Myths of the Norsemen

by Roger Green

  ‘Surely you are mad, Thor of the Æsir!’ she cried. ‘Or do you mean to insult me by suggesting that I would willingly desert Odur my dear lord to be the bride of a Giant?’

  At that Thor hung his great head for shame, and told Freya what had happened. So she came with him to the council of the Æsir where they were all gathered to decide how they could get back Thor’s hammer – which was Asgard’s surest defence against the Giants.

  In the end it was not cunning Loki but far-seeing Heimdall who thought of a plan.

  ‘Let us send a false Freya as wife to Thrym!’ he suggested. ‘Let us hide Thor’s face in the bride’s veil, set the Brising Necklace round his neck, and fasten brooches on his breast. With keys jingling from his girdle, a woman’s dress falling below his knees and a hood over his head, the Giant will think that he has indeed got Freya – until it is too late.’

  The Æsir applauded this suggestion, but Thor was furious.

  ‘If I let myself be wrapped in a bride’s veil,’ he cried, ‘and am seen dressed as a woman, the Æsir will never cease from taunting me.’

  ‘Speak not so, great Thor,’ said Loki, his eyes twinkling. ‘But think how soon the Giants will dwell in Asgard if you do not get back your hammer.’

  So Thor consented to do as Heimdall suggested. Very soon the bridal veil was wrapped over his face, the Brisingamen was hung about his neck, the keys jingled at his girdle, the dress fell about his knees, the brooches glimmered in the front of his bodice and the hood was wound neatly about his head.

  Then Loki exclaimed: ‘Thor, I will follow you and be your bridesmaid! We two will drive to Jotunheim together!’

  So, when Loki was disguised in dress and veil and hood as well, Thor’s chariot was brought out and his two goats Gaptooth and Cracktooth were harnessed to it. Then the false Freya and her falser maid got into it, shook the reins, and sped away over Midgard and into Jotunheim, the rocks splitting beneath their wheels, and sparks flying like lightning from the stones.

  When Thrym the Giant saw the chariot drawing near to Thrymheim with the two veiled figures in it, he cried aloud:

  ‘Rise up quickly, my Giants all, and make ready! Here comes Freya the daughter of Niord lord of the Vanir to be my wife. My stables are filled with gold-horned kine, and with black oxen that have never a spot or blemish, such as delight the Giant kind. I have treasures and jewels stored in my castle: all that I lacked was Freya the Beautiful!’

  So the Bride and her Maid were welcomed to Thrymheim, and a mighty feast was prepared in the great hall of the castle.

  But when the Bride ate for her share a whole ox, eight salmon, and all the dainties prepared for the ladies, besides drinking three casks of mead, Thrym looked at her suspiciously and exclaimed:

  ‘Surely no bride was ever so hungry! I have never seen a girl take such big mouthfuls, nor drink such quantities of mead!’

  The Bride did not know what to say, but fortunately the Bridesmaid was quick-witted, and found a ready answer:

  ‘Freya has not eaten for eight days!’ she piped. ‘She was so eager to reach Jotunheim and be your bride that she could touch neither food nor drink.’

  When the meal was ended, Thrym bent down to kiss the bride. But scarcely had he raised her veil, when he started back the whole length of the hall.

  ‘Why are Freya’s eyes so glaring?’ he cried. ‘It seems as if flames were darting from them.’

  Once again the quick-witted bridesmaid found a ready answer: ‘Freya’s eyes are red because she has not slept for eight nights, so eager was she to reach Jotunheim and be your bride.’

  Then came in Thrym’s sister and begged a gift of the bride: ‘Give me a golden ring off your arm,’ she cried.

  But Thrym interrupted her. ‘Time enough for that afterwards,’ he exclaimed. ‘Now let us on with the wedding. Bring in the hammer Miolnir which is the bride-price, and lay it in the bride’s lap so that the wedding may go forward. Let us lay our hands together upon it and join them in the oath of wedlock.’

  The heart of Thor laughed within him when he again felt Miolnir in his hands.

  ‘Take this in token of wedlock from Freya the Bride!’ he shouted, flinging off his disguise; and with one blow of his hammer he laid Thrym lifeless on the floor.

  ‘And taste iron instead of gold!’ he cried as he smote down the Giant’s sister. Then he turned upon the rest of the Giants and slew them all with Miolnir, before he and Loki set out once more for Asgard.

  When they arrived it was to find that Freya had nearly been lost while they were away, this time to Alviss the cunning Dwarf, who had learnt all about the theft of Miolnir and Giant Thrym’s demand.

  He had come to Asgard on the night before Thor’s return, striding up Bifrost Bridge as if he were one of the Æsir.

  ‘Take me to Odin!’ he cried when Heimdall the Watchman challenged him. ‘Take me at once! There is not a moment to be lost if you would save Asgard from the Giants: they are marching against you even now, and I come with a message to Odin.’

  Heimdall took the Dwarf to where Odin sat, and the king of the Æsir questioned him as to who he was and how he dared to enter Asgard.

  ‘I am Alviss, the all-wise,’ answered the Dwarf. ‘I dwell beneath the earth, my home is under the rock, and I have come to fetch Freya the Bride.’

  ‘You are likely to be a sorry bridegroom,’ answered Odin, ‘indeed you look pale and corpse-like already, as if your home was among the dead.’

  ‘Do not jest with me!’ cried the Dwarf. ‘Thor is a prisoner of Thrym the Giant, and the hosts of Jotunheim are marching on Asgard. But they will turn back if I bring Freya to be Thrym’s bride indeed.’

  ‘And why have they sent you?’ asked Odin slowly. ‘Are you a fit one to bring such a message?’

  ‘Fit!’ shrieked the Dwarf. ‘I am Alviss the Allwise – the wisest of all the Dwarf-kind!’

  ‘You must prove your wisdom, then,’ said Odin gravely. ‘Come, tell me, All-wise that you are, knowing the whole history of mankind, how are the Heavens named in every world?’

  ‘Men speak of the Heavens,’ answered Alviss, eager to display his knowledge, ‘the Æsir call it the Sky; the Vanir call it Wind-roof; it is Upheim to the Giants, while the Elves call it Fair-roof and the Dwarfs Drip-hall.’

  ‘And how is Fire that burns all things called in each of the worlds?’ asked Odin.

  ‘It is called Fire among men,’ answered the Dwarf, ‘and Eild by the Æsir; to the Vanir it is Wave-flame, Consumer to the Giants, Furnace to the Dwarfs, and Destroyer to those in Hell.’

  Twelve such questions Odin asked Alviss the Dwarf, but when he came to the thirteenth he said:

  ‘Now tell me how Night the daughter of Narvi is called in each of the worlds.’

  ‘Night among men,’ cried the Dwarf, ‘but Niol among the Æsir. It is Unlight to the Giants, but Sleep-joy to the Elves and Dream-fairy to the Dwarfs.’

  ‘So much for Night,’ cried Odin, ‘and indeed you know many things, Alviss the Dwarf. But one thing you have forgotten. Night has ended: how do you call Day when you see it in Asgard?’

  Then, as the sun rose and the first beams fell upon him, Alviss strove to answer. But no words came, nor did his lips move again: for he had turned into stone.

  And with the new day came Thor and Loki back to Asgard with Miolnir safely recovered out of Jotunheim; and Freya the Beautiful came down to welcome them, smiling happily and leaning on the arm of Odur her husband.

  7

  Thor’s Visit to Utgard

  After Thor had recovered his hammer Miolnir, killed Thrym the Giant with all his household, and returned safely to Asgard without having to give up Freya the Beautiful, the Giants begged for peace with the Æsir. They even went so far as to promise Thor and Loki safe conduct if they would come on a visit to Utgard, the Giant city in the heart of Jotunheim where Utgardhaloki was king.

  ‘No harm shall come to the Æsir, Thor, and Loki, or to any attendants they may bring,’ vowed Utgardha
loki, ‘and I will send Skrymir my messenger to lead them through Jotunheim. If he is not afraid, Thor will surely come.’

  A challenge like this was the sure way of bringing Thor, and he ordered out his chariot forthwith and harnessed his two goats, Gaptooth and Cracktooth.

  ‘They do not ask us out of friendship,’ said cautious Loki. ‘Some guile is intended, you may be certain.’

  None the less he stepped into the chariot beside Thor, and off they drove in a great thundercloud across Midgard, the lightning flashing and flickering from the wheels as they went.

  In the evening they came to a farmhouse on the edge of the river Ifing, the dark flood that never froze, which separated Midgard from Jotunheim. The good yeoman to whom it belonged welcomed his two strange guests, but confessed that he had very little food in the house, indeed scarcely enough for himself and his son and daughter, Thialfi and Roskva.

  ‘That is no matter!’ cried Thor, and killing his two goats Gaptooth and Cracktooth, he helped to flay and joint them. Very soon they were simmering in the pot, and the dinner was ready.

  ‘Whatever you do,’ Thor remarked, ‘let none of the bones of my goats be broken.’

  Then the meal began, and Thor showed his usual good appetite by eating one whole goat and a good deal of the other.

  ‘What he said about the bones is only to keep the marrow for himself,’ whispered Loki the tempter to Thialfi, ‘for it has strange and wonderful powers, since these are no ordinary goats.’

  So Thialfi split one of the thigh bones when Thor was looking the other way, and scraped out some of the marrow with his knife. But he noticed that Loki was careful not to break any of the bones, so he contented himself with the one taste of marrow.

  Thor and Loki slept that night in the farmhouse, and in the morning Thor flung all the bones into the goat-skins, waved Miolnir over them, and at once Gaptooth and Cracktooth sprang up as full of life as ever.

  But one of them limped a little in his hind leg, and seeing this Thor turned with a roar of fury and whirled his hammer above his head to slay the yeoman and his two children.

  ‘One of you has broken the thigh bone!’ he shouted, his eyes flashing fire and his knuckles growing white as he gripped Miolnir.

  The yeoman cowered on the floor, realizing who his terrible guest was, and promised any recompense he chose to ask.

  Seeing the man’s fear, Thor’s brow cleared and he said:

  ‘I will not smite. But your two children Thialfi and Roskva shall come with me, he to be my squire and she my handmaiden for ever more. See, it is an honour I do them and no evil … Now look well to my goats so that the bone is set and whole before our return. Roskva shall remain with you until then, but Thialfi comes with us now.’

  So Thor and Loki continued their journey on foot, with Thialfi to attend on them. They went down beside the river Ifing until they reached the sea, and crossed where it was deepest in a boat that lay waiting for them. On the further shore they left the boat and advanced inland through a great forest. As evening approached they came out into open country among bare rocks and dark valleys; but nowhere could they find a house.

  At last, just as darkness was beginning to fall, and they were feeling exceedingly tired and hungry, they came to a strange building. It was a great hall with an entrance so wide that it took up the whole end, but there was no one in it, no hearth nor fire, and no furniture.

  It was better than nothing, however, in that freezing land, and the wayfarers made themselves as comfortable as possible in their strange lodging.

  In the middle of the night they were wakened suddenly by a great earthquake, the ground shook all round them, and the hall trembled and swayed from side to side. Nothing else happened, but as he was exploring further Thor found a smaller room leading off the hall on the right-hand side, and into this his companions moved for greater warmth. Loki and the boy huddled together in the furthest corner, shaking with fear, but Thor gripped the handle of Miolnir firmly and stood on guard in the doorway. He could hear a roaring and a bellowing sound nearby, and from time to time a great crash: but he could see nothing.

  At last the sky turned grey, and going out of the hall Thor saw in the first light of morning a Giant lying on the hillside a little distance away, snoring loudly. He was not a small Giant by any means – indeed he was the largest that Thor had ever seen.

  Then Thor knew what the noises were that he had heard in the night, and in a fit of anger he girded himself with his belt of strength, and swung Miolnir in his hands, wondering where to strike.

  At that moment the Giant woke, and Thor decided that it was safer not to use his hammer just then. Instead he asked:

  ‘Who are you that have disturbed our slumbers with your snores?’

  ‘I am Skrymir,’ answered the Giant in a voice that echoed among the mountains. ‘I have come to lead you to Utgard. I need not ask if you are Thor, for your hammer betrays you. But indeed you are rather smaller than I expected … Hallo, what have you been doing with my glove?’

  With that he picked up what Thor had taken for a hall, shook Loki and Thialfi out of it, and put it on, slipping his thumb into the room where they had passed the night.

  Then he opened his bag and made a huge breakfast, leaving Thor and his companions to be content with what they could find.

  ‘I’ll carry your bag of provisions in my own,’ said Skrymir when he had finished his breakfast. ‘Then we can dine together tonight in a more friendly fashion.’

  Thor agreed readily, and Thialfi handed over the empty wallet, which Skrymir dropped into his own bag before lacing up the top and slinging it over his shoulder.

  ‘Now follow me!’ he boomed, and went striding away over the mountains while Thor and Loki did their best to keep up with him, and Thialfi followed painfully behind – though indeed he was the swiftest-footed of all men.

  Late in the evening Skrymir found them shelter for the night under a mighty oak tree where they could get out of the bitter wind among its roots, and he lay on the hillside beyond its huge trunk.

  ‘I am too tired to bother about supper,’ said the Giant as he stretched himself out. ‘But here is the food-bag: open it and help yourselves.’

  He flung down his sack, and a few moments later was snoring like a volcano on the other side of the tree.

  Thor set himself to unlace the food-bag; but pull and lever as he might, not a single thong could he loosen. Nor could he cut through the stiff leather.

  ‘This Giant is mocking us!’ he exclaimed at last, and in a rage he rushed round the tree and hit Skrymir on the head with Miolnir.

  The Giant stirred in his sleep, yawned, and muttered sleepily:

  ‘That was a big leaf which dropped on my head! … What are you doing, Thor? You have finished supper, I suppose, and are ready for bed?’

  ‘We’re just thinking about going to sleep,’ growled Thor, and when Skrymir was snoring once more, he led Loki and Thialfi to another oak tree at a little distance where they settled down in hungry discomfort to get what rest they could.

  Midnight came and Thor still could not sleep. Giant Skrymir had rolled on to his back and was snoring until the trees shook as if a great storm was raging.

  ‘I’ll silence that monster!’ grumbled Thor. ‘If we cannot eat, we might at least get a little sleep!’

  He strode round to where Skrymir lay, planted his feet firmly, whirled Miolnir round his head and struck him on the crown with all his strength so that the hammer-head sank almost out of sight.

  ‘What’s happening now?’ asked the Giant sitting up. ‘Curse this oak tree! An acorn landed right on my head and woke me! … Or was it you, Thor, with news of some danger threatening us?’

  ‘There’s no danger that I know of,’ answered Thor. ‘It’s now about midnight, and I had just woken and was stretching my legs for a few moments.’

  Skrymir grunted, and went to sleep again; but Thor, bristling with fury, sat with hammer in hand planning how he would strike one more bl
ow which should make an end of the Giant.

  ‘If I can strike a really good one,’ he thought to himself, ‘he shall never see the light of day again!’

  When dawn was just beginning to break Thor decided that his time had come. Skrymir appeared to be sleeping soundly, lying in such a way that Thor could reach one of his temples quite easily. So he rushed upon him whirling Miolnir with all his strength, and delivered a crashing blow.

  Skrymir sat up suddenly and rubbed his head.

  ‘It’s those birds up in the oak tree!’ he exclaimed. ‘One of them dropped a twig on my forehead … Ah, Thor! So you’re awake already. A good thing, for we have a long journey before us if you are to reach Utgard before night.’

  They continued all day across the mountains, but as afternoon was advancing, Skrymir stopped and said to Thor:

  ‘I must leave you here and go northwards. If you turn east you will reach Utgard before evening. But before we part, let me give you some advice. I heard you talking among yourselves and remarking that you had seen Giants smaller than I am. Let me warn you that in the castle of Utgard you will find several far taller than I. So when you get there be careful not to utter boastful words – for the followers of Utgardhaloki will not take them from such mere babes as you … In fact, my advice would be to turn back while you have the chance, and get home as quickly as you can.’

  With that, Skrymir slung his bag over his shoulder and strode away towards the snow-covered mountains of the far north. And neither Thor nor Loki nor Thialfi was sorry to see him go.

  They did not turn back, however, but went on towards the east, and as night was falling they came to a castle which was so high that it hurt the backs of their necks to look up to the top of it. There was an iron grating in the gateway, and this was closed. Thor strained his hardest to open it, but in vain; however, they soon found that they were small enough to squeeze between the bars.

  Inside they saw a mighty hall with wide-open doors, and on walking into it found many Giants sitting on benches along either side, while Utgardhaloki, the Giant King, sat at the high table on the dais at the end.