Myths of the Norsemen

by Roger Green

  Odin bent down and blew into the hole, and as he did so the chips of stone flew out into his face.

  ‘Giant Baugi,’ he said reproachfully, ‘I did not think you would cheat me after all I have done for you.’

  With an angry grunt Baugi picked up the auger and set to work again. This time he went on until it went through the rock to the other side.

  Odin blew into the hole again, and as the dust did not fly back, he knew that the hole went right through.

  ‘Now stay here on guard,’ he said, and he turned himself into a snake, and wriggled into the hole.

  Even Baugi realized now that Bolverker was something more than an ordinary farm labourer who had dabbled in black magic.

  ‘This must be a thief from the Æsir,’ he thought. ‘He may even be one of the Æsir!’

  So thinking he snatched up the auger and thrust it into the hole, meaning to kill the snake.

  Odin, however, suspected treachery, and changed himself into a worm as soon as he was inside the hole, so that he was able to avoid the auger.

  Then he crawled out into Suttung’s treasure chamber, and changed himself from a worm into a handsome young Giant.

  Gunnlod, Suttung’s beautiful daughter, was very surprised to see him.

  ‘I suppose you have come here by magic for a drink of the mead made of Kvasir’s Blood,’ she said. ‘I am here to guard it. But I’m so tired of being shut up in this dark cave, that I won’t tell my father about you. If you’ll kiss me, I will let you drink the mead out of one of the vats in which it is stored.’

  Odin gave her a kiss and she was so pleased that she opened the first of the vats and told him to help himself.

  Then Odin called all his knowledge of sorcery into play. He lifted the great vat to his lips and emptied it at a draught.

  ‘A great thirst you have, stranger prince,’ said Gunnlod, looking at him wide-eyed with wonder.

  ‘Ah,’ replied Odin craftily, ‘but my thirst for the mead is nothing compared with my thirst for another kiss from the divine lips of the lovely lady Gunnlod!’

  Like all Giants Gunnlod was very slow-witted, and now she was so thrilled at being admired by this handsome young Giant who could empty a whole vat of mead at one draught, that she put up her lips for another kiss. When she had received it, Odin took the second vat.

  ‘To Gunnlod, loveliest of the Giant kind!’ he cried, and drained it to the dregs.

  Gunnlod was completely captivated, and desired nothing in the world so much as the love of this wonderful young Giant.

  ‘Kiss me again!’ she begged. ‘Kiss me, and you may drink from the golden kettle which holds the richest draught of Kvasir’s Blood.’

  Odin needed no second bidding. But when he had drained the kettle as well, he lay back utterly exhausted.

  ‘Wonderful Giant,’ cried Gunnlod, ‘I cannot live without you. Be my husband, and whatever I can give you shall be yours.’

  ‘First give me air, and a sight of the blue sky!’ gasped Odin.

  Then Gunnlod, suspecting nothing, opened a door at the top of a great shaft in the rock which led down to the deep Treasure Chamber where they were.

  At once Odin turned himself into an eagle, and flew triumphantly out into the open air.

  Now Gunnlod realized how she had been tricked, and her shrieks quickly brought Suttung to her side.

  As soon as he learnt what had happened, he turned himself into an eagle also, and flew off in pursuit of Odin.

  Meanwhile the Æsir were waiting on the walls of Asgard, straining anxious eyes towards the north.

  When at last they saw a great eagle flying out of the darkness towards them, they knew it was Odin, and made ready to receive him as he had instructed them before he set out on his dangerous expedition. They placed three golden vessels ready in the courtyard, and then took their stand on the wall once more, with drawn swords in their hands, while Uller fitted an arrow to his bow.

  Nearer and nearer came the eagle, shining in the darkness; and now the Æsir could see another eagle which pursued him and was gaining on him fast – a great black eagle, with mighty wings almost as big as those of Raesvelg, the Giant who made the tempests.

  Over the wall came the shining eagle, and the moment he touched the golden pavement of Asgard there was a flash of light, and Odin stood there; and in the same instant the three golden vessels were filled to the brim with the Mead of Inspiration.

  But even as the Giant Suttung reached the wall, and as Uller drew his bow to shoot, the sun rose above the eastern mountains. Its first beam fell on Suttung, and at once the eagle cloak dropped from him, and he crashed to the ground, a great lump of stone.

  ‘So shall it be with all the Giant kind,’ said Odin solemnly. ‘If the sun shines upon them in the holy land of Asgard, the evil that is in them shall weigh them down, and they will turn into stone.

  ‘But now we have Kvasir’s Blood among us, and in time it shall be given to those men of Midgard whom we think fit. They shall be poets; they shall sing of the deeds of gods and heroes, and tell mighty sagas of the doings of men and women whom the Norns lead to do brave deeds or suffer grievous sorrows bravely.

  ‘Come now, let us drink of the Mead of Inspiration, so that our own wisdom may be increased; for we shall need all our skill to keep the Giants out of Asgard. This my theft of Kvasir’s Blood and the deceit which I was obliged to practise on the Giantess Gunnlod have, alas, brought sin into Asgard that cannot be banished as easily as Gullveig – who shall enter no more now that the Vanir are with us.

  ‘Who shall be the Betrayer even wise Mimir has not yet made known to me. But I fear that it will be one of our own number – for so the Runes of Knowledge seem to tell me – those magic writings which now I can read since I have drunk the Blood of Kvasir.’

  Then for a while there was silence in Asgard as Odin strove in vain to see into the future. But even the blood of Kvasir could not give him this power.

  3

  The Apples of Iduna

  In the early days of the world there came a boat sailing over the sea in the fair summer weather. In it sat a handsome youth who played upon a golden harp and sang sweetly to the white gulls who flew around him. Presently the boat touched the shore as near to Asgard as the bright sea came, and the minstrel stepped on to the land.

  As he went forward green grass sprang up out of the bare earth all round him, and after the grass came flowers. Then the birds sang, and the small animals frisked and frolicked on either side.

  As he drew nearer to Asgard the Æsir heard the sweet strains of his harp and hastened across the Bridge Bifrost to meet him.

  But before they came, the earth shook and opened beside him, and out stepped a lovely maiden, as fair as the spring itself, carrying in her hands a casket of gold.

  The minstrel seemed to expect her, for he held out his hand, and she took it in hers, so that when they came to the foot of Bifrost they were walking hand in hand.

  ‘Welcome to you, great lords of Asgard!’ cried the minstrel. ‘I come to you out of Jotunheim where the Giants dwell, yet I am one of yourselves. Gunnlod the beautiful is my mother, she who guarded the Mead of Inspiration made from the blood of Kvasir. Odin is my father, for he wedded her in the treasure vault of Suttung. The blood of Kvasir flows in my veins, and I am here to sing and play for you in Asgard.’

  ‘Welcome to you, my son Bragi, Lord of Poesy and sweet Music,’ said Odin. ‘My wisdom told me that you would come, and with you great joy to the Æsir.’

  ‘I bring you joy indeed,’ answered Bragi, and he led forward the lovely Earth-maiden who walked beside him. ‘This is my bride to be, Iduna the Beautiful, the daughter of Ivaldi the Earth Dwarf.’

  ‘Welcome to Asgard, Iduna, Lady of Youth,’ said Odin. ‘Now tell us, I pray, what you carry with you in your casket of gold?’

  ‘I bring you the Apples of Youth,’ answered Iduna in a voice as soft and sweet as water tinkling into a mountain pool. ‘Of these you shall eat and be young and st
rong for ever.’

  ‘Welcome, thrice welcome to Asgard!’ cried Odin, his face shining with joy. ‘Even the gods grow old, and we have need of youth and strength if we are to fight against the Giants and bring fair gifts to the dwellers in Midgard.

  ‘Now come both of you into Asgard, and tonight we shall hold your wedding feast with rejoicing such as we have never known before.’

  So the wedding of Bragi and Iduna took place that night, and ever afterwards they dwelt among the Æsir. And at the ending of a feast Iduna would glide softly about the banquet hall and give to each of them an apple from her golden casket, and they would eat and feel youth course through their veins more strongly than ever. And however many apples were given by Iduna to the Æsir, her casket remained always full.

  Of course the Giants, when they heard of this wonder, were anxious to steal the apples for themselves. But for a long time they strove in vain: for none of them could creep into Asgard, and Iduna never took her apples down into the plains of Midgard.

  One day, however, Odin and his brother, Honir the shining one, set out through Midgard disguised as ordinary travellers, observing the joys and sorrows, the labours and pastimes of mortal men.

  They went fast and far, and on their journey they came to the mountains not far from the borders of Jotunheim.

  As they wandered through the valleys and pine forests, a young man met them, fair to look upon, with twinkling, mischievous eyes.

  ‘Greetings to you, Odin and Honir, mighty Æsir, sons of Borr and Bestla!’ he cried.

  Odin frowned, and answered severely:

  ‘Young sir, how comes it that you are so familiar with our names and state? Surely some magic of the Giants is in this?’

  ‘No magic at all,’ answered the stranger. ‘For I am your cousin, and my name is Loki. True, the Giant blood is in my veins, but it runs in yours also, I believe. For Bestla’s father was Bælthorn the Giant, and his brother Bergelmir was father to my father Farbauti … So I beg you, my cousins, let me join you on your wanderings and prove if I am worthy to stand with the Æsir in their struggle against the evil Giants who dwell in Jotunheim.’

  So Loki went with Odin and Honir, and helped them in their work. And he soon proved that he would be useful to the guardians of Asgard, for his cleverness and cunning were very great; he was always ready with some plan to help them out of a difficulty. Also he had, like Odin, the power of changing himself into any shape he wished.

  One day, however, he met with a power greater than his own, and showed that he was by no means free from the evil of the Giant race.

  With Odin and Honir, he had been wandering over mountains and waste places, where food was hard to find. But when they came down into a certain lonely valley they saw a herd of oxen grazing there.

  One of these oxen they took and killed, and clever Loki kindled a fire by means of two sticks rubbed together, and set about cooking them a huge dinner.

  After a time Loki thought that the meat must be cooked, so he took the spit from the fire and was about to carve the great piece of meat when, to his amazement, he saw that it was still completely raw.

  He set it back over the fiercest part of the fire, and left it there for half an hour more.

  At the end of that time Honir exclaimed:

  ‘Surely the ox must be cooked by now! Where is your usual skill, Loki?’

  Then Loki told them what had happened: ‘And I think there is something strange about this,’ he ended, ‘so will both of you examine the fire before I take off the meat – and the meat as soon as it is clear of the fire?’

  Loki scattered the fire and lifted off the beef.

  ‘Look!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s as raw as when we had just flayed the beast! Yet it has been over the fire for nearly two hours!’

  The two Æsir examined it, and saw to their surprise that Loki was quite correct.

  ‘There must be evil magic at work here,’ said Odin.

  ‘Ha! ha!’ cried a harsh voice in the great tree above them. ‘You will never cook that meat without my help!’

  They looked up in surprise, and there sat a great eagle.

  ‘Will you help us, then?’ said Loki, who was the first to recover from his surprise.

  ‘Yes, I’ll help you!’ cried the eagle. ‘But you must promise that when the ox is cooked you will let me eat as much as I want before you start.’

  The Æsir agreed, for they were very hungry, and the eagle flew down and fanned the fire into a blaze with his big wings.

  When Loki pushed away the burning branches and took the ox from its skewer, it was beautifully cooked right through.

  ‘Now I’ll take my portion,’ said the eagle, ‘and then you can begin your meal!’

  So saying, he helped himself to all four legs, hams, loins and shoulders.

  ‘Stop!’ shouted Loki, springing up in a rage. ‘You’ve taken far more than your share, and not left enough for the three of us. Why, I myself could easily eat all that remains!’

  The eagle paid no attention, but sat back gorging the roast beef and chuckling to itself.

  Then Loki lost his temper completely. He picked up a branch which lay near by and struck the eagle with it, shouting:

  ‘Give us back some of the meat, you greedy brute!’

  At once the eagle rose into the air and flew away. But the branch had stuck to his feathers, and Loki was stuck to the branch. Struggle as hard as he could, neither would come loose.

  Down swooped the eagle as soon as they drew near to a mountain-side, and Loki was dragged over sharp stones and rocks, through trees and thorn bushes and brambles, till he was in a sorry state. He felt as though his arms would be torn from their sockets at any moment.

  So he began to beg for his life, and offer the eagle any reward he chose to name.

  ‘Bring Iduna out of Asgard, with her casket of apples, and I will take you back to your friends and restore your dinner,’ answered the eagle.

  Loki refused indignantly. ‘I could not do that even if I wanted to,’ he ended. ‘I am not yet one of the Æsir, and I doubt if they would even let me into Asgard.’

  ‘Then I’ll drag you from end to end of Midgard and back again,’ screamed the eagle fiercely. ‘Know that I am Thiassi the Storm Giant – and what I have done is nothing to what I am able to do!’

  Loki was very frightened when he heard this, and he at once promised to do everything in his power to bring Iduna and her apples out of Asgard.

  So Thiassi carried him back to where Odin and Honir were still waiting by the fire, released him from the branch, and returned both hind legs of the ox to the hungry Æsir.

  Loki did not tell Odin and Honir of the bargain he had made, nor even that the eagle was in reality a Storm Giant. He said only that he had been justly punished for striking the eagle – to whom, he added, the ox they had killed really belonged – and that it had forgiven him and returned some of the meat to make up for the punishment it had given him.

  Odin suspected nothing, and indeed seemed so pleased with Loki that when they returned to Asgard he gave him a dwelling-place in Midgard near the foot of Bifrost Bridge, and often went down there to consult him.

  Loki worked hard and well for the Æsir. But he did not forget his promise to Thiassi the Storm Giant, and his crafty mind was busy with schemes for luring Iduna out of Asgard by herself – with her magic apples.

  One day she and Bragi came to walk in the pleasant meadows and woods of Midgard, and when she became separated from Bragi for a few moments Loki met her in disguise and said:

  ‘Lady Iduna, I have heard much of the wonderful apples you keep in Asgard. Not far from here is a little wood where grow just such apples as yours, only these I am sure both look and taste far fairer than yours.’

  ‘I cannot believe that,’ answered Iduna. ‘But if it could be true, then it is my duty to pluck these apples of which you speak. For only the Æsir must eat of them.’

  ‘If only you had your own apples with you,’ said Loki, ‘
you could compare them with the apples which I have found.’

  ‘I have not brought them,’ answered Iduna, suspecting no evil. ‘But I shall come back tomorrow, and bring my casket with me from Asgard. I cannot rest until I know what apples these are which you have found … For I believed that kind Mother Earth had yielded only the one crop of the Apples of Youth – that crop which she entrusted to me.’

  When Iduna had gone back to find Bragi, Loki made haste to inform the Giant Thiassi of the chance which he would have on the morrow.

  And next day he was waiting in the same disguise near the foot of Bifrost from the moment when the bright Sun chariot set out across the sky.

  Early in the afternoon Iduna came down the shining rainbow bridge, as young and lovely as the spring itself, and carrying the golden casket in her hands.

  Loki lost no time in taking her out of sight under the trees, and as soon as they were well away from Asgard, he begged her to wait a moment, then slipped quickly back by the path they had come. As soon as he reached the edge of the wood, he cast off his disguise, and for the rest of the day walked in the plain below Asgard hoping that Odin or one of the Æsir might see him.

  Meanwhile the great eagle had swooped down upon Iduna and carried her away – away over Midgard and deep into Jotunheim, until he came to Thrymheim, the Kingdom of the Winds.

  There he set her down in a mighty castle built on the top of a bare rocky mountain round which the tempests raged and wailed day and night without ceasing.

  Then he cast off his eagle disguise and stood before poor, trembling Iduna in his own terrible Giant form.

  ‘I am Thiassi the Storm Giant!’ he cried. ‘And this is my stronghold, far from Asgard, far from any help that the Æsir could render you. Here you must stay, and if you will give me to eat of your magic Apples of Youth, I will make you my wife and Queen of Thrymheim.’

  ‘Never, never!’ cried Iduna bravely. ‘These apples are for the Æsir alone, and no Giant lips shall ever touch them. Nor can I ever be your queen, for I am the wife of Bragi the divine minstrel, master of all sweet songs.’