THE QUEST OF THE HAMMER
One morning Thor the Thunderer awoke with a yawn, and stretching out his
knotted arm, felt for his precious hammer, which he kept always under
his pillow of clouds. But he started up with a roar of rage, so that all
the palace trembled. The hammer was gone!
Now this was a very serious matter, for Thor was the protector of
Asgard, and Miölnir, the magic hammer which the dwarf had made, was his
mighty weapon, of which the enemies of the Æsir stood so much in dread
that they dared not venture near. But if they should learn that Miölnir
was gone, who could tell what danger might not threaten the palaces of
heaven?
Thor darted his flashing eye into every corner of Cloud Land in search
of the hammer. He called his fair wife, Sif of the golden hair, to aid
in the search, and his two lovely daughters, Thrude and Lora. They
hunted and they hunted; they turned Thrudheim upside down, and set the
clouds to rolling wonderfully, as they peeped and pried behind and
around and under each billowy mass. But Miölnir was not to be found.
Certainly, someone had stolen it.
Thor's yellow beard quivered with rage, and his hair bristled on end
like the golden rays of a star, while all his household trembled.
"It is Loki again!" he cried. "I am sure Loki is at the bottom of this
mischief!" For since the time when Thor had captured Loki for the dwarf
Brock and had given him over to have his bragging lips sewed up, Loki
had looked at him with evil eyes; and Thor knew that the red rascal
hated him most of all the gods.
But this time Thor was mistaken. It was not Loki who had stolen the
hammer--he was too great a coward for that. And though he meant, before
the end, to be revenged upon Thor, he was waiting until a safe chance
should come, when Thor himself might stumble into danger, and Loki need
only to help the evil by a malicious word or two; and this chance came
later, as you shall hear in another tale.
Meanwhile Loki was on his best behaviour, trying to appear very kind and
obliging; so when Thor came rumbling and roaring up to him, demanding,
"What have you done with my hammer, you thief?" Loki looked surprised,
but did not lose his temper nor answer rudely.
"Have you indeed missed your hammer, brother Thor?" he said, mumbling,
for his mouth was still sore where Brock had sewed the stitches. "That
is a pity; for if the giants hear of this, they will be coming to try
their might against Asgard."
"Hush!" muttered Thor, grasping him by the shoulder with his iron
fingers. "That is what I fear. But look you, Loki: I suspect your hand
in the mischief. Come, confess."
Then Loki protested that he had nothing to do with so wicked a deed.
"But," he added wheedlingly, "I think I can guess the thief; and because
I love you, Thor, I will help you to find him."
"Humph!" growled Thor. "Much love you bear to me! However, you are a
wise rascal, the nimblest wit of all the Æsir, and it is better to have
you on my side than on the other, when giants are in the game. Tell me,
then: who has robbed the Thunder Lord of his bolt of power?"
Loki drew near and whispered in Thor's ear. "Look, how the storms rage
and the winds howl in the world below! Someone is wielding your thunder
hammer all unskilfully. Can you not guess the thief? Who but Thrym, the
mighty giant who has ever been your enemy and your imitator, and whose
fingers have long itched to grasp the short handle of mighty Miölnir,
that the world may name him Thunder Lord instead of you. But look! What
a tempest! The world will be shattered into fragments unless we soon get
the hammer back."
Then Thor roared with rage. "I will seek this impudent Thrym!" he cried.
"I will crush him into bits, and teach him to meddle with the weapon of
the Æsir!"
"Softly, softly," said Loki, smiling maliciously. "He is a shrewd giant,
and a mighty. Even you, great Thor, cannot go to him and pluck the
hammer from his hand as one would slip the rattle from a baby's pink
fist. Nay, you must use craft, Thor; and it is I who will teach you, if
you will be patient."
Thor was a brave, blunt fellow, and he hated the ways of Loki, his lies
and his deceit. He liked best the way of warriors--the thundering
charge, the flash of weapons, and the heavy blow; but without the hammer
he could not fight the giants hand to hand. Loki's advice seemed wise,
and he decided to leave the matter to the Red One.
Loki was now all eagerness, for he loved difficulties which would set
his wit in play and bring other folk into danger. "Look, now," he said.
"We must go to Freia and borrow her falcon dress. But you must ask; for
she loves me so little that she would scarce listen to me."
So first they made their way to Folkvang, the house of maidens, where
Freia dwelt, the loveliest of all in Asgard. She was fairer than fair,
and sweeter than sweet, and the tears from her flower eyes made the dew
which blessed the earth flowers night and morning. Of her Thor borrowed
the magic dress of feathers in which Freia was wont to clothe herself
and flit like a great beautiful bird all about the world. She was
willing enough to lend it to Thor when he told her that by its aid he
hoped to win back the hammer which he had lost; for she well knew the
danger threatening herself and all the Æsir until Miölnir should be
found.
"Now will I fetch the hammer for you," said Loki. So he put on the
falcon plumage, and, spreading his brown wings, flapped away up, up,
over the world, down, down, across the great ocean which lies beyond all
things that men know. And he came to the dark country where there was no
sunshine nor spring, but it was always dreary winter; where mountains
were piled up like blocks of ice, and where great caverns yawned
hungrily in blackness. And this was Jotunheim, the land of the Frost
Giants.
And lo! when Loki came thereto he found Thrym the Giant King sitting
outside his palace cave, playing with his dogs and horses. The dogs were
as big as elephants, and the horses were as big as houses, but Thrym
himself was as huge as a mountain; and Loki trembled, but he tried to
seem brave.
"Good-day, Loki," said Thrym, with the terrible voice of which he was so
proud, for he fancied it was as loud as Thor's. "How fares it,
feathered one, with your little brothers, the Æsir, in Asgard halls? And
how dare you venture alone in this guise to Giant Land?"
"It is an ill day in Asgard," sighed Loki, keeping his eye warily upon
the giant, "and a stormy one in the world of men, I heard the winds
howling and the storms rushing on the earth as I passed by. Some mighty
one has stolen the hammer of our Thor. Is it you, Thrym, greatest of all
giants--greater than Thor himself?"
This the crafty one said to flatter Thrym, for Loki well knew the
weakness of those who love to be thought greater than they are.
Then Thrym bridled and swelled with pride, and tried to put on the
majesty and awe of noble Thor; but he only succeeded in becoming an
ugly, puffy monster.
"Well, yes," he admitted. "I have the hammer that belonged to your
little Thor; and now how much of & lord is he?"
"Alack!" sighed Loki again, "weak enough he is without his magic weapon.
But you, O Thrym--surely your mightiness needs no such aid. Give me the
hammer, that Asgard may no longer be shaken by Thor's grief for his
precious toy."
But Thrym was not so easily to be flattered into parting with his stolen
treasure. He grinned a dreadful grin, several yards in width, which his
teeth barred like jagged boulders across the entrance to a mountain
cavern,
"Miölnir the hammer is mine," he said, "and I am Thunder Lord, mightiest
of the mighty. I have hidden it where Thor can never find it, twelve
leagues below the sea caves, where Queen Ran lives with her daughters,
the white-capped Waves. But listen, Loki. Go tell the Æsir that I will
give back Thor's hammer. I will give it back upon one condition--that
they send Freia the beautiful to be my wife."
"Freia the beautiful!" Loki had to stifle a laugh. Fancy the Æsir giving
their fairest flower to such an ugly fellow as this! But he only said
politely, "Ah, yes; you demand our Freia in exchange for the little
hammer? It is a costly price, great Thrym. But I will be your friend in
Asgard. If I have my way, you shall soon see the fairest bride in all
the world knocking at your door. Farewell!"
So Loki whizzed back to Asgard on his falcon wings; and as he went he
chuckled to think of the evils which were likely to happen because of
his words with Thrym. First he gave the message to Thor--not sparing of
Thrym's insolence, to make Thor angry; and then he went to Freia with
the word for her--not sparing of Thrym's ugliness, to make her shudder.
The spiteful fellow!
Now you can imagine the horror that was in Asgard as the Æsir listened
to Loki's words. "My hammer!" roared Thor. "The villain confesses that
he has stolen my hammer, and boasts that he is Thunder Lord! Gr-r-r!"
"The ugly giant!" wailed Freia. "Must I be the bride of that hideous old
monster, and live in his gloomy mountain prison all my life?"
"Yes; put on your bridal veil, sweet Freia," said Loki maliciously, "and
come with me to Jotunheim. Hang your famous starry necklace about your
neck, and don your bravest robe; for in eight days there will be a
wedding, and Thor's hammer is to pay."
Then Freia fell to weeping. "I cannot go! I will not go!" she cried. "I
will not leave the home of gladness and Father Odin's table to dwell in
the land of horrors! Thor's hammer is mighty, but mightier the love of
the kind Æsir for their little Freia! Good Odin, dear brother Frey,
speak for me! You will not make me go?"
The Asir looked at her and thought how lonely and bare would Asgard be
without her loveliness; for she was fairer than fair, and sweeter than
sweet.
"She shall not go!" shouted Frey, putting his arms about his sister's
neck.
"No, she shall not go!" cried all the Asir with one voice.
"But my hammer," insisted Thor. "I must have Miölnir back again."
"And my word to Thrym," said Loki, "that must be made good."
"You are too generous with your words," said Odin sternly, for he knew
his brother well. "Your word is not a gem of great price, for you have
made it cheap."
Then spoke Heimdal, the sleepless watchman who sits on guard at the
entrance to the rainbow bridge which leads to Asgard; and Heimdal was
the wisest of the Æsir, for he could see into the future, and knew how
things would come to pass. Through his golden teeth he spoke, for his
teeth were all of gold.
"I have a plan," he said. "Let us dress Thor himself like a bride in
Freia's robes, and send him to Jotunheim to talk with Thrym and to win
back his hammer."
But at this word Thor grew very angry. "What! dress me like a girl!" he
roared. "I should never hear the last of it! The Asir will mock me, and
call me 'maiden'! The giants, and even the puny dwarfs, will have a
lasting jest upon me! I will not go! I will fight! I will die, if need
be! But dressed as a woman I will not go!"
But Loki answered him with sharp words, for this was a scheme after his
own heart. "What, Thor!" he said. "Would you lose your hammer and keep
Asgard in danger for so small a whim. Look, now: if you go not, Thrym
with his giants will come in a mighty army and drive us from Asgard;
then he will indeed make Freia his bride, and, moreover, he will have
you for his slave under the power of his hammer. How like you this
picture, brother of the thunder? Nay, Heimdal's plan is a good one, and
I myself will help to carry it out."
Still Thor hesitated; but Freia came and laid her white hand on his arm,
and looked up into his scowling face pleadingly.
"To save me, Thor," she begged. And Thor said he would go.
Then there was great sport among the Æsir, while they dressed Thor like
a beautiful maiden. Brunhilde and her sisters, the nine Valkyrie,
daughters of Odin, had the task in hand. How they laughed as they
brushed and curled his yellow hair, and set upon it the wondrous
headdress of silk and pearls! They let out seams, and they let down
hems, and set on extra pieces, to make it larger, and so they hid his
great limbs and knotted arms under Freia's fairest robe of scarlet; but
beneath it all he would wear his shirt of mail and his belt of power
that gave him double strength. Freia herself twisted about his neck her
famous necklace of starry jewels, and Queen Frigg, his mother, hung at
his girdle a jingling bunch of keys, such as was the custom for the
bride to wear at Norse weddings. Last of all, that Thrym might not see
Thor's fierce eyes and the yellow beard, that ill became a maiden, they
threw over him a long veil of silver white which covered him to the
feet. And there he stood, as stately and tall a bride as even a giant
might wish to see; but on his hands he wore his iron gloves, and they
ached for but one thing--to grasp the handle of the stolen hammer.
"Ah, what a lovely maid it is!" chuckled Loki; "and how glad will Thrym
be to see this Freia come! Bride Thor, I will go with you as your
handmaiden, for I would fain see the fun."
"Come, then," said Thor sulkily, for he was ill pleased, and wore his
maiden robes with no good grace. "It is fitting that you go; for I like
not these lies and masking and I may spoil the mummery without you at my
elbow."
There was loud laughter above the clouds when Thor, all veiled and
dainty seeming, drove away from Asgard to his wedding, with maid Loki by
his side. Thor cracked his whip and chirruped fiercely to his twin goats
with golden hoofs, for he wanted to escape the sounds of mirth that
echoed from the rainbow bridge, where all the Æsir stood watching. Loki,
sitting with his hands meekly folded like a girl, chuckled as he glanced
up at Thor's angry face; but he said nothing, for he knew it was not
good to joke too far with Thor, even when Milönir was hidden twelve
leagues below the sea in Ran's kingdom.
So off they dashed to Jotunheim, where Thrym was waiting and longing for
his beautiful bride. Thor's goats thundered along above the sea and land
and people far below, who looked up wondering as the noise rolled
overhead. "Hear how the thunder rumbles!" they said. "Thor is on a long
journey to-night." And a long journey it was, as the tired goats found
before they reached the end.
Thrym heard the sound of their approach, for his ear was eager. "Hola!"
he cried. "Someone is coming from Asgard--only one of Odin's children
could make a din so fearful. Hasten, men, and see if they are bringing
Freia to be my wife."
Then the lookout giant stepped down from the top of his mountain, and
said that a chariot was bringing two maidens to the door.
"Run, giants, run!" shouted Thrym, in a fever at this news. "My bride is
coming! Put silken cushions on the benches for a great banquet, and make
the house beautiful for the fairest maid in all space! Bring in all my
golden-horned cows and my coal-black oxen, that she may see how rich I
am, and heap all my gold and jewels about to dazzle her sweet eyes! She
shall find me richest of the rich; and when I have her--fairest of the
fair--there will be no treasure that I lack--not one!"
The chariot stopped at the gate, and out stepped the tall bride, hidden
from head to foot, and her handmaiden muffled to the chin. "How afraid
of catching cold they must be!" whispered the giant ladies, who were
peering over one another's shoulders to catch a glimpse of the bride,
just as the crowd outside the awning does at a wedding nowadays.
Thrym had sent six splendid servants to escort the maidens: these were
the Metal Kings, who served him as lord of them all. There was the Gold
King, all in cloth of gold, with fringes of yellow bullion, most
glittering to see; and there was the Silver King, almost as gorgeous in
a suit of spangled white; and side by side bowed the dark Kings of Iron
and Lead, the one mighty in black, the other sullen in blue; and after
them were the Copper King, gleaming ruddy and brave, and the Tin King,
strutting in his trimmings of gaudy tinsel which looked nearly as well
as silver, but were more economical. And this fine troop of lackey kings
most politely led Thor and Loki into the palace, and gave them of the
best, for they never suspected who these seeming maidens really were.
And when evening came there was a wonderful banquet to celebrate the
wedding. On a golden throne sat Thrym, uglier than ever in his finery of
purple and gold. Beside him was the bride, of whose face no one had yet
caught even a glimpse; and at Thrym's other hand stood Loki, the waiting
maid, for he wanted to be near to mend the mistakes which Thor might
make.
Now the dishes at the feast were served in a huge way, as befitted the
table of giants: great beeves roasted whole, on platters as wide across
as a ship's deck; plum puddings as fat as feather beds, with plums as
big as footballs; and a wedding cake like a snow-capped hay mow. The
giants ate enormously. But to Thor, because they thought him a dainty
maiden, they served small bits of everything on a tiny gold dish. Now
Thor's long journey had made him very hungry, and through his veil he
whispered to Loki, "I shall starve, Loki! I cannot fare on these
nibbles. I must eat a goodly meal as I do at home." And forthwith he
helped himself to such morsels as might satisfy his hunger for a little
time. You should have seen the giants stare at the meal which the dainty
bride devoured!
For first under the silver veil disappeared by pieces a whole roast ox.
Then Thor made eight mouthfuls of eight pink salmon, a dish of which he
was very fond. And next he looked about and reached for a platter of
cakes and sweetmeats that was set aside at one end of the table for the
lady guests, and the bride ate them all. You can fancy how the damsels
drew down their mouths and looked at one another when they saw their
dessert disappear; and they whispered about the table, "Alack! if our
future mistress is to sup like this day by day, there will be poor cheer
for the rest of us!" And to crown it all, Thor was thirsty, as well he
might be; and one after another he raised to his lips and emptied three
great barrels of mead, the foamy drink of the giants. Then indeed Thrym
was amazed, for Thor's giant appetite had beaten that of the giants
themselves.
"Never before saw I a bride so hungry," he cried. "And never before one
half so thirsty!"
But Loki, the waiting maid, whispered to him softly, "The truth is,
great Thrym, that my dear mistress was almost starved. For eight days
Freia has eaten nothing at all, so eager was she for Jotunheim."
Then Thrym was delighted, you may be sure. He forgave his hungry bride,
and loved her with all his heart. He leaned forward to give her a kiss,
raising a corner of her veil; but his hand dropped suddenly, and he
started up in terror, for he had caught the angry flash of Thor's eye,
which was glaring at him through the bridal veil. Thor was longing for
his hammer.
"Why has Freia so sharp a look?" Thrym cried. "It pierces like lightning
and burns like fire."
But again the sly waiting maid whispered timidly, "Oh, Thrym, be not
amazed! The truth is, my poor mistress's eyes are red with wakefulness
and bright with longing. For eight nights Freia has not known a wink of
sleep, so eager was she for Jotunheim."
Then again Thrym was doubly delighted, and he longed to call her his
very own dear wife. "Bring in the wedding gift!" he cried. "Bring in
Thor's hammer, Miölnir, and give it to Freia, as I promised; for when I
have kept my word she will be mine--all mine!"
Then Thor's big heart laughed under his woman's dress, and his fierce
eyes swept eagerly down the hall to meet the servant who was bringing in
the hammer on a velvet cushion. Thor's fingers could hardly wait to
clutch the stubby handle which they knew so well; but he sat quite still
on the throne beside ugly old Thrym, with his hands meekly folded and
his head bowed like a bashful bride.
The giant servant drew nearer, nearer, puffing and blowing, strong
though he was, beneath the mighty weight. He was about to lay it at
Thor's feet (for he thought it so heavy that no maiden could lift it or
hold it in her lap), when suddenly Thor's heart swelled, and he gave a
most unmaidenly shout of rage and triumph. With one swoop he grasped the
hammer in his iron fingers; with the other arm he tore off the veil that
hid his terrible face, and trampled it under foot; then he turned to the
frightened king, who cowered beside him on the throne.
"Thief!" he cried. "Freia sends you _this_ as a wedding gift!" And he
whirled the hammer about his head, then hurled it once, twice, thrice,
as it rebounded to his hand; and in the first stroke, as of lightning,
Thrym rolled dead from his throne; in the second stroke perished the
whole giant household--these ugly enemies of the Æsir; and in the third
stroke the palace itself tumbled together and fell to the ground like a
toppling playhouse of blocks.
But Loki and Thor stood safely among the ruins, dressed in their
tattered maiden robes, a quaint and curious sight; and Loki, full of
mischief now as ever, burst out laughing.
"Oh, Thor! if you could see--" he began; but Thor held up his hammer and
shook it gently as he said:
"Look now, Loki: it was an excellent joke, and so far you have done
well--after your crafty fashion, which likes me not. But now I have my
hammer again, and the joke is done. From you, nor from another, I brook
no laughter at my expense. Henceforth we will have no mention of this
masquerade, nor of these rags which now I throw away. Do you hear, red
laughter?"
And Loki heard, with a look of hate, and stifled his laughter as best he
could; for it is not good to laugh at him who holds the hammer.
Not once after that was there mention in Asgard of the time when Thor
dressed him as a girl and won his bridal gift from Thrym the giant.
But Miölnir was safe once more in Asgard, and you and I know how it came
there; so someone must have told. I wonder if red Loki whispered the
tale to some outsider, after all? Perhaps it may be so, for now he knew
how best to make Thor angry; and from that day when Thor forbade his
laughing, Loki hated him with the mean little hatred of a mean little
soul.