Odin, as has already been stated, took great interest in the affairs of mortals, and, we are told, was specially fond of watching King Hrauding’s handsome little sons, Geirrod and Agnar, when they were about eight and ten years of age. One day these little lads went fishing, and when a storm suddenly arose their boat drifted far out to sea, and was finally stranded upon an island, where dwelt an old couple, Odin and Frigga, in disguise. The lads were warmly welcomed and kindly treated, Odin choosing Geirrod as his favorite, and teaching him the use of arms, while Frigga petted and made much of little Agnar. The boys tarried on the island with their kind protectors during the long, cold winter season; but when spring came, the skies were blue, and the sea calm, they embarked in a boat which Odin provided, and set out for their native shores. Favored by gentle breezes, they were soon wafted thither; but as the boat neared the shore Geirrod quickly sprang out and shoved it far into the water, bidding his brother sail away into the evil spirit’s power. At that selfsame moment the wind veered, and Agnar was carried away, while his brother hastened back to his father’s palace, where he was joyfully received, and where, in due time, he succeeded his father upon the throne.
Years had passed since Odin and Frigga had spent that winter in human form on the desert island, when one day, while the royal couple were seated on the throne Hlidskialf, Odin bade his wife notice how powerful his pupil had become, and taunted her because her favorite Agnar had married a giantess and had remained poor and of no importance in the world. Frigga quietly replied that it was better to be poor than hard hearted, and accused Geirrod of lack of hospitality—one of the most heinous crimes in the eyes of a Northerner. She even went so far as to declare that in spite of all his wealth he often ill treated his guests.
When Odin heard this accusation he declared that he would prove the falsity of her charge by assuming the guise of a Wanderer and testing Geirrod’s generosity. Wrapped in his cloud-hued raiment, with slouch hat and pilgrim staff,—
“Wanderer calls me the world,
Far have I carried my feet,
On the back of the earth
I have boundlessly been,”—
Wagner (Forman’s tr.).
Odin immediately set out by a roundabout way, while Frigga, to outwit him, sent Geirrod a secret warning to beware of a man in wide mantle and broad-brimmed hat, as he was a wicked enchanter who would work him ill.
As soon, therefore, as Odin presented himself before the king’s palace he was dragged into Geirrod’s presence, where, when he had given his name as Grimnir, and had refused to tell whence he came or what he wanted, he was bound between two fires, whose flames played around him without quite touching him. There he remained eight days and nights, in obstinate silence, without a morsel of food, and had it not been that Agnar, who had returned to his brother’s palace and occupied a menial position there, once secretly brought him a horn of ale, he would have had nothing to drink.