34. "There is another deity," continued Har, "reckoned in the number
of the Æsir, whom some call the calumniator of the gods, the contriver
of all fraud and mischief, and the disgrace of gods and men. His name
is Loki or Loptur. He is the son of the giant Farbauti. His mother is
Laufey or Nal; his brothers are Byleist and Helblindi. Loki is
handsome and well made, but of a very fickle mood, and most evil
disposition. He surpasses all beings in those arts called Cunning and
Perfidy. Many a time has he exposed the gods to very great perils, and
often extricated them again by his artifices. His wife is called
Siguna, and their son Nari.
35. "Loki," continued Har, "has likewise had three children by
Angurbodi, a giantess of Jotunheim. The first is the wolf Fenrir; the
second Jormungand, the Midgard serpent; the third Hela (Death). The
gods were not long ignorant that these monsters continued to be bred
up in Jotunheim, and, having had recourse to divination, became aware
of all the evils they would have to suffer from them; their being
sprung from such a mother was a bad presage, and from such a sire was
still worse. All-father therefore deemed it advisable to send one of
the gods to bring them to him. When they came he threw the serpent
into that deep ocean by which the earth is engirdled. But the monster
has grown to such an enormous size that, holding his tail in his
mouth, he encircles the whole earth. Hela he cast into Nifelheim, and
gave her power over nine worlds (regions), into which she distributes
those who are sent to her, that is to say, all who die through
sickness or old age. Here she possesses a habitation protected by
exceedingly high walls and strongly barred gates. Her hall is called
Elvidnir; Hunger is her table; Starvation, her knife; Delay, her man;
Slowness, her maid; Precipice, her threshold; Care, her bed; and
Burning Anguish forms the hangings of her apartments. The one half of
her body is livid, the other half the colour of human flesh. She may
therefore easily be recognized; the more so, as she has a dreadfully
stern and grim countenance.
"The wolf Fenrir was bred up among the gods; but Tyr alone had the
daring to go and feed him. Nevertheless, when the gods perceived that
he every day increased prodigiously in size, and that the oracles
warned them that he would one day become fatal to them, they
determined to make a very strong iron fetter for him, which they
called Læding. Taking this fetter to the wolf, they bade him try his
strength on it. Fenrir, perceiving that the enterprise would not be
very difficult for him, let them do what they pleased, and then, by
great muscular exertion, burst the chain and set himself at liberty.
The gods, having seen this, made another fetter, half as strong again
as the former, which they called Dromi, and prevailed on the wolf to
put it on, assuring him that, by breaking this, he would give an
undeniable proof of his vigour.
"The wolf saw well enough that it would not be so easy to break this
fetter, but finding at the same time that his strength had increased
since he broke Læding, and thinking that he could never become famous
without running some risk, voluntarily submitted to be chained. When
the gods told him that they had finished their task, Fenrir shook
himself violently, stretched his limbs, rolled on the ground, and at
last burst his chains, which flew in pieces all around him. He then
freed himself from Dromi, which gave rise to the proverb, 'to get
loose out of Læding, or to dash out of Dromi,' when anything is to be
accomplished by strong efforts.