Stories from Northern Myths

by Emilie K. Baker

“That I will do very gladly,” cried the giant, getting up from the ground and stretching his huge body until it seemed as if his hands would touch the clouds. He then picked up a large sack that was lying near by, and throwing it over his shoulders, bade Thor and Loki follow him. Before they had gone far, he stopped, saying, “I have forgotten my glove; it must be somewhere in the forest.” As he refused to proceed any further until it was found, the gods and Thialfi helped him in his search. Suddenly the giant reached over the tops of the trees, and picking up the very house in which the travellers had spent the night, exclaimed, “Here is my glove! I must have dropped it just before I went to sleep.”

Putting the glove into his capacious pocket, and throwing his bag of provisions again upon his back, the giant started off across the hills. The gods had great difficulty in keeping within sight of him; and Thialfi, who was a swift runner, could barely hold to the pace the giant set as he covered mile after mile with each of his great strides.

At nightfall they were still far from the city of Utgard, so the giant proposed that they should eat their evening meal, and then sleep under the trees. The dinner was soon disposed of, and after the giant had eaten two roasted sheep and drunk a keg of ale, he stretched himself full length upon the ground. In a moment he was fast asleep and snoring louder than ever before.

The two gods knew that it was no use for them to think of sleeping, so Thor, having nothing better to do, laid hold of the giant’s sack and tried to unfasten the string with which it seemed so loosely tied. But the more he pulled at it, the tighter drew the cord, and Thor despaired of seeing what was inside the sack unless he ripped it open. This failure made him very angry, and his anger was further increased by the giant’s continued snoring. When the gods wished to speak to each other, they could barely hear their voices above the thunder of the giant’s snores.

At last Thor could restrain his wrath no longer; and, raising Mjölner high above his head, he dealt the sleeping figure a terrific blow. The giant opened his eyes, and looked slowly around him. “Did a leaf fall on my head?” he asked. “I thought that I felt something touch me.” Then he went off to sleep again, and began to snore so heavily that the gods felt the ground shaking beneath them.

Thor was surprised at the ill-success of his blow, and he grew angrier than ever at the sight of the giant peacefully sleeping. Then he looked at the sack with its seemingly simple cord which he could not untie, and his wrath blazed out afresh. He rushed at the giant like a charging bull, and the blow which he dealt him made such a noise that for a moment it drowned the thunderous snoring. The giant roused himself with a shake and called, “Is any one throwing acorns at me, or did a twig fall on my head?”

On receiving no answer to his question, he sat up, and looking around at Thor he smiled pleasantly and said: “Why are you not sleeping, my friends? If you do not rest, you will be too tired for your journey to-morrow. But perhaps you are still hungry; so take what you wish from my sack. There is plenty for us all.” He tossed his bag of provisions nearer to the gods—then lay down again and went to sleep.

Thor was so furious by this time that he could barely wait until the giant was asleep before he grasped Mjölner in both hands and hurled it at the giant’s head. Thialfi, seeing the god beside himself with rage, shrank back in fear before the terrible wrath that blazed in the Thunderer’s eyes; and he hid his face in his hands when he heard the crash that shook the forest when Mjölner sank almost up to the handle in the giant’s forehead.

The sleeper stirred uneasily, then sat up, looking first at the travellers, then up at the trees. “Are there any birds about here?” he asked. “I thought I felt one pecking at my forehead.” Then he sprang to his feet, and, taking up his sack of provisions, he opened the bag very easily and took out half an ox. “It is almost daylight, and we must have an early start if we wish to reach Utgard by midday,” he continued, smiling pleasantly at his companions, and offering them the contents of his sack.

Thor was so angry that he could not eat, but Loki and Thialfi made a good breakfast, and as they ate, the giant told them what they might expect when they reached the city of Utgard. “You may think that I am a fairly big fellow,” he said, “but when you see those who live at the court of the king, you will consider me but a puny thing to be called a giant. If Thor wishes to find a worthy opponent, he will meet his equal among Utgard-Loke’s men.”