The city of Bayeux still has its festival parade with a huge effigy, commemorating the slaying of the terrible Brun the Dane by Robert of Argouges; in Douai,
huge Gayant with his wife and children parades the streets for three days during the July kermess; Metz, Lille, Dunkirk and many Spanish cities, too, have had as an annual feature some such civic commemoration of giants connected with the city's history; and huge Antigonus has a permanent place in the coat-of-arms of Antwerp.
CHAPTER XVI
THE GIANT BEHIND THE WATERFALL
The giants lingered longer in the Far North than elsewhere. About two hundred years after the death of Charlemagne there was living in Iceland a saga hero named Grettir the Strong. He was the most powerful man ever known in the north country. More than once he had overcome dreaded Berserks in their battle fury; on a narrow path on a cliff face he conquered a huge bear with his naked hands, holding off the infuriated beast by the ears till he could topple it over the precipice; but his strength and high spirit brought him great reverses and caused him to be an outlaw for much of his troubled life.
During his wanderings through the wild unknown regions as a forest man, he spent one winter under the Geitland glacier where the hot springs made a fair grassy valley; and here he was intimate with a giant named Thorir, whose daughters were glad to see him because not many people came there.
Finding it dull, he resumed his travels, and came into Bardadal. Here at Sandhaugar dwelt then Steinvor, a widow with young children. The place had an evil name from a strange happening.
Two winters before Steinvor had gone as usual to celebrate Yule at the neighboring town of Eyjardalsa, while her husband, Thorsteinn the White, stayed at
home. Men lay down to sleep in the evening, and in the night they heard a great noise in the room near the bondi's (farmer's) bed. No one dared to get up to see what was the matter, because there were so few of them. The mistress of the house returned home the next morning, but her husband had disappeared and no one knew what had become of him. So the next season passed. The following winter the mistress wanted to go to mass, and told her servant to stay at home; he was very unwilling but said she should be obeyed. It happened just as before; this time the servant disappeared. People thought it very strange and found some drops of blood upon the outer door, so they supposed that some evil spirit, or troll, must have carried off both the men.