In the Days of Giants: A Book of Norse TalesBrown, Abbie Farwell
General
In the Days of Giants: A Book of Norse Tales
Brown, Abbie Farwell
Mythology, Norse -- Juvenile literature
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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