In the very earliest days, people knew little about why things happen as they do on the earth. They did not know why we have day and night, or summer and winter. They did not know why the rains fall, or the lightning and thunder come. Since they did not know the true reasons for these things, they made up stories to tell why they happen as they do. They said that many gods ruled over the earth. One god, called Wodin, caused the day. Since day has but one sun, Wodin had but one eye. The god Thor caused the lightning and thunder. Another god ruled over the summer, bringing the warm days when plants could grow. He was called Frey. And the god Tye ruled over war and brought victory in battle. We use the names of the four gods, Tye, Wodin, Thor, and Frey, even today. From them we got the names for four of the days of the week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday—Tye’s day, Wodin’s day, Thor’s day, and Frey’s day. Those early people believed, too, that huge giants lived on the mountaintops and tiny dwarfs lived under the ground. The old story-tellers told many tales about fights between the gods and the giants. One of the favorite tales was about Thor, the god of thunder and lightning. The tale that Norwegian teacher told her pupils was about Thor and his Hammer. Her pupils listened almost as eagerly as those old Viking families had listened around the feast table hundreds of years ago. THOR AND HIS HAMMER Thor lived in a beautiful palace in the valley of the gods which lay between two mountains. Thor had a beautiful wife with long golden hair. She was called Sif. One day when Sif was sitting in the sunshine with her long hair hanging down over her shoulders she fell asleep. Loke, the god of mischief, passed by and saw her. Now Loke liked to play tricks on Thor, and when he saw Sif asleep, he thought, “Thor loves Sif’s beautiful hair. He will be very angry if anything happens to it.” Then he stole up, cut off Sif’s hair, and carried it away with him. When Sif awoke, she was very unhappy. She ran and hid herself. She did not want Thor to see her without her hair. Soon Thor came. Sif was not there to meet him. The strong god’s heart was filled with fear. What was wrong with Sif? He ran quickly about the palace to look for her. He found her weeping bitterly. When he saw what had happened he was very angry. Fire, like lightning, flashed from his eyes. The floors of the palace trembled under his angry footsteps. “This is the work of that rascal, Loke,” he cried. Then, like a thundercloud, he strode away from the palace. He soon found Loke, and, no doubt, would have choked him had not Loke promised to give back Sif’s hair as beautiful as it had ever been. Now Loke knew some skillful dwarfs who lived far underground. They made wonderful things of gold. He hurried away to find them. When he came to their smithy, he asked, “Can you make me a crown of golden hair which will grow just as any natural hair grows?”