A
BRIEF GUIDE TO NORSE MYTHOLOGY FOR YOUNG AND OLD

by Flora J. Cooke

CONTENTS

Part I. An Overview of Norse
Mythology

Part II. Mythological Gods,
Goddesses, Heroes, Places, and Things

Part III. Three Selected Norse
Myths

PART I. AN OVERVIEW OF NORSE
MYTHOLOGY

In the beginning, declare the
Norse myths, there was no world, but just a great formless abyss. To the north
were mist and darkness; to the south fire and light; and out of the mist world
there flowed twelve rivers which emptied into the abyss and were frozen there.
Fiery blasts from the fire world melted this ice, and a vapor arose that
condensed, came to life, and became the giant Ymir, father of all the giants.
From the same source was formed the huge cow, Adhumbla, whose milk fed the
giant, while she nourished herself by licking the salt from the ice. As she
licked she uncovered first the head, then the whole form of Bori, the first of
the gods, from whom all the other gods were descended. Bori’s grandsons, Odin,
Vili, and Ve, fought and slew the wicked Ymir, and from his body they formed
the world. His flesh became the dry land, his blood the seas, his skull the
overarching heavens, his bones the rocks, his hair the forests, and his
scattered brains the clouds. Then light was needed, and the three gods placed
in the heavens—as sun, moon, and stars—sparks from the southern
fire world. For a time they were much pleased with their work.

One day Odin, with two other gods,
was walking near the seashore. They were talking, as they walked, of the
beautiful world they had made, and lamenting that there was no one to enjoy it,
for their own home was above the earth. All at once Odin espied two shapely
trees, an ash (Ask) and an elm (Embla). “From these,” he declared. I shall make
creatures that shall live in this world we have fashioned—bask in its
warmth, drink of its waters, force its soil to bear; and they shall give us
homage which will be sweet to us.” Then of the ash he made a man, of the elm a
woman; and from these two sprang all the race of men.

Most of the Norse gods were very
good and kindly, but there was one, Loki, who took delight in mischief and
wickedness, and it was he, together with the evil giants, who first taught men
to sin. They proved apt pupils, and the age of innocence soon passed away,
while gods and men had to fight for their very existence with the powers of
evil. Some time, the Norse people believed, there should come a dreadful time
known as the Twilight of the Gods (Ragnarök), when the evil forces should
triumph over the good, and the rule of Odin should come to an end. Out of this
destruction, however, a new world was to arise, and innocence and happiness
were to prevail again, under the rule of new gods.

There were, according to the Norse
myths, twelve great gods and twenty-four goddesses, and they had their home in
a wonderful region above the earth, called Asgard. The rainbow bridge led from Asgard to earth, and the
gods crossed it frequently, taking part in the affairs of men. Besides Odin and
Loki, mentioned above, the chief gods and goddesses are Balder, Freya, Frigga,
Heimdall, and Thor.

PART II. MYTHOLOGICAL NORSE
GODS, GODDESSES, HEROES, PLACES, AND THINGS (in
alphabetical order)

ASGARD

Asgard, to the ancient
Scandinavians, was the home of the gods, as Olympus was to the Greeks. Here
each god had his palace, and here was the radiant hall in which their councils
were held, presided over by Odin. But the Scandinavians believed that sooner or
later evil would triumph over the great gods, and that all the bright dwellings
of Asgard would be destroyed.

BALDER

Balder was the god who personified
the sun and the charm of summer. He was the son of Odin and Frigga, and was a
general favorite with the gods and goddesses because of his beauty and
goodness. His one enemy was the wicked Loki, who hated him and plotted his
destruction. Balder’s mother, fearing that he might be harmed, had exacted from
all the things in the world, except only a small spray of mistletoe that grew
on an oak tree, a promise that they would not injure her son. The gods,
therefore, made a pastime of hurling their dangerous weapons at Balder, that
they might enjoy the sport of seeing them fall harmlessly to the ground. But
the scheming Loki made a dart from the mistletoe, and this he put into the hand
of Balder’s blind brother, telling him how to throw it. As the dart struck
Balder, he fell dead.

FREY

Frey, one of the most celebrated of
the gods in Norse mythology, was the son of the sea god Njörd, and brother to
Freyja, the goddess of love. He presided over the rain and sunshine as well as
all the fruits of the earth. At sacrificial feasts the Norsemen and their
guests filled their horns and prayed to him for a prosperous season and for
peace. Frey was an especial favorite of the other gods, who presented him with
gifts that figure prominently in Norse mythology, among them a magic sword that
would fight by itself the moment it was drawn from its scabbard; a ship that,
while large enough to carry all of the gods and their attendants, at will could
be folded up and tucked into a pocket; and a boar with golden bristles, which
enabled Frey to ride over land and sea with incredible swiftness. Frey fell in
love with Gerda, the daughter of the giant Gymer, and in order to gain the
assistance of his servant in winning the lovely maiden for his bride, Frey was
obliged to part with his wonderful sword, which was afterward greatly needed by
the gods in all their combats. Frey was worshiped extensively throughout the
Northern countries; in fact, in some provinces of Sweden the people at an early
day put their highest trust in him and even believed that at times he appeared
in human form.

FREYJA

Freyja was the goddess of love and
beauty, and the sister of Frey. Although she corresponds to Venus of Greek
mythology, the conception of her differs somewhat, as Freyja is regarded to
some extent as a war goddess, and often accompanied the valkyries when they
flew down to the battlefields to carry away the slain warriors. She always
asserted her right to one-half of the slain, the other half belonging to Odin,
the god who represented the spirit of life. The warriors afterwards were
carried to her palace and there entertained sumptuously. Freyja married a god
named Oder, who deserted her in order to travel into remote countries; from the
day of her desertion she wept continuously, and her tears were drops of gold.
She is, therefore, called the fair, weeping goddess. In Norse poetry, gold is
called “Freyja’s tears” and “the rain of Freyja’s brows or cheeks.” Freyja’s
cats, which drew the chariot wherein she traveled in quest of her husband,
symbolize sly fondling and sensual enjoyment. The name of her husband, Oder,
signifies wild desire. The diversified names bestowed upon Freyja in her
journeys to the various countries visited denote the various modes by which
love reveals itself in human life.

FRIGGA

Frigga (or Frigg), the wife of
Odin, represented the spirit of life and permeated the whole universe. In some
respects Frigga corresponds to the Greek goddess Hera (wife of Zeus). She was
also known to other Teutonic peoples, both on the Continent and in England,
where her name still survives in the word Friday. Very often she is wrongly
identified with Freyja, who might be compared more fitly with the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. Frigga typifies a mother’s love; Freyja, the love of youth. Frigga
knows the fate of all men, but she neither says nor prophesies anything about
it herself.

HEIMDALL

Heimdall, in Norse mythology, was
the guardian of the bridge of the gods against the attacks of the giants.
According to the popular legend of the Northland, he could see as well by night
as by day, could hear the grass grow, and required very little sleep.

HELA

Hela (or Hel), in Norse mythology,
was the goddess of the region of the dead. She was the daughter of Loki and the
giantess Angurboda, and her dwelling was under a root of the sacred ash tree
Yggdrasil. In the Middle Ages she was confused with the kingdom over which she
ruled, but in later mythology is represented as being half blue-black and half
flesh color, and of extremely repulsive appearance. Her kingdom was peopled
only by those who died of disease and old age.

LOKI

Loki (or Lok), in mythological
legends of Northern Europe, was the spirit of strife and evil. Although a
wicked deity and the embodiment of evil, he was supposed to be a very handsome,
fascinating god. He shrewdly planned the death of Balder, when Frigga had
induced all objects not to injure him. The mistletoe not being included, Loki
made it into an arrow and gave it to the blind Hoder, who shot it at random.
The dart struck Balder and killed him. Subsequently Loki was bound with ten
chains and will continue chained, so the legend runs, until the twilight of the
gods appears, when he will break his fetters; then the heavens will disappear,
the earth will be submerged by the sea, and fire will consume the elements.
Loki was considered far more clever than the other gods, and when he desired he
could exercise his ingenuity on behalf of the other gods, and the results were
most beneficial. He was usually occupied, however, in wicked scheming.

NIFLHEIM

Niflheim, in Norse mythology, was a
region of everlasting cold and darkness, the abode of Hela, the goddess of
death. In one of the Eddas [the Eddas, the chief source of  knowledge of Scandinavian mythology,
are two thirteenth-century Icelandic books] it is told that a messenger,
journeying there to inquire of Hela if Balder, son of Odin, could be ransomed,
wandered nine days through dark and terrible chasms. Niflheim was located under
one of the roots of Yggdrasil, the mystic ash tree. Not only the wicked were
cast into this cheerless place, but all those who died of sickness or old age.
Consequently many took their own lives in order to save themselves from the
fate decreed those who died ingloriously.

NORNS

The norns were the throe fates of
Norse mythology, whose decrees were beyond recall. They were represented as
three sisters of different ages, whose names were Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld.
meaning the past, present, and
future. Urd, as the personification of
former days, was represented as old and feeble, ever looking backward;
Verdandi, typifying the present, appeared as a courageous, energetic young
woman, who looked always straight ahead; Skuld, emblematic of the future, was
closely veiled and appeared with head turned in the opposite direction from
that toward which Urd looked, and in her hand was an unopened book or a scroll
not yet unrolled. Asgard, the home of the heroes slain in battle, was their
dwelling place, and they were supposed to sit under the world tree, Yggdrasil,
by the well of Urdar, and there determine the destinies of both gods and men.
There were many lesser norns, each individual having a personal one who decided
his fate. The inferior norns also included women who possessed the power of
magic or prediction.

ODIN

Odin was the chief god of the
ancient people of Northern Europe, as Zeus was the chief god of the Greeks. The
Scandinavians called him Odin; the
Germans called the same god Wuotan
or Wodin. He was the father of
all the gods of Norse mythology, and was the personification of universal
wisdom and victory. His great son, Thor, was the god of war, thunder, and
agriculture. Many legendary kings and noble families, as well as gods, were
said to be descended from Odin. His court was held in Asgard, as Zeus held
court in Olympus. Valhalla, the hall of the chosen slain, was one of the most
important palaces in Asgard. The earliest form of worship of both Odin and Zeus
was human sacrifice. In earliest times, Odin was a god of the common people but
later was worshiped principally by warriors and members of noble families.
Wednesday received its name from Odin.

SIGURD

Sigurd, in Norse mythology, was the
brave warrior and hero of the Volsunga Saga, who vowed in true knightly fashion to right all evil and defend the
oppressed. He was the son of Sigmund and Hiordis, but was raised in the
brilliant court of his stepfather, Elf. Incited by the stories of Regin, his
tutor, the young gallant, after receiving his father’s sword, started out to
destroy the dragon Fafnir. After killing the monster he ate its heart and was
surprised to find that he could understand the language of birds. They told him
about Brunhilde, the beautiful maiden who slept in a palace surrounded by
flames, awaiting the hero who would come to rescue her. Sigurd immediately
mounted the hill to the palace, awakened the imprisoned Brunhilde, whom he
loved at first sight, and after promising to return for her, he started off
again on his adventures. She was left sorrowful. Finally he reached the land of
the Niblungs, where the queen, who was a sorceress, brewed for Sigurd a potion
that caused him to forget Brunhilde and fall in love with her own daughter,
Gudrun, whom he married. Later, after he had aided Gudrun’s brother, Gunther,
to win Brunhilde as his wife, Sigurd’s memory returned and he was filled with
remorse. Brunhilde, unable to forgive his apparent faithlessness, had him put
to death and then in remorse killed herself on his funeral pyre.

THOR

Thor, the thunderer, in Northern
mythology, was the eldest son of Odin and the strongest of the gods, their
champion in the almost incessant wars against the giants. As a child Thor was
noted for his size and great strength. Ordinarily he was a good-natured boy,
but sometimes he fell into such terrible passions that his mother was unable to
control him, so she gave him into the charge of foster parents, who brought him
up very wisely. When he had grown to maturity he built in Asgard a wonderful
palace that he named Bilskirnir (lightning). Thor was especially the god of
peasants and the laboring classes, and in the 540 halls of his great palace he
met his favorite dead and feasted with them, as Odin did with their masters. As
Thor rode about the heavens in his brazen chariot drawn by two goats, from
whose teeth and hoofs sparks were constantly flying, lightning flashed from his
hammer, and as he threw it through the air, thunder roared. In art Thor is
represented as a man in the prime of life, tall, well formed, with bristling
red hair and beard and strong, muscular limbs. Thursday is named for Thor
(Thor’s day).

VALHALLA

Valhalla, according to Northern
mythology, was the most magnificent palace of Asgard, where Odin feasted with
his heroes. The great building had golden walls and a floor and roof of
shields. Its ceiling was supported by spears so highly polished that the light
from them served to illuminate the hall. Rings and plates of armor, the gifts
of the god to his men, adorned the walls. So enormous was this great building
that it had 540 doors, each so wide that eight hundred men might enter side by
side. Long tables set about the hall accommodated the guests, the soldiers
slain in battle who had been brought to Valhalla by the Valkyrs. These maidens
waited upon the tables and supplied the men with delicious mead, a drink made
of honey. For food, they had the flesh of a mighty boar, which daily recovered
the flesh he had given to the feast. Every day these heroes rode out to the
field, where in pastime they fought and often wounded each other sorely, but
they were entirely restored every night after feasting in Valhalla.

VALKYRIES

Valkyries (or Valkyrs), in Norse
mythology, were warlike maidens mounted on horses and armed with helmets,
shields, and spears, who were sent by Odin to every battlefield to choose the
bravest of military heroes and carry them to Valhalla. Half of those dead they
selected and carried on their fleet steeds over the bridge Bifröst into the
hall, where, donning pure white robes, they waited on the heroes during their
long feast.

YGGDRASIL

Yggdrasi, the great world ash tree
of Norse mythology, was called the tree of the universe because its wide-spreading roots bound together
heaven, earth, and the underworld. Literally, its meaning is bearer
of Odin, or Yggr. Beneath its branches, evergreen and dripping honey,
the gods held daily council. Each of its three roots was watered by a
miraculous spring. Four stags, a squirrel, a serpent, an eagle, and a falcon
dwelt in the tree, the falcon reporting all that happened in the three
kingdoms. Yggdrasil is undoubtedly symbolized in the modern Christmas tree.

PART III. THREE SELECTED NORSE
MYTHS

I. THE DEATH OF BALDER

Balder the Beautiful was the
center of all brightness and cheer in Asgard, home of the gods. Everybody loved
him except Loki, who was so wicked that he just could not love anybody that was
good and happy. He let himself brood upon his hatred for Balder until in time
it came to seem to him that the only thing in life he cared for was to injure
Balder. And Balder seemed to feel his danger, for he had most terrible dreams
of unknown woe to come, which finally he spoke of to his father and mother,
Odin and Frigga, who had questioned him as to his downcast looks.

“Do not fear, my son,” said Frigga
comfortingly. “I shall visit everything on earth—every beast and bird,
every treacherous poison and every lurking disease, every stone and tree and
creeping thing, and even the ravening fire—and make them promise not to
harm Balder.”

Feeling much safer, Balder went
home to his shining palace and his beloved wife, Nanna, with his old smile, the
light of gods and men, again shining from his eyes.

Frigga’s journey about the earth
made her mother heart very proud, for every object and living thing on earth
took so gladly the oath not to injure Balder.

“Why should we hurt the one whom
most we love?” they questioned—“the one without whose presence the earth
would be a gloomy place?”

Wearied with her journeys, but
very happy, Frigga went back to Asgard, and just as she was about to enter
Valhalla she espied a tiny mistletoe plant on the branches of a strong oak. For
an instant she stopped, because she had exacted no promise from the little
shrub, but finally she passed on without speaking, thinking the mistletoe was
too young and weak to do any harm.

When the gods heard of her success
they hit upon a new way of amusing themselves. Balder, with his bright smile
quite restored and his golden hair shining in the sun, stood upon their great
playground and allowed them to hurl at him their weapons. The sharpest spears,
the most jagged stones were thrown with unerring aim, but they harmed Balder no
more than a shower of rose petals. Occasionally some god, with a laugh, would
rush upon Balder and strike him with a battle-ax, but the charmed god felt no
touch of the ax.

But there was one god who had had
no invitation to this sport—Loki; and when he passed by and saw it he was
furiously angry. Did all things then love Balder? He hastily made a crafty
plan, and disguising himself as a poor old woman, went to Frigga’s palace.

“Mother of the gods,” said this
old woman, “your son Balder will be killed, for the gods are hurling at him
their sharpest darts.”

“Ah,” said the happy mother, “they
cannot harm him, for all things in heaven and earth have taken an oath not to
injure him.”

“Marvelous!” said the visitor.
“You must be a proud mother to have such honor shown your son. Did you really
mean everything?”

“Yes,” answered Frigga. “O no,”
she added carelessly. “I did not trouble to ask the little shrub on the oak
eastward of Valhalla—it could do no one any harm.”

With more flattering words Loki
slipped away, resuming his own shape when out of sight of Frigga. To the
Valhalla oak he hastened, cut off the mistletoe, now grown larger and stronger,
and from it fashioned a dart. Then he joined the other gods at the sporting
ground, and found them none too glad to see him. He approached Hoder, Balder’s
blind brother, who stood apart, with no weapon in his hand, and asked him why
he did not join in the game.

“Gladly would I do honor to
Balder,” said Hoder, “but I cannot tell in which direction to throw, nor have I
anything to hurl.”

“That I can remedy,” said Loki. “I
will direct your aim, and I will give you the dart which I have in my hand.”

Gladly Hoder agreed, and under
Loki’s guidance threw the mistletoe dart, but instead of falling harmless at
Balder’s feet it pierced him through and through, and he fell down dead. For a
moment there was a horror-stricken silence, a wail of anguish went up, and the
gods rushed toward Hoder and demanded his life. Heimdall, wisest of the gods,
persuaded them it was not the fault of the blind Hoder, whose grief was great,
but of the treacherous Loki, who had now vanished, and he induced them to turn
from thoughts of vengeance to plans for bringing Balder back.

Then Hermod, called the Nimble,
mounted Odin’s eight-footed steed Sleipnir, and rode away to the abode of Hela,
goddess of the dead, to plead for Balder’s return. It was a long and toilsome
journey, through dreadful caverns, cold and dark, but at last he came to Hela’s
realm and made his plea; but the dark goddess was the daughter of Loki and
remained unmoved at tales of the grief in Asgard.

“Let us see,” she said coldly,
“whether it is true that everything loved and mourns for him. If all things in
the world, whether they have life or not, weep for him, he shall go back; but
if one person or one thing refuse to weep, here he shall stay.”

Somewhat cheered, Hermod rode back
to Asgard and told this tale, and messengers were sent out through all the
world to beg everything to weep for Balder. Only success greeted them for some
time, but at length they found an old hag sitting at the mouth of a cave, and
she only mocked them when they made their request.

“With dry tears will I weep,” she
scoffed. “Hela shall keep her prey.”

“It is Loki in disguise,” they
whispered as they made their way sorrowfully back to Asgard, where they told
the weeping gods that Balder should return no more.

Then they carried the beautiful
body of Balder to the seashore and laid it upon his great ship, whereon had
been raised a funeral pile. Each god cast into the pile his chief treasure, and
then the fire was applied. At the last moment Balder’s wife Nanna hurled
herself upon the pile, because she could not live without her husband. All
ablaze, the ship, with its sails set, was launched for the open sea, and
silently the gods stood and watched it as it drifted on and on, burning ever
higher and higher. And when the night was almost gone, the flame, now far
distant, flickered out, and the gods knew that Balder was gone from them
forever.

II. THE FENRIS WOLF

Nothing proved more clearly that
Loki was not fit for the company of the gods than the fact that he wandered off
to the home of the giants and there married the fiercest giantess of all,
Angurboda. Naturally enough, the children she bore him were not sweet and
beautiful, but surely even from her Loki could not have expected such
offspring. First of all there was the gloomy daughter Hela, a very strange
person to look upon; for she was half blue and half white, and in her deep eyes
there was a look of such unconquerable sadness that no one who looked upon her
ever smiled again. But the other two children were much, much worse. One was a
great slimy serpent, with vicious poison fangs, the other a huge wolf with
glaring eyes and teeth as sharp as swords. Loki himself was not afraid of his
children, but the other gods looked down from Asgard in dismay, for the
monsters grew as much in an hour as any ordinary creature would grow in a year.

“Something must be done,” pondered
Odin, king of the gods, “for soon we shall not be safe on our thrones from the
hatred I see burning in their eyes.”

So he sent Thor to bring them to
Asgard before they became too large and strong for even this most powerful of
the gods to manage, and all the gods gathered in council discussing their fate.
First Odin turned to Hela.

“You are not vicious,” he said,
“but the death in your eyes makes it unsafe to leave you on earth among men,
and you shall be sent to reign over the underworld—the vast kingdom of
the dead.”

Without a word Hela turned and
left the council hall. There was no happiness in the world, anyway, and even
the world of the dead—of those who had met inglorious death in their beds
instead of dying bravely on the battlefield—could add nothing to her
sadness.

Then Odin turned to the serpent,
and though it could understand very well the language of the gods, he said no
word to it, but seized it in his arms and threw it over the wall that encircled
Asgard. At length to the ears of the listening gods there came a great splash,
which meant that the serpent had fallen into the sea. There it grew and grew to
such an enormous size that it stretched about the whole earth, holding its tail
in its mouth.

But there still remained the
Fenris wolf, the most troublesome of the three.

“Let us kill him,” whispered one
on Odin’s right hand.

“Not so,” replied Odin, “for we
have one and all sworn that no blood shall be spilled in the beautiful city of
the gods. Let us see whether by kindness we cannot tame him.”

So the wolf was turned loose to
prowl about the streets of Asgard, and the night was often made hideous by his
howls. As he grew rapidly larger he grew fiercer, also, and only the war god
Tyr, the bravest of all the gods, dared go near enough to him to feed him.

“This cannot go on,” said Odin one
day in council. “Son Thor, can you not make in your smithy a chain heavy enough
to bind him?”

“I shall make a chain that I
myself cannot break,” said Thor, “and I am very strong.” Away he hurried to his
smithy, and before long they heard his fire roaring, and his hammer clanging on
his anvil. The next morning he showed his chain proudly, and told of his crafty
plan for binding the wolf.

“Come, Fenris,” he called, “let us
play n game. This chain is so strong that not all of us can break it, but if
you will allow us to bind you with it you can prove how much stronger you are
than the gods.”

Growling and glaring, the wolf
drew near and let them bind him, and very tight they drew the chain. But
without the least effort the wolf rose, shook himself, and threw off the
broken, clanking chain. The gods were dismayed, all but Thor, who vowed that he
would make a chain that could not be broken.

In the morning, after the gods had
listened all night to the beats of his hammer, he appeared among them with a
chain that he declared was the strongest that could possibly be forged. Again
they proposed the same test to the wolf, and again he submitted, knowing his
own strength too well to fear. The gods held their breath for a moment,
hoping—hoping; but one shrug of the great, hairy shoulders, one stretch
of the powerful limbs, and the wolf stood free.

Then Odin, almost despairing, sent
a messenger to the dwarfs, those wonderful workmen who have their smithy
underground, and who have at their disposal all the riches of the world. And
they, at the bidding of the gods, fashioned a most marvelous chain, which was
made not of iron, but of the noise of a cat’s footfall, the roots of stones,
the spittle of birds, the beards of women, and the nerves of bears. Very soft
and fine it looked—no stronger than a silken cord; but the dwarfs had
guaranteed their work.

The gods thought they would have
no trouble with Fenris this time, and called him joyously, but he suspected
their scheme.

“You shall not bind me with that,”
he growled. “If it is really but a frail string you would find no pleasure in
binding me with it; if it is enchanted, I can never break it.”

In vain they urged him, insisting
that it was but a game; he knew that they feared and hated him, and shook his
shaggy head. Finally he said mockingly:

“Very well, if it’s a game, you
may play at it too. If one of you will put his hand into my mouth, you may wrap
me with the cord as securely as you will.”

The gods dared not show their
dismay, for that would be equivalent to confessing their craftiness, so the
brave Tyr stepped forward and thrust his hand between the awful jaws. Then
Fenris lay quiet, while they wrapped him securely with the cord.

“Now!” said Thor, and the wolf
tried to rise. He twisted and struggled, but in vain, for the magic cord but
drew the tighter and the blood ran from his body. When he saw that the gods
made no effort to release him he snapped off Tyr's hand, and from that time on
the great god of battles was one-handed. It was a heavy price to pay, but not
too heavy, Tyr felt, for it had saved the gods from their worst enemy. Fenris
roared and growled and shook the ground with his struggles, but the dwarfs’
masterpiece held firm, and again the gods might go about their city without
fear of the dreadful fangs at their heels.

III. THE GIFTS THE DWARFS MADE

Sif, Thor’s wife, was most
beautiful, with her blue eyes, fair skin, and golden hair. Her hair! It was the
most glorious hair that had ever grown on anyone’s head—bright and soft
and fine, and so long and heavy that when she let it down it covered her from
head to foot like a golden veil. Of course she was very proud of it, and of
course Thor was proud of it too and loved to watch her shake it out so that it
shone and rippled like a golden waterfall in the sun.

One morning when she woke, Sif
found that her hair had been cut off close to her head. A look into her
polished silver mirror showed her that the most of her beauty had gone with her
hair, and she scarcely dared face her husband; but when she told Thor his anger
was terrible to behold.

“It is Loki, the wicked Loki, who
has done this,” he cried, “and he shall suffer for it.”

For Loki was a crafty schemer,
always trying to annoy someone, and particularly fond of troubling Thor.

It was no easy task for Thor to
catch the thief, for Loki had the power of changing his shape to that of
anything he chose, and he made good use of his power now. Finally, however,
Thor found him and grabbed him by the throat.

“Confess,” he cried, “that you
stole Sif’s hair.”

But his grip was so strong that
Loki could only gasp and wriggle.

“Unless you give it back,” Thor
continued, “I shall kill you here and now,” and he loosened his grasp that Loki
might answer.

“I did it,” confessed Loki
sullenly, “but I cannot give it back, for I opened my hands and scattered it
all over the earth.”

“Then you shall die!” thundered
Thor, and would have kept his word had not Loki promised to get for Sif a new
head of hair as beautiful as the first.

“Go then,” commanded Thor, “and
make haste.”

Loki slunk away and crept into the
earth where lived his friends the dwarfs. They were ugly and not always very
pleasant, but Loki knew their skill and knew that they were proud to be called
on to show it. So he implored them to make for him not only the golden hair,
but gifts for Odin and Frey, Thor’s powerful friends of whose anger Loki was
afraid.

To anyone else it might have
seemed like a very difficult matter to have to make a head of golden hair, but
the dwarfs thought nothing of it. They brought their gold, and when they had
softened it they spun it out into countless fine hairs. These they braided into
a huge coil and gave to Loki.

“It may seem dead now,” said the
master-smith, “but when it touches Sif’s head it will at once become alive and
begin to grow, yet it will always be real gold.”

Wonderful as this was, it was not
the most wonderful of the dwarfs’ gifts. For how could anything be as wonderful
as the spear that they made for Odin, the spear that however it was thrown
never missed its aim; or as the ship that they made for Frey? For this ship,
while it could be folded up and thrust into the pocket, could be made so large
that hundreds of people might ride in it in comfort, and it sailed as well in
the air as on the water and always in just the right direction, no matter which
way the wind blew.

No wonder Loki was pleased, and no
wonder he cried aloud to the master-smith:

“You are surely the most clever
smith in all the world. No one else, I am sure, could make such things.”

But someone was passing and heard
these words and was not pleased to hear them; this was the dwarf Brock, who
belonged to a different family of dwarfs. When he heard the flattering words of
Loki, whom he hated, he stopped and said:

“I do not know what your gifts
are, but I know that whatever they are, my brother Sindri can make something
more wonderful.”

“Let us make it a wager,” cried
Loki. “I will meet you tomorrow in Odin’s great hall, and you may bring with
you there three things made by your brother to present to Thor and Odin and
Frey, and then we shall see what we shall see. And whichever one of us brings
the most wonderful gifts shall have the other’s head.”

Without a word Brock turned and
hurried to his brother’s smithy, where he told his story; and Sindri, proud of
his brother’s faith in him, at once set to work. But first he said to Brock:

“You must blow the bellows while
the gifts are being made, for I must go outside and work my magic spells or I
shall not be able to accomplish anything wonderful; and whatever happens, never
leave off blowing the bellows.” And with these words he tossed into the fire a
pig’s skin, and thrusting the bellows into Brock’s hands left the smithy.

Now Loki, for all his boastful
words, was a little bit worried, and to be on the safe side he came to Sindri’s
smithy to see what was going on there. But Brock did not see him—Loki was
not so foolish as to let himself be seen. He turned himself into a gadfly, and
settling on Brock’s hand, stung him until the pain was almost unendurable. But
Brock blew the bellows and blew the bellows and never left off for a minute.
When Sindri came back he said: “Good brother”; and he drew out of the fire a
boar with shining bristles of gold.

Next he threw into the fire some
gold, and warning Brock once more to be careful never to cease blowing the
bellows, he again left the smithy. This time Loki settled on Brock’s cheek and
stung even more sharply than before, so that the poor little dwarf had to set
his teeth hard to endure the pain. But still he never left off blowing the
bellows, and when Sindri came back, there was found in the fire, instead of the
lump of gold that had gone in, a heavy ring of gold, carved most beautifully.

“Once more,” said Sindri, as he
threw a lump of iron into the fire; “and this time be extra careful about the
bellows.” Brock turned to work bravely, but the gadfly Loki settled just over
his eye, and stung him so fiercely that the blood ran down into his eyes so
that he could not see what he was doing. The pain would never have made him
stop, but he just had to put up his hand and wipe the blood from his eye, and
at that moment Sindri entered the room.

“You have spoiled it!” he cried,
as he sprang toward the fire; but when he drew out the heavy hammer to which
the lump of iron had been changed, he comforted Brock by telling him that it
was not entirely spoiled—“only the handle is too short,” he added.

“Loki declared,” said Brock, “that
his gifts were not only beautiful and useful, but that they were magic gifts
and could do wonderful things.”

Sindri smiled, then whispered
something in Brock’s ear that made the little dwarf’s eyes shine.

The next day he was at Odin’s hall
promptly at the appointed time, and he stood patiently by while Loki gave his
gifts.

“It is even more beautiful than
the old hair,” declared Thor, as Sif shook out above herself the new golden
threads.

“And such a spear!” cried Odin.
“No enemy will ever be able to stand against me now.”

“But mine is best,” said Frey,
“for we can all use it. Come,” he went on, turning to the crowd that had
assembled, “let’s go for a ride in this wonderful new ship.”

“Wait,” cried Brock, “I have
something, too, to offer.”

“What, more gifts?” exclaimed
Odin. “Of course we will wait.”

But he looked a little
disappointed when Brock put into his hand the heavy gold ring, for he had rings
aplenty, some of them as beautiful as this one.

“It is a magic ring,” said Brock;
“every ninth night, eight rings as large and heavy as this one will drop from
it. That one ring alone would make a person rich.”

Then he pulled from his huge sack
the golden boar, glittering in the sunlight.

“It is named Gullinbursti,” said
Brock to Frey, “and it is a magic boar. On his back you can ride through the
air as fast as a thought can fly, and even in the darkest night it need never
be dark to you, for the bristles of Gullinbursti will give out light as he
flits across the sky.”

“I like him even better than the
ship,” said Frey; and Odin, who had been looking at his two gifts in silence,
now said:

“And I like the ring better than
the magic spear.”

Brock grew more and more cheerful,
and Loki’s frown grew blacker and blacker, but he smiled again when Brock drew
out and handed to Thor the ugly, short-handled hammer. Thor himself looked none
too well pleased. Was the dwarf making fun of him? Hammers of this sort were to
be had any day for the asking.

“But it is a magic hammer,”
exclaimed Brock. “It hits anything at which it is thrown and it never hits in
vain. The strongest mountain will split, the strongest giant will die at a
stroke of this hammer, and no matter how far it is thrown it will always fly
back to your hand.”

At the word “giant,” Thor’s look
of displeasure changed. For were not the giants, the huge, ugly frost-giants,
his worst enemies? And had he not always, up to this time, tried in vain to
overcome them?

“Sif’s hair is beautiful,” he
said, looking at his wife with pride in his eyes, “and the hammer is not
beautiful, but I like the hammer better.”

“Brock has won! Brock has won!”
cried the crowd, who had heard of the wager and were none too fond of Loki,
“and he may have Loki’s head.”

Brock turned for vengeance on
Loki, but Loki had disappeared.

“I gave you the hammer; you will
help me to find him,” said the dwarf to Thor; and because he hated Loki and was
grateful to Brock, Thor soon brought Loki back.

“You may take my head,” said Loki;
“it is yours by the terms of our wager. But if you touch my neck, or spill one
drop of my blood, you will be taking more than belongs to you, and you must
die.”

“I’m afraid that is right,” said
Thor, and Brock was in despair.

But at last he decided that if he
could not have Loki’s head he would at least sew up his lying, boastful mouth;
so he borrowed an awl from his brother Sindri, made holes through Loki’s lips,
and fastened them together with a leather thong.

And so for a while there was
peace, because Loki could not make trouble with his tongue. But it was not for
long. Loki managed to cut the cord and was soon going about making trouble just
as he had always done.