It is not very amusing to be a king. Father Odin often grew tired of
sitting all day long upon his golden throne in Valhalla above the
heavens. He wearied of welcoming the new heroes whom the Valkyries
brought him from wars upon the earth, and of watching the old heroes
fight their daily deathless battles. He wearied of his wise ravens, and
the constant gossip which they brought him from the four corners of
the world; and he longed to escape from every one who knew him to some
place where he could pass for a mere stranger, instead of the great
king of the Æsir, the mightiest being in the whole universe, of whom
every one was afraid.
Sometimes he longed so much that he could not bear it. Then--he would
run away. He disguised himself as a tall old man, with white hair and a
long gray beard. Around his shoulders he threw a huge blue cloak, that
covered him from top to toe, and over his face he pulled a big slouch
hat, to hide his eyes. For his eyes Odin could not change--no magician
has ever learned how to do that. One was empty; he had given the eye to
the giant Mimer in exchange for wisdom.
Usually Odin loved to go upon these wanderings alone; for an adventure
is a double adventure when one meets it single-handed. It was a fine
game for Odin to see how near he could come to danger without feeling
the grip of its teeth. But sometimes, when he wanted company, he would
whisper to his two brothers, Hœnir and red Loki. They three would creep
out of the palace by the back way; and, with a finger on the lip to
Heimdal, the watchman, would silently steal over the rainbow bridge
which led from Asgard into the places of men and dwarfs and giants.
Wonderful adventures they had, these three, with Loki to help make
things happen. Loki was a sly, mischievous fellow, full of his pranks
and his capers, not always kindly ones. But he was clever, as well as
malicious; and when he had pushed folk into trouble, he could often
help them out again, as safe as ever. He could be the jolliest of
companions when he chose, and Odin liked his merriment and his witty
talk.
One day Loki did something which was no mere jest nor easily forgiven,
for it brought all Asgard into danger. And after that Father Odin and
his children thought twice before inviting Loki to join them in any
journey or undertaking. This which I am about to tell was the first
really wicked deed of which Loki was found guilty, though I am sure his
red beard had dabbled in secret wrongs before.
One night the three high gods, Odin, Hœnir, and Loki, stole away from
Asgard in search of adventure. Over mountains and deserts, great rivers
and stony places, they wandered until they grew very hungry. But there
was no food to be found--not even a berry or a nut.
Oh, how footsore and tired they were! And oh, how faint! The worst of
it ever is that--as you must often have noticed--the heavier one's feet
grow, the lighter and more hollow becomes one's stomach; which seems a
strange thing, when you think of it. If only one's feet became as light
as the rest of one feels, folk could fairly fly with hunger. Alas!
this is not so.
The three Æsir drooped and drooped, and seemed on the point of
starving, when they came to the edge of a valley. Here, looking down,
they saw a herd of oxen feeding on the grass.
"Hola!" shouted Loki. "Behold our supper!" Going down into the valley,
they caught and killed one of the oxen, and, building a great bonfire,
hung up the meat to roast. Then the three sat around the fire and
smacked their lips, waiting for the meat to cook. They waited for a
long time.
"Surely, it is done now," said Loki, at last; and he took the meat
from the fire. Strange to say, however, it was raw as ere the fire was
lighted. What could it mean? Never before had meat required so long a
time to roast. They made the fire brighter and re-hung the beef for a
thorough basting, cooking it even longer than they had done at first.
When again they came to carve the meat, they found it still uneatable.
Then, indeed, they looked at one another in surprise.
"What can this mean?" cried Loki, with round eyes.
"There is some trick!" whispered Hœnir, looking around as if he
expected to see a fairy or a witch meddling with the food.
"We must find out what this mystery betokens," said Odin thoughtfully.
Just then there was a strange sound in the oak-tree under which they
had built their fire.
"What is that?" Loki shouted, springing to his feet. They looked up
into the tree, and far above in the branches, near the top, they spied
an enormous eagle, who was staring down at them, and making a queer
sound, as if he were laughing.
"Ho-ho!" croaked the eagle. "I know why your meat will not cook. It is
all my doing, masters."
The three Æsir stared in surprise. Then Odin said sternly: "Who are
you, Master Eagle? And what do you mean by those rude words?"
"Give me my share of the ox, and you shall see," rasped the eagle, in
his harsh voice. "Give me my share, and you will find that your meat
will cook as fast as you please."
Now the three on the ground were nearly famished. So, although it
seemed very strange to be arguing with an eagle, they cried, as if in
one voice: "Come down, then, and take your share." They thought that,
being a mere bird, he would want but a small piece.
The eagle flapped down from the top of the tree. Dear me! What a mighty
bird he was! Eight feet across the wings was the smallest measure,
and his claws were as long and strong as ice-hooks. He fanned the air
like a whirlwind as he flew down to perch beside the bonfire. Then in
his beak and claws he seized a leg and both shoulders of the ox, and
started to fly away.
"Hold, thief!" roared Loki angrily, when he saw how much the eagle was
taking. "That is not your share; you are no lion, but you are taking
the lion's share of our feast. Begone, Scarecrow, and leave the meat as
you found it!" Thereat, seizing a pole, he struck at the eagle with all
his might.
Then a strange thing happened. As the great bird flapped upward with
his prey, giving a scream of malicious laughter, the pole which Loki
still held stuck fast to the eagle's back, and Loki was unable to let
go of the other end.
"Help, help!" he shouted to Odin and to Hœnir, as he felt himself
lifted off his feet. But they could not help him. "Help, help!" he
screamed, as the eagle flew with him, now high, now low, through brush
and bog and briar, over treetops and the peaks of mountains. On and on
they went, until Loki thought his arm would be pulled out, like a weed
torn up by the roots. The eagle would not listen to his cries nor pause
in his flight, until Loki was almost dead with pain and fatigue.
"Hark you, Loki," screamed the eagle, going a little more slowly; "no
one can help you except me. You are bewitched, and you cannot pull away
from this pole, nor loose the pole from me, until I choose. But if you
will promise what I ask, you shall go free."
Then Loki groaned: "O eagle, only let me go, and tell me who you really
are, and I will promise whatever you wish."
The eagle answered: "I am the giant Thiasse, the enemy of the Æsir. But
you ought to love me, Loki, for you yourself married a giantess."
Loki moaned: "Oh, yes! I dearly love all my wife's family, great
Thiasse. Tell me what you want of me?"
"I want this," quoth Thiasse gruffly. "I am growing old, and I want the
apples which Idun keeps in her golden casket, to make me young again.
You must get them for me."
Now these apples were the fruit of a magic tree, and were more
beautiful to look at and more delicious to taste than any fruit that
ever grew. The best thing about them was that whoever tasted one, be
he ever so old, grew young and strong again. The apples belonged to
a beautiful lady named Idun, who kept them in a golden casket. Every
morning the Æsir came to her to be refreshed and made over by a bite
of her precious fruit. That is why in Asgard no one ever waxed old or
ugly. Even Father Odin, Hœnir, and Loki, the three travelers who had
seen the very beginning of everything, when the world was made, were
still sturdy and young. And so long as Idun kept her apples safe, the
faces of the family who sat about the table of Valhalla would be rosy
and fair like the faces of children.
"O friend giant!" cried Loki. "You know not what you ask! The apples
are the most precious treasure of Asgard, and Idun keeps watch over
them as if they were dearer to her than life itself. I never could
steal them from her, Thiasse; for at her call all Asgard would rush to
the rescue, and trouble would buzz about my ears like a hive of bees
let loose."
"Then you must steal Idun herself, apples and all. For the apples I
must have, and you have promised, Loki, to do my bidding."
Loki sniffed and thought, thought and sniffed again. Already his
mischievous heart was planning how he might steal Idun away. He could
hardly help laughing to think how angry the Æsir would be when they
found their beauty-medicine gone forever. But he hoped that, when he
had done this trick for Thiasse, now and then the giant would let him
have a nibble of the magic apples; so that Loki himself would remain
young long after the other Æsir were grown old and feeble. This thought
suited Loki's malicious nature well.
"I think I can manage it for you, Thiasse," he said craftily. "In a
week I promise to bring Idun and her apples to you. But you must not
forget the great risk which I am running, nor that I am your relative
by marriage. I may have a favor to ask in return, Thiasse."
Then the eagle gently dropped Loki from his claws. Falling on a soft
bed of moss, Loki jumped up and ran back to his traveling companions,
who were glad and surprised to see him again. They had feared that the
eagle was carrying him away to feed his young eaglets in some far-off
nest. Ah, you may be sure that Loki did not tell them who the eagle
really was, nor confess the wicked promise which he had made about Idun
and her apples.
After that the three went back to Asgard, for they had had adventure
enough for one day.
The days flew by, and the time came when Loki must fulfill his promise
to Thiasse. So one morning he strolled out into the meadow where Idun
loved to roam among the flowers. There he found her, sitting by a tiny
spring, and holding her precious casket of apples on her lap. She was
combing her long golden hair, which fell from under a wreath of spring
flowers, and she was very beautiful. Her green robe was embroidered
with buds and blossoms of silk in many colors, and she wore a golden
girdle about her waist. She smiled as Loki came, and tossed him a posy,
saying: "Good-morrow, red Loki. Have you come for a bite of my apples?
I see a wrinkle over each of your eyes which I can smooth away."
"Nay, fair lady," answered Loki politely, "I have just nibbled of
another apple, which I found this morning. Verily, I think it is
sweeter and more magical than yours."
Idun was hurt and surprised.
"That cannot be, Loki," she cried. "There are no apples anywhere like
mine. Where found you this fine fruit?" and she wrinkled up her little
nose scornfully.
"Oho! I will not tell any one the place," chuckled Loki, "except that
it is not far, in a little wood. There is a gnarled old apple-tree, and
on its branches grow the most beautiful red-cheeked apples you ever
saw. But you could never find it."
"I should like to see these apples, Loki, if only to prove how far
less good they are than mine. Will you bring me some?"
"That I will not," said Loki teasingly. "Oh, no! I have my own magic
apples now, and folk will be coming to me for help instead of to you."
Idun began to coax him, as he had guessed that she would: "Please,
please, Loki, show me the place!"
At first he would not, for he was a sly fellow, and knew how to lead
her on. At last, he pretended to yield.
"Well, then, because I love you, Idun, better than all the rest, I
will show you the place, if you will come with me. But it must be a
secret--no one must ever know."
All girls like secrets.
"Yes--yes!" cried Idun eagerly. "Let us steal away now, while no one is
looking."
This was just what Loki hoped for.
"Bring your own apples," he said, "that we may compare them with mine.
But I know mine are better."
"I know mine are the best in all the world," returned Idun, pouting. "I
will bring them, to show you the difference."
Off they started together, she with the golden casket under her arm;
and Loki chuckled wickedly as they went. He led her for some distance,
further than she had ever strayed before, and at last she grew
frightened.
"Where are you taking me, Loki?" she cried. "You said it was not far. I
see no little wood, no old apple-tree."
"It is just beyond, just a little step beyond," he answered. So on
they went. But that little step took them beyond the boundary of
Asgard--just a little step beyond, into the space where the giants
lurked and waited for mischief.
Then there was a rustling of wings, and _whirr-rr-rr_! Down came
Thiasse in his eagle dress. Before Idun suspected what was happening,
he fastened his claws into her girdle and flapped away with her, magic
apples and all, to his palace in Jotunheim, the Land of Giants.
[Illustration: HE FLAPPED AWAY WITH HER, MAGIC APPLES AND ALL]
Loki stole back to Asgard, thinking that he was quite safe, and that
no one would discover his villainy. At first Idun was not missed.
But after a little the gods began to feel signs of age, and went
for their usual bite of her apples. Then they found that she had
disappeared, and a great terror fell upon them. Where had she gone?
Suppose she should not come back!
The hours and days went by, and still she did not return. Their fright
became almost a panic. Their hair began to turn gray, and their limbs
grew stiff and gouty so that they hobbled down Asgard streets. Even
Freia, the loveliest, was afraid to look in her mirror, and Balder the
beautiful grew pale and haggard. The happy land of Asgard was like a
garden over which a burning wind had blown,--all the flower-faces were
faded and withered, and springtime was turned into yellow fall.
If Idun and her apples were not quickly found, the gods seemed likely
to shrivel and blow away like autumn leaves. They held a council to
inquire into the matter, endeavoring to learn who had seen Idun last,
and whither she had gone. It turned out that one morning Heimdal had
seen her strolling out of Asgard with Loki, and no one had seen her
since. Then the gods understood; Loki was the last person who had been
with her--this must be one of Loki's tricks. They were filled with
anger. They seized and bound Loki and brought him before the council.
They threatened him with torture and with death unless he should tell
the truth. And Loki was so frightened that finally he confessed what he
had done.
Then indeed there was horror in Asgard. Idun stolen away by a wicked
giant! Idun and her apples lost, and Asgard growing older every minute!
What was to be done? Big Thor seized Loki and threw him up in the air
again and again, so that his heels touched first the moon and then the
sea; you can still see the marks upon the moon's white face. "If you do
not bring Idun back from the land of your wicked wife, you shall have
worse than this!" he roared. "Go and bring her _now_."
"How can I do that?" asked Loki, trembling.
"That is for you to find," growled Thor. "Bring her you must. Go!"