The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various CountriesKeightley, Thomas
General
The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries
Keightley, Thomas
Fairies; Fairy tales; Folk literature; Folklore
He then put gold into the fire, and bid him not to stop blowing till
he came back. He went away, and then the fly came and settled on his
neck, and bit him more severely than before; but he blew on till the
smith came back and took out of the fire the gold-ring which is called
Drupner.[113]
Then he put iron into the fire, and bid him blow, and said that if he
stopped blowing all the work would be lost. The fly now settled between
his eyes, and bit so hard that the blood ran into his eyes, so that he
could not see; so when the bellows were down he caught at the fly in all
haste, and tore off its wings; but then came the smith, and said that
all that was in the fire had nearly been spoiled. He then took out of
the fire the hammer Miölner,[114] gave all the things to his brother
Brock, and bade him go with them to Asgard and settle the wager.
Loki also produced his jewels, and they took Odin, Thor, and Frey, for
judges. Then Loki gave to Odin the spear Gugner, and to Thor the hair
that Sif was to have, and to Frey Skidbladni, and told their virtues
as they have been already related. Brock took out his jewels, and gave
to Odin the ring, and said that every ninth night there would drop
from it eight other rings as valuable as itself. To Frey he gave the
boar, and said that he would run through air and water, by night and
by day, better than any horse, and that never was there night so dark
that the way by which he went would not be light from his hide. He
gave the hammer to Thor, and said that it would never fail to hit a
Troll, and that at whatever he threw it it would never miss it; and
that he could never fling it so far that it would not of itself return
to his hand; and when he chose, it would become so small that he might
put it into his pocket. But the fault of the hammer was that its
handle was too short.
Their judgment was, that the hammer was the best, and that the Dwarf had
won the wager. Then Loki prayed hard not to lose his head, but the Dwarf
said that could not be. "Catch me then," said Loki; and when he went to
catch him he was far away, for Loki had shoes with which he could run
through air and water. Then the Dwarf prayed Thor to catch him, and Thor
did so. The Dwarf now went to cut off his head, but Loki said he was to
have the head only, and not the neck. Then the Dwarf took a knife and a
thong, and went to sew up his mouth; but the knife was bad, so the Dwarf
wished that his brother's awl were there; and as soon as he wished it it
was there, and he sewed his lips together.[115]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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