"Now we will see," thought Thor. Again he crept to the giant's side. Lifting his hammer, this time two miles in the air, he brought it down upon the giant's skull with a crash that sounded like the breaking of the ice and the roaring of the torrent in a mighty river. "What is that?" muttered the giant, only half awake. "A leaf must have fallen upon my forehead. I will take myself out into the plain where I can sleep in peace." "Go to sleep," answered Thor; "it is nearly morning, and will be time to wake up for the day before you reach the plain." Again the giant fell asleep; and again the snoring rang out upon the air. "He shall not escape me this time," whispered Thor, creeping again to the giant's side. Raising his hammer, this time three miles in the air, he crashed it down upon the forehead of the giant with such force and fury that the very heavens reverberated; and the earth people, springing frightened from their deep sleep, called to each other, "The dwarfs are at their forges! Did you not feel the earth shake and the mountains tremble?" "Well, well," droned the sleepy giant; "the moss from the trees falls upon my face and wakes me. It is nearly sunrise, and I may as well arise and go on to Utgard. And you, Thor,--I am told you, too, are journeying towards the land of Utgard. But I must hurry on. I will meet you there; but let me give you warning that we are a race of giants of no mean size. And great though you are, it would be as well for you that you boast not of your power among us. Even your mighty hammer might fail to do its work among giants of such strength and stature as those of Skrymer's race." There was a sneer on Skrymer's face as he said this; but before Thor could raise his hammer to punish him for his insolence, he had crossed the great plain, and was already miles away. Thor sat down beside the forest. He was mortified, and vexed, and puzzled. What did it mean? Had his hammer lost its magic power? Was the giant Skrymer immortal? He could not tell. There was a heavy cloud upon his face as he set forth again upon his journey. The little servants shook with fear; even Loke kept silent, and said not one word the live-long day. XIX. THOR AND THE UTGARD-KING. Travelling on and on, through many days and many nights, Thor and his companions came to a great castle. Its pinnacles reached far up among the clouds, and its great gateways were broad even like the horizon itself. In between the bars crept Thor and Loke and the children Thjalfe and Roskva. "Let us enter the castle," said Thor grimly. "It must be the palace of the king--the Utgard-Loke--whose threats have defied even the All-wisdom and the All-power of the mighty Odin."