 
 with sorrow, and they laid her beside 
 Balder on the funeral pyre. 
 
 Since the world began no one had 
 seen such a funeral. No bells tolled, 
 no long procession of mourners mov- 
 ed across the hills, but all the worlds 
 lay under a deep shadow, and from 
 every quarter came those who had 
 loved or feared Balder. There at the 
 very water's edge stood Odin himself, 
 the ravens flying about his head, and 
 on his majestic face a gloom that no 
 sun would ever lighten again; and 
 there was Frigg, the desolate mother, 
 whose son had already gone so far 
 that he would never come back to 
 her ; there was Frey standing sad and 
 stern in his chariot; there was Freyja, 
 the goddess of love, from whose eyes 
 fell a shining rain of tears ; there, too, 
 was Heimdal on his horse Goldtop ; 
 213
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 and around all these glorious ones 
 from Asgard crowded the children 
 of Jotunheim, grim mountain-giants 
 seamed with scars from Thor's ham- 
 mer, and frost-giants who saw in the 
 death of Balder the coming of that 
 long winter in which they should 
 reign through all the worlds. 
 
 A deep hush fell on all created 
 things, and every eye was fixed on 
 the great ship riding near the shore, 
 and on the funeral pyre rising from 
 the deck crowned with the forms of 
 Balder and Nanna. Suddenly a gleam 
 of light flashed over the water ; the 
 pile had been kindled, and the flames, 
 creeping slowly at first, climbed faster 
 and faster until they met over the 
 dead and rose skyward. A lurid 
 light filled the heavens and shone on 
 the sea, and in the brightness of it 
 the gods looked pale and sad, and 
 214
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 the circle of giants grew darker and 
 more portentous. Thor struck the 
 fast burning pyre with his consecrat- 
 ing hammer, and Odin cast into it the 
 wonderful ring Draupner. Higher 
 and higher leaped the flames, more 
 and more desolate grew the scene ; 
 at last they began to sink, the funeral 
 pyre was consumed. Balder had 
 vanished forever, the summer was 
 ended, and winter waited at the doors. 
 Meanwhile Hermod was riding 
 hard and fast on his gloomy errand. 
 Nine days and nights he rode through 
 valleys so deep and dark that he 
 could not see his horse. Stillness and 
 blackness and solitude were his only 
 companions until he came to the 
 golden bridge which crosses the river 
 Gjol. The good horse Sleipner, who 
 had carried Odin on so many strange 
 journeys, had never travelled such a 
 215
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 road before, and his hoofs rang drear- 
 ily as he stopped short at the bridge, 
 for in front of him stood its porter, 
 the gigantic Modgud. 
 
 " Who are you ? " she asked, fix- 
 ing her piercing eyes on Hermod. 
 " What is your name and parentage ? 
 Yesterday five bands of dead men 
 rode across the bridge, and beneath 
 them all it did not shake as under 
 your single tread. There is no colour 
 of death in your face. Why ride 
 you hither, the living among the 
 dead? " 
 
 " I come," said Hermod, " to seek 
 for Balder. Have you seen him pass 
 this way ? " 
 
 "He has already crossed the bridge 
 and taken his journey northward to 
 Hel." 
 
 Then Hermod rode slowly across 
 the bridge that spans the abyss be- 
 216
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 tween life and death, and found his 
 way at last to the barred gates of 
 Hel's dreadful home. There he 
 sprang to the ground, tightened the 
 girths, remounted, drove the spurs 
 deep into the horse, and Sleipner, 
 with a mighty leap, cleared the wall. 
 Hermod rode straight to the gloomy 
 palace, dismounted, entered, and in a 
 moment was face to face with the 
 terrible queen of the kingdom of the 
 dead. Beside her, on a beautiful 
 throne, sat Balder, pale and wan, 
 crowned with a withered wreath of 
 flowers, and close at hand was Nanna, 
 pallid as her husband, for whom she 
 had died. And all night long, while 
 ghostly forms wandered restless and 
 sleepless through Helheim, Her- 
 mod talked with Balder and Nanna. 
 There is no record of what they said, 
 
 but the talk was sad enough, doubtless, 
 217
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 and ran like a still stream among the 
 happy days in Asgard when Balder's 
 smile was morning over the earth 
 and the sight of his face the summer 
 of the world. 
 
 When the morning came, faint and 
 dim, through the dusky palace, Her- 
 mod sought Hel, who received him 
 as cold and stern as fate. 
 
 " Your kingdom is full, O Hel ! " 
 he said, " and without Balder, Asgard 
 is empty. Send him back to us 
 once more, for there is sadness in 
 every heart and tears are in every eye. 
 Through heaven and earth all things 
 weep for him." 
 
 "If that is true," was the slow, icy 
 answer, " if every created thing weeps 
 for Balder, he shall return to Asgard ; 
 but if one eye is dry he remains 
 henceforth in Helheim." 
 
 Then Hermod rode swiftly away, 
 218
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 and the decree of Hel was soon told 
 in Asgard. Through all the worlds 
 the gods sent messengers to say that 
 all who loved Balder should weep 
 for his return, and everywhere tears 
 fell like rain. There was weeping in 
 Asgard, and in all the earth there was 
 nothing that did not weep. Men and 
 women and little children, missing the 
 light that had once fallen into their 
 hearts and homes, sobbed with bitter 
 grief; the birds of the air, who had 
 sung carols of joy at the gates of the 
 morning since time began, were full 
 of sorrow; the beasts of the fields 
 crouched and moaned in their desola- 
 tion ; the great trees, that had put 
 on their robes of green at Balder's 
 command, sighed as the wind wailed 
 through them ; and the sweet flowers, 
 that waited for Balder's footstep and 
 sprang up in all the fields to greet 
 219
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 him, hung their frail blossoms and 
 wept bitterly for the love and the 
 warmth and the light that had gone 
 out. Throughout the whole earth 
 there was nothing but weeping, and 
 the sound of it was like the wailing 
 of those storms in autumn that weep 
 for the dead summer as its withered 
 leaves drop one by one from the 
 trees. 
 
 The messengers of the gods went 
 gladly back to Asgard, for every- 
 thing had wept for Balder; but as 
 they journeyed they came upon a 
 giantess, called Thok, and her eyes 
 were dry. 
 
 " Weep for Balder," they said. 
 
 " With dry eyes only will I weep 
 for Balder," she answered. " Dead 
 or alive, he never gave me gladness. 
 Let him stay in Helheim." 
 
 When she had spoken these words 
 220
 
 The Death of Balder 
 
 a terrible laugh broke from her lips, 
 and the messengers looked at each 
 other with pallid faces, for they 
 knew it was the voice of Loke. 
 
 Balder never came back to Asgard, 
 and the shadows deepened over all 
 things, for the night of death was 
 fast coming on. 
 
 221
 
 Chapter XV 
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 IN the beginning Loke had been 
 the brother of Odin, and one 
 of the foremost of the gods, but the 
 lawlessness and passion that were in 
 him had won the mastery, and in 
 earth and heaven he was fast bring- 
 ing ruin and sorrow. What the 
 hard-hearted frost-giants had always 
 tried to do and failed, Loke did ; for 
 in the end the evil in him destroyed 
 Asgard, and brought in the long 
 winter of storm and darkness. It 
 was he who stole Sif's hair and 
 Freyja's necklace, who persuaded 
 Idun to go into the woods that 
 the giant Thjasse might carry off 
 her apples, who stung the dwarf 
 
 222
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 so that the handle of Thor's hammer 
 was shortened, who induced Thor to 
 go on his dangerous journey to Geir- 
 rod ; but worst of all his crimes was 
 the killing of Balder, and the refusal 
 to weep for him when all the world 
 was in tears. 
 
 After bringing so much sorrow 
 upon others, suffering at last came to 
 him. Not long after Balder's death 
 the sea-god .ZEger gave a great feast, 
 and brewed ale for the gods in the 
 great kettle which Thor had taken 
 from the giant Hymer. All the 
 gods were there save Thor, and they 
 tried to be merry, although they 
 were sad enough at heart. In the 
 midst of them sat Loke, gloomy and 
 silent, as if his terrible crime had 
 drawn a black line around him. The 
 feast went on merrily ; but he seemed 
 to have no part in it, for no one spoke 
 223
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 to him. Great horns of ale passed 
 from hand to hand, and as they 
 talked and feasted the gods forgot 
 for a moment the sorrow that lay 
 upon all the world. 
 
 " ./Eger," said one, " these are good 
 servants of yours. They are quick 
 of eye and foot, and one lacks noth- 
 ing under their care." 
 
 Loke was so full of rage that he 
 could not endure that even the ser- 
 vants of the other gods should be 
 praised, and with flashing eyes and 
 a face black with hate he sprang 
 from his place and struck the ser- 
 vant nearest him so violently that 
 he fell . dead on the floor. A silence 
 of horror fell on all the gods at this 
 new sin, and then with fierce indig- 
 nation they drove him out, and shut 
 the doors against him forever. Loke 
 strode off furiously for a little dis- 
 224
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 tance, and then turned and came 
 back. The gods meantime had be- 
 come merry again. 
 
 " What are they talking about ? " 
 he asked another servant who was 
 standing without. 
 
 " They are telling their great deeds," 
 answered the servant ; " but no one 
 has anything good to say of you." 
 
 Maddened by these words, Loke 
 forgot his fear in a terrible rage, strode 
 back into the hall and stood there 
 like a thunder-cloud ; when the gods 
 saw him they became suddenly silent. 
 
 " I have travelled hither from a 
 long distance," said he hoarsely, 
 " and I am thirsty ; who will give 
 me to drink of the mead ? " 
 
 No one spoke or stirred. Loke's 
 face grew blacker. 
 
 " Why are you all silent ? " he 
 cried ; " have you lost your tongues ? 
 15 225
 
 Norse Stones 
 
 Will you find place for me here, or 
 do you turn me away ? " 
 
 Brage looked at him steadily and 
 fearlessly. " The gods will never 
 more make room for you," he said. 
 
 When he heard these words, Loke 
 ceased to look like a god, for 
 the fury and hate of a devil were in 
 his face. He cursed the gods until 
 every face was pale with horror. 
 Like an accusing conscience he told 
 them all their faults and sins ; he 
 made them feel their weaknesses so 
 keenly that Vidar, the silent god, 
 rose to give him his seat and silence 
 him, but now that his fury was let 
 loose nothing could stop him. One 
 by one he called each god by his 
 name, and dragged his weaknesses 
 into the view of all, and last of all he 
 came to Sif, Thor's wife, and cursed 
 
 her; and now a low muttering was 
 226
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 heard afar off, and then a distant roll 
 of thunder deepening into awful peals 
 that echoed and re-echoed among the 
 hills. The gods sat silent in their 
 places, and even Loke grew dumb. 
 Great flashes of lightning flamed 
 through the hall, and made his dark 
 face more terrible to look at. Crash 
 followed close upon crash until the 
 mountains quaked, and the great hall 
 trembled ; then came a blinding flash, 
 and Thor stood in the midst swing- 
 ing Mjolner, and looking as if he 
 would smite the world into frag- 
 ments. He looked at Loke, and 
 Loke, cowering before Thor's ter- 
 rible eyes of fire, walked out of the 
 hall cursing ^Eger as he went, and 
 wishing that flames might break upon 
 his realm and devour it and him. 
 And now Loke, no longer a god in 
 
 nature or in rank, became an outcast 
 227
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 and a fugitive flying from the wrath 
 of the gods whom he had insulted 
 and wronged. He went from place 
 to place until he came upon a deep 
 valley among the mountains, so en- 
 tirely shut in that he thought no one 
 from Asgard could ever look into it. 
 There he built a house in the hollows 
 of the rocks, with four doors through 
 which he could look in every direc- 
 tion, so that no one could come near 
 his hiding-place without his knowing 
 it. He took on many disguises ; 
 often in the daytime he took the 
 shape of a salmon and hid in the 
 deep waters, where he floated solitary 
 and motionless while the gods were 
 searching for him far and wide. 
 
 Days and weeks passed away, and 
 Loke began to think he was safe 
 from the pursuit of his enemies. 
 
 He began to busy and amuse him- 
 
 228
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 self as he used to do before he was 
 shut out of Asgard. He had always 
 been a skilful fisherman, and now, as 
 he sat alone in his house before the 
 fire, he took flax and yarn and began 
 to knit the meshes of the first net 
 that was made since the world began. 
 His eyes burnt at the thought of the 
 new sport which he was going to 
 have, and his cunning hand wove 
 thread after thread into the growing 
 web. Odin, looking down from his 
 lofty throne, saw the busy weaver, 
 and quickly calling Thor, the strong- 
 est, and Kvaser, the keenest of the 
 gods, was soon on the journey to 
 Loke's home among the mountains. 
 Loke was so busy with his net that 
 he did not see them until they were 
 close at hand ; then he sprang up, 
 threw the net into the fire, and run- 
 ning to the river changed himself into 
 229
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 a salmon, and dove deep into the 
 still waters. When the gods entered 
 the house Loke was nowhere to be 
 found, but the sharp-eyed Kvaser 
 found the half-burnt net among; the 
 
 D 
 
 glowing embers. He pulled it out 
 and held it before Odin and Thor. 
 
 " I know what it is," he said in a 
 moment; "it is a net for fishing; 
 Loke was always a fisherman." 
 Then, as if the thought had suddenly 
 come to him, he added, " He has 
 changed himself into a fish and is 
 hiding in that river." 
 
 Odin and Thor were rejoiced to 
 find their enemy so close at hand, 
 and they all began to work on the 
 half-burnt net and quickly finished it. 
 Then they went softly down to the 
 water, threw it in, and drew it slowly 
 up the stream from shore t shore. 
 But Loke swam between two large 
 230
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 stones in the bed of the stream and 
 the net only grazed him as it passed 
 over. The gods rinding the net 
 empty hung a great stone on it, and, 
 going back to the starting place, drew 
 it slowly up stream again. Never, 
 since the beginning of things, had 
 there been such fishing before ! The 
 noisy river rolled swiftly down to 
 the sea, the steep mountains rose 
 on either side and shut out the sun 
 so that even at mid-day it was like 
 twilight. When Loke saw the net 
 coming a second time and found that 
 he could not escape, he waited until 
 it was close at hand, and then with a 
 mighty leap shot over it and plunged 
 into a waterfall just where the river 
 rushed into the sea. 
 
 The gods saw the great fish leap 
 into thg air and fall into the water, 
 and they instantly turned around and 
 231
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 dragged the net toward the sea, 
 Thor wading after it in the middle 
 of the stream. As the net came 
 nearer and nearer Loke saw that he 
 must either swim out into the sea 
 or leap back again over the net. 
 He waited until the shadow of the 
 net was over him, and then with a 
 mighty leap shot into the air and 
 over the net; but Thor was watch- 
 ing, and his strong hand closed round 
 the shining fish. Loke managed to 
 slip through Thor's fingers, but Thor 
 held him by the tail, and that, as the 
 story goes, is the reason why the 
 salmon's tail is so thin and pointed. 
 
 Then the gods, glad at heart that 
 they had caught the slayer of Balder, 
 changed Loke into his natural shape 
 and dragged him to a cavern in the 
 mountains near at hand, whe^e they 
 fastened three great rocks, having 
 232
 
 How Loke was Punished 
 
 pierced them first with holes. Loke's 
 two fierce sons, Vale and Nare, they 
 also seized, and changed Vale into a 
 wolf, and immediately he sprang 
 upon his brother and devoured him. 
 Then the gods bound Loke, hand 
 and foot, to the great stones, with iron 
 fetters, and, to make his punishment 
 the more terrible, they hung a ser- 
 pent over him, which moment by mo- 
 ment through ages and ages dropped 
 poison on his face. Loke's wife, 
 Sigyn, when she saw his agony, stood 
 beside him and caught the venom in 
 a cup, as it fell drop by drop ; but 
 when the cup was full and she turned 
 to empty it the poison fell on Loke, 
 and he writhed so terribly that the 
 whole earth trembled and quaked. 
 So Loke was punished, and so he 
 lay, chained and suffering, until the 
 last great battle set him free. 
 233
 
 Chapter XVI 
 
 The Twilight of the Gods 
 
 ALTHOUGH Lokewas bound, 
 and could do no more harm, 
 Balder could not come back ; and so 
 Asgard was no longer the heaven it 
 used to be. The gods were there, 
 but the sunshine and the summer 
 had somehow lost their glory, and 
 were thenceforth pale and faint. At 
 last there came a winter such as 
 neither man nor god had ever seen 
 before. The days were short and 
 dark, blinding storms followed fast 
 upon each other and left mountains 
 of snow behind, fierce winds swept 
 the sky and troubled the sea, and the 
 bitter air froze the very hearts of 
 men into sullen despair. The deep- 
 234
 
 The Twilight of the Gods 
 
 est rivers were fast bound, the fiercest 
 animals died in their lairs, there was 
 no warmth in the sun, and even 
 the icy brightness of the stars was 
 dimmed by drifting snow. The 
 whole earth was buried in a winter 
 so bitter that the gods shivered in 
 Asgard. 
 
 The long nights and the short, 
 dark days followed fast upon each 
 other, and as the time drew near 
 when summer would come again 
 men's hearts grew light with hope 
 once more. Each day they looked 
 into the sullen skies, through which 
 clouds of snow were whirling, and 
 said to each other, " To-morrow the 
 summer will come ; " but when the 
 morrow came no summer came with 
 it. And all through the months 
 that in other days had been beautiful 
 with flowers the snow fell steadily, 
 235
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 and the cold winds blew fiercely, 
 while eyes grew sad and hearts heavy 
 with waiting for a summer that did 
 not come. And it never came again; 
 for this was the terrible Fimbul-win- 
 ter, long foretold, from which even 
 the gods could not escape. In 
 Jotunheim there was joy among the 
 frost-giants as they shouted to each 
 other through the howling storms, 
 "The Fimbul-winter has come at 
 last." At first men shuddered as 
 they whispered, " Can it be the 
 Fimbul-winter?" But when they 
 knew it beyond all doubting a blind 
 despair filled them, and they were 
 reckless alike of good or evil. Over 
 the whole earth war followed fast 
 upon war, and everywhere there were 
 wrangling and fighting and murder. 
 It hardly snowed fast enough to 
 cover the blood-stains. Mothers 
 236
 
 The Twilight of the Gods 
 
 forgot to love their little children, 
 and brothers struck each other down 
 as if they were the bitterest enemies. 
 
 Three years passed without one 
 breath of the warm south wind or 
 the blossoming of a single flower, 
 and three other years darker and 
 colder succeeded them. A savage 
 joy filled the hearts of the frost- 
 giants, and they shook their clenched 
 hands at Asgard as if they had mas- 
 tered the gods at last. On the earth 
 there was nothing but silence and 
 despair, and among the gods only 
 patient waiting for the end. One 
 day, as the sun rose dim and cold, 
 a deep howl echoed through the sky, 
 and a great wolf sprang up from the 
 underworld and leaped vainly after it. 
 All day long, through the frosty air, 
 that terrible cry was heard, and all 
 day the giant wolf ran close behind, 
 2 37
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 slowly gaining in the chase. At last, 
 as the sun went down over the snow- 
 covered mountains, the wolf, with a 
 mighty spring, reached and devoured 
 it. The glow upon the hills went 
 out in blackness ; it was the last sun- 
 set. Faint and colourless the moon 
 rose, and another howl rilled the 
 heavens as a second wolf sprang 
 upon her track, ran swiftly behind, 
 and devoured her also. Then came 
 an awful darkness over all as, one by 
 one, the stars fell from heaven, and 
 blackness and whirling snow wrapped 
 all things in their folds. The end 
 had come ; the last great battle was 
 to be fought; Ragnarok, the Twi- 
 light of the Gods, was at hand. 
 
 Suddenly a strange sound broke 
 
 in upon the darkness and was heard 
 
 throughout all the worlds ; on a lofty 
 
 height the eagle Egder struck his 
 
 238
 
 The Twilight of the Gods 
 
 prophetic harp. The earth shook, 
 mountains crumbled, rocks were rent, 
 and all fetters were broken. Loke 
 shook off his chains and rushed out 
 of his cavern, his heart hot with hate 
 and burning with revenge, the terri- 
 ble Fenris-wolf broke loose, and out 
 of the deep sea the Midgard-serpent 
 drew his long folds toward the land, 
 lashing the water into foam as he 
 passed. From every quarter the 
 enemies of the gods gathered for the 
 last great battle on the plain of 
 Vigrid, which was a hundred miles 
 wide on each side. Thither came 
 the Fenris-wolf, his hungry jaws 
 stretched so far apart that they 
 reached from earth to heaven ; the 
 Midgard-serpent, with fiery eyes and 
 pouring out floods of venom ; the 
 awful host of Hel with Loke at their 
 head ; the grim ranks of the frost- 
 239
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 giants marching behind Hrym ; and, 
 last of all, the glittering fire-giants 
 of Muspelheim, the fire-world, with 
 Surt at the front. 
 
 The long line of enemies already 
 stretched across the plain when 
 Heimdal, standing on the rainbow 
 bridge, blew the Gjallar-horn to call 
 the gods. No sooner had Odin 
 heard the terrible call to arms than 
 he mounted and rode swiftly to 
 Mimer's fountain, that he might 
 know how to lead the gods into 
 battle. When he came, the Norns 
 sat veiled beneath the tree, silent 
 and idle, for their work was done, 
 and Ygdrasil began to quiver as if 
 its very roots had been loosened. 
 What Odin said to Mimer no one 
 will ever know. He had no sooner 
 finished speaking than Heimdal blew 
 a second blast, and out of Asgard 
 240
 
 The Twilight of the Gods 
 
 the gods rode forth to the last great 
 battle, the golden helmet and shining 
 armour of Odin leading the way. 
 There was a momentary hush as the 
 two armies confronted each other, 
 and then the awful fight began. 
 Shouts of rage rose from the frost- 
 giants, and the armour of the fire- 
 giants fairly broke into blaze as they 
 rushed forward. The Fenris-wolf 
 howled wildly, the hosts of Hel 
 grew dark and horrible with rage, 
 and the Midgard-serpent coiled its 
 scaly length to strike. But before 
 a blow had been struck the shining 
 forms of the gods were seen advanc- 
 ing, and their battle-cry rang strong 
 and clear across the field. Odin and 
 Thor started side by side, but were 
 soon separated. Odin sprang upon 
 the wolf, and after a terrible struggle 
 was devoured. Thor singled out his 
 16 241
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 old enemy, the Midgard-serpent, 
 and in a furious combat slew him ; 
 but as the monster died it drew its 
 folds together with a mighty effort 
 and poured upon Thor such a deadly 
 flood of venom that he fell back nine 
 paces, sank down and died. Frey 
 encountered Surt, and because he 
 had not the sword he had given long 
 before to Skirner, could not defend 
 himself, and he too was slain. The 
 dog Garm rushed upon Tyr, the 
 sword-god, and both were killed, 
 Tyr missing the arm which he lost 
 when the Fenris-wolf was bound. 
 
 And now the battle was at its 
 height, and over the whole field 
 gods, monsters, and giants were 
 fighting with the energy of despair. 
 Heimdal and Loke met, struggled, 
 and fell together, and Vidar rushed 
 upon the wolf which had devoured 
 242
 
 The Twilight of the Gods 
 
 Odin, and tore him limb from limb. 
 Then Surt strode into the middle of 
 the armies, and in an awful pause 
 flung a flaming firebrand among the 
 worlds. There was a breathless 
 hush, a sudden rush of air, a deadly 
 heat, and the whole universe burst 
 into blaze. A roaring flame filled 
 all space and devoured all worlds, 
 Ygdrasil fell in ashes, the earth sank 
 beneath the sea. No sun, no moon, 
 no stars, no earth, no Asgard, no 
 Hel, no Jotunheim ; gods, giants, 
 monsters, and men all dead ! Noth- 
 ing remained but a vast abyss filled 
 with the moaning seas, and brooded 
 over by a pale, colourless light. Rag- 
 narok, the end of all things, the 
 Twilight of the Gods, had come. 
 
 243
 
 Chapter XVII 
 
 The New Earth 
 
 AGES came and went, and there 
 was no one to count their years 
 as they passed ; starless and sunless, 
 the sea rolled and moaned in the 
 great abyss of space. How long 
 that dim twilight lasted no one will 
 ever know, for who, save the All- 
 father, numbered the ages or kept 
 reckoning of their flight ! Invisible, 
 unmoved, the eternal Spirit who had 
 ruled over all things from the begin- 
 ning, and whose servants the mighti- 
 est of the gods had been, kept watch 
 over the starless spaces of the uni- 
 verse, sowing in the measureless 
 furrows the seeds of a new world 
 and a new race. 
 
 244
 
 The New Earth 
 
 At last the hour was ripe, and a 
 faint glow stole through the dusky 
 space and spread itself over the sea. 
 It was so dim at first that the waves 
 were hardly coloured by it, but it 
 deepened and deepened until it lay 
 rose-red across the waters, and made 
 all the upper air rich and beautiful. 
 Moment by moment the sky kindled 
 and sent its new glory deep into the 
 heart of the sea, until at last, though 
 there was no song to welcome it, no 
 grateful eyes of men and women to 
 watch its coming, a new sun stood 
 at the threshold of a new day and 
 filled the hollow heavens and the 
 great deep with light and warmth. 
 All day the splendour of the new 
 time bathed air and water in its 
 glow, and when the sun sank at last 
 in the west, and the old darkness be- 
 245
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 gan to steal back again, one by one 
 the stars found their places and set 
 their silver lamps swinging in the 
 restless waves. 
 
 Day followed day, and night fol- 
 lowed night, and yet sun and stars 
 looked down on a wide waste of waters. 
 But there came a day at last when 
 the waters were parted by a point of 
 land, and hour by hour it widened 
 as a new earth rose fresh and beauti- 
 ful out of the depths of the sea. 
 Over it the sun poured such a glow 
 of warmth that life stirred under 
 every sod ; trees shot from the rich 
 soil and made new forests for the 
 wind to play upon ; the grass spread 
 itself softly over the barren places, 
 and with deft fingers wove a garment 
 for the whole earth ; flowers bloomed 
 along the hillsides and opened their 
 246
 
 The New Earth 
 
 fragrant leaves deep in the forests ; 
 birds broke the stillness of the woods 
 and made circles of song in the upper 
 air; the rivers flowed on silently to 
 the sea ; the fjords caught once 
 more the shadows of the mountains ; 
 and the waterfalls were white with 
 foam of rushing streams. 
 
 And when all was ready, and the 
 blue sky once more overarched a 
 world of peace and joy and fruitful 
 fields, Balder came back more fair 
 and beautiful than in the old days at 
 Asgard. With him came his brother 
 Hoder, who had killed him, and 
 they were not long alone ; for one by 
 one Hoener, Vidar, and Vale rejoined 
 them. The flame had not touched 
 so much as the hem of their gar- 
 ments, nor had the floods destroyed 
 them. Thor's work was done, but 
 247
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 his sons, Magne and Mode, brought 
 back to earth the wonderful hammer 
 which had so often flashed over frost- 
 giants and rung in their ears. More 
 wonderful than all, out of Mimer's 
 forest, where the fountain of memory 
 once stood, and through which the 
 feet of Odin had so often gone in 
 search of knowledge, came Lifthraser 
 and Lif, the one man and woman 
 who had escaped the ruin of the 
 world. And they drank the dew of 
 the morning and grew strong and 
 beautiful. They plucked the sweet 
 new flowers and turned the furrows 
 of the fresh earth, and the harvests 
 waved for them abundantly in all the 
 future years until their children and 
 their children's children filled the 
 whole earth. 
 
 The beautiful plain of Ida lay 
 248
 
 The New Earth 
 
 green and bright all the year and 
 bordered with perennial flowers as 
 the suns circled around it ; and the 
 gods were at peace at last. No 
 frost-giants invaded the new heaven 
 or darkened the new earth. Through 
 the long bright days Balder and 
 Hoder often sat together and talked 
 of the olden time, of the Midgard- 
 serpent, and the wolf Fenrer, and of 
 Loke's misdoings. Through earth 
 and heaven there was unbroken 
 rest ; for often when the gods met 
 to take counsel together the voice of 
 the unseen All-father spoke to them 
 with infinite wisdom, appeasing quar- 
 rels, pronouncing judgment, and es- 
 tablishing peace for ever and ever. 
 And so through all the ages the new 
 world will move to the end. Trees 
 will wave, flowers bloom, stars shine, 
 249
 
 Norse Stories 
 
 rivers flow, men toil and reap in the 
 fruitful fields, the gods look lovingly 
 down from the plain of Ida upon 
 their labours ; for the hand of the 
 great All-father will lift men through 
 obedience and industry to himself. 
 
 250
 
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