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
He restored to Frigga her falcon dress. All blamed him for having stolen
it, but when he told how he had been shut up without food in Gerriöd's
dwelling those who judged him thought he had been punished enough for
the theft. He spoke as before to the Dwellers in Asgard, and the rage
and hatred he had against them since he had eaten Gulveig's heart he
kept from bursting forth.
He talked to Thor of the adventures they had together in Jötunheim. Thor
would now roar with laughter when he talked of the time when he went as
a bride to Thrym the Giant.
Loki was able to persuade him to make another journey to Jötunheim. "And
I want to speak to you of what I saw in Gerriöd's dwelling," he said.
"I saw there the hair of Sif, your wife."
"The hair of Sif, my wife," said Thor in surprise.
"Yes, the hair I once cut off from Sif's head," said Loki. "Gerriöd was
the one who found it when I cast it away. They light their hall with
Sif's hair. Oh, yes, they don't need torches where Sif's hair is."
"I should like to see it," said Thor.
"Then pay Gerriöd a visit," Loki replied. "But if you go to his house
you will have to go without your hammer Miölnir, and without your gloves
and your belt."
"Where will I leave Miölnir, and my gloves and my belt?" Thor asked.
"Leave them in Valaskjalf, Odin's own dwelling," said cunning Loki.
"Leave them there and come to Gerriöd's dwelling. Surely you will be
well treated there."
"Yes, I will leave them in Valaskjalf and go with you to Gerriöd's
dwelling," Thor said.
Thor left his hammer, his gloves, and his belt in Valaskjalf. Then he
and Loki went toward Jötunheim. When they were near the end of their
journey, they came to a wide river, and with a young Giant whom they met
on the bank they began to ford it.
Suddenly the river began to rise. Loki and the young Giant would have
been swept away only Thor gripped both of them. Higher and higher the
river rose, and rougher and rougher it became. Thor had to plant his
feet firmly on the bottom or he and the two he held would have been
swept down by the flood. He struggled across, holding Loki and the
young Giant. A mountain ash grew out of the bank, and, while the two
held to him, he grasped it with his hands. The river rose still higher,
but Thor was able to draw Loki and the young Giant to the bank, and then
he himself scrambled up on it.
Now looking up the river he saw a sight that filled him with rage. A
Giantess was pouring a flood into it. This it was that was making the
river rise and seethe. Thor pulled a rock out of the bank and hurled it
at her. It struck her and flung her into the flood. Then she struggled
out of the water and went yelping away. This Giantess was Gialp,
Gerriöd's ugly and evil daughter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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