English 12 2016

THOR AND SKRYMIR

I. A BACKWARD SPRING

One spring the giants had been behaving very badly. The storm giants had gone to the far north and troubled the great eagle, Hraesvelgr. They made him fly many times, although they knew that every time he lifted his wings, the icy winds rushed out from his feathers and froze the twelve great rivers of the north. The frost giants laughed to see great blocks of ice floating down to destroy the homes of men; and the mountain giants tossed snow and ice from their shoulders upon the plowed fields.

The cold lasted so long that farmers could hardly prepare the ground for seed. After the seed had been sown, the cold winds kept it from sprouting. After it had begun to grow, the storms beat down the young crops, and seemed likely to destroy them all.

Except Balder the Good, and Frey, the gentle sun god, rough Thor was the only god who really cared for the farmers. He was sometimes very boisterous, but had a kind heart. It made him sad to see the poor farmers work so hard and get so little; and he wanted to do something to help them. So he harnessed his two goats to his iron chariot, took his iron gloves, his girdle of strength, and his hammer; and, with Loki for a traveling companion, set out for the land of the giants.

II. THE SUPPER IN THE COTTAGE

At the close of the first day, they came to a cottage in the edge of a wood. They stopped and asked food and shelter for themselves and their goats. Shelter the poor people gladly gave them; but they had no food. It was a long way to another house, and Thor and Loki were tired and hungry. Thor raised his hammer, and killed his goats. The cottager dressed the meat; his wife cooked it; and there was soon a great platter of goat's flesh steaming on the table.

Thor asked the man and his wife and their two children to have supper with himself and Loki. It was a rare treat to the children, who had seldom tasted meat. Thor said the bones must be left unbroken and thrown into the goatskins, which he had spread before the fireplace, because he had a use for them afterward. While Thor was talking with the father and mother, Loki whispered to the children that the choicest part was hidden within the bones. The boy, Thialfi, broke a thigh bone, ate the marrow, and threw the pieces on the heap, with the others.

In the morning, Thor and Loki rose early and began to prepare for their journey. The cottager and his family wondered what Thor would do with his iron chariot, since the goats had been killed and eaten. They were amazed to see him strike the goatskins with his hammer, and astonished to see the goats jump up as lively as if they themselves had had warm shelter and good food, instead of having made supper for others. Thor harnessed the goats to his chariot, and started to drive away; but one of the goats limped badly. Thor saw at once that its thigh bone had been broken. He raised his hammer in anger. The poor people fell on their knees and begged for mercy. Thialfi confessed his disobedience; and Thor forgave the offense on condition that Thialfi and his sister, Roskva, should be his servants forever. As there was no other way to save the lives of either themselves or their children, the parents consented. Then Thor relented a little, and said the children might come home often. He charged the man to take good care of his goats until his return; and, with Loki, Thialfi, and Roskva, he started on foot for the land of the giants.

III. THE SNORING GIANT

The four traveled all day through a bleak and desolate country. At sunset, the prospect was still more dismal; and, to add to their discomfort, a thick gray mist settled down upon them. For a long time they wandered about in search of shelter for the night. At last Thor saw the dim outline of a queer-shaped house. The entrance was very wide and high, and seemed to take up the whole side of the house. They went in, but found it empty. They lay down on the floor, and soon fell asleep.

They were waked by a strange trembling of the house. They were frightened by rumbling noises frequently repeated and greatly prolonged. Believing this to be an earthquake, and fearing the walls might fall and crush them, Thor sent Loki, Thialfi, and Roskva into a wing of the house, while he grasped his hammer and guarded the main entrance.

In the early morning, they continued their journey. They had gone but a little way, when they saw a steep hill directly in their path. As they came nearer, they noticed that the hill trembled, and they heard again the rumbling noises of the night before. Suddenly they heard a great sigh, and saw a giant raise his head. Then they knew that what had seemed a hill was the prostrate body of a giant, and that the trembling of the house and the sounds they had mistaken for an earthquake had been caused by his snoring.

The giant looked about as if he had lost something. His eyes rested upon Thor and his companions, and he exclaimed, "What have you little fellows done with my glove?" Before they could answer that they had not seen his glove, he said, "Oh, here it is!" and, reaching out, picked up the house in which they had spent the night. The wing in which they had taken refuge from the supposed earthquake was the thumb of the glove. The giant recognized Thor, and seemed very glad to see him. He kindly asked where they were going, and when, he found they were on the way to Utgard, the realm of the giants, he offered to be their guide, and said his name was Skrymir.

IV. NIGHT IN THE WOODS

They walked all day together. At night Skrymir said he was more sleepy than hungry, and gave his bag of food to Thor to divide with his companions. Thor pulled the string, and tugged at the knot, but could not unfasten the bag. With an abundant supply of food in his hands, he could neither eat nor give to the others. Worn out with walking and long fasting, the gods and their servants tried to rest. But the giant had begun to snore, and sleep was impossible. Disgusted and angry, Thor drew tighter his girdle of strength, and hurled his hammer at the giant's head. Skrymir woke enough to rub the place with his hand and ask sleepily whether a leaf had fallen on his head.

At midnight, the snoring was terrific. Thor dealt a fearful blow on the giant's crown. Skrymir, roused from sleep, said that he thought an acorn had fallen.

Toward morning, it seemed to the tired gods that they must get a little sleep. Thor threw his hammer with all his might at the giant's temple. Skrymir rose and said quietly: "Some birds must have dropped a piece of stick from their nest, for my temple is bruised. We must go now; I to the north, and you to the east. You will soon come to Utgard. There you will find men larger than I. Be careful not to offend them." The giant disappeared in the woods, and the gods kept on as directed.

V. SPORTS AT UTGARD

At noon they came in sight of Utgard. No one noticed their approach. When they knocked at the gate, no one came to admit them. So they slipped between the bars, and went to the palace of the prince of the giants. He was sitting on his throne, and many of his warriors and courtiers were resting on stone benches in the great hall. For a long time no notice was taken of the intruders, and then all the giants stared in surprise at the unbidden guests. The prince addressed them as "little people," and said: "I know you, Thor, and you can do more than one would think from your appearance. Now tell me what each one can do; for no one is welcome here, unless he is good for something."

Loki, who was almost famished, boasted of his ability to eat.

The prince at once ordered meat; and the trial began between Loki and the prince's cook, Logi.

A wooden platter, filled with meat, was placed between them. Loki ate rapidly, and met his opponent at the middle of the dish; but, to his great surprise, he found that while he had eaten the meat, Logi had devoured meat, bones, and platter, too.

Thialfi said he was swift of foot.

"Very well," said the prince; "run a race with Hugin."

At the first trial, Hugin reached the goal a little in advance of Thialfi. "Very good," said the prince; "try again." The second time, Thialfi was still further behind; and, at the third trial, he had run only half the course when Hugin reached the goal.

Thor, who was very thirsty, said he could drink a great deal.

The prince ordered a servant to bring a drinking horn, which, he said, some could empty at one draught, many at two, and he was a poor drinker indeed who could not drain it at three.

Thor looked at the horn. It was long, but very narrow; and he thought his task an easy one. But the first draught barely uncovered the rim; the second only a little more; and the third lowered the liquid, perhaps, two or three inches. Much chagrined, Thor set the horn down, and began to boast of his strength. The prince told him to pick up the gray cat that lay at the foot of the throne.

At the first trial, he hardly moved the cat. Then he seized her firmly about the middle, and made her arch her back. The third time, he lifted one paw from the ground.

Very angry, Thor's eyes flashed lightnings. "Let me wrestle with one of your courtiers," he cried.

The prince thoughtfully stroked his beard. "Try first," he replied, "what you can do against my old nurse, Elli."

A feeble, bent old woman entered the hall and took strong Thor in her grasp. Thor used all his might, but she compelled him to sink down on one knee.

"Enough !" cried the prince. "Sit down now to the feast."

VI. Skrymir's Magic

The strangers were well cared for that night; and, the next morning, the prince himself led them out as far as the wood.

"This," said he, "is the boundary of my domain. You would never have crossed it, had I known you were so powerful. Let me tell you the tricks I have played on you.

"It was I who met you in the forest. Three times Thor struck me with his hammer. The first blow would have killed me, had I not shoved a mountain between us. The second was a terrible shock, though the mountain broke the force of the blow. The third crashed through the mountain and bruised my temple. As you go back, you will see three great fissures cut in the solid rock, one of which reaches the home of the black elves; and they were all made by the blows of your hammer.

"Loki had an excellent appetite; but my cook, Logi, who was matched against him, is wildfire, which swallows up everything in its path.

"Thialfi runs well; but Hugin, who is my thought, has no rival.

"The end of the long drinking horn touched the ocean. Thor drank so much that every shore was uncovered. "The gray cat was the Midgard serpent. Thor lifted her so far that the great serpent almost escaped its prison at the bottom of the sea.

"Elli, my poor old nurse, is old age, who at last conquers every one. Thor fought bravely; but the bravest are at last overcome by old age.

"Go now, and seek no more to bring your farmers within my realm. Mine are the eternal rocks and ice rivers. Though you rend them with thunderbolts, there will be no place for your precious grains to take root."

Thor raised his hammer to punish the giant, but he was gone. The glittering walls of the palace had vanished. There was only a rock-strewn waste covered with clouds and mist.