“My name is Skrymir,” said the giant, “but I need not ask thy name, for
I know that thou art the god Thor. But what has become of my glove?”
Thor then perceived that what they had taken overnight for a hall was
the giant’s glove, and the chamber where his two companions had sought
refuge was the thumb. Skrymir then proposed that they should travel in
company, and Thor consenting, they sat down to eat their breakfast, and
when they had done, Skrymir packed all the provisions into one wallet,
threw it over his shoulder, and strode on before them, taking such
tremendous strides that they were hard put to it to keep up with him. So
they travelled the whole day, and at dusk Skrymir chose a place for them
to pass the night in under a large oak tree. Skrymir then told them he
would lie down to sleep. “But take ye the wallet,” he added, “and
prepare your supper.”
Skrymir soon fell asleep and began to snore strongly; but when Thor
tried to open the wallet, he found the giant had tied it up so tight he
could not untie a single knot. At last Thor became wroth, and grasping
his mallet with both hands he struck a furious blow on the giant’s head.
Skrymir, awakening, merely asked whether a leaf had not fallen on his
head, and whether they had supped and were ready to go to sleep. Thor
answered that they were just going to sleep, and so saying went and laid
himself down under another tree. But sleep came not that night to Thor,
and when Skrymir snored again so loud that the forest reëchoed with the
noise, he arose, and grasping his mallet launched it with such force at
the giant’s skull that it made a deep dint in it. Skrymir, awakening,
cried out, “What’s the matter? Are there any birds perched on this tree?
I felt some moss from the branches fall on my head. How fares it with
thee, Thor?” But Thor went away hastily, saying that he had just then
awoke, and that as it was only midnight, there was still time for sleep.
He, however, resolved that if he had an opportunity of striking a third
blow, it should settle all matters between them. A little before
daybreak he perceived that Skrymir was again fast asleep, and again
grasping his mallet, he dashed it with such violence that it forced its
way into the giant’s skull up to the handle. But Skrymir sat up, and
stroking his cheek said, “An acorn fell on my head. What! Art thou
awake, Thor? Methinks it is time for us to get up and dress ourselves;
but you have not now a long way before you to the city called Utgard. I
have heard you whispering to one another that I am not a man of small
dimensions; but if you come to Utgard you will see there many men much
taller than I. Wherefore, I advise you, when you come there, not to make
too much of yourselves, for the followers of Utgard-Loki will not brook
the boasting of such little fellows as you are. You must take the road
that leads eastward, mine lies northward, so we must part here.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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