The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern MythsColum, Padraic
General
The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths
Colum, Padraic
Mythology, Norse -- Juvenile literature
"We can't wait until morning, we must eat now," said Thor, "and I think
I can provide a good meal for us all." He went over to where his goats
stood in the hollow beside the chariot of brass, and, striking them with
his hammer, he left them lifeless on the ground. He skinned the goats
then, and taking up the bones very carefully, he left them down on the
skins. Skins and bones he lifted up and bringing them into the house he
left them in a hole above the peasant's fireplace. "No one," said he in
a commanding voice, "must touch the bones that I leave here."
Then he brought the meat into the house. Soon it was cooked and laid
smoking on the table. The peasant and his wife and his son sat round the
board with Thor and Loki. They had not eaten plentifully for many days,
and now the man and the woman fed themselves well.
Thialfi was the name of the peasant's son. He was a growing lad and had
an appetite that had not been satisfied for long. While the meat was on
the table his father and mother had kept him going here and there,
carrying water, putting fagots on the fire, and holding a blazing stick
so that those at the table might see to eat. There was not much left for
him when he was able to sit down, for Thor and Loki had great appetites,
and the lad's father and mother had eaten to make up for days of want.
So Thialfi got little out of that plentiful feast.
When the meal was finished they lay down on the benches. Thor, because
he had made a long journey that day, slept very soundly. Thialfi lay
down on a bench, too, but his thoughts were still upon the food. When
all were asleep, he thought, he would take one of the bones that were
in the skins above him, and break and gnaw it.
So in the dead of the night the lad stood up on the bench and took down
the goatskins that Thor had left so carefully there. He took out a bone,
broke it, and gnawed it for the marrow. Loki was awake and saw him do
this, but he, relishing mischief as much as ever, did nothing to stay
the lad.
He put the bone he had broken back in the skins and he left the skins
back in the hole above the fireplace. Then he went to sleep on the
bench.
In the morning, as soon as they were up, the first thing Thor did was to
take the skins out of the hole. He carried them carefully out to the
hollow where he had left the goats standing. He put each goatskin down
with the bones in it. He struck each with his hammer, and the goats
sprang up alive, horns and hoofs and all.
But one was not as he had been before. He limped badly. Thor examined
the leg and found out that one bone was broken. In terrible anger he
turned on the peasant, his wife, and his son. "A bone of this goat has
been broken under your roof," he shouted. "For that I shall destroy your
house and leave you all dead under it." Thialfi wept. Then he came
forward and touched the knees of Thor. "I did not know what harm I did,"
he said. "I broke the bone."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account