bring the Apples of Idun. Loki was wicked enough for anything;
but when it came to robbing the gods of their immortality, even he
hesitated. And while he hesitated the eagle dashed hither and thither,
flinging him against the sides of the mountains and dragging him
through the great tough boughs of the oaks until his courage gave out
entirely, and he promised to steal the Apples out of Asgard and give
them to the giant.
Loki was bruised and sore enough when he got on his feet again to hate
the giant who handled him so roughly, with all his heart, but he was
not unwilling to keep his promise to steal the Apples, if only for
the sake of tormenting the other gods. But how was it to be done? Idun
guarded the golden fruit of immortality with sleepless watchfulness.
No one ever touched it but herself, and a beautiful sight it was to
see her fair hands spread it forth for the morning feasts in Asgard.
The power which Loki possessed lay not so much in his own strength,
although he had a smooth way of deceiving people, as in the goodness
of others who had no thought of his doing wrong because they never did
wrong themselves.
Not long after all this happened, Loki came carelessly up to Idun as
she was gathering her Apples to put them away in the beautiful carven
box which held them.
"Good morning, goddess," said he. "How fair and golden your Apples
are!
"Yes," answered Idun; "the bloom of youth keeps them always
beautiful."
"I never saw anything like them," continued Loki slowly, as if he were
talking about a matter of no importance, "until the other day."
Idun looked up at once with the greatest interest and curiosity in her
face. She was very proud of her Apples, and she knew no earthly trees,
however large and fair, bore the immortal fruit.
"Where have you seen any Apples like them?" she asked.
"Oh, just outside the gates," said Loki indifferently. "If you care to
see them I'll take you there. It will keep you but a moment. The tree
is only a little way off."
Idun was anxious to go at once.
"Better take your Apples with you, to compare them with the others,"
said the wily god, as she prepared to go.
Idun gathered up the golden Apples and went out of Asgard, carrying
with her all that made it heaven. No sooner was she beyond the gates
than a mighty rushing sound was heard, like the coming of a tempest,
and before she could think or act, the giant Thjasse, in his eagle
plumage, was bearing her swiftly away through the air to his desolate,
icy home in Thrymheim, where, after vainly trying to persuade her to
let him eat the Apples and be forever young like the gods, he kept her
a lonely prisoner.
Loki, after keeping his promise and delivering Idun into the hands of
the giant, strayed back into Asgard as if nothing had happened. The
next morning, when the gods assembled for their feast, there was no
Idun. Day after day went past, and still the beautiful goddess did not
come. Little by little the light of youth and beauty faded from the
home of the gods, and they themselves became old and haggard. Their
strong, young faces were lined with care and furrowed by age, their
raven locks passed from gray to white, and their flashing eyes became
dim and hollow. Bragi, the god of poetry, could make no music while
his beautiful wife was gone he knew not whither.
Morning after morning the faded light broke on paler and ever paler
faces, until even in heaven the eternal light of youth seemed to be
going out forever.
Finally the gods could bear the loss of power and joy no longer. They
made rigorous inquiry. They tracked Loki on that fair morning when he
led Idun beyond the gates; they seized him and brought him into solemn
council, and when he read in their haggard faces the deadly hate which
flamed in all their hearts against his treachery, his courage failed,
and he promised to bring Idun back to Asgard if the goddess Freyja
would lend him her falcon guise. No sooner said than done; and with
eager gaze the gods watched him as he flew away, becoming at last only
a dark moving speck against the sky.
After long and weary flight Loki came to Thrymheim, and was glad
enough to find Thjassa gone to sea and Idun alone in his dreary house.
He changed her instantly into a nut, and taking her thus disguised in
his talons, flew away as fast as his falcon wings could carry him. And
he had need of all his speed, for Thjasse, coming suddenly home and
finding Idun and her precious fruit gone, guessed what had happened,
and, putting on his eagle plumage, flew forth in a mighty rage, with
vengeance in his heart. Like the rushing wings of a tempest, his
mighty pinions beat the air and bore him swiftly onward. From mountain
peak to mountain peak he measured his wide course, almost grazing at
times the murmuring pine forests, and then sweeping high in mid-air
with nothing above but the arching sky, and nothing beneath but the
tossing sea.
At last he sees the falcon far ahead, and now his flight becomes like
the flash of the lightning for swiftness, and like the rushing of
clouds for uproar. The haggard faces of the gods line the walls
of Asgard and watch the race with tremulous eagerness. Youth and
immortality are staked upon the winning of Loki. He is weary enough
and frightened enough, too, as the eagle sweeps on close behind him;
but he makes desperate efforts to widen the distance between them.
Little by little the eagle gains on the falcon. The gods grow white
with fear; they rush off and prepare great fires upon the walls. With
fainting, drooping wing the falcon passes over and drops exhausted
by the wall. In an instant the fires have been lighted, and the great
flames roar to heaven. The eagle sweeps across the fiery line a second
later and falls, maimed and burned to the ground; where a dozen fierce
hands smite the life out of him, and the great giant Thjasse perishes
among his foes.
Idun resumes her natural form as Bragi rushes to meet her. The gods
crowd round her. She spreads the feast, the golden Apples gleaming
with unspeakable lustre in the eyes of the gods. They eat; and once
more their faces glow with the beauty of immortal youth, their eyes
flash with the radiance of divine power, and, while Idun stands like
a star for beauty among the throng, the song of Bragi is heard once
more; for poetry and immortality are wedded again.
THE GIFTS OF THE DWARFS
Thor was, you may know, the strongest and noblest of the great giants
of the north. He was tall in stature and had fiery brown eyes, from
which the light flashed like lightning, while his long red beard
waved through the sky as he drove in his goat-drawn chariot. Brilliant
sparks flew from the hoofs and teeth of the two goats, while a crown
of bright stars shone above Thor's head. When he was angered the
wheels of his chariot rumbled and crashed their passage through the
air, until men trembled and hid, telling each other that Thor had gone
to battle with the Rime-giants or other of his enemies.
Now Thor's wife was named Sib, and she was most beautiful to look
upon. Her soft, browny-gold hair was so long and thick that it would
cover her from the crown of her head to her little feet, and her deep
brown eyes looked into the faces of her friends as those of a mother
look into the face of her child. Loki, the mischief-maker among the
giants, often looked at Sib and longed to do her some evil, for he was
jealous, thinking that it was not right that she should be praised and
loved by everyone; go where he would he could find no one who did not
speak well of her.
It happened one day when the summer was nearly gone that Loki found
Sib alone and sleeping on a bank near the river, so he drew his knife,
and creeping softly nearer and nearer, cut off her beautiful flowing
hair quite close to her head. Then he joyfully rushed away and strewed
it far and wide over the whole earth, so that it became no longer
living and golden but faded and turned a dull color as the winds blew
it about and the rains beat upon it, and crushed it in between the
rocks and stones. When Sib awoke and was about to push the hair from
her face, she felt that something was wrong. Wonderingly she ran to
the water and looking at her reflection in the clear depths, saw that
nothing but a short stubble stood up all over her head. All her lovely
hair was gone! Only one would have dared to treat her so badly, and in
her grief and anger she called upon Thor to come to her aid.
Loki had of course fled and was hiding far away in another country
among the rocks when he heard the distant rumblings of thunder, and
tried to shrink deeper into the crevices between the great stones, but
the awful sound grew louder, and at last the angry flash from Thor's
eyes darted to the very spot where the mischievous one lay. Then Thor
pulled him out and shook him from side to side in his enormous hands,
and would have crushed his bones upon the hard rocks had not Loki
in great terror asked what good his death would do, for it certainly
would not bring Sib's hair back. Then Thor set the mischief-maker on
his feet, though still keeping a tight hold on him, and asked what he
would do to repair the evil which he had done. Loki promptly answered
that he would go down into the mountains to the dwarfs, and get
Iwald's sons to make some golden hair for Sib, as good as that which
he had destroyed. Now Iwald had had seven sons, and these all
lived deep below the earth in the great caverns which lie below the
mountains, and these sons were small and dark; they did not like the
daylight for they were dwarfs who could see best without the sun to
dazzle their eyes; they knew where gold and silver grew, and they
could tell where to find beautiful shining stones, which were red, and
white, and yellow, and green; they knew the way all over the world by
running through caverns and passages under the mountains, and wherever
they could find precious stones or metals they built a furnace, and
made an anvil, and hammer and bellows, and everything that was wanted
in a smithy; for they knew how to fashion the most wonderful things
from gold and iron and stone, and they had knowledge which made them
more powerful than the people who lived above the ground.
Thor let the mischief-maker go to get the help of the dwarfs to repair
the wrong which he had done, and Loki sought about the mountain-side
until he found a hole which would lead him into Iwald's cave, and then
he promptly dropped into it. There in a dark cave gleaming with many
sparkling lights he went to the two cleverest dwarfs who were named
Sindri and Brok, and told them what it was he wanted, adding that he
would be in sore trouble with Thor if they could not help him. Now
Sindri and Brok knew all about Loki perfectly well; they knew all
about his mischievous ways and the evil he so often wrought, but as
they liked Thor and Sib they were willing to give the help which was
asked of them. Thus without more ado, for these dwarfs never wasted
their words, Sindri and Brok began their work.
Huge blocks of earth-brown stone were cast into the furnace until they
were in a white heat, when drop by drop red gold trickled from them
into the ashes. This was all gathered together, and the glistening
heap taken to the dwarf women, who, crushing it in their hands before
it had hardened, drew it out upon their wheels, and spun it into
fine soft hair. While they were doing this Brok sought amongst his
treasures until he found the blue of the ocean and the tough inner
pith of an underground tree; these, with other things, were cast into
the furnace, and afterwards beaten with his hammer. As the rhythmic
strokes fell, the women sang a song which was like the voice of a
strong, steady wind. Then when this work was finished, the smith drew
forth a little ship, which was carefully placed on one side. The third
time the dwarf went to a dark corner, and brought out an ugly bent bar
of iron, and this, with two feathers from the wings of the wind,
was heated to melting whiteness, and wrought with great cunning and
extreme care, for it was to be a spear for Odin himself, the greatest
of all the heroes.
Then Brok and Sindri called Loki to them and giving him these three
things bade him hasten back to the gods at Asgard and appease their
wrath. Loki, however, was already beginning to feel sorry that he had
been so successful; he liked teasing folk but he did not like having
to atone for his mischief afterwards. He turned the marvelous gifts
over scornfully in his hands, and said that he did not see anything
very wonderful in _them;_ then, looking at Sindri he added, "However,
Brok has hammered them very skilfully, and I will wager my head that
you could not make anything better."
Now the brother dwarfs had not by any means expected gratitude,
but neither had they expected any such rudeness as this, so Sindri
determined to give Loki a lesson. Going to one corner of the smithy
he picked up a pig-skin and taking the hammer in his hands, told
his brother to blow steadily, neither to falter nor to fail until
he passed the word that the work was done. Then with strength and
gentleness he wrought with his tools, having cast nothing into the
heat but the pig-skin; with mighty blows and delicate touches he
brought thickness and substance into it, until a board looked at him
from the flames. Loki, fearing for his head, changed himself into an
enormous forest fly, and settling upon Brok's hand, stung with vicious
fury; but the dwarf would not trouble to brush the fly away, and
steadily moved the bellows until his brother called to him to stop,
when they drew forth a strong flexible boar whose bristles were of the
finest gold.
Then without saying anything or paying any attention to the spiteful
words which Loki kept uttering, Sindri chose from a heap of gold the
most solid lump he could find and flung it into the white flames.
Thrice it was heated and cooled, and the dark elf turned it and worked
it with wonderful skill, and in the glow Loki saw a broad red ring,
which seemed to live and move. Again he tried to spoil the work as a
fly, and bit deeply into Brok's neck, but Brok would not so much as
raise his hand to rid him of the pain. When the ring was finally laid
to cool, so marvelously had it been wrought that from it each ninth
night would fall eight rings as beautiful as itself.
Now came the last test of Sindri's cunning. He cast into the furnace
a piece of fine iron, and told Brok his hand must neither tremble
nor stay, or the whole of their work would be useless. Then with wild
songs of strength upon his lips he hammered and tapped, until those
who were in the cave felt that they were out among the roaring waves;
they could hear the ice mountains grind and crash to pieces, and
the thunder of Thor's chariot wheels rushing through the heavens. A
frenzied horror seized upon Loki's mind. If these wretched dwarfs were
going to make anything to add to Thor's strength he knew that it would
be his own ruin. So, changing himself to a hornet, he sprang upon the
forehead of Brok, and dug so fiercely into his eyelids that the blood
trickled down and blinded him. Then the dwarf let go of the bellows
for one moment to clear his eyes, and Sindri cried out that what lay
in the furnace came near to being spoiled, and with that he took
a red-hot hammer up with his tongs. It was neither pretty, nor
particularly large, while the handle was an inch too short because of
Loki's spite.
Then Brok and Loki set out for Asgard, Loki carrying the three
wonderful things which had been given to him, while Brok carried the
three marvels which Sindri had so cunningly wrought and accompanied
the mischief-maker, that the gods might judge who had won the wager
so rashly offered by Loki. When they reached Asgard the gods seated
themselves on their high seats agreeing among themselves that Odin,
Thor and Frey should be judges in this case.
First, Loki offered to Odin the spear Gungner which was so wonderfully
made that it never failed to hit the thing at which it was thrown, and
it always sped back to the hand which had thrown it. Later, when Odin
carried this spear in battle, if he shook it over his enemies they
became so frightened that they all wanted to run away, but if he shook
it over his friends they were so filled with courage that they could
not be conquered. Then Thor received the hair, and when it was placed
upon Sib's head it grew to her like living tresses, curling and waving
in the wind. To Frey the ship was given, and though it was so small
that it could be folded and carried in his pocket, when it was placed
upon the waves it would grow large enough to hold an army of warriors
with all their war gear; besides, as soon as the sails were hoisted,
the wind would blow it whithersoever it was desired that the ship
should go.
Brok then made his offerings, and to Odin he gave the ring Drapnir
which had been made with such magic skill that every ninth night eight
other rings dropped off it, though no one could see how they came;
this the greatest of the gods ever wore upon his arm, until the death
of his beautiful son Baldur, when, as token of his great love he
placed it upon the dead youth's breast as he lay on his funeral pyre.
To Frey was given the golden boar, which would run faster than any
horse, over the sea or through the air, and wherever it went, there it
would be light, because the bristles shone so brightly. To Thor Brok
gave the dull-looking hammer, saying, that whatever he struck with it
would be destroyed; that no blow could be hard enough to hurt it; that
if he threw it, it would return to him so that he could never lose it;
and that as he wished so would its size be--yet there was one fault
about it, and that was that the handle was an inch too short.
It was with great joy that Thor took this treasure, knowing that in it
he had something to help him in fighting the evil Rime-giants who were
always trying to get the whole world for themselves until driven back
by him.
Then the gods decided that of all the gifts the hammer was the best,
and that, therefore, Loki had lost his wager and must lose his head.
Loki offered to give all sorts of things to save himself, but the
dwarf would not listen to any of them. "Catch me, then!" cried the
mischievous one; but when Brok stretched his hand upon him Loki had
gone, for he wore shoes which would carry him over the sea or through
the air.
"Catch him!" cried the ugly little dwarf piteously to Thor, and in an
instant Loki stood before them, trembling in Thor's strong grasp.
Then the clever one argued that it was his head only which had been
wagered, and that not one little tiny bit of his neck might be taken,
or the dwarf would have more than his bargain. At this Brok cried
impatiently that the head of a wicked person was of no use to him, all
that he wanted was to stop Loki's tongue so that he could work less
evil, and he took a knife and thread and tried to pierce holes in
Loki's lips, but Loki bewitched the knife so that it would not cut.
"If only I had Sindri's awl," sighed the dwarf, and instantly his
brother's awl was in his hand. Swiftly it pierced the lips of the
mischief-maker, and swiftly Brok sewed them together and broke off the
thread at the end of the sewing.
Then the gods gave presents for the dwarfs in return for their
wonderful things, and Brok returned to his cave. As for Loki, it
was not long before he loosed his lips and returned to his
mischief-making.
THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI
ADAPTED FROM A. AND E. KEARY'S VERSION
After the death of Baldur, Loki never again ventured to intrude
himself into the presence of the gods. He knew well enough that he had
now done what could never be forgiven him, and that, for the future,
he must bend all his cunning and vigilance to the task of hiding
himself from the gaze of those whom he had so injured, and escaping
the just punishment he had brought upon himself.
"The world is large, and I am very clever," said Loki to himself, as
he turned his back upon Asgard, and wandered out into Manheim; "there
is no end to the thick woods, and no measure for the deep waters;
neither is there any possibility of counting the various forms under
which I shall disguise myself. Odin will never be able to find me; I
have no cause to fear." But though Loki repeated this over and over
again to himself, he _was_ afraid.
He wandered far into the thick woods, and covered himself with the
deep waters; he climbed to the tops of misty hills, and crouched in
the dark of hollow caves; but above the wood, and through the water,
and down into the darkness, a single ray of calm, clear light seemed
always to follow him, and he knew that it came from the eye of Odin
who was watching him from Air Throne.
Then he tried to escape the watchful eye by disguising himself under
various shapes. Sometimes he was an eagle on a lonely mountain-crag;
sometimes he hid himself as one among a troop of timid reindeer;
sometimes he lay in the nest of a wood-pigeon; sometimes he swam, a
bright-spotted fish, in the sea; but, wherever he was, among living
creatures, or alone with dead nature, everything seemed to know him,
and to find a voice in which to say to him, "You are Loki, and you
have killed Baldur." Air, earth, or water, there was no rest for him
anywhere.
Tired at last of seeking what he could nowhere find, Loki built
himself a house near a narrow, glittering river which, lower down
flashed from a high rock into the sea below. He took care that his
house should have four doors in it, that he might look out on every
side and catch the first glimpse of the gods when they came, as he
knew they would come, to take him away. Here his wife, Siguna, and his
two sons, Ali and Nari, came to live with him.
Siguna was a kind woman, far too good and kind for Loki. She felt
sorry for him now that she saw he was in great fear, and that every
living thing had turned against him, and she would have hidden him
from the just anger of the gods if she could; but the two sons cared
little about their father's dread and danger; they spent all their
time in quarreling with each other; and their loud, angry voices,
sounding above the waterfall, would speedily have betrayed the
hiding-place, even if Odin's piercing eye had not already found it
out.
At last, one day when he was sitting in the middle of his house
looking alternately out of all the four doors and amusing himself as
well as he could by making a fishing-net, he spied in the distance
the whole company of the gods approaching his house. The sight of them
coming all together--beautiful, and noble, and free--pierced Loki
with a pang that was worse than death. He rose without daring to look
again, threw his net on a fire that burned on the floor, and, rushing
to the side of the little river, he turned himself into a salmon,
swam down to the deepest, stillest pool at the bottom, and hid himself
between two stones. The gods entered the house, and looked all round
in vain for Loki, till Kvasir, one of Odin's sons, famous for his keen
sight, spied out the remains of the fishing-net in the fire; then Odin
knew at once that there was a river near, and that it was there where
Loki had hidden himself. He ordered his sons to make a new net, and to
cast it into the water, and drag out whatever living thing they could
find there. It was done as he desired. Thor held one end of the net,
and all the rest of the gods drew the other through the water. When
they pulled it up the first time, however, it was empty, and they
would have gone away disappointed had not Kvasir, looking earnestly at
the meshes of the net, saw that something living had certainly touched
them. They then added a weight to the net, and threw it with such
force that it reached the bottom of the river, and dragged up the
stones in the pool.