Ages and ages ago, when the world was first made, the gods decided to
build a beautiful city high above the heavens, the most glorious and
wonderful city that ever was known. Asgard was to be its name, and it
was to stand on Ida Plain under the shade of Yggdrasil, the great tree
whose roots were underneath the earth.
First of all they built a house with a silver roof, where there were
seats for all the twelve chiefs. In the midst, and high above the
rest, was the wonder-throne of Odin the All-Father, whence he could
see everything that happened in the sky or on the earth or in the sea.
Next they made a fair house for Queen Frigg and her lovely daughters.
Then they built a smithy, with its great hammers, tongs, anvils, and
bellows, where the gods could work at their favorite trade, the making
of beautiful things out of gold; which they did so well that folk name
that time the Golden Age. Afterwards, as they had more leisure, they
built separate houses for all the Æsir, each more beautiful than the
preceding, for of course they were continually growing more skillful.
They saved Father Odin's palace until the last, for they meant this to
be the largest and the most splendid of all.
Gladsheim, the home of joy, was the name of Odin's house, and it was
built all of gold, set in the midst of a wood whereof the trees had
leaves of ruddy gold,--like an autumn-gilded forest. For the safety of
All-Father it was surrounded by a roaring river and by a high picket
fence; and there was a great courtyard within.
The glory of Gladsheim was its wondrous hall, radiant with gold, the
most lovely room that time has ever seen. Valhalla, the Hall of Heroes,
was the name of it, and it was roofed with the mighty shields of
warriors. The ceiling was made of interlacing spears, and there was a
portal at the west end before which hung a great gray wolf, while over
him a fierce eagle hovered. The hall was so huge that it had 540 gates,
through each of which 800 men could march abreast. Indeed, there needed
to be room, for this was the hall where every morning Odin received
all the brave warriors who had died in battle on the earth below; and
there were many heroes in those days.
This was the reward which the gods gave to courage. When a hero had
gloriously lost his life, the Valkyries, the nine warrior daughters
of Odin, brought his body up to Valhalla on their white horses that
gallop the clouds. There they lived forever after in happiness,
enjoying the things that they had most loved upon earth. Every morning
they armed themselves and went out to fight with one another in the
great courtyard. It was a wondrous game, wondrously played. No matter
how often a hero was killed, he became alive again in time to return
perfectly well to Valhalla, where he ate a delicious breakfast with the
Æsir; while the beautiful Valkyries who had first brought him thither
waited at table and poured the blessed mead, which only the immortal
taste. A happy life it was for the heroes, and a happy life for all who
dwelt in Asgard; for this was before trouble had come among the gods,
following the mischief of Loki.
This is how the trouble began. From the beginning of time, the giants
had been unfriendly to the Æsir, because the giants were older and
huger and more wicked; besides, they were jealous because the good Æsir
were fast gaining more wisdom and power than the giants had ever known.
It was the Æsir who set the fair brother and sister, Sun and Moon, in
the sky to give light to men; and it was they also who made the jeweled
stars out of sparks from the place of fire. The giants hated the Æsir,
and tried all in their power to injure them and the men of the earth
below, whom the Æsir loved and cared for. The gods had already built a
wall around Midgard, the world of men, to keep the giants out; built it
of the bushy eyebrows of Ymir, the oldest and hugest of giants. Between
Asgard and the giants flowed Ifing, the great river on which ice never
formed, and which the gods crossed on the rainbow bridge. But this was
not protection enough. Their beautiful new city needed a fortress.
So the word went forth in Asgard,--"We must build us a fortress against
the giants; the hugest, strongest, finest fortress that ever was
built."
Now one day, soon after they had announced this decision, there came a
mighty man stalking up the rainbow bridge that led to Asgard city.
"Who goes there!" cried Heimdal the watchman, whose eyes were so keen
that he could see for a hundred miles around, and whose ears were so
sharp that he could hear the grass growing in the meadow and the wool
on the backs of the sheep. "Who goes there! No one can enter Asgard if
I say no."
"I am a builder," said the stranger, who was a huge fellow with sleeves
rolled up to show the iron muscles of his arms. "I am a builder of
strong towers, and I have heard that the folk of Asgard need one to
help them raise a fair fortress in their city."
Heimdal looked at the stranger narrowly, for there was that about him
which his sharp eyes did not like. But he made no answer, only blew
on his golden horn, which was so loud that it sounded through all the
world. At this signal all the Æsir came running to the rainbow bridge,
from wherever they happened to be, to find out who was coming to
Asgard. For it was Heimdal's duty ever to warn them of the approach of
the unknown.
"This fellow says he is a builder," quoth Heimdal. "And he would fain
build us a fortress in the city."
"Ay, that I would," nodded the stranger. "Look at my iron arm; look at
my broad back; look at my shoulders. Am I not the workman you need?"
"Truly, he is a mighty figure," vowed Odin, looking at him approvingly.
"How long will it take you alone to build our fortress? We can allow
but one stranger at a time within our city, for safety's sake."
"In three half-years," replied the stranger, "I will undertake to build
for you a castle so strong that not even the giants, should they swarm
hither over Midgard,--not even they could enter without your leave."
"Aha!" cried Father Odin, well pleased at this offer. "And what reward
do you ask, friend, for help so timely?"
The stranger hummed and hawed and pulled his long beard while he
thought. Then he spoke suddenly, as if the idea had just come into his
mind. "I will name my price, friends," he said; "a small price for so
great a deed. I ask you to give me Freia for my wife, and those two
sparkling jewels, the Sun and Moon."
At this demand the gods looked grave; for Freia was their dearest
treasure. She was the most beautiful maid who ever lived, the light and
life of heaven, and if she should leave Asgard, joy would go with her;
while the Sun and Moon were the light and life of the Æsir's children,
men, who lived in the little world below. But Loki the sly whispered
that they would be safe enough if they made another condition on their
part, so hard that the builder could not fulfill it. After thinking
cautiously, he spoke for them all.
"Mighty man," quoth he, "we are willing to agree to your price--upon
one condition. It is too long a time that you ask; we cannot wait three
half-years for our castle; that is equal to three centuries when one is
in a hurry. See that you finish the fort without help in one winter,
one short winter, and you shall have fair Freia with the Sun and Moon.
But if, on the first day of summer, one stone is wanting to the walls,
or if any one has given you aid in the building, then your reward is
lost, and you shall depart without payment." So spoke Loki, in the name
of all the gods; but the plan was his own.
At first the stranger shook his head and frowned, saying that in so
short a time no one unaided could complete the undertaking. At last
he made another offer. "Let me have but my good horse to help me, and
I will try," he urged. "Let me bring the useful Svadilföri with me to
the task, and I will finish the work in one winter of short days, or
lose my reward. Surely, you will not deny me this little help, from one
four-footed friend."
Then again the Æsir consulted, and the wiser of them were doubtful
whether it were best to accept the stranger's offer so strangely made.
But again Loki urged them to accept. "Surely, there is no harm," he
said. "Even with his old horse to help him, he cannot build the castle
in the promised time. We shall gain a fortress without trouble and with
never a price to pay."
Loki was so eager that, although the other Æsir did not like this
crafty way of making bargains, they finally consented. Then in the
presence of the heroes, with the Valkyries and Mimer's head for
witnesses, the stranger and the Æsir gave solemn promise that the
bargain should be kept.
On the first day of winter the strange builder began his work, and
wondrous was the way he set about it. His strength seemed as the
strength of a hundred men. As for his horse Svadilföri, he did more
work by half than even the mighty builder. In the night he dragged
the enormous rocks that were to be used in building the castle, rocks
as big as mountains of the earth; while in the daytime the stranger
piled them into place with his iron arms. The Æsir watched him with
amazement; never was seen such strength in Asgard. Neither Tŷr the
stout nor Thor the strong could match the power of the stranger. The
gods began to look at one another uneasily. Who was this mighty one who
had come among them, and what if after all he should win his reward?
Freia trembled in her palace, and the Sun and Moon grew dim with fear.
Still the work went on, and the fort was piling higher and higher,
by day and by night. There were but three days left before the end of
winter, and already the building was so tall and so strong that it was
safe from the attacks of any giant. The Æsir were delighted with their
fine new castle; but their pride was dimmed by the fear that it must be
paid for at all too costly a price. For only the gateway remained to be
completed, and unless the stranger should fail to finish that in the
next three days, they must give him Freia with the Sun and Moon.
The Æsir held a meeting upon Ida Plain, a meeting full of fear and
anger. At last they realized what they had done; they had made a
bargain with one of the giants, their enemies; and if he won the prize,
it would mean sorrow and darkness in heaven and upon earth. "How did
we happen to agree to so mad a bargain?" they asked one another. "Who
suggested the wicked plan which bids fair to cost us all that we most
cherish?" Then they remembered that it was Loki who had made the plan;
it was he who had insisted that it be carried out and they blamed him
for all the trouble.
"It is your counsels, Loki, that have brought this danger upon us,"
quoth Father Odin, frowning. "You chose the way of guile, which is not
our way. It now remains for you to help us by guile, if you can. But if
you cannot save for us Freia and the Sun and Moon, you shall die. This
is my word." All the other Æsir agreed that this was just. Thor alone
was away hunting evil demons at the other end of the world, so he did
not know what was going on, and what dangers were threatening Asgard.
Loki was much frightened at the word of All-Father. "It was my fault,"
he cried, "but how was I to know that he was a giant? He had disguised
himself so that he seemed but a strong man. And as for his horse,--it
looks much like that of other folk. If it were not for the horse, he
could not finish the work. Ha! I have a thought! The builder shall not
finish the gate; the giant shall not receive his payment. I will cheat
the fellow."
Now it was the last night of winter, and there remained but a few
stones to put in place on the top of the wondrous gateway. The giant
was sure of his prize, and chuckled to himself as he went out with his
horse to drag the remaining stones; for he did not know that the Æsir
had guessed at last who he was, and that Loki was plotting to outwit
him. Hardly had he gone to work when out of the wood came running a
pretty little mare, who neighed to Svadilföri as if inviting the tired
horse to leave his work and come to the green fields for a holiday.
Svadilföri, you must remember, had been working hard all winter, with
never a sight of four-footed creature of his kind, and he was very
lonesome and tired of dragging stones. Giving a snort of disobedience,
off he ran after this new friend towards the grassy meadows. Off went
the giant after him, howling with rage, and running for dear life, as
he saw not only his horse but his chance of success slipping out of
reach. It was a mad chase, and all Asgard thundered with the noise of
galloping hoofs and the giant's mighty tread. The mare who raced ahead
was Loki in disguise, and he led Svadilföri far out of reach, to a
hidden meadow that he knew; so that the giant howled and panted up and
down all night long, without catching even a sight of his horse.
Now when the morning came the gateway was still unfinished, and night
and winter had ended at the same hour. The giant's time was over, and
he had forfeited his reward. The Æsir came flocking to the gateway, and
how they laughed and triumphed when they found three stones wanting to
complete the gate!
"You have failed, fellow," judged Father Odin sternly, "and no price
shall we pay for work that is still undone. You have failed. Leave
Asgard quickly; we have seen all we want of you and of your race."
Then the giant knew that he was discovered, and he was mad with rage.
"It was a trick!" he bellowed, assuming his own proper form, which
was huge as a mountain, and towered high beside the fortress that he
had built. "It was a wicked trick. You shall pay for this in one way
or another. I cannot tear down the castle which, ungrateful ones, I
have built you, stronger than the strength of any giant. But I will
demolish the rest of your shining city!" Indeed, he would have done so
in his mighty rage; but at this moment Thor, whom Heimdal had called
from the end of the earth by one blast of the golden horn, came rushing
to the rescue, drawn in his chariot of goats. Thor jumped to the ground
close beside the giant, and before that huge fellow knew what had
happened, his head was rolling upon the ground at Father Odin's feet;
for with one blow Thor had put an end to the giant's wickedness and had
saved Asgard.
"This is the reward you deserve!" Thor cried. "Not Freia nor the Sun
and Moon, but the death that I have in store for all the enemies of the
Æsir."
In this extraordinary way the noble city of Asgard was made safe and
complete by the addition of a fortress which no one, not even the giant
who built it, could injure, it was so wonder-strong. But always at the
top of the gate were lacking three great stones that no one was mighty
enough to lift. This was a reminder to the Æsir that now they had the
race of giants for their everlasting enemies. And though Loki's trick
had saved them Freia, and for the world the Sun and Moon, it was the
beginning of trouble in Asgard which lasted as long as Loki lived to
make mischief with his guile.