The next morning the king accompanied his guests to the gates of the city; and when they were well outside the walls he said to Thor: “Now that you are no longer within our gates, I will confess to you that during your brief stay among us, we have been not only amazed but terrified at seeing how great indeed is your strength. We know now that all our combined forces would have been powerless against you unless we had deceived you by our magic arts. For it was not superior skill or strength that defeated you in the contests, but enchantment. It was I whom you met in the forest,[29] and when I found how terrible was Thor’s strength, I knew that it was rash to admit such a foe within our gates unless he could be deceived by magic, and his strength be met by cunning. I tied the sack with a cord that no one but myself could possibly undo, for every knot was made under a magic spell. Each time Thor struck me those terrific blows, I quickly slid a mountain between myself and the hammer; and you may now see the deep clefts which those blows have made. When Thialfi ran with Hugi, it was against Thought that he was racing; and when Loki strove with Logi, his opponent was none other than Fire, who consumes whatever he touches. Thor took such deep draughts from the horn that we were all amazed at his wonderful drinking; but the other end of the horn was in the sea, so try as he would he could never drain it dry. You will notice, however, as you look over the earth, that the level of the ocean has fallen far beyond its lowest ebb-line, owing to Thor’s enormous drinking. The cat which could not be raised from the ground was really the Midgard serpent, and we giants trembled, indeed, when we saw how high Thor lifted it. Lastly the old nurse, Ellie, whose strength seemed so marvellous to you, was not a woman, but Old Age itself; and in her hold even the greatest warrior is bound to weaken and fall.”
[29] Utgard-Loke had told Thor that his name was Skrymer. [Back]
When Thor heard these words of Utgard-Loke’s, he was so furious at the trickery that had been put upon him that he rushed at the speaker with upraised hammer. But before the blow could fall, the giant had disappeared; and when Thor looked about him he no longer saw the gates of Utgard nor any sight of the great city. He and Loki were standing on one of the bleak moorlands over which the winds of Jötunheim blew forever night and day.
The Wooing of Gerd
THE god Freyr was busy enough in the summertime when the sun shone upon the earth and everything bloomed and blossomed under his untiring care; but when winter came there was no work for him to do in orchards or meadows, and he grew restless from the long enforced idleness. So one day when Odin was away on some necessary journey, Freyr strolled idly through the golden streets of Asgard, and wished that he might sometime be taken as a companion when Odin went wandering among the dwellings of men. He wondered whether there was any spot in Asgard from which he could look down and see what was going on in the earth, and the longing grew very strong to see where Odin had gone.
There was one place which commanded a view of all the world, but Freyr did not dare to think of usurping it, for Odin’s throne was held so sacred that no other god had ever ventured to set foot there. Dismissing this thought from his mind, Freyr wandered restlessly about from one marble hall to another, but getting nearer each moment to the great gold throne, until at last he stood directly before it. A long time he hesitated, thinking of the punishment that might fall upon him if Odin suddenly returned; but finally the desire to see all the kingdoms of the earth grew too strong to be resisted, and Freyr boldly stepped into Odin’s sacred seat.
He gave a gasp of wonder and delight as his eyes travelled quickly over the wonderful panorama of earth and sky that lay spread out before him. Far away to the north stretched ice-encircled Jötunheim, whose snow-capped mountains reached up into the clouds. Still farther away lay the Land of Mists with its chill fogs, reaching out toward Muspelheim. The earth itself, which Freyr knew so well, looked wonderfully fresh and new when seen from this exalted place; and he felt that he himself would never weary of watching over the affairs of men, if only he could occupy Odin’s seat.
He did not care to rest his gaze very long on frozen Jötunheim, for there was nothing in that dreary country to attract the beauty-loving Freyr; but as he chanced to look at a tall old castle standing on the top of one of the wind-swept hills, he saw the door suddenly open. Then a maiden appeared on the threshold, and Freyr gazed upon her with surprise and delight, for she seemed too beautiful to belong to the grim race of giants.
She stood a moment in the doorway, a very embodiment of warmth and youth and light; and when the doors at length closed behind her, Freyr felt that all the brightness had gone out of the world. Never before had he seen any maiden whom he wished to make his wife; but here in the land of the frost-giants he had found one whose loveliness already made him thrill at the mere thought of her.