43. "Thou mad'st mention," said Gangler, "of the horse Sleipnir. To
whom does he belong, and what is there to say respecting him?"
"Thou seemest to know nothing either about Sleipnir or his origin,"
replied Har, "but thou wilt no doubt find what thou wilt hear worthy
of thy notice. Once on a time when the gods were constructing their
abodes, and had already finished Midgard and Valhalla, a certain
artificer came and offered to build them, in the space of three half
years, a residence so well fortified that they should be perfectly
safe from the incursion of the Frost-giants, and the giants of the
mountains, even although they should have penetrated within Midgard.
But he demanded for his reward the goddess Freyja, together with the
sun and moon. After long deliberation the Æsir agreed to his terms,
provided he would finish the whole work himself without any one's
assistance, and all within the space of one winter, but if anything
remained unfinished on the first day of summer, he should forfeit the
recompense agreed on. On being told these terms, the artificer
stipulated that he should be allowed the use of his horse, called
Svadilfari, and this, by the advice of Loki, was granted to him. He
accordingly set to work on the first day of winter, and during the
night let his horse draw stone for the building. The enormous size of
the stones struck the Æsir with astonishment, and they saw clearly
that the horse did one half more of the toilsome work than his master.
Their bargain, however, had been concluded in the presence of
witnesses, and confirmed by solemn oaths, for without these
precautions a giant would not have thought himself safe among the
Æsir, especially when Thor returned from an expedition he had then
undertaken towards the east against evil demons.
"As the winter drew to a close the building was far advanced, and the
bulwarks were sufficiently high and massive to render this residence
impregnable. In short, when it wanted but three days to summer the
only part that remained to be finished was the gateway. Then sat the
gods on their seats of justice and entered into consultation,
inquiring of one another who among them could have advised to give
Freyja away to Jotunheim, or to plunge the heavens in darkness by
permitting the giant to carry away the sun and moon. They all agreed
that no one but Loki, the son of Laufey, and the author of so many
evil deeds, could have given such bad counsel, and that he should be
put to a cruel death if he did not contrive some way or other to
prevent the artificer from completing his task and obtaining the
stipulated recompense. They immediately proceeded to lay hands on
Loki, who, in his fright, promised upon oath that let it cost him what
it would, he would so manage matters that the man should lose his
reward. That very night, when the artificer went with Svadilfari for
building stone, a mare suddenly ran out of a forest and began to
neigh. The horse being thus excited, broke loose and ran after the
mare into the forest, which obliged the man also to run after his
horse, and thus between one and the other the whole night was lost, so
that at dawn the work had not made the usual progress. The man seeing
that he had no other means of completing his task, resumed his own
gigantic stature, and the gods now clearly perceived that it was in
reality a Mountain-giant who had come amongst them. No longer
regarding their oaths, they, therefore, called on Thor, who
immediately ran to their assistance, and lifting up his mallet Mjolnir
paid the workman his wages, not with the sun and moon, and not even by
sending him back to Jotunheim, for with the first blow he shattered
the giant's skull to pieces, and hurled him headlong into Nifelhel.
But Loki had run such a race with Svadilfari that shortly after he
bore a grey foal with eight legs. This is the horse Sleipnir, which
excels all horses ever possessed by gods or men."