And his heart and inmost yearnings, when first the work began;—
The God that was aforetime, and hereafter yet shall be
When the new light yet undreamed of shall shine o’er earth and sea.”
These gods had not wandered very far before Loki perceived an otter basking in the sun. Animated by his usual spirit of destruction, he slew the unoffending beast—which, as it happened, was the dwarf king’s second son, Otter—and flung its lifeless body over his shoulders, thinking it would furnish a good dish when meal time came.
Following his companions, Loki came at last to Hreidmar’s house, entered with them, and flung his burden down upon the floor. The moment the dwarf king’s glance fell upon it he flew into a towering rage, and before the gods could help themselves they were bound by his order, and heard him declare that they should never recover their liberty unless they could satisfy his thirst for gold by giving him enough of that precious substance to cover the otterskin inside and out.
“‘Now hearken the doom I shall speak! Ye stranger-folk shall be free
When ye give me the Flame of the Waters, the gathered Gold of the Sea,
That Andvari hideth rejoicing in the wan realm pale as the grave;
And the Master of Sleight shall fetch it, and the hand that never gave,
And the heart that begrudgeth forever, shall gather and give and rue.