Once upon a time the Æsir went to take dinner with old Œgir, the
king of the ocean. Down under the green waves they went to the coral
palace where Œgir lived with his wife, Queen Ran, and his daughters,
the Waves. But Œgir was not expecting so large a party to dinner, and
he had not mead enough for them all to drink. "I must brew some more
mead," he said to himself. But when he came to look for a kettle in
which to make the brew, there was none in all the sea large enough
for the purpose. At first Œgir did not know what to do; but at last
he decided to consult the gods themselves, for he knew how wise and
powerful his guests were, and he hoped that they might help him to a
kettle.
Now when he told the Æsir his trouble they were much interested, for
they were hungry and thirsty, and longed for some of Œgir's good mead.
"Where can we find a kettle?" they said to one another. "Who has a
kettle huge enough to hold mead for all the Æsir?"
Then Tŷr the brave turned to Thor with a grand idea. "My father, the
giant Hymir, has such a kettle," he said. "I have seen it often in his
great palace near Elivâgar, the river of ice. This famous kettle is a
mile deep, and surely that is large enough to brew all the mead we may
need."
"Surely, surely it is large enough," laughed Œgir. "But how are we to
get the kettle, my distinguished guests? Who will go to Giant Land to
fetch the kettle a mile deep?"
"That will I," said brave Thor. "I will go to Hymir's dwelling and
bring thence the little kettle, if Tŷr will go with me to show me the
way." So Thor and Tŷr set out together for the land of snow and ice,
where the giant Hymir lived. They traveled long and they traveled fast,
and finally they came to the huge house which had once been Tŷr's home,
before he went to live with the good folk in Asgard.
Well Tŷr knew the way to enter, and it was not long before they found
themselves in the hall of Hymir's dwelling, peering about for some sign
of the kettle which they had come so far to seek; and sure enough,
presently they discovered eight huge kettles hanging in a row from one
of the beams in the ceiling. While the two were wondering which kettle
might be the one they sought, there came in Tŷr's grandmother,--and
a terrible grandmother she was. No wonder that Tŷr had run away from
home when he was very little; for this dreadful creature was a giantess
with nine hundred heads, each more ugly than the others, and her temper
was as bad as were her looks. She began to roar and bellow; and no one
knows what this evil old person would have done to her grandson and his
friend had not there come into the hall at this moment another woman,
fair and sweet, and glittering with golden ornaments. This was Tŷr's
good mother, who loved him dearly, and who had mourned his absence
during long years.
With a cry of joy she threw herself upon her son's neck, bidding him
welcome forty times over. She welcomed Thor also when she found out who
he was; but she sent away the wicked old grandmother, that she might
not hear, for Thor's name was not dear to the race of giants, to so
many of whom he had brought dole and death.
"Why have you come, dear son, after so many years?" she cried. "I know
that some great undertaking calls you and this noble fellow to your
father's hall. Danger and death wait here for such as you and he; and
only some quest with glory for its reward could have brought you to
such risks. Tell me your secret, Tŷr, and I will not betray it."
Then they told her how that they had come to carry away the giant
kettle; and Tŷr's mother promised that she would help them all she
could. But she warned them that it would be dangerous indeed, for that
Hymir had been in a terrible temper for many days, and that the very
sight of a stranger made him wild with rage. Hastily she gave them meat
and drink, for they were nearly famished after their long journey;
and then she looked around to see where she should hide them against
Hymir's return, who was now away at the hunt.
"Aha!" she cried. "The very thing! You shall hide in the great kettle
itself; and if you escape Hymir's terrible eye, it may hap that you
will find a way to make off with your hiding-place, which is what you
want." So the kind creature helped them to climb into the great kettle
where it hung from one of the rafters in a row with seven others; but
this one was the biggest and the strongest of them all.
Hardly had they snuggled down out of sight when Tŷr's mother began
to tremble. "Hist!" she cried. "I hear him coming. Keep as still as
ever you can, O Tŷr and Thor!" The floor also began to tremble, and
the eight kettles to clatter against one another, as Hymir's giant
footsteps approached the house. Outside they could hear the icebergs
shaking with a sound like thunder; indeed, the whole earth quivered as
if with fear when the terrible giant Hymir strode home from the hunt.
He came into the hall puffing and blowing, and immediately the air
of the room grew chilly; for his beard was hung with icicles and his
face was frosted hard, while his breath was a winter wind,--a freezing
blast.
"Ho! wife," he growled, "what news, what news? For I see by the
footprints in the snow outside that you have had visitors to-day."
Then indeed the poor woman trembled; but she tried not to look
frightened as she answered, "Yes, you have a guest, O Hymir!--a guest
whom you have long wished to see. Your son Tŷr has returned to visit
his father's hall."
"Humph!" growled Hymir, with a terrible frown. "Whom has he brought
here with him, the rascal? There are prints of two persons' feet in the
snow. Come, wife, tell me all; for I shall soon find out the truth,
whether or no."
"He has brought a friend of his,--a dear friend, O Hymir!" faltered the
mother. "Surely, our son's friends are welcome when he brings them to
this our home, after so long an absence."
But Hymir howled with rage at the word "friend." "Where are they
hidden?" he cried. "Friend, indeed! It is one of those bloody fellows
from Asgard, I know,--one of those giant-killers whom my good mother
taught me to hate with all my might. Let me get at him! Tell me
instantly where he is hidden, or I will pull down the hall about your
ears!"
Now when the wicked old giant spoke like this, his wife knew that he
must be obeyed. Still she tried to put off the fateful moment of the
discovery. "They are standing over there behind that pillar," she said.
Instantly Hymir glared at the pillar towards which she pointed, and at
his frosty glance--snick-snack!--the marble pillar cracked in two, and
down crashed the great roof-beam which held the eight kettles. Smash!
went the kettles; and there they lay shivered into little pieces at
Hymir's feet,--all except one, the largest of them all, and that was
the kettle in which Thor and Tŷr lay hidden, scarcely daring to breathe
lest the giant should guess where they were. Tŷr's mother screamed when
she saw the big kettle fall with the others: but when she found that
this one, alone of them all, lay on its side unbroken, because it was
so tough and strong, she held her breath to see what would happen next.
And what happened was this: out stepped Thor and Tŷr, and making
low bows to Hymir, they stood side by side, smiling and looking as
unconcerned as if they really enjoyed all this hubbub; and I dare say
that they did indeed, being Tŷr the bold and Thor the thunderer, who
had been in Giant Land many times ere this.
Hymir gave scarcely a glance at his son, but he eyed Thor with a frown
of hatred and suspicion, for he knew that this was one of Father Odin's
brave family, though he could not tell which one. However, he thought
best to be civil, now that Thor was actually before him. So with gruff
politeness he invited the two guests to supper.
Now Thor was a valiant fellow at the table as well as in war, as
you remember; and at sight of the good things on the board his eyes
sparkled. Three roast oxen there were upon the giant's table, and Thor
fell to with a will and finished two of them himself! You should have
seen the giant stare.
"Truly, friend, you have a goodly appetite," he said. "You have eaten
all the meat that I have in my larder; and if you dine with us
to-morrow, I must insist that you catch your own dinner of fish. I
cannot undertake to provide food for such an appetite!"
Now this was not hospitable of Hymir, but Thor did not mind. "I like
well to fish, good Hymir," he laughed; "and when you fare forth with
your boat in the morning, I will go with you and see what I can find
for my dinner at the bottom of the sea."
When the morning came, the giant made ready for the fishing, and Thor
rose early to go with him.
"Ho, Hymir," exclaimed Thor, "have you bait enough for us both?"
Hymir answered gruffly, "You must dig your own bait when you go fishing
with me. I have no time to waste on you, sirrah."
Then Thor looked about to see what he could use for bait; and presently
he spied a herd of Hymir's oxen feeding in the meadow. "Aha! just the
thing!" he cried; and seizing the hugest ox of all, he trotted down to
the shore with it under his arm, as easily as you would carry a handful
of clams for bait. When Hymir saw this, he was very angry. He pushed
the boat off from shore and began to row away as fast as he could, so
that Thor might not have a chance to come aboard. But Thor made one
long step and planted himself snugly in the stern of the boat.
"No, no, brother Hymir," he said, laughing. "You invited me to go
fishing, and a-fishing I will go; for I have my bait, and my hope is
high that great luck I shall see this day." So he took an oar and rowed
mightily in the stern, while Hymir the giant rowed mightily at the
prow; and no one ever saw boat skip over the water so fast as this one
did on the day when these two big fellows went fishing together.
Far and fast they rowed, until they came to a spot where Hymir cried,
"Hold! Let us anchor here and fish; this is the place where I have best
fortune."
"And what sort of little fish do you catch here, O Hymir?" asked Thor.
"Whales!" answered the giant proudly. "I fish for nothing smaller than
whales."
"Pooh!" cried Thor. "Who would fish for such small fry! Whales,
indeed; let us row out further, where we can find something really
worth catching," and he began to pull even faster than before.
"Stop! stop!" roared the giant. "You do not know what you are doing.
These are the haunts of the dreadful Midgard serpent, and it is not
safe to fish in these waters."
"Oho! The Midgard serpent!" said Thor, delighted. "That is the very
fish I am after. Let us drop in our lines here."
Thor baited his great hook with the whole head of the ox which he had
brought, and cast his line, big round as a man's arm, over the side
of the boat. Hymir also cast his line, for he did not wish Thor to
think him a coward; but his hand trembled as he waited for a bite,
and he glanced down into the blue depths with eyes rounded as big as
dinner-plates through fear of the horrible creature who lived down
below those waves.
"Look! You have a bite!" cried Thor, so suddenly that Hymir started and
nearly tumbled out of the boat. Hand over hand he pulled in his line,
and lo! he had caught two whales--two great flopping whales--on his one
hook! That was a catch indeed.
Hymir smiled proudly, forgetting his fear as he said, "How is that, my
friend? Let us see you beat this catch in your morning's fishing."
Lo, just at that moment Thor also had a bite--such a bite! The boat
rocked to and fro, and seemed ready to capsize every minute. Then the
waves began to roll high and to be lashed into foam for yards and yards
about the boat, as if some huge creature were struggling hard below the
water.
"I have him!" shouted Thor; "I have the old serpent, the brother of the
Fenris wolf! Pull, pull, monster! But you shall not escape me now!"
Sure enough, the Midgard serpent had Thor's hook fixed in his jaw, and
struggle as he might, there was no freeing himself from the line; for
the harder he pulled the stronger grew Thor. In his Æsir-might Thor
waxed so huge and so forceful that his legs went straight through the
bottom of the boat and his feet stood on the bottom of the sea. With
firm bottom as a brace for his strength, Thor pulled and pulled, and
at last up came the head of the Midgard serpent, up to the side of
the boat, where it thrust out of the water mountain high, dreadful to
behold; his monstrous red eyes were rolling fiercely, his nostrils
spouted fire, and from his terrible sharp teeth dripped poison, that
sizzled as it fell into the sea. Angrily they glared at each other,
Thor and the serpent, while the water streamed into the boat, and the
giant turned pale with fear at the danger threatening him on all sides.
Thor seized his hammer, preparing to smite the creature's head; but
even as he swung Miölnir high for the fatal blow, Hymir cut the
fish-line with his knife, and down into the depths of ocean sank the
Midgard serpent amid a whirlpool of eddies. But the hammer had sped
from Thor's iron fingers. It crushed the serpent's head as he sank
downward to his lair on the sandy bottom; it crushed, but did not kill
him, thanks to the giant's treachery. Terrible was the disturbance it
caused beneath the waves. It burst the rocks and made the caverns
of the ocean shiver into bits. It wrecked the coral groves and tore
loose the draperies of sea-weed. The fishes scurried about in every
direction, and the sea-monsters wildly sought new places to hide
themselves when they found their homes destroyed. The sea itself was
stirred to its lowest depths, and the waves ran trembling into one
another's arms. The earth, too, shrank and shivered. Hymir, cowering
low in the boat, was glad of one thing, which was that the terrible
Midgard serpent had vanished out of sight. And that was the last that
was ever seen of him, though he still lived, wounded and sore from the
shock of Thor's hammer.
Now it was time to return home. Silently and sulkily the giant swam
back to land; Thor, bearing the boat upon his shoulders, filled with
water and weighted as it was with the great whales which Hymir had
caught, waded ashore, and brought his burden to the giant's hall.
Here Hymir met him crossly enough, for he was ashamed of the whole
morning's work, in which Thor had appeared so much more of a hero than
he. Indeed, he was tired of even pretending hospitality towards this
unwelcome guest, and was resolved to be rid of him; but first he would
put Thor to shame.
"You are a strong fellow," he said, "good at the oar and at the
fishing; most wondrously good at the hammer, by which I know that you
are Thor. But there is one thing which you cannot do, I warrant,--you
cannot break this little cup of mine, hard though you may try."
"That I shall see for myself," answered Thor; and he took the cup
in his hand. Now this was a magic cup, and there was but one way of
breaking it, but one thing hard enough to shatter its mightiness.
Thor threw it with all his force against a stone of the flooring;
but instead of breaking the cup, the stone itself was cracked into
splinters. Then Thor grew angry, for the giant and all his servants
were laughing as if this were the greatest joke ever played.
"Ho, ho! Try again, Thor!" cried Hymir, nearly bursting with delight;
for he thought that now he should prove how much mightier he was than
the visitor from Asgard. Thor clutched the cup more firmly and hurled
it against one of the iron pillars of the hall; but like a rubber ball
the magic cup merely bounded back straight into Hymir's hand. At this
second failure the giants were full of merriment and danced about,
making all manner of fun at the expense of Thor. You can fancy how well
Thor the mighty enjoyed this! His brow grew black, and the glance of
his eye was terrible. He knew there was some magic in the trick, but he
knew not how to meet it. Just then he felt the soft touch of a woman's
hand upon his arm, and the voice of Tŷr's mother whispered in his ear,--
"Cast the cup against Hymir's own forehead, which is the hardest
substance in the world." No one except Thor heard the woman say these
words, for all the giant folk were doubled up with mirth over their
famous joke. But Thor dropped upon one knee, and seizing the cup
fiercely, whirled it about his head, then dashed it with all his might
straight at Hymir's forehead. Smash! Crash! What had happened? Thor
looked eagerly to see. There stood the giant, looking surprised and
a little dazed; but his forehead showed not even a scratch, while the
strong cup was shivered into little pieces.
"Well done!" exclaimed Hymir hastily, when he had recovered a little
from his surprise. But he was mortified at Thor's success, and set
about to think up a new task to try his strength. "That was very well,"
he remarked patronizingly; "now you must perform a harder task. Let us
see you carry the mead kettle out of the hall. Do that, my fine fellow,
and I shall say you are strong indeed."
The mead kettle! The very thing Thor had come to get! He glanced at
Tŷr; he shot a look at Tŷr's mother; and both of them caught the
sparkle, which was very like a wink. To himself Thor muttered, "I must
not fail in this! I must not, will not fail!"
"First let me try," cried Tŷr; for he wanted to give Thor time for a
resting-spell. Twice Tŷr the mighty strained at the great kettle, but
he could not so much as stir one leg of it from the floor where it
rested. He tugged and heaved in vain, growing red in the face, till his
mother begged him to give over, for it was quite useless.
Then Thor stepped forth upon the floor. He grasped the rim of the
kettle, and stamped his feet through the stone of the flooring as he
braced himself to lift. One, two, three! Thor straightened himself,
and up swung the giant kettle to his head, while the iron handle
clattered about his feet. It was a mighty burden, and Thor staggered
as he started for the door; but Tŷr was close beside him, and they had
covered long leagues of ground on their way home before the astonished
giants had recovered sufficiently to follow them. When Thor and Tŷr
looked back, however, they saw a vast crowd of horrible giants, some of
them with a hundred heads, swarming out of the caverns in Hymir's land,
howling and prowling upon their track.
"You must stop them, Thor, or they will never let us get away with
their precious kettle,--they take such long strides!" cried Tŷr. So
Thor set down the kettle, and from his pocket drew out Miölnir, his
wondrous hammer. Terribly it flashed in the air as he swung it over his
head; then forth it flew towards Jotunheim; and before it returned to
Thor's hand it had crushed all the heads of those many-headed giants,
Hymir's ugly mother and Hymir himself among them. The only one who
escaped was the good and beautiful mother of Tŷr. And you may be sure
she lived happily ever after in the palace which Hymir and his wicked
old mother had formerly made so wretched a home for her.
Now Tŷr and Thor had the giant kettle which they had gone so far and
had met so many dangers to obtain. They took it to Œgir's sea-palace,
where the banquet was still going on, and where the Æsir were still
waiting patiently for their mead; for time does not go so fast below
the quiet waves as on shore. Now that King Œgir had the great kettle,
he could brew all the mead they needed. So every one thanked Tŷr and
congratulated Thor upon the success of their adventure.
"I was sure that Thor would bring the kettle," said fair Sif, smiling
upon her brave husband.
"What Thor sets out to do, that he always accomplishes," said Father
Odin gravely. And that was praise enough for any one.