THE APPLES OF LIFE.
Part II.
“Henceforth, O evil-hearted, cruel Loke,” burst forth the angry Thor, “henceforth Thor guards the walls of Asgard. Midgard, the skies, he shall forsake; no more will he brew storms; never shall the thunder roll nor the lightnings flash; for Thor will watch forever upon the battlements of Asgard the approach of the evil god who has brought such grief upon us. Never shall he enter the gates of the city again. Let him dare approach even to the golden gates, and Thor will smite him with his mighty hammer.”
Loke quailed before the fury of the great god Thor. To be an outcast from Asgard, even he could not bear. “Spare me, spare me!” whined the cowardly Loke. “Spare me once more, and I will go again to Jotunheim. I will bring back Idun and the three apples of life.”
Thor stood looking at the cowardly Loke. He longed to strike him with the hammer; to kill him with his thunder bolt; to scorch him with his lightning arrows. But, evil as he was, Loke was immortal; he was the son of Odin.
“Go, then, you mischief-making, evil-hearted son of unhappy Odin! Go; and whether success is yours or not, remember Thor guards the walls of Asgard and watches with his thunders for your return. Never, never, as long as Thor wields the mighty hammer, and holds the powers of thunder and lightning, shall Loke enter the golden city without the golden apples of immortal life.”
Without another word, Loke put on his guise of a great white bird and sped across the sea and sky, again to the land of Jotunheim.
Straight down he swooped upon the castle of the giant who, all this time, had kept Idun imprisoned in a strong walled tower of solid rock.
The giant was out upon the sea. “And it is well for me,” thought Loke, “that he is. No power in Midgard or in Asgard could wrest these precious apples from the giant’s grasp.”