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Legends of Norseland - Mara L. Pratt · Short Stories by Hans Christian Andersen

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one of Legends of Norseland. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
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  Speaker 1: by Ryan Williams, Dedicated to my cousins, to beautiful Jessica, creative,
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  Speaker 1: wild and rambunctious Caius, to delicate Elissa, and to adventurous Graydon.
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  Speaker 1: Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. The Beginning,
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  Speaker 1: In the beginning, when the beautiful and sunny world was
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  Speaker 1: first made, there stood in the very midst of all
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  Speaker 1: its beauty, Mount Ida, a mountain so high, so far away,
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  Speaker 1: up among the snowy clouds, that its summit was lost
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  Speaker 1: in the shining light of the rays of the Sun.
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  Speaker 1: At its base, stretching away to the north, the south,
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  Speaker 1: the east, and the west, as far as the eyes
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  Speaker 1: of the gods could reach, lay the soft green valleys
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  Speaker 1: and the great broad plain. Beyond, encircling the whole great
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  Speaker 1: plain and curling lovingly around in all the little bends
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  Speaker 1: and bays of the distant shore, lay the deep blue waters.
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  Speaker 1: And beyond the waters, hidden in the distant mists, rose
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  Speaker 1: the great mountains in which the frost giants dwelt. On
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  Speaker 1: the top of Mount Ida, the gods had built their
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  Speaker 1: shining city Asgard, and from its golden gateway to the
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  Speaker 1: valley below was stretched the richly colored rainbow Bridge, with
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  Speaker 1: its wonderful bars of red and yellow and blue, orange
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  Speaker 1: and green, indigo and purple. And in the Shining City
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  Speaker 1: where the gods dwelt, there was no sorrow, no grief,
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  Speaker 1: no pain of any kind. Never was the sun's light
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  Speaker 1: shut off by heavy clouds. Did the cruel lightnings flash,
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  Speaker 1: nor came their blights upon the harvest fields. Never did
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  Speaker 1: the heavy rains fall, nor did the cold wind sweep
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  Speaker 1: down upon the Shining City. But alas, there came a
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  Speaker 1: time when a shadow fell upon the city, that shone
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  Speaker 1: so like a golden cloud resting upon the mountain peak.
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  Speaker 1: For the fates, the three Cruel Sisters came and took
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  Speaker 1: up their abode at the foot of the wonderful Tree
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  Speaker 1: of Life, whose roots were in the earth, and whose branches,
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  Speaker 1: reaching high above the Shining City, protected it from the
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  Speaker 1: Sun's fierce heat and strong white light. And from that
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  Speaker 1: time even the gods themselves were no longer free from
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  Speaker 1: care and sorrow envy sprang up among the children of
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  Speaker 1: the great God Odin. Sickness and even death fell upon them,
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  Speaker 1: and the frost giants waged war with them, a war
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  Speaker 1: that would never cease in all the ages that were
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  Speaker 1: to come, until that day, when the sun's light went
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  Speaker 1: out forever and the dark rain of Ragnarok fell upon
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  Speaker 1: the earth. It was a beautiful earth that lay stretched
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  Speaker 1: out at the foot of Mount Ida. The fields were
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  Speaker 1: rich with grain, the trees were loaded with fruits. The
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  Speaker 1: sun shone warm and bright. But there were no harvesters,
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  Speaker 1: no gatherers of the fruit, no children to run and
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  Speaker 1: frolic in the sunshine. The fair earth is desolate, said
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  Speaker 1: Odin to himself, as he looked down from his golden temple.
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  Speaker 1: There should be people there, Not gods and goddesses like
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  Speaker 1: us here upon Mount Ida, but beings less powerful than we,
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  Speaker 1: beings who can love and enjoy, and whose children shall
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  Speaker 1: fill the earth with their happy voices. And the care
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  Speaker 1: of all these beings shall be mine. As he spoke,
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  Speaker 1: he the All Father, passed down the rainbow bridge out
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  Speaker 1: into the rich green valley below. As he passed on
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  Speaker 1: beneath the trees, he saw standing together, their branches bending
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  Speaker 1: towards each other, A straight, strong ash and a gentle,
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  Speaker 1: graceful elm. From these trees, said Odin to himself, will
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  Speaker 1: I create the earth people, the man I will name Ask,
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  Speaker 1: and the woman Emble. It is a beautiful, sunny world.
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  Speaker 1: They should be very happy in it. How their children
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  Speaker 1: shall delight in the broad fields and the sunny slopes,
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  Speaker 1: and no harm shall come to them, For I, the
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  Speaker 1: all Father, will watch over them in all the ages
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  Speaker 1: to come. End of Chapter one, Chapter two of Legends
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  Speaker 1: of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chaddo. This LibriVox recording
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  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Ygdrasil at the base of
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  Speaker 1: Mount Ida stood Yigdrasil, the wonderful tree of life. Never before,
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  Speaker 1: nor since, was there another such a tree. It had
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  Speaker 1: never had a beginning, It had never been young. Not
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  Speaker 1: even the oldest man, not even the gods themselves, could say,
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  Speaker 1: I remember when this great tree was a tender sapling.
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  Speaker 1: I remember when it sent forth its first tiny leaves,
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  Speaker 1: and how it rocked and swayed and shivered and bent
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  Speaker 1: its timid head as the cold ice King swept over it.
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  Speaker 1: For there had never been a time since the beginning
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  Speaker 1: of the world, when Yigdrasil had not stood there, tall
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  Speaker 1: and strong, one great root, reaching down down through the
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  Speaker 1: earth to the home of the dead. Another stretching away,
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  Speaker 1: No one could tell how far till it reached the
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  Speaker 1: home of the terrible giants, so fierce and cruel, so
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  Speaker 1: strong and withal, so wise, that even the gods themselves
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  Speaker 1: dreaded them, and stood ever in terror of their approach.
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  Speaker 1: And its branches so broad, so far reaching, So numerous
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  Speaker 1: were these that they spread themselves protectingly over the whole earth,
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  Speaker 1: their topmost leaves rustling and whispering together above the gold
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  Speaker 1: palace of the gods, far up on the summit of
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  Speaker 1: the cloud hidden ida. Nor was this all hidden. Among
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  Speaker 1: the dense leaves lived a great white eagle. No one
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  Speaker 1: knew whence he came, No one had ever looked upon him.
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  Speaker 1: But there he sat ages upon ages, singing forever the
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  Speaker 1: story of the creator of the earth and the wonderful
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  Speaker 1: deeds of the gods who dwell in the shining city
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  Speaker 1: of Asgard. The leaves of the tree sang sunset songs
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  Speaker 1: and whispered to each other's secrets, sometimes sad, sometimes gay,
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  Speaker 1: which even the gods with all their wisdom, could not understand.
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  Speaker 1: At the foot of the tree, away down at the end,
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  Speaker 1: even of the deepest, farthest root, lay the Well of Wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: Its waters were black, sometimes they were very bitter, and
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  Speaker 1: few there were who had the courage and the perseverance
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  Speaker 1: to search out the hiding place of this wonderful spring.
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  Speaker 1: Then too, it was guarded by a grim, old giant, memory,
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  Speaker 1: who so loved this well and so dreaded the approach
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  Speaker 1: of man or god to its waters, that he would
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  Speaker 1: not allow them even to touch their lips to it
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  Speaker 1: until they had sworn to surrender to him whatever thing
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  Speaker 1: was dearest in life to them. This was a heavy
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  Speaker 1: price to pay for wisdom, and few there were who
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  Speaker 1: cared to pay it. Will you give me your children?
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  Speaker 1: Will you give me your freedom, Will you give me
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  Speaker 1: your health? Will you give me your tongue, your ears,
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  Speaker 1: your eyes? The old Giant would ask of the mortals
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  Speaker 1: who came to drink of the waters of the Well
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  Speaker 1: of Wisdom. And always when the mortals heard these questions,
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  Speaker 1: they grew pale and trembled with fear. Go back to
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  Speaker 1: your homes, the old giant, with thunder, your desire wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: It is true, but you are not willing to pay
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  Speaker 1: the price for it. Then the mortals would hurry away,
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  Speaker 1: their hearts beating with fear, their ears ringing with the
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  Speaker 1: thunderous tones of the terrible giant, who, since the earth
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  Speaker 1: was made, had sat at the foot of Yigdrasil, guarding
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  Speaker 1: the secrets from all the world. And of chapter two,
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  Speaker 1: chapter three of Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Odin at
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  Speaker 1: the we of Wisdom. As Odin looked down from his
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  Speaker 1: home in Asgard and saw the people he had made
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  Speaker 1: from the ash and the elm trees, he sighed to
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  Speaker 1: himself and said, these are my children. It is I
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  Speaker 1: who created them. They are innocent and pure and sweet.
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  Speaker 1: But alas how little they know of life. By and
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  Speaker 1: by they will come to them danger and sorrow. The
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  Speaker 1: ice King, the cruel tyrant, will breathe upon them, and
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  Speaker 1: the harvests will shrivel before their eyes. The rivers will
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  Speaker 1: be frozen, the trees will be bare, and there will
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  Speaker 1: be no food for them. As the years roll on,
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  Speaker 1: little children will come. These children will grow into manhood
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  Speaker 1: and womanhood, and other little children will follow. They are
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  Speaker 1: but mortals sickness and will be their share. For I
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  Speaker 1: could not make them like the gods. And as Odin
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  Speaker 1: thought of all these things, his heart grew sad. Almost
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  Speaker 1: he wished he had not made these helpless beings from
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  Speaker 1: the ash and the elm. He looked down into the
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  Speaker 1: sunny valley, where as yet no sorrow, no suffering, had
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  Speaker 1: come poor children. He sighed, what a world of wisdom
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  Speaker 1: Odin must possess to protect and guide and teach these
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  Speaker 1: earth people that he has made. Just then, ask and
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  Speaker 1: Emla paused and looked up towards the shining city. For
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  Speaker 1: the sigh from Odin's heart had been so deep and
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  Speaker 1: long that the leaves of Yigdrasil had rustled, and a
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  Speaker 1: faint echo of it had swept even across the valley below.
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  Speaker 1: What is it that sweeps sometimes across the valley and
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  Speaker 1: moves the trees and leaves, and so gently fans our cheeks,
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  Speaker 1: asked embl I often wonder, answered ask, It is very pleasant.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps it is a message from the good Odin, who
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  Speaker 1: made us, and who gave us this sunny valley to
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  Speaker 1: play in. Then on they ran hand in hand, happy
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  Speaker 1: children as they were, and in a moment had forgotten
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  Speaker 1: all about it. But Odin had not forgotten, Frig, said
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  Speaker 1: he to his goddess wife. It is granted to us
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  Speaker 1: as gods to possess great wisdom. Still there remain many
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  Speaker 1: things we do not know. Below in the valley there
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  Speaker 1: have sprung into being a man and a woman. They
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  Speaker 1: are like us, Frig, But they are not very wise.
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  Speaker 1: They need our care, and as our own dear Baldur
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  Speaker 1: needed our care when he was a very little child.
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  Speaker 1: I shall go to the giant Memory who guards the
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  Speaker 1: Well of Wisdom, and he shall give me a draft
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  Speaker 1: from the wonderful water. Then shall I be the all wise,
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  Speaker 1: all loving, all father. These children of the valley need.
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  Speaker 1: Oh but the price this cruel giant will ask of you,
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  Speaker 1: sobbed Frig. I would give my life for them, answered
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  Speaker 1: Odin tenderly. Then he turned from her, passed down the
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  Speaker 1: rainbow bridge to the valley, entered the great black, gaping cave,
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  Speaker 1: and groped his way along the cold, dark passages that
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  Speaker 1: led to the Well of Wisdom. Three times the sun rose,
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  Speaker 1: three times the sun set. Then, just as the earth
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  Speaker 1: and the shining Asgard lay bathed in the rich golden
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  Speaker 1: sunset light. Odin came forth again, passed up the rainbow bridge,
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  Speaker 1: and entered the great Hall of the Gods. It is Odin,
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  Speaker 1: cried frig Yes, it is Odin, the same Odin, but
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  Speaker 1: with a face so joyous, so radiant, so happy. For
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  Speaker 1: Odin had drank from the well of wisdom. The way
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  Speaker 1: had been dark, the struggle with the great Giant had
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  Speaker 1: been hard. But Odin had conquered. And now the joy
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  Speaker 1: that belongs always to the Wise was his forevermore. End
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  Speaker 1: of chapter three, Chapter four of Legends of Norseland by
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  Speaker 1: Mara L. Pratt Chadwoy. This LibriVox recording is in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. Odin and the all Wise Giant away across
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  Speaker 1: the great sea of blue waters that curled about the
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  Speaker 1: shores of Midgard, the dwelling place of Odin's earth children,
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  Speaker 1: where the dark, frowning, rock bound mountains, the castles of
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  Speaker 1: the terrible giants, whom even the gods feared. One of
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  Speaker 1: these giants, Waftruner, was known among them as the all Wise.
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  Speaker 1: He is our chief. He is wiser even than the
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  Speaker 1: gods of Asgard. The giants sometimes would thunder across the
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  Speaker 1: wide blue sea. And indeed it was true, for none
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  Speaker 1: among the gods had yet been able to answer his questions,
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  Speaker 1: nor could they Neither could they ask of him one
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  Speaker 1: that he could not answer. We will bear the insolence
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  Speaker 1: of this giant no longer, said Odin to frig. I
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  Speaker 1: will go to him, and the race of giants shall
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  Speaker 1: know that at last wisdom dwells not in Yotanheie, but
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  Speaker 1: in the golden city of the gods, the glorious, shining
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  Speaker 1: city of Asgard. Who comes thundered vaftru near as Odin
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  Speaker 1: approached his mountain peak. It is I a mere traveler,
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  Speaker 1: But as I chanced to be journeying through your country,
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  Speaker 1: I heard of your wonderful wisdom. In my own country
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  Speaker 1: far away to the west, I too, am accounted somewhat wise.
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  Speaker 1: Let us test each other and learn which of us
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  Speaker 1: is wiser chirsty chother, Learn which is wiser, bellowed the
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  Speaker 1: great giant, his voice echoing and re echoing across the sea,
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  Speaker 1: until the very walls of the golden hall upon Mount
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  Speaker 1: Ida trembled, and the earth children in the valley below
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  Speaker 1: clung to each other in fear. Whichever one fails for
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  Speaker 1: fits his life. You know that I trust, added Vaftrunir
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  Speaker 1: with a sneer, I know, answered Odin quietly. But let
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  Speaker 1: us begin. Night will come upon us, and I must
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  Speaker 1: reach my home while the sun God is still above us.
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  Speaker 1: You will never see your home again, so it matters
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  Speaker 1: little whether we begin early or light. However, tell me, foolish,
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  Speaker 1: vain earth child that you are. What river is it
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  Speaker 1: that flows between this home of the all power for
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  Speaker 1: giants and the home of the gods. The name of
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  Speaker 1: that river is Ifing, answered Odin. And I can tell
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  Speaker 1: you more than that. Because it touches upon the shores
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  Speaker 1: of the City of the Gods. The ice king Niord
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  Speaker 1: has no power over it. His breath cannot freeze it.
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  Speaker 1: Year after year, Niord tries to imprison its sparkling waters
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  Speaker 1: that you giants may cross upon its crust and attack
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  Speaker 1: the shining city, but it will never freeze. You will
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  Speaker 1: never cross it, as God is forever safe. The giant
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  Speaker 1: dropped his mighty jaw, his eyes stared like great suns
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  Speaker 1: of fire. His terrible frame trembled down, came his club
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  Speaker 1: upon the floor of his great castle again ask, and
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  Speaker 1: Emla paled with fear as the valley shook beneath their feet.
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  Speaker 1: Who are you, roared the all Wise Giant. Who are
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  Speaker 1: you that you know that river's name? Who are you
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  Speaker 1: that you dare tell me? I shall never cross to
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  Speaker 1: its farther shore? It matters little who I am, answered Odin,
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  Speaker 1: his eyes, flashing, his beautiful figure, growing taller and taller.
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  Speaker 1: But listen now while I whisper into your ear my question.
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  Speaker 1: And with a mighty stride, Odin crossed to Vafthrudnir's throne,
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  Speaker 1: leaned forward, seized him by the shoulder, and hissed three
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  Speaker 1: words into the gigantic cave like ear. What those words were,
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  Speaker 1: no man ever knew. Forever they shall remain a secret
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  Speaker 1: between Vafthrudner and the All Father. Odin the Giant, paled,
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  Speaker 1: staggered to his feet, groaned and fell. The walls of
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  Speaker 1: the great Hall swayed to and fro. The lightning flashed,
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  Speaker 1: the thunder pealed from peak to peak. Odin had conquered
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  Speaker 1: the All Father was now the all Loving and the
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  Speaker 1: all Wise too, and as such was ever after acknowledged
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  Speaker 1: by all living creatures, gods and men, Dwarfs and Giants,
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  Speaker 1: end of chapter four, Section five of Legends of Norseland
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  Speaker 1: by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. The Stolen Wine Part One. There had
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  Speaker 1: lain for ages upon ages, hidden away in the great
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  Speaker 1: rocky cellar of one of the giant's castles, a cask
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  Speaker 1: of wine which had been stolen from the gods. Never
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  Speaker 1: before had the gods been able to learn what had
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  Speaker 1: become of it, what giant had stolen it, nor in
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  Speaker 1: what castle it was hidden. But now that Odin had
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  Speaker 1: become all wise, nothing could be concealed from him. I
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  Speaker 1: know at last where the wine lies hidden, said Odin
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  Speaker 1: one day to his son Thor, and I shall set
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  Speaker 1: forth to find it. Thor brought down his hammer with
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  Speaker 1: a thud. Let me go with you, cried he, springing up,
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  Speaker 1: and let me fell to the earth with one blow
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  Speaker 1: of my magic hammer. The giant who has stolen is
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  Speaker 1: kept hidden all these ages our precious wine. No answered Odin.
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  Speaker 1: This time I must go alone. The wine is guarded
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  Speaker 1: day and night, and it will not be easy to
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  Speaker 1: bring it away even when I have found it. But
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  Speaker 1: watch for me, dear son, one day there will come,
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  Speaker 1: beating its wings against the shining gates of our city,
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  Speaker 1: a great white eagle. Do not harm the eagle, Open
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  Speaker 1: the gates to him, for that eagle will be Odin,
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  Speaker 1: returning with the stolen wine to our city of Asgard.
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  Speaker 1: Then Odin put aside his sparkling crown and laid down
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  Speaker 1: his scepter, his wonderful blue mantle, studded with stars and
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  Speaker 1: fastened always with a pale crescent moon. He also threw
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  Speaker 1: aside and stepped forth in the garb of a common laborer.
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  Speaker 1: It is in this guise that I shall win my
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  Speaker 1: way to the giant's castle, said Odin, And in a
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  Speaker 1: secon he had passed out from the hall and was gone.
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  Speaker 1: It was the giant Suttung that had stolen the wine,
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  Speaker 1: and it was in his castle that it had lain
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  Speaker 1: hidden all these years. Now, of all the strong castles,
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  Speaker 1: of all the giants, Setung's castle was the strongest. The
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  Speaker 1: cellar was cut into the solid rock. Moreover, three sides
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  Speaker 1: of the castle rose in solid walls of granite, while
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  Speaker 1: the fourth, no less firm and strong, was built of
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  Speaker 1: massive blocks, bound with hoops and bars and bolts. Of
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  Speaker 1: the strongest iron and steel. Now Suttung had a brother, Bauji,
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  Speaker 1: who was a giant farmer. He kept nine strong slaves,
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  Speaker 1: half giants themselves, to do his work for him. As
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  Speaker 1: Odin approached the fields of Bouji's farm, he saw the
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  Speaker 1: nine men hard at work. Sides are dull, said he,
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  Speaker 1: as he drew near. Yes, but we have no whetstones
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  Speaker 1: to sharpen them upon, answered the workmen, the great drops
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  Speaker 1: standing out upon their foreheads. I will sharpen them on mine,
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  Speaker 1: said Odin, drawing one from his pocket. It is a
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  Speaker 1: magic whetstone, cried the men as they saw at work.
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  Speaker 1: Give it to us. We need it more than you
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  Speaker 1: give it to us. Give it to us. Take it, then,
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  Speaker 1: answered Odin, throwing it high in the air and walking off.
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  Speaker 1: It is mine, It is mine. Let me have it.
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  Speaker 1: Give it to me. I will have it out of
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  Speaker 1: the way. It shall be mine. Screamed and quarreled the
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  Speaker 1: nine men as they pushed and crowded, each one determined
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  Speaker 1: to catch the whetstone as it came down to earth.
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  Speaker 1: At last it fell. Then a fiercer battle followed. The
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  Speaker 1: angry men fell upon each other. They dragged and pulled
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: and threw each other to the ground. They pounded each other,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: They struck at each other with their scythes. On and
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: on they fought, hour after hour. The battle waged till
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: at last the sun god in sheer dismay at so
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: unloving a sight, hid his face behind the hills, and
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the nine men lay dead upon the fields. It was
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: an hour later when Odin reached the castle of Bouji.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Can you give me shelter for the night, he asked,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: as the giant appeared at the door of his castle. Yes,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: I can give you shelter, but you must look elsewhere
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: for your breakfast. A strange thing has happened. My nine slaves,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: while at work in the field, have fallen in battle
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: upon each other, and have killed each other. Not one
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: of them is left alive to serve me. They must
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: have been idle quarrelsome fellows, answered Odin. They were, indeed,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: answered Bougie, But how shall I get my work done
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: without them? I will do the work for you, answered Odin.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: You there is but one of you, even if you
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: are willing to try, answered Boujie with but little interest.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: But I can do the work of any nine workmen
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: that ever served you the giant laughed, A remarkable workman. Pray,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: do you ask the wages of nine men as well?
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I ask no wages, answered Odin. I only ask that
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: as my pay, when the work is done, you shall
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: give me a draft of wine from the cask hidden
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: in your brother's cellar. Boujee stared, how did you know
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: there was a cask in my brother's cellar? He gasped.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: It is enough that I know it, answered Odin coldly.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Bougee looked at Odin. He is better than no man,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: he thought to himself. I may as well get what
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: work from him I can, before he finds that no
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: being on earth can enter that cellar or force my
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: brother to give away one drop of that wine. Very well,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: you may go to work, he said aloud. I cannot
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: promise you that we can make our way into my
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: brother's cellar, but I will do what I can to
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: help you, That is all I ask, answered Odin. Now
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: let me sleep, for I am tired, and if I
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: am to do nine men's work, I must have nine
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: men sleep, and must you have nine men's food? Cried Baugie.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: I think it very likely, answered Odin, with a queer smile. Now,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: let me sleep. End of chapter five, Chapter six of
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Legends of Northland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. The Stolen Wine, Part two.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: What is your name? Asked Boujie of his new workmen,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: when they set forth the next morning to the fields.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: You may call me bolverk, answered Odin. Will one name
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: be enough for all nine of you, said Boujie, with
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: a disagreeable curling of upper lip. I will not burden
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: your giant mind with more than one, Odin answered, a
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: funny little twinkle in his eye. The giant gave a
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: furious grunt. He did not quite know whether his new
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: workman was stupid, or whether, under all his seeming meekness
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: it might not be that he was making fun of him. Well,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Boujie set Bulwark to work, and then lazy Fellow that
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: he was stretched himself out on a mountain side to
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: watch that new workman of mine, he bellowed, calling the
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: attention of a neighbor Giant to Odin at work in
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the field. Do you see him down there among the corn?
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: He says he can do nine man's work. A walkman
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: usually thanks himself equal to any nine other working men,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: roared back the neighbor. Of course, you have agreed to
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: give him nine men's wages. Then the two giants roared
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: with laughter. They thought they had said a very bright thing,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: and very likely they had. It is only because you
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: and I are mere earth children that we do not
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: think so too. As the days went on, Boujie began
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: to laugh less and to wonder more at this strange workman.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: He worked on quietly from sunrise till sunset. He did
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: not seem to hurry in his work. He did not
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: work over hours, but strange to say, the work went
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: on as the workman had promised. No nine men could
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: have done more, or could have done it better. It
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: was harvest time when Odin came, the time when Frey,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: the god of the fields and of all that grows,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: glides around among his children and covers them over, or
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: gathers in their wealth and beauty, like the kind, loving
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: father he is. He whispers to them now of Niord,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: who so soon will come sweeping across the earth, breathing
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: his cold, freezing breath upon all the world, and covering
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: it over with the cold white sheet that kills the
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: flowers and the fruits. He teaches his children to curl
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: themselves up beneath the earth until the cruel Niord is gone.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: For Niord seeks to kill the tiny leaves and buds,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and shrivel the radiant flowers that, through all the long
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: warm summer days have lifted their faces so brightly to
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: their good friend, the sun God. Perhaps it was because
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Frey and Odin worked together that there were such rare crops,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: and that the harvesting went on so smoothly. Certain it
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: was that all the fields were cleared, the cellars were filled,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: and all was ready for the long cold months to come.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: When cruel Njord was king, even Boujiee was in good humor.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: You are indeed a wonderful workman, he said to Odin,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: as the last cellar was fastened and he sat down
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: to rest. You are kind, answered Odin, the funny little
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: twinkle coming again into his eyes. Perhaps you would be
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: willing to come with me now to your brother, that
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: I may drink from the cask of wine that he
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: keeps so closely guarded in his cellar. Boujee began to
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: feel uncomfortable. He will not allow either you or me
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: to do so much as luck upon that wine. You
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: cannot have it, Boujee said Odin, growing very tall and godlike,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: his wonderful eyes flashing with a light like fire. You
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: promised to do all you could to help me. Come
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: and do as I bid you. Boujee stared. His first
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: thought was to kill the workman on the spot, But
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: there was something about him he hardly knew what that
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: made him instead rise and follow Odin to the brother's castle.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Tell me which cellar holds the wine, said Odin. When
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: they had reached the brother's mountain, this one answered Boujie.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Now take this alger, make a hole with it through
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: the solid wall. Boujie obeyed, like one in a dream.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: It was a magic auger. How it worked, how the
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: powdered stone flew in a cloud about his face. This
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: is a very Boujee stopped. What had become of his workmen.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Not a soul was in sight. Odin had disappeared, and
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: to this day the giant never knew what became of him,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Nor does his brother know who stole his wine from
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: the cellar. The stupid Boujee stood staring, now at the augur,
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: now at the hole, in the wall. He saw a
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: little worm climb up the wall and disappear through the hole.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: That is all he ever saw or ever knew. The
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: little worm laughed to itself as it crept in out
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: of sight. You are very stupid, bougee, not to know me.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: Reaching the inner side of the wall, the little worm
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: stopped to look about. There stood the cask, and beside
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: it sat the daughter of the giant. Poor girl, said
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: odin I mean, said the worm to himself. It is
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: a bitter fate to be doomed to sit forever in
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: this wretched dungeon, watching your father's stolen treasure. But be happy.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Soon you will be free. There will be no no
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: wine to watch. The young giantess must have heard his words,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: for she looked up there, just in front of the hole,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: the ray of light falling full upon his golden hair,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: stood a most beautiful youth. He looked so kindly upon her,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: and his eyes were so full of pity. Her heart
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: went out to him at once. I am very tired,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: said he gently, So very tired. I have come a
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: long long distance. My home is far from here. I
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: cannot tell you how far, but very very far. If
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: you would give me just one draft from the cask
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: of wine. The poor girl, grateful for the sound of
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: a friendly voice and for the sight of a human face,
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: arose and lifted the lid for him. Odin leaned over
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: the cast He put his lips to the wine and drank.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: You are very thirsty, said the Giantess, very answered Odin,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: drinking on and on. You are very thirsty, said the
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: Giantess again, very answered Odin. Still drinking, on and on
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: and on. You are very thirsty, said the Giantess again,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: this time louder, her voice filled with fear, Very answered Odin,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: still drinking on and on and on and on. Nor
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: did he stop till every drop was gone, and the
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: cask stood dry and empty. The young Giantess, realizing all
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: too late that the wine was stolen, ran to the
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: cellar gateway, shouting as only a giant can shout for help.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: The gateway flew open in rushed the giants, Bouji and
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: his brother. The wine, the wine, they cried, stolen, stolen,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: sobbed the Giantess, her sobs shaking even the solid cellar walls.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: The thief, the thief, cried the giants, Where is the thief?
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: But there was no thief to be found. There stood
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: the empty cask, but the thief. There was no living
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: creature to be seen, No living creature. I should not
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: have said quite that, for there arose from a darkened
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: corner of the cellar a beautiful, great white bird. Its
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: wings brushed against the sides of the gateway as it passed,
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: then higher and higher up, up, far far away, beyond
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: the sea. The clouds its sowared nor rested till its
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: great wings beat against the golden bars of the shining
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: gates of Asgard. End of chapter six, Chapter seven of
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwack. This LibriVox
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Loki's theft Thor was
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: son of Odin. He was a brave young god. And
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: when the frost giants came sweeping down upon the shining city,
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: none were more brave to fight for the protection of Asgard,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: the beautiful home of the gods, than Thor, the son
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: of Odin. There was another son, Loki, a cruel, wicked, idle,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: evil hearted god. Was he the sorrow of his father Odin,
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: the grief of his mother frig and the terror of
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: all the gods and goddesses over this sun. The great
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: Odin wept often bitter tears, more bitter still since he
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: had drunk from the well of wisdom for since then,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: knowing as he did all things passed in future, he
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: knew that a day was yet to come when, because
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: of this wicked Loki, the light would go out from
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: the earth, damp and cold in darkness would fall upon
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: the shining city, The frost giants would overcome the gods,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: and there would come an end to all life. Nor
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: was there any escape, nor hope for any help. This
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: fate the Norns had decreed should be, and through the
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: evil hearted Loki it was to come in the golden
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: hall of the gods, dwelt Thorn, and with him his
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: beautiful wife Sith. Of all the goddesses, there was none
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: like her. Her eyes were of Heaven's own blue, and
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: the light in them was borrowed from the stars. Her
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: hair was of yellow, yellow gold, and as it lay
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: mass above her pure white brow, it vied with the
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: golden light of harvest time in softness and rich, deep color.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: One happy, peaceful day when there was no danger abroad,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: and rest and peace had spread themselves above the halls
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: of the city of Asgard. Sith lay sleeping. The sun
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: God's covering of soft, warm rays fell upon her, and
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: the leaves of Yigdrasil had spread themselves above her in tender,
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: loving protection. Loki, the idle one, angry and revengeful, as
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: he always was when happiness and rest in peace had
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: driven out sorrow and care, paced angrily up and down
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the golden streets, his deep black frowns darkening even the
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: clear white light of heaven. He came upon the beautiful
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: sleeping wife of Thor. I hate my brother, he hissed
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: through his cruel teeth, And how proud he is of
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: this golden hair of Scyph's. The wicked light flashed from
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: his deep black eyes. Softly, like a thief, he crept
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: toward the sleeping Scieth. He seized the golden hair in
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: his hand. A cruel smile shone over his evil face.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: Boast now of your beauty, oh Sith, he sneered. Boast
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: now of your Sif's golden hair, Oh Thor, he growled,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: and with one great sweep of his shining knife, he
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: cut from the beautiful head the whole mass of gold
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: It was late when sith awoke. The leaves of Yigdrasil
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: were moaning for the cruel deed. The sun was sinking
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: sorrowfully below the distant mountain peaks. Oh my gold, my gold,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: sobbed Sif, Oh, who has stolen from me in my sleep?
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: My gold? Oh Thor, Thor, you were so proud of
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: the gold. It was for you I prized it, my beautiful,
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: beautiful gold. At that second, the voice of Thor was heard.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: His heavy call echoed across the skies and pealed from
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: cloud to cloud. He was angry, for he had heard
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: Sif's bitter cry and felt some harm had come to her.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: It is Loki that has done this, he thundered, and
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: again his voice rolled from cloud to cloud. The very
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: mountain peaks across the sea, in the country of the
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: frost giants rocked and reeled, the waters foamed and tossed.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: The scorching lightnings flashed from his eyes. The whole sky
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: was as one great sheet of fire. The earth children
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: trembled as they had never trembled before. Even Loki, shivering
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: with fear, cowered behind the golden pillars of the great
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: arched Gateway, forgive me, forgive me, wailed he as Thor
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: flashed his great white light upon him. Out from your
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: hiding place, oh coward, out out, or my thunderbolt shall
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: strike you dead. Spare me, Spare me, groaned Loki. Only
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: spare me, and I will go down into the earth
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: where the dwarfs do dwell, Go, thundered Thor, not waiting
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: for the wretched god to finish. Go and bring back
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: to me a crown of golden threads, woven and spun
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: in the smithies of the dwarfs, that shall be as
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: beautiful and ten thousand times more beautiful than the golden
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: crown you have stolen from the head of Scyth. Go
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: to them, tell them what you have done, and never
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: again enter the shining gateway of the city of our
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: father Odin until you bring that crown. Loki slunk away,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: the thunders of the Wrath of Thor slowly slowly following him.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: The lightnings flashed dully across the skies. The low rumbling
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: of thunder, distant but threatening, warned Loki that the Wrath
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: of Thor was not appeased. Neither would it be nor
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: would there be any return to Asgard. For the evildoer
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: until the crown of Gold was one end of chapter seven,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: chapter eight of Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Thor's Hammer.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: It was away down in the underground caves, and beneath
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: the roaring waters of the rivers, and deep in the
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: hearts of the mountains, that these dwarf workmen dwelt and
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: worked their smithies, and spun their gold and brass. Make
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: me a crown of gold for Sith, the wife of Thor,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: snarled Loki, bursting in upon the workshop of the dwarfs.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: The dwarfs were ugly little creatures, with crooked legs and
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: crooked backs. Their eyes were black, wicked little beads of eyes,
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: and their hearts were malicious and sometimes cruel. But they
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: were the willing and ready slaves of the gods, and
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: so even at this ill natured command from Loki, they
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: set themselves to work. The coals burned and blazed, the
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: forges puffed and blue. The little workmen molded and turned
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: and spun their gold. Hardly had the sun god lifted
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: his head above the castles of the frost giants. Hardly
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: had his light fallen upon the rich colors of the
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: Rainbow bridge. When Loki came forth from the underground caves,
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: the shining crown in his hand. Quickly he rose high
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: in the air and stood before the gates of the city.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: Have you brought the crown? Thundered Thor from within the gates.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: I have brought the crown, answered Loki in triumph. And
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: more than that, added he when the gates had been
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: opened to him. I have brought as gifts from the dwarfs,
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: a ship that will sail on land or sea, and
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: a spear that never fails. Oh, there are no such
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: workmen among any dwarfs as these who made the spear
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: of the ship and the crown. You boast of what
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: you do not know, croaked Brock, a little dwarf who
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: stood nearby, who says I do not know, cried Loki,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: turning sharply. I say that you do not know, croaked
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: the little dwarf again, his bead like eyes snapping angrily,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: his whole crooked frame quivering with rage. I have a brother,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: a workman in brass and gold, who can make gifts
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: far more pleasing to the gods. Than any you have brought.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: Loki looked down upon the little dwarf in scorn. Go
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: to your brother He's and bring to us the wonderful
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: things you think he can make. Bring us one gift
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: more wonderful than these I have, or more acceptable to
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: outIn and Thor. And I will give your brother my
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: head to pay him for his efforts. Then Loki roared
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: with laughter, believing that he had made a rare, rich joke.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: Hardly had the roars of laughter died away when Brock,
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: gliding down the rainbow bridge with a swiftness equalled only
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: by the lightning, sprang into midguard and was making his
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: way toward the great mountain beneath which worked the forges
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: of his brother, the master workman, Sindery. Someone cometh, said
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: the dwarfs, pausing in their work to listen their busy
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: hammers in mid air. Fear not, answered Brok, his harsh
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: voice echoing down the great halls. It is I, Brock,
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: and I come to demand of you that now, if
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: never again, you do your best. For LOGI boasts to
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: the gods of as God, that no dwarf in all
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: the caverns of the underworld can make one gift more wonderful,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: all more acceptable to Odin than knows. He brings a
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: crown of gold, a ship that will sail on land
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: or sea, and a spear that never never fails. A
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: terrible roar burst forth from the hosts of angry dwarfs.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: We will see, we will see, They thundered, and, seizing
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: their hammers, they set to work. The great forges blazed,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: the sparks flew, the smoke poured forth from the mountaintop. Loki,
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: looking out from the shining city, trembled. Well did he
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: know the workmanship of these dwarfs of Brock, And well
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: did he know how rash had been his scornful promise
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: to the angry little dwarf. We will make a hammer
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: for Thaw, said Sindry, the greatest among the workmen in
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: this underworld, a hammer that, when thrown from his mighty hand,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: shall ring through all the heavens. A trail of fire
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: shall follow it. Its aims shall never fail, and it
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: shall carry death and destruction wherever it falls. Blow thou
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: the bellows Brock, and I myself will mold the hammer
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: from the red hot iron. With Brock at the bellows,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: the very mountain rocked, and Midgard for miles about was
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: a blaze, with the blaze of light from the mountaintop.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: This shall not be snarled Lodi, And rushing down from Asgard,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: he crouched outside the great black cave to listen a
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: hammer for thw Those were the words he heard. The
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: ugly face grew uglier an instant, and there is no
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: Loki at the cavern mouth, but instead a poisonous, stinging gadfly,
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: whose green back glistened, and whose shining wings buzzed and
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: hummed with cruelty and revenge. There was a hard ringing
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: tone of defiance in their singing, and the tone was
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: like that of the voice of Loki himself. You shall
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: drop the bellows, buzzed the gadfly bitterly as it alighted
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: upon the neck of brock. It was a cruel sting,
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: and its poison forced even from the sturdy brock a
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: cry of pain. It no you, it is Loki, he cried,
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: But I will not drop the bellows, though you sting
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: me through and through and with a thousand stings. The
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: gadfly buzzed with rage straight towards the hand upon the bellows.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: It darted. Brock groaned again, his face grew pale. He
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: quivered with the pain. Still he held the mighty bellows
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: and worked the roaring forge. You will not, hissed the gadfly.
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: And again it drove its poisoned sting, this time straight
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: between the eyes of the suffering dwarf. And now Brock staggered.
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: His hands relaxed their hold. Blinded with pain, he dropped
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: the bellows. The blood ran down his face. The gadfly
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: still hummed and buzzed. You have nearly spoiled it, cried Sindri.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: Why did you drop the bellows? See how short the
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: handle is and how rough. But it cannot be helped. Now,
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: now will it terror be any less to Loki? Ha
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: ha ha. I would have made it handsome. But there
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: is a power in answer that shall make even the
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: gods tremel in all the ages to come. Hurry away
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: with it and place it in those mighty hands. And
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: here are other gifts. Take them all and bring me
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: Logi's head. He has promised. Surely, even he must keep
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: his word wicked and deceitful though he is. Broc seized
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: the hammer, and with the gifts, hurried up through the
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: dark cavern out into the light of midguard, up the
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: rainbow bridge, and with triumph in his swarthy face, sprang
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: into the presence of the great god Odin. Logi roared
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: with laughter at the sight of the awkward, clumsy hammer.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: But there was a proud, confident look in the dwarf's
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: shining eyes that Logi did not like. And coward that
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: he was, his heart began all ready to fail him.
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: Let us see the gifts, said Odin, that we may
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: judge which workmen among the dwarfs has proved himself most wonderful.
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: First of all, said Loki, coming forward, Here is a
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: golden crown for Scyth. Eagerly, Thor seized the crown and
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: placed it upon poor Scif's head. Wonderful, wonderful, cried all
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: the gods. For straightway, the golden hair began to grow
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: to Sif's head, and in a second it was as
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: if her golden locks had never been stolen from her.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: To you, oh, Odin, said the dwarf, Now coming forward,
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: I give this ring of gold. It is a magic ring,
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: and each night it will cast off from itself another
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: ring as pure and as heavy, as round, and as
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: large as itself. What is that, sneered Loki, compared with this, See, o,
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: father Odin, I bring you a magic spear, Except this
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: my second gift. It is a magic spear that never fails.
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: But behold my second gift, interrupted rock. It is a
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: bar of wonderful strength. It too is magic. No horse
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: can run, no bird can fly with such speed. It
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: travels both on land and sea, and in the night
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: its bristles shine with such a light that it matters
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: not how dense the blackness the forest or the plane,
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: will be as bright as noon day. I too have
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: a gift that will travel on land or see, cried Loki,
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: pushing himself forward again. See it is a ship, and
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: not only will it travel on land or sea, but
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: it can lift itself and sail like a bird above
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: the clouds and through the air. It will be hard, indeed,
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: to say which gift is greatest, said Odin. Kindly, look now,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: oh Odin, and Frig and Thor and Siff, and all
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: the gods, at this, the last of my three gifts.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: This hammer, Oh Thor, I bring to you the god
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: of thunder. Strike with it, and your thunders shall echo
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: and re echo from cloud to cloud as never they
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: were had before, thrown into the air or at a
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: foe like Loki's spear, it shall never miss its aim.
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: But more than that, it shall return always to the
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: hand of Thow. No folk can conceal it, no folk
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: can destroy it. It will never fail thee o thor thou,
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: god of thunder. By what a clumsy handle? Sneered Loki,
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: who already began to fear the hammer was to win
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: the favor of the gods. Yes, answered Brock. The handle
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: is clumsy and it is short. But none knows better
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: than you why it is so. Loki colored and moved uneasily.
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: Do not think, continued Brock, that I do not know.
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: It was you who sent the poisonous gadfly to sting
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: and bite me. As I worked at the blazing barge,
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: pounding at the brass and gold from which this hammer
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: is made. You thought to pay me into giving up
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: this contest, You coward, you evil one. You, But but Bowster,
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: when the handle was welded just so far, you drove
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: the gad fly into my eye. I could not see
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: to finish the work. But although the handle is short
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: and clumsy, the magic power is there, and with it
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: in his hand. No power in Earth or among the
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: frost giants even can overcome our great god Thor. A
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: ringing shout of joy arose from the gods. Thor swung
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: his hammer over his head and threw it far out
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: against the clouds. The thunder rolled, the clouds filled with blackness,
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: and the lightnings flashed as the magic hammer, humming through
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: the air, came back to the hands of Thor. Now
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: give me my wager, cried Brock. I was promised that
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: the head of Loki take it, laughed, Loki take it,
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: Brock drew near. I will take it, he hissed through
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: his set teeth. And the rich day will it be
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: both in Midgard and in ask God, when your miserable
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: head is bound down in the home of the dwarfs
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: of the underground world. But halt, commanded Loki. My head
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: you may have, but you must not touch my neck.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: One drop of blood from that and you forfeit your life.
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: Brok stood for a moment, white with anger. He knew
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: that he was foiled. Then, springing forward, he thundered, I
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: may not touch your neck, but see I have my revenge,
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: And so falling upon Loki, who struggled, but struggled in vain.
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: He whipped from his mantle a thong and a thread
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: of brass, And before even Loki knew what had been done,
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: he had sewed firm together the lying, boasting lips of
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: the evil god Loki, the wicked hearted son of Odin
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: end of chapter eight, Chapter nine of Legends of Norseland
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: the public domain. The Theft of the Hammer. It was
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: to the sweet and loving god Baldur that the earth
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: owed its warmth and beauty, its rich fruit, and its
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: rare harvests. How the frost giants hated Baldur, and how
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: they struggled year after year to wrest the earth from him.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: They hated the warmth Baldur brought with him, for it
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: destroyed their power. They hated the sweet flowers and the
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: soft grass, and the tiny leaves that everywhere peeped out
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: when the winds whispered Baldure's coming, Baldure's coming. But no
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: sooner had Baldur turned away and said goodbye, dear Earth
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: for a little time. Remember Baldur loves you, and will
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: come back again to you, than the frost giants would
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: creep out from their mountain gorges and burst forth upon
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: the fields and forests. The tiny bubbling brooks they would
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: seal with their cruel chains of ice. Even the great
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: rivers could not hold their freedom against the giant power.
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: Like angry fiends. They would seize upon the leaves and
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: tear them from the trees. The tiny flowers hung their
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: heads and shriveled with fear when they approached. Nor were
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: the frost giants content until the whole earth lay brown
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: and cold and barren beneath their hand. Then all beauty
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: swept away. They covered over all their silent sheet of
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: snow and stood grim, sentinels, cold and hard, guarding their
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: work of destruction and desolation. There was deep silence when
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: the frost giants reigned. No sound was heard save the
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: sad moaning among the branches of the forest, as the
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: firs and pine trees bent toward each other and whispered
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: of the days when Baldur shone upon them. But the
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: frost giants never yet had conquered. Never yet had Baldur
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: failed to return to the trees and flowers, and rivers
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: and streams that he loved so well. At his first
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: step upon the ice, a crackling sound was heard, a
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: sound which awoke the sleeping earth and warned the frost
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: giants to flee to their mountains. Baldur has come, Baldur
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: has come. The birds and every living thing would cry,
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: and a rustle and sound of music would thrill the
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: waiting earth. Then came always a mighty battle. The frost
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: giants lashed the waters and rocked the trees. The winds shrieked,
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: the sky grew cold and black, the snows fell, and
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: the driving rain beat against the earth. But Baldur, the quiet, firm,
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: loving Baldure, always conquered. How he himself could hardly tell.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: He did not fight, he did not storm. He only
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: bent his shining face over the struggling earth and waited.
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: Little by little. When their fury was spent, the frost giants,
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: defiant but conquered, retreated. The great sheets of ice broke up,
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: and the rivers rushed forth, singing their mad songs of
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: joy and freedom. The snows faded away, and one by
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: one the little flowers peeped forth again. All now was
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: happiness and warmth and fragrance. The flowers bloomed, the fruits
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: turned mellow, the sky grew warm, and the pines and
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: fir trees breathed deep sighs of rest and contentment that
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: once again, sweet Baldure was among them. And not only
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: did the frost giants hate Baldure, but they hated Frey,
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: who often robbed them of the fruits and flowers they
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: loved to breathe their bitter breath upon, and kill. So too,
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: they hated, for with his magic hammer, he now more
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: than ever loved to bring forth the lightnings and the thunder,
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: and descend down upon the earth refreshing showers of soft,
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: warm rain. As the frost giants scowled down from their
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: icy castles and saw the little flowers turn up their
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: happy faces to drink in the sparkling drops, and heard
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: the birds trill their happy songs, and smelled the rich
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: fragrance of the damp furs and pines, they roared with
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: anger and vexation. Let us revenge ourselves upon this insolent thaw,
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: who robs us of our rights, they bellowed to each
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: other across the great valleys that separated their giant peaks.
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: We can do nothing so long as he holds the
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: magic hammer, growled one. They must steal the hammer from him,
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: shouted another. Steal the hammer. Steal the hammer, shouted all
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: the giants, until the very sky eyes echoed with the words,
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: And I will be at one to steal it, bellowed Thrim,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: the strongest and greatest giant of them all. And moreover,
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: I will go at once to the city of Asgard.
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: The gods are asleep. With my great eye, I can
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: see even now the hammer lying beside the sleeping thaw
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: God my castle. I am gone, And, putting on the
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: guise of a great bird, Thrim spread his wings and
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: flew across the black night to Asgard. The gods shivered
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: in their sleep as he entered, and breathed his breath
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: upon the summer air of heaven, but knew not what
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: had chilled them. In the morning, there was a heavy
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: frost upon the gateways. There was a chill in the air.
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: For Thrim, the frost giant, had crept in upon them.
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: He had crept even to the hall in which the
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: mighty Thor was sleeping. He had crept close beside the
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: mighty god, and the magic hammer was gone. End of
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: chapter nine. Chapter ten of Legends of Norseland by Mara L.
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: The Finding of the Hammer, My hammer, my hammer, thundered Thor,
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: awaking and finding it gone, the gods in all Asgard
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: awoke with a start. What a crash of thunder, so quick,
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: so sharp, cried the earth people, for they did not
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: know it was a cry of rage from Thor. Loki
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: thundered Thor again. Put you on wings, Go you to
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: the home of the Frost giants, and bring back my hammer.
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: Some one of them has stolen it. Go go, I say,
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: and Loki, who had been a very obedient servant to
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: Thor since his theft of the Golden Hair of Sith,
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: put on the magic wings and fled away. What brings
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: you here in the land of the Frost Giants, growled Thrim,
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: as Loki alighted before him. I have come for the
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: hammer you have stolen from the Thor, answered Loki, boldly,
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: seeing at once from the jeering look in Thrim's eye
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: that he was the thief. You will never find it,
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: sneered Thrim. It is well hidden, but I will send
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: it back to you if odin will send me Freya
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: for my wife. Loki begged and coaxed and threatened, but
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: it was all of no avail. Never bellowed Thrim. Until
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: you send Freya to me, she shall go, thundered Thor.
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: When Loki came back to Asgard, whatever the price, the
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: hammer must be brought back. Asgard is not safe without it.
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: But Freya was as fierce as had been Thrim himself.
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: I will not go, she insisted, never, never, never will
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: I go. I say you must, thundered Thor. But although
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: Thor's thunders were terrible and his frown was deep and
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: inky black, Freya was not to be moved either by
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: pleading or threatening. Go yourself, said she. Dress yourself as
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: a goddess and go. Nor would she even listen to
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: another word. Thor thundered and rumbled and rolled. It was
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: all of no avail. Freya was a goddess and would
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: not be driven. I will go, said Thora. At last.
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: Bring me a bridle dress, hang a necklace around my neck,
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: bring a bridal veil about my head. But the giants
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: are as stupid as they are large, and I will
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: set forth in the name of Freya to meet the
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: giant Thrim. Thor was quickly dressed, and the bridal party
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: set forth across the sky in the chariot of the
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: sun God. How the thunder rolled, How the lightnings flashed
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: from the angry eyes of Thor, How he grumbled and rumbled.
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: Jotunheim was reached. The sun God lowered his chariot behind
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: the hills, and a soft red light spread over the
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: earth and sky. As the bridal party entered the castle
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: of the giant Thrim. Freya has come, Fraya has come,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: bellowed Thrim. Come, come, everyone to the bridal feast. Come,
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: come to the feast of Thrim and Fraya. The giants
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: in all the mountains round about answered to the call
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: of Thrim an hour, and the huge castle was filled
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: with the huge guests. A great feast was held. But
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: through it all Thor sat silent and motionless. Indeed he
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: dared not even move, He dared not speak, lest the
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: thunder burst forth from his lips, or the lightning shoot
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: forth from his eyes. Now lift the veil from Freya's face,
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: bellowed Thrim. When all save the bride herself had eaten
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: and drank their fill, Let me see the eyes of
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: my bride. Let us all look upon the face of
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: my goddess bride. Not yet whispered Loki coming forward. It
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: was the command of Thor that the veil should not
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: be lifted, nor should you claim Freya for your own,
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: until the hammer was placed in her hand, to be
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: returned to the gods. Bring in the hammer, Bring in
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: the hammer, roared Thrim, full of loud, good humor. The
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: hammer was brought. Hardly could Thor weight to have it
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: placed in his hand. His Thunder began to rumble. There
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: was a dangerous light in his eyes. But Thrim and
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: the guests saw none of this. But hardly was the
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: hammer within his reach when fourth Thorst sprang seized it
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: in his clutched fingers, tore aside the bridal veil, and
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: with a rumble and a roar that shook the mountains
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: of Yottenheim and raised the great stone castles to the ground.
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: He poured out his lightnings upon the giants one and
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: all right, and left He swung the mighty weapon. The
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: giants quaked and trembled with terror. Thrim ran and hid
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: himself behind a mountain. The air was white with lightning,
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: The hills rang with the crashings of the thunder. The
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: seas lashed and foamed and answered back the echoes. The
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: walls of Yotenheim shook and trembled. And now, oh, the
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: chariot of the Sun God was near at hand. Into
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: it Thor and Loki leap and were borne back to
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: the city of the Gods. The hammer was restored again.
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: Thor held it in his mighty grasp. He held it,
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: and Asgard once more was safe. End of chapter ten,
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven of Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick.
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Apples
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: of Life Part one Among the Gods in Asgard dwelt
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: the beautiful Edun, the goddess whose care it was to
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: guard the apples of life. Edoun Odin had said, as
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: he gave into her hands the rosy apples, to God,
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 1: these apples, and keep them forever from all harm. Is
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: to do a greater service for Asgard than even Thor
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: with his mighty thunders, or Baldur with his warm light,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: can do. For these are the apples of everlasting youth.
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: Without them, what would Asgard be more than the cities
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: of Midguard or Yotanaie. What would the gods be more
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: than the mortals of Midguard or the giants of Yotanine.
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: So guard them well, beautiful Edoun, for to them you
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: owe your beauty, even as we owe to them our
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: never fading youth. One day, when all was quiet and
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: peaceful and happy in the city of Asgard, Logi, feeling
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: within him the stirring of his own evil heart, betook
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: himself to Midguard in search of mischief. The peace and
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: quiet of Asgard he could no longer endure. Then too,
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: it was to him a cruel delight to shoot his
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: arrows into the lives of the helpless children of Midguard
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: and make them sad. Oh, Loki was a cruel god. Surely,
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: Odin would sometimes say, as he looked upon him and
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: thought of the wretchedness that yet would fall on Asgard
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: through Loki's wicked deeds. Surely Loki has the spirit of
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: a frost giant, and the frost giants are bitter, bitter
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: foes to Asgard. This day Loki longed for mischief. I
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: will go down to Midguard and find some happy heart
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: to sadden, said he, his eyes shining with their wicked light.
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: Down the rainbow bridge. He hastened, and with a light
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: bound sprang upon a bright tree in the beautiful land
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: of Midguard. Who are you, cried he seeing in the
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: tree beside him a great white bird. But the bird
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: made no reply. He only winked and blinked, and stared
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 1: at Loki, and crooned and pruned his feathers. Do you
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: not know a god speaks to you? Stormed Loki, growing angry,
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: even with a bird still no answer. Was there ever
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: such a stupid bird. Indeed, like the people of Midguard,
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: you seemed to have no wisdom, sneered Loki, and determined
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: to vent his evil mood, he seized a branch and
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: began to beat the bird. Then a strange thing happened.
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: The bird, who all this time had seemed so stupid,
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: too stupid even to fly away, now seized upon the
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: bow and held it fast. Loki pulled and pulled with
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 1: all his godlike strength. He could not move it. It
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: was as if held in the grasp of a giant
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: stupid bird, sneered Loki. When he found he could do
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: the bird no harm. I will not stay in the
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: tree with such a stupid creature. A strange sound, almost
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: like a laugh of triumph, squeezed itself out from the
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: beak of the big bird. Go, Loki, go at once,
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: go back to Asgard, Or perhaps you would like to
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: go with me to yot And I spoke the bird
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: at last, And as he spoke, he spread his wings
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 1: and arose high in the air. Alas alas for Loki.
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: As the bird rose, he rose too. Nor could he
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: free himself. He screamed, he fought, he begged, he strove
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: with all his godlike arts to free himself, but all
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: in vain. On On they flew the bird and Loki
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: cross the sky, over and under and between the clouds,
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: across the great wide sea, at last, across the snow
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: white peaks, down down to a castle in Jotunheim, in
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: the land of the mighty frost giants, the terrible, the
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: dreaded enemies of the gods. Let me free, Let me free,
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: foamed Loki, struggling against the bird whose magic held him fast.
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: I will never let you free, answered the bird, throwing
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: off his disguise and standing forth a giant foe. I
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: will never let you free, except on one condition. I
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: grant it. I grant it whatever it is I grant it,
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: cried the coward, caring for nothing but to free himself.
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: The condition is this, continued the giant coolly. I will
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: let you free if you will bring to me, with
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: that delay, the apples of everlasting youth, the apples that
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: dun guards and watches over locked so closely in the
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: golden casket in the city of as God. Loki stared.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: He caught his breath to give up the apples of life,
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: the fruit by which the gods were kept forever young
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: and strong and beautiful. That was too great a thing
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: to ask, even of Loki, evil as he was. There
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: are no such apples, answered he, trying as cowards always do,
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: to hide himself behind a line. There are no such apples,
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: Very well, answered the Giant, opening a great dungeon door
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: and thrusting Loki in. When you are ready to do
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: what I say, you may come out. Never until then,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: the great dungeon door creaked upon its terrible hinges, and
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: Loki was alone a prisoner at the mercy of the frost. Giant.
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: Loki howled and beat against the walls of the dungeon.
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: Are you ready to do what I asked of you?
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: Asked the frost Giant opening the Great door the next morning,
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: There are no such apples, cried Loki. On my honor
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: as a god, I swear it. The giant made no reply.
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: The heavy door creaked again, and Loki was alone. Are
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: you ready to do what I asked of you? Asked
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: the frost Giant opening the Great door the second morning.
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: Anything and all asgard, O Giant, I promise you anything
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: but the apples, cried Loki. The giant made no reply.
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: The heavy door creaked again, and Loki was alone. Are
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: you willing to do what I asked of you? Asked
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: the Frost Giant opening the Great door the third morning.
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: One of the apples, O Giant, I might steal from me,
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: done and escape with before the fruit was missed, Loki began.
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: The giant made no reply. The heavy door creaked again,
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: and Loki was alone. Are you ready to do what
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: I asked of you? Asked of the Frost Giant opening
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: the Great door the fourth morning, Yes, two of the
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: three apples. Will I promise to bring you With even
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: one left, the gods might be content, for even then
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: their lives would be far longer than the life of mortals.
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: The giant made no reply. The heavy door creaked again,
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 1: and Loki was alone. Are you ready to do what
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: I asked of you, asked the frost giant, opening the
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: great door the fifth morning. Yes, answered Loki meekly. You
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: are willing to bring the apples of life. Yes, and
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: you will bring all three of them. Yes, and you
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: will bring them at once. Yes. Go, then I will
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: go with you outside the walls of the Shining City.
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: I will wait for you to bring the apples to me. Then,
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: putting on the guise of birds, the two set forth,
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: reaching the gateway of the city. Just as the sun
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: god was pouring down his flood of red and golden
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: light upon the shining spires. The whole city lay bathed
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: in the sunset splendor. Dun, said Loki, going directly to her.
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: It is well you guard so closely these apples of life.
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: Without them, we should grow old and die, even as
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: wretched mortals grow old and die. Indeed, it would fare
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: ill with us if harm came to these precious apples,
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: answered Edun. See the rich bloom upon them. If that
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: were lost, then would our bloom be lost as well?
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 1: And we should grow old and wrinkled. Yes, answered Loki,
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: and still it seems very strange. But outside the gate
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: of our city, just on the outer walls, are growing apples,
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: looking so like these, I cannot tell them one from
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 1: the other. Bring your apples with you, and let us
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: see if they are alike. If they should prove to be,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: then I will gather them for you, and we will
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: put them all together in the golden casket. How strange,
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: thought hedun Innocently, the frost Giant, in his great bird guise,
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: wheeled round and round, impatiently awaiting the coming of e Dune,
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: and the apples hardly had the gates closed upon her,
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: when down he swooped, seized her in his great strong beak,
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: and flew with her across the sea to his home
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: among the mountains. The days rolled on and on. The
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: sun god rose and drove his chariot across the sky,
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: and sank behind the distant purple hill. A thousand times
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: there was a gloom, a shadow over Asgard, for the
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: gods were growing old. The life had gone out of
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: their eyes, Their smooth round faces had grown thin and peaked.
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: Their step was halting, and the feebleness of age was
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: falling upon them. It is Loki who has done this,
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: thundered Thor one day, when from old age and weakness
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: he had been defeated in a battle with the now
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: ever youthful giants. It is Loki who has done this,
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: and we will bear it no longer. Look at Odin.
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: Even he grows weak and bent and trembling. He is
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: like the old men in mid Guard. He Odin the
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: all father. Thor's indignation waxed. Stronger and stronger. He set
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: forth in search of Loki. I will not even wait
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 1: for him to come, he thundered, seizing his hammer and
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: setting forth, I shall find him, the evil hearted, somewhere,
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: making mischief among the innocent people of Midguard, said he
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: end of chapter eleven, Chapter twelve of Legends of Norseland
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: the public domain The Apples of Life, Part two. Henceforth, Oh,
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: evil hearted cruel Loki burst forth the angry thorn. Henceforth
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: Thor guards the walls of Asgard, Midguard the skies. He
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: shall forsake no more will he brew storms, never shall
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: the thunder roll, nor the lightnings flash, For Thor will
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 1: watch forever upon the battlements of Asgard. The approach of
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: the evil god who has brought such grief upon us.
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: Never shall he enter the gates of the city again.
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: Let him dare approach even to the golden gates, and
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: Thor will smite him with his mighty hammer. Loki quailed
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: before the fury of the great god Thor. To be
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: an outcast from Asgard, even he could not bear. Spare me,
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: Spare me, wind, the cowardly Loki. Spare me once more,
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: and I will go again to Jotunheim. I will bring
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: back you, doone and the three apples of life. Thor
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: stood looking at the cowardly Loki. He longed to strike
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: him with the hammer, to kill him with his thunderbolt,
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: to scorch him with his lightning arrows. But evil as
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: he was, Loki was immortal. He was the son of Odin. Go.
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: Then you mischief, making evil hearted son of honor happy
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: Odin go, And whether success is yours or not, remember
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: Thor guards the walls of Asgard and watches with his
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: thunders for your return. Never never, as long as Thor
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: wields the mighty hammer and holds the powers of thunder
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: and lightning, shall Loki enter the golden city without the
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: golden apples of immortal life. Without another word, Loki put
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: on his guise of a great white bird and sped
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: across the sea and sky again to the land of Jotunheim.
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: Straight down, he swooped upon the castle of the giant,
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: who all this time had kept idun imprisoned in a
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 1: strong walled tower of solid rock. The giant was out
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: upon the sea. And it is well for me, thought Loki,
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: that he is no power in Midguard or in Asgard
• 1:26:56
  Speaker 1: could wrest these precious apples from the giant's grasp. One
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: quick look out over the mountains and down upon the sea,
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: and Loki seized adoon in his talons, changed her at
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: once into a nut, the apple safe within the shell,
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: and swept away towards Asgard. But alas for Loki, the
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: giant had heard the whir of the great white wings.
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 1: Leaping to his feet in his boat, he scanned the
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: sky with his sharp giant eye. It is Loki, it
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: is Loki, bellowed he catching sight of the great white
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: bird among the clouds. It is Loki, It is Loki.
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: No bird of Midguard flies so high, nor sweeps the
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: air with such mighty wings. With one great giant pull,
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: he shot his boat upon the shore, with one great
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 1: giant bound. He struck the mountain top. The apples of life,
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 1: the apples of life, he thundered, Gone gone, The apples
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: of life are gone. One second, and putting on the
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: guise of a great gray eagle, he shot up into
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: the sky in swift pursuit of Loki. The sun god
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: hid his chariot behind a cloud, that the shadows might
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: protect and cover Loki. Thor sent forth his thunder. The
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: skies blackened, the wind beat back the great gray eagle.
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: The lightning staggered and blinded him. Still on and on
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: he flew, gaining in spite of all, upon the track
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: of Loki. Every eye in Asgard was strained. Every giant
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: in Jotunheim stood breathless upon his mountain. The great round
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: faces of the giants grew tense, The wrinkled, aged faces
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: of the gods grew pale. It was a terrible race.
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: It was a race for life and health and everlasting youth.
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: Build fires upon the walls. Heap up the brush, stand
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: ready with the tapers, cried Odin, who foresaw the end.
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: The brush is heaped. Each God stands ready, his haggard
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: face growing whiter and thinner with fright and dread and eagerness.
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: Already the rush of Loki's wings are heard. The eagle
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: follows close, Nearer and nearer they come. Closer, and closer
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: is the race. One moment more, one second, the frightened
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: eyes of Loki can be seen, so near he is
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: thor sends his blinding fire once more across the eagle's track.
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: It reels for an instant, it falls back in that
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: wine second with wine, the last mighty stroke, Loki clears
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: the walls and falls exhausted, breathless, almost dead, upon the
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: golden pavement of the city. Fires, the fires, the fires
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: cried odin an instant, and there rises from the walls
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: great sheets of blaze. The brush crackles and snaps and
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: sends up great tongues of fire. The eagle, angry, desperate,
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: and blinded by the lightning, sweeps on straight towards them
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: like a foolish moth. He bears down upon the city,
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: into the very heart of the blaze, a sudden crackling,
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: a cry of pain, a cloud of black, black smoke,
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 1: and the great gray eagle falls a helpless mass upon
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: the pavement beside the breathless Loki. The haggard faces flush
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: with hope and joy. The apples are safe. A doone
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: has come back. The apples again are theirs, and life
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: and joy and eternal youth once more are with them.
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: Now the Goddess of music bursts forth again in song.
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 1: The God of poetry wars forth his melody. A feast
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: is spread, and the gods and goddesses once more eat
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: of the wonderful apples of life. The color comes back
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: into their faded cheeks. Light again flashes from their eyes.
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: Youth and health and strength are theirs again. Peace reigns
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 1: once more. In asgard end of chapter twelve, Chapter thirteen
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: of Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Loki's Wolf. Although
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: the apples of life had been brought back, and although
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 1: Loki appeared for some time very penitent and willing to
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: obey the laws of the kind odin, the gods had
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: little faith in him. More than that, so much had
• 1:31:57
  Speaker 1: they suffered, that now they were in constant fear of him,
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 1: we never know plead Freya and Sith and de Doune,
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: all of whom had good reason to fear him, what
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: mischief he may be planning. And so it came about
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 1: that Loki was driven forth from Asgard, as indeed he
• 1:32:15
  Speaker 1: deserved to be straight to the home of the giants,
• 1:32:18
  Speaker 1: Loki went. He always had been a giant at heart,
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: the evil creature, and was much more in harmony with
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: them in their thoughts and acts than ever he had
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: been with the gods, whom he claimed as his people.
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: But now that he was cast out from Asgard and
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: could no longer share its beauties and its joys, he
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: had but one wish. That was to be revenged upon
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: the gods, to destroy them, and to ruin their golden city.
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: To do this, he raised two dreadful creatures, terrible monsters.
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: Even the gods shuddered as they looked upon them Loki.
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: Loki thundered Odin, looking down upon him in wrath, that
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: he should dare such vengeance. But Loki stood defiant. There
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: was but one thing to be done, so the gods thought,
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: and that was to take these terrible creatures from Loki's power.
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: The serpent we will cast into the sea, said thor,
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: but the wolf. What shall we do with the wolf?
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: Certainly he cannot be left to wander up and down
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: in mid guard. The sea would not hold him. Loki
• 1:33:29
  Speaker 1: must not have him in Yodane'm what shall be done
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: with him? Kill? Him? Said some no, answered Odin to him.
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: Loki has given the gift of everlasting life. He will
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: not die as long as we the gods, have life.
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: There is but one way left open to us, and
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: that is to bring the wolf into Asgard. Here we
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: can watch him and keep him from much, if not all,
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: the evil he would do. And so the wolf, the
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: fenerous wolf he was called, was brought into the home
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: of the gods. He was a dreadful creature to look upon.
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: His eyes were like balls of fire, and his fangs
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 1: were white and sharp and cruel. Every day he grew
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 1: more terrible, fiercer and fiercer. He grew and larger, and stronger,
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: and more dreadful to look upon. What is to be
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 1: done with him? Asked Odin one day, his face white
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: with despair as he looked upon the wolf, and realize
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: what sorrow by and by he would bring among them,
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: Kill him, cried one. Send him to Yotana cried, another
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: chain him, thundered Thor, and indeed to chain him seemed
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 1: really the only thing that could be done with him.
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: We will make the chains this night, said Thor, and
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 1: at once the great forge was set in motion. All
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: night long, Thor worked the forge, hammering with his mighty
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: hammer the lynx that should make a chain to hold
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 1: the fenderous wolf. Morning came. The gods were filled with
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: hope as they saw the great heap of iron. Now
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: we shall be safe. Now we shall be free, they said,
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: for no creature living can break the irons that the
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: god of Thunder forges. The wolf growled and showed his
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: wicked teeth as Thor approached and threw the chain about him.
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: He knew the gods hated him and feared him. He
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: knew too, that with his wondrous strength, even the chains
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: of Thor were not too strong for him to break. So,
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: snarling and showing his fangs and lashing his tail, he
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 1: allowed himself to be bound. They are afraid of me,
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: the cruel wolf grinned, And well they may be. There
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: is a power in me that even they do not
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 1: yet dream of. The chains were tightly fastened and the
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: gods waited eagerly for the wolf to test his strength
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: with them. Now the wolf knew well enough that there
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: were no chains that could hold him. I will amuse myself,
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 1: said he to himself by tormenting the gods. So he
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 1: glared at the chains with his fiery eyes, sniffed here
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 1: and there at them, lifted one paw and then the other,
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: bit at them with his sharp teeth, and clawed at
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: them with his strong claws, setting up now and then
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: a howl that echoed like the thunders of Thor, from
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: cloud to cloud across the skies. The faces of the
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 1: gods grew brighter and brighter. They looked at each other,
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 1: and hope rose high in their hearts. We are saved,
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: they whispered to each other. Hear how he howls. He
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: knows he cannot break the chains forged in the smithy
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: of the mighty Thor. But Odin did not smile. He
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: knew only too well that the wolf was amusing himself,
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 1: and that when the gods would least expecting it, he
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: would spring forth and shatter the lynx of the mighty chain,
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: even as immortal might shatter a chain of straw conquered
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: at last, you cruel Fenris Wolf, thundered Thor, lifting his
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: hammer in scorn to throw at the helpless wolf. The
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: fendrous wolf is never conquered, hissed the wolf, and with
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: one bound he leaped across the walls of Asgard, down,
• 1:37:27
  Speaker 1: down across the skies to Midguard, the lynx of the
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: chains scattering like sparks of fire as he flew through
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: the air. See See, cried the people of Midguard, as
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 1: they saw the fiery eyes of Fenris gleam across the sky. See,
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: a star has fallen. A star has fallen into the sea.
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: For the people of Midguard cannot understand the wonders of
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: the heavens and the mysteries of the gods. The gods
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: stood wonder struck. Their faces were pale with fright. The
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: brow of Thor grew black, and stern Odin looked pityingly
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: upon them. All. Lose not your courage, said he kindly.
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: The Fenris Wolf shall yet be bound, and there shall
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: yet remain to us ages upon ages of happiness and
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: freedom from his wicked power. Go now to the dwarfs
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 1: who work their forges in the great mines beneath the
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 1: mountains of Midgard. They shall make for you a magic
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: chain that even Fenris cannot break. Hardly, were the words
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: out of Odin's mouth when Thor set forth, upon the
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: wings of his own lightning, to the home of the Dwarfs,
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 1: to do the bidding of Odin the all wise end
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 1: of chapter thirteen, chapter fourteen of Legends of Norseland by
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: Mara L. Pratche. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 1: The Fenris Wolf with wonderful speed, the chain was forged,
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: and when the sun god lifted his head above the
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: hills to send forth his light again across the fields
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: of Midguard, the first sight that greeted his return was Thor,
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: a great mass of golden coil within his hand, speeding
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 1: up the Rainbow bridge to Asgard. It was a tiny chain,
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: hardly larger than a thread, but in it lay a
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: magic strength. Entering the Golden Gate, Thor saw the Fenris
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: Wolf again, creeping stealthily up and down the streets. Thor's
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: hand shut tight upon the handle of his hammer. It
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: was hard to believe that a blow from the hammer
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: would not slay the wicked creature. For an instant, Thor's
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 1: face grew black, then forcing a smile and showing to
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 1: the wolf the mass of gold, he said, come, NRIs,
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: come with me into the hall. There the gods are
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 1: to meet and test our strength upon this magic coil.
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: Whoever breaks it and so proves himself the strongest is
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: to win a prize from the great all Father Odin.
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 1: The wolf stretched back his cruel lips and showed his
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: sharp fangs of teeth. He did not speak, but his
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: wicked grin said, you do not deceive the fenrous wolf. Together,
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 1: Thor and the Fenris wolf entered the presence of Odin,
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: and the gods and goddess says, I have said, Thor
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 1: a magic coil. It is very strong. The dwarfs made
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: it for me, and Odin has promised a great prize
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 1: to the one who shall be strong enough to break
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: its and links. Come let us try, then, The gods,
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 1: for they all understood what Thor was about to do,
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: sprang forward, seizing the coil, pulling and twisting it in
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: every way and in every direction, coiling it about the
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: pillars of the hall and hanging by it from the arches,
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: until at last, tired out and breathless, they sank exhausted
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: upon the golden floors, Freenres called thorpe Now is your
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: time to prove to us what you have so often said,
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: that you are stronger than we try. If you can
• 1:41:29
  Speaker 1: break this golden thread, which small as it is, has
• 1:41:33
  Speaker 1: proved too strong for the strength of the gods, the
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 1: wolf growled. He did not care to risk even his
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 1: strength in a magic coil. He growled, and slunk away. What, Freenres,
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: are you a coward? After all your boasted strength? Why
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 1: is it that you shrink from a contest in which
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 1: the gods have willingly taken part? Do you mean to
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 1: say that, because the gods have been defeated, you fear
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: that you too may be defeated? The wolf halted. He
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 1: looked back at the gods and growled a long, low growl.
• 1:42:13
  Speaker 1: The words of Thor had stung his pride. Thor laughed, ohs, Fanners,
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 1: this is your boasted strength, your boasted courage to slink
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: away in a contrast with the gods, the gods at
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: whose strength you have always sneered and scoffed. Ha ha
• 1:42:33
  Speaker 1: Fanrius is a coward, cried all the gods, and the
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: heavens echoed with their laughter. This was more than the
• 1:42:41
  Speaker 1: wolf could bear back. He sprang into the hall. I
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: hear your sneers, he snarled. I hear you call me coward.
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 1: Give me the cord, Bind me with it, round and round,
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 1: Fasten me to the strongest pillar of this great hall.
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 1: If the coil is an honest coil, Fenris can break it.
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: There is no chain he cannot break. But if you
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 1: are blinding me, if you have here a chord woven
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 1: with magic, such as no power can break, how am
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: I to know? I put this test to you. Some
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 1: one of you shall place your hand between my jaws.
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: As long as that hand is there, you may coil
• 1:43:35
  Speaker 1: and coil the thread about me. Then, if I find
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: the cord is a magic cord, Fenris shall set his
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: teeth upon the hand and crush it. The gods stared
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: at one another. Surely Thor must not lose his hand.
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 1: Thor needed his hand with which to wield the magic hammer.
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: Then Tire, the brave god, Tire, god of courage and
• 1:44:03
  Speaker 1: bravery and unselfishness, stepped forth. Here is my hand, o Fenris, wolf,
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: It shall be yours to destroy. If you cannot loose
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: yourself when bound in the golden coil. Again, the fenrous
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: wolf showed his shining teeth. He seized the hand between
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: his heavy jaws, Thor bound the cord about him. Now
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: free yourself, he thundered, Free yourself, and prove to the
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: gods the mighty power of the Fenrius wolf. The wolf,
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 1: his eyes blazing with wrath and with fear as well,
• 1:44:41
  Speaker 1: struggled with the coil. But alas for the wolf, and
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: joy for the gods, the harder he struggled, the fiercer
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 1: he battled, the tighter, drew the cord with a howl
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: of rage that shook the city and echoed even to
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: the base of the great Mount Idam. He seized upon
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: the hand of Tire and tore it from his wrist.
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: With another angry howl, he sprang towards Thor, But with
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: a quick turn, Thor seized one end of the coil,
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 1: fastened it to a great rock, and before the wolf
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: could set his fangs, he hurled him rock and all
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 1: over the walls of the city, down down into the
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: mighty sea, and there chained to his rocky island. He
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: shall abide forever, cried the gods. And now peace once
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 1: more shall rest upon our city, but owed inside and
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: to himself he said, O, happy children, there shall yet
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 1: come a day when darkness shall fall upon us, the
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: fenerous wolf shall again be loosed, and even the gods
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: shall be no more. End of Chapter fourteen, Chapter fifteen
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 1: of Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Defeat of rum
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: Near greatest among the giants of Jotunheim was hrum Near.
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: Even the gods stood in fear of him. For when
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: Thor's deep thunder rolled out across the skies, and the
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 1: winds rose and the clouds grew black, it was Hrumnar, who,
• 1:46:35
  Speaker 1: bold and defiant shouted back with roars of scornful laughter,
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: roars that rivaled even in their thunder those of the
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: great and mighty Thor. This giant, said the gods, standing
• 1:46:50
  Speaker 1: in council together, this giant must be overcome. Too long
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: have we suffered him to defy our power? Too long
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 1: have we born his insolence. Too long have his threats
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: passed unnoticed By Odin, the all Father, and by Thwar,
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: the god of thunder. I will go forth, said Odin
• 1:47:12
  Speaker 1: upon my winged horse, my fleet footed sleep near to
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 1: meet this giant who dares defy the gods of Asgard.
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: Accordingly across the skies, over the sea to Yotenheim, rode Odin.
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: It is a fine steed you ride, good stranger, bellowed
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 1: hroom near as Odin drew near, almost as fine a
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 1: steed as my own gold facts. Who can fly through
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 1: the air and swim through the seas. What the same
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 1: ease that another steed might travel upon the plains of
• 1:47:49
  Speaker 1: mid God, But his speed cannot equal that of sleep? Near,
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: answered Odin quietly, his deep eyes burning with the life
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: no giant could quite comprehend. And beneath which even room
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 1: near quail a heart sleep near Odin, thundered room. Near
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 1: are you Odin? And is this your sleep? Near the
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: winged steed of which the gods of Asgard boast away
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 1: with him? And I upon my gold facts, will prove
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 1: to you that in Jodunheim lives one giant who dares
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 1: challenge even Odin and his mighty wars to contest away
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: away Odin, away sleep, near away room, near away gold facts,
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 1: And with a shout that echoed even to the halls
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 1: of Asgard. The great giant mounted his steed and soon
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 1: brought him neck to neck with Odin and his immortal
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 1: sleep near on on across the skies they flew before
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: their mighty force. The clouds scattered hither and thither, striking
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 1: against each other, with a crashing sound that to the
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 1: earth people was like the voice of Thor. From the
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 1: eyes of the steeds, the lightning flashed, and from their
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: reeking sides the foam fell in showers upon the earth below.
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: The people, terror stricken, ran to their caves and prayed
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: the gods to protect them from the fury of the blast.
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: It is like no storm we ever knew. They whispered,
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 1: one to the other, the thunder, the lightnings, the scurrying clouds,
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: and with it all the roaring winds, and falling of
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: great white flakes, now like hail, now like snow. Has
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: Odin forgotten his children? Had the frost giants fallen upon Asgard?
• 1:49:51
  Speaker 1: But now the storm was over. Odin and Hrumnier both
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 1: had reached the walls of Asgard through the great rolling gate.
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: We both had burst together. For the steed of the
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: bold Hrumner had indeed proved himself equal to the snow
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 1: white sleep near, whose magic powers no one but Odin
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: fully knew. Krumnir elated with his success, and never once
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 1: dreaming that had Odin so willed it, he, with his
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 1: brave steed, Goldfax, might have been left far behind in
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: the race. Strode into the halls of Asgard and called
• 1:50:30
  Speaker 1: loudly for food and drink and rest. All these were
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 1: granted him, And the giant threw himself down upon a
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 1: golden couch and stared insolently upon the gods. All were
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 1: there save Thor, And where bellowed Hrumnir is the great Thor,
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 1: the mighty thunderer, who dares defy the frost Giants, and
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: whose strength has boasted greater than that of Rumnir, the
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: chief of the mighty Frost Giants. Bring him into my presence,
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 1: roared the giant. Let me prove to you that one
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: giant at least dares defy even the greatest and most
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: warlike of you. All away upon the sea, Thor heard
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: this boast who challenges me and defies my power. He thundered,
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 1: and with the swiftness of the wind, hastening upward toward
• 1:51:30
  Speaker 1: the shining city, he burst in upon the giant stretched
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 1: out upon the golden couch. I challenge you, bellowed the giant,
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 1: springing from his couch and facing the god of Thunder,
• 1:51:45
  Speaker 1: Thor raised his hammer, the lightnings flashed from his eye.
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: Halt roared the giant. Little credit will it be to
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 1: the god of Thunder to fall in battle upon a
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: frost giant, unarmed, unprotected? You are a coward. Fight me
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: as becomes a great god on equal grounds and under
• 1:52:08
  Speaker 1: fair conditions. Come to me in the land of yot
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 1: and I, and there will I challenge you to battle.
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: Then will your victory, if you win, lend a luster
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: to your greatness, and the fear of you throughout the
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 1: land of the frost giants be greater than ever before,
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 1: as you say, answered Thor with a sneer, Go now
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: and make ready for the holmdong, in which the insolent,
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: boastful Horongniar shall learn the power of the gods whom,
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 1: in his ignorance he dares defy. Then whom near departed
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: from the city of Asgard and assembled the giants together
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 1: to prepare for the coming battle. Let us make a
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 1: giant of clay, and at once every giant and Yoltenheim
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 1: fell to work. Whole mountains were leveled to the earth,
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 1: and the great masses of stone and earth heaped high,
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 1: until on the third day there stood a giant nine
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: miles high and three miles broad, ready to defy the
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: power of the thunder God when he should come. But
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 1: alas for the heart of this warrior of clay, none
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 1: could be found, either in Midguard or in Yotenheim, of
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 1: size proportionate to the body of the mighty Creation. And
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: so in despair, the heart of a sheep was chosen,
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: and around it the clay warrior was built. At the
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: first sound of rolling thunder, by which the coming of
• 1:53:50
  Speaker 1: Thor was announced, afar off alas this heart, fluttering and trembling,
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 1: so shook the mighty form that its speed fell from
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 1: its hand, its knees shook, and Hrungnir was left to
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: fight his battle alone. With the angry sun of Odin onward.
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: Nearer and nearer came Thor the Terrible. The lightnings flashed
• 1:54:15
  Speaker 1: and the earth rumbled, seizing a great mountain of flint
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 1: in his hands. Khroum near waited, his eyes burned, and
• 1:54:24
  Speaker 1: his face was set suddenly forth from the ground beneath
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 1: his feet, the god of thunder burst hrum near, sprang
• 1:54:33
  Speaker 1: forward with a mighty force. He hurled the mountain of
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: flint Thor with a roar, flung his mighty hammer. The
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: two crashed together in mid air. The flint broke, and
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: one half of it was driven into the heavy skull
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: of Thor. The hammer, cleaving the flint, sped onward, and
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: Hrungnir fell dead beneath its never failing blow. But in falling,
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: his great body lay across the neck of Thor, who,
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 1: stunned by the blow from the flint, had fallen, his
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: hammer still clenched firmly in his powerful hand. For a moment,
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: there was a hush. The very sun stood still. Not
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: a sound was heard through Jotenheim. The thunder of battle
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 1: had died away. All the earth was still. Then came Magny,
• 1:55:29
  Speaker 1: a son of Thor. Why this sudden quiet? He called,
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: Why has my father's voice been stilled? Certainly the great
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: god Thor has not fallen in battle? How in the
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 1: name of Odin, he thundered, as he saw the frost
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: giant's body lying across his father's massive frame. In the
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: name of Odin and of Thor. What does this mean?
• 1:55:55
  Speaker 1: And seizing the giant by a foot, he hurled him
• 1:55:59
  Speaker 1: out over the seas for miles and miles. The giant's
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 1: body cut the air, and then falling, sank and was
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: buried beneath the waves. Thor staggered to his feet again,
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: and with a roar that made the leaves of Yigdrasil
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 1: tremble and shook even the halls of Valhalla, set forth
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 1: across the seas, never once looking back toward the land
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: of Yotunheim, whose people, for the time at least were
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: regained subdued by the power of Thor, the god of Thunder,
• 1:56:37
  Speaker 1: by Thor the son of odin the all wise end
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: of chapter fifteen, Chapter sixteen of Legends of norseland by
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 1: Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 1: public Dome Thor and Scrimmere. There was peace in all
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: the lands. Stilled were the frost giants, and in mid
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: guard all was happiness. Come with me that I may
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 1: see that you do no mischief, said Thor to Loki,
• 1:57:16
  Speaker 1: as he sprang into his golden chariot, drawn by his
• 1:57:20
  Speaker 1: snow white goats. All day the chariot wheeled on and
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: on across the skies. Night fell, and the gods, entering
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 1: a peasant's cottage, asked for shelter our supper we have
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: with us, Thor said, and taking the goats from the chariot,
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: he killed them and placed them before the fire. Never
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: had the peasants taken part in such a feast. It
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: is a feast for the gods, they said, But pray,
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: how will you finish your journey without your goats? We
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: you will attend to that, said Thor. Eat what you
• 1:57:56
  Speaker 1: will and all you can. I only ask that, when
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: the feast is furnished, you promise to place all the
• 1:58:03
  Speaker 1: bones together there before the door, upon the goat skins.
• 1:58:07
  Speaker 1: See to it that no bone is forgotten, and that
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 1: not one, even the smallest, be lost or broken. The
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 1: peasants promised. The meat was eaten, and in due time
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: the household went to bed and to sleep. Morning came,
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: and with the first flush of light, Thor arose, and,
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: with his magic hammer, sat down beside the heap of
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 1: bones that lay upon the goat skins before the door, Cling, cling, cling,
• 1:58:37
  Speaker 1: sounded the hammer, striking in turn each little bone. Then
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: the two goats leaped forth as white and plump and
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 1: round as ever, and as ready to spin across the
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: waters within the golden chariot of their master. But alas
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 1: one goat was lame. He held up one tiny foot
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 1: and moaned. Some one of view roared, Thor has a
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: broken bone? Did I not command you that you be
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: careful and see that every bone should be placed and
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: uninjured upon the goat skins. The peasants shook with fear.
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: They knew now who the strange guest might be. It
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: is Thor, they whispered to each other. And that is
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: the mighty hammer, whose aim never fails, and whose force
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: is death to all upon whom it falls. Oh Thou,
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: great God, Thor, cried the peasants. Spare us. Indeed, had
• 1:59:35
  Speaker 1: we known not one bone, would we have taken in
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: our unhappy fingers, and all night long we would have
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: watched beside the goat skins that no harm should come
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: to them. Spare us, Oh, spare us, great Thor. Take
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 1: all we have, our house, our cattle, our children, everything.
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: Only spare our lives to us. Thor seized his hammer
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: in his hand. His great knuckles grew white, so strong
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 1: was his giant hold upon the handle. The peasants sank
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: upon their knees, their faces dropped, and their eyes closed.
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: Shaking with terror, they awaited the falling of the hammer. Up, Up,
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: ye peasants, thundered Thor. This offense I forgive your lives too,
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 1: shall be spared to you. But I will carry away
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: with me these children of yours, the Alfhi and Roscova,
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 1: and they shall serve me and my journeys across the
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 1: land and over the seas. The goat I leave with you,
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: and I charge you by your lives. See that no
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 1: harm comes to them in any way. Come the Alphae,
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: Come Roscova, place yourselves before the chariot, and bear me
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: quickly across the seas. All day long, the chariot wheeled
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: on and on, the children, never tiring, until at nightfall
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: they found themselves upon the shores of the country of
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: the frost Giants. Plunging into a deep forest, they hurried
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 1: through and came out into a great plain. Beyond here
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: they found a house, the very doors of which were
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 1: as high as the mountains and as broad as the
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: broadest river. Were well rushed here, said Thor, And spreading
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 1: the great skins which they found near the doorway, they
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 1: made for themselves beds, and soon were fast asleep. At midnight,
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: they were awakened by a terrible roar. The whole house
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 1: shook with its vibrations. Thor, seizing his hammer in his
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: strong right hand, strode to the door. The whole earth trembled,
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: but in the darkness even Thor could not see beyond
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: the doorway. Hour after hour he stood there, listening slowly.
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: At last the dawn began to come, the sun rose,
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 1: and there, just at the edge of the forest, Thor
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: saw the outstretched body of a giant, whose head was
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: in its a small mountain, and whose feet stretched away
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 1: into the valley below. And it is you, then, that
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: have rocked the very earth with your giant snores, and
• 2:02:10
  Speaker 1: have taken from me my night of rest, thought Thor,
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 1: when he saw the giant form stretched out before him.
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 1: With one angry stride, Thor reached the side of the
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: sleeping giant. Raising his hammer a full mile into the air,
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: he smote the giant full upon the skull, with a
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: crash that sounded like the fall of a mighty oak.
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: What is that, asked the giant, opening his sleepy eyes. Indeed,
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 1: for are you here? Something awoke me. I think an
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 1: acorn must have dropped upon my head, said the giant,
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 1: gathering himself to rise. Go to sleep again, growled Thor.
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 1: It isn't morning yet. I am going to sleep myself.
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 1: A few minutes and the snores of the giant rang
• 2:03:01
  Speaker 1: through the air again. Now we will see, thought Thor.
• 2:03:06
  Speaker 1: Again he crept to the giant's side, lifting his hammer,
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 1: this time two miles in the air. He brought it
• 2:03:14
  Speaker 1: down upon the giant's skull with a crash that sounded
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 1: like the breaking of the ice and the roaring of
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 1: the torrent in a mighty river. What is that, muttered
• 2:03:25
  Speaker 1: the giant, only half awake. A leave must have fallen
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: upon my forehead. I will take myself out into the
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 1: plane where I can sleep and peace. Go to sleep,
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: answered Thor. It is nearly mooring and will be time
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: to wake up for the day before you reach the plane. Again,
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 1: the giant fell asleep, and again the snoring rang out
• 2:03:49
  Speaker 1: upon the air. He shall not escape me, there's time,
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: whispered Thor, creeping again to the giant's side, raising his hammer,
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: this time three miles in the air, he crashed it
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 1: down upon the forehead of the giant with such force
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 1: and fury that the very heavens reverberated, and the earth people,
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 1: springing frightened from their deep sleep, called to each other.
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 1: The dwarfs are at their forges. Did you not feel
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 1: the earth's shake? And the mountains tremble? Well well droned
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: the sleepy giant. The moss from the trees falls upon
• 2:04:26
  Speaker 1: my face and wakes me. It is nearly sunrise, and
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: I may as well arise and go on to Utgard.
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 1: And you, Thor, I am told you too, are journeying
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 1: towards the land of Utgard. But I must hurry on.
• 2:04:42
  Speaker 1: I will meet you there. But let me give you
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: warning that we are a race of giants of no
• 2:04:47
  Speaker 1: mean size, and great though you are, it would be
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: as well for you that you boast not of your
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 1: power among us. Even the mighty hammer might fail to
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 1: do its work among the giants of such strength and
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 1: stature as those of Skrimier's race. There was a sneer
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 1: on Skrimier's face as he said this, But before Thor
• 2:05:09
  Speaker 1: could raise his hammer to punish him for his insolence,
• 2:05:12
  Speaker 1: he had crossed the Great Plain and was already miles away.
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: Thor sat down beside the forest. He was mortified and
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 1: vexed and puzzled. What did it mean? Had his hammer
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: lost its magic power? Was the giant Skrimmier immortal? He
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 1: could not tell. There was a heavy cloud upon his face.
• 2:05:34
  Speaker 1: As he set forth again upon his journey, the little
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: servants shook with fear. Even Loki kept silent and said
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: not one word the Livelong Day end of chapter sixteen,
• 2:05:54
  Speaker 1: chapter seventeen of Legends of Norseland by Mara l Pre
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: at Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: Thor and the Utgard King. Traveling on and on through
• 2:06:09
  Speaker 1: many days and many nights, Thor and his companions came
• 2:06:13
  Speaker 1: to a great castle. Its pinnacles reached far up among
• 2:06:17
  Speaker 1: the clouds, and its great gateways were broad, even like
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: the horizon itself. In between the bars crept Thor and
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 1: Loki and the children Thialfi and Roskva. Let us enter
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: the castle, said Thor grimly. It must be the palace
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 1: of the king, the Utgard Loki, whose threats have defied
• 2:06:38
  Speaker 1: even the all wisdom and the all power of the
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 1: mighty Odin. At these words, the walls of the castle trembled,
• 2:06:45
  Speaker 1: the pillars of frost, and the great arches of ice
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 1: glittered and glistened. Thialfi and Roskva grew white with fear.
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 1: We hear your voice, thundered Thor. But we have no
• 2:06:58
  Speaker 1: fear of you, even though you shake the castle walls
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 1: until they fall. And behold, we dare come into your
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 1: very presence, thou, terrible king of Utgard. The great King
• 2:07:08
  Speaker 1: showed his glittering teeth, his brow grew black with rage.
• 2:07:13
  Speaker 1: This is Thor, the god of thunder, he sneered. And
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: so small are you that you can creep through the
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 1: bars of our gateway, pass unnoticed by our sentinels, even
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: to the very presence of the king. Then Utgard Loki,
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 1: for this was the king's name, threw back his head
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: and laughed until the whole earth shook, Trees were uprooted,
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 1: and avalanches of ice and snow, pouring down into the valleys,
• 2:07:40
  Speaker 1: buried hundreds of the little people of Midguard. Thor clenched
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: his hammer. He dared not thunder. Even his lightnings were
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 1: as nothing in this great palace hall and before the
• 2:07:52
  Speaker 1: terrible voice of the Utgard King. But perhaps you are
• 2:07:56
  Speaker 1: greater than you look. Continued the king, roaring again at
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: his own wit. Tell me what great feats you can accomplish,
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 1: For no one is allowed entrance to this castle who
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 1: cannot perform great beads. I can perform great deeds, many
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 1: of them, boasted Loki, no wise abashed, even in the
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 1: presence of the terrible King. I can eat faster than
• 2:08:20
  Speaker 1: any creature in Midguard, in Utgard, or even in Asgard,
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 1: the home of the gods. Again the King roared, and,
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 1: placing before him a great wooden trough heaped high with food,
• 2:08:32
  Speaker 1: he commanded his servant Loji to challenge Loki to the contest.
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: But alas for Loki, although the food disappeared before him
• 2:08:40
  Speaker 1: like the fields of grain beneath the scythe of steel,
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: Yet before the task was half begun, Loji had swallowed
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 1: food and trough and all. The King roared louder still,
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: and Loki, never before beaten by giant power, shrank away,
• 2:08:58
  Speaker 1: angry and threatening. But I said, Fialfi can run. I
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: can outrun any creature that lives on land or sea.
• 2:09:07
  Speaker 1: Then Thialfi was placed beside a tiny little pigmy Huji,
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: he was called. But hardly had they run apace before
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 1: Huji had shot so far ahead that Thiolfi crestfallen went
• 2:09:19
  Speaker 1: and hid himself behind the great ice pillar that stood
• 2:09:22
  Speaker 1: outside the castle gate. And now Thor rose to his
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: feet and drew himself up to his greatest height. But
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 1: even that seemed as nothing compared with the enormous stature
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 1: of the Utgard King. He clenched the hammer tightly and
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: thundered as never he had thundered before. The tiny fringe
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 1: of icicles trembled. Then Utgard Loki laughed, and with his
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: thunder the whole castle rocked and reeled. And Thor will
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: contest with the power of Utgard, asked the king. I well,
• 2:09:53
  Speaker 1: roared Thor, and there was a fire in his eye
• 2:09:56
  Speaker 1: that even Utgard shrank before. But Utgard only in turn
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 1: and brought to Thor a great horn filled to its
• 2:10:03
  Speaker 1: brim with sparkling water. Drink, said he, And if one
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: half the powers yours that Odin claims you, will empty
• 2:10:12
  Speaker 1: the horn at a single drop. Thor seized the horn,
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 1: one long, deep draft, such as no mortal, no giant,
• 2:10:21
  Speaker 1: nor even another god could have drawn, and the horn
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 1: was hardly one drop less full. The king roared till
• 2:10:28
  Speaker 1: the icicles and fringes of frost, swaying and rocking beneath.
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: The thunder fell with a crash upon the palace floor.
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 1: Can the great god Thor boast no greater power than that?
• 2:10:41
  Speaker 1: Once more, Thou, greatest of all sons of Odin, once
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 1: more lift the horn in thy mighty hands, and show
• 2:10:47
  Speaker 1: ust the greatness of the gods of Asgard. Thor, stung
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 1: by the sneer of the Utgard King, raised the horn
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: again to his lips, and calling upon the name of Odin,
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: and all the gods of the shining city drank again
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: higher and higher. He raised the horn deeper and deeper
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 1: drew he the draft. But alas again, when the horn
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: was lowered, the waters were no lower than before. You
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 1: seem not so great as we the frost giants have believed,
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 1: said the king, with a cold sneer. Thor's anger rose,
• 2:11:21
  Speaker 1: his blood boiled with rage and fury. With a burst
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 1: of thunder and a flash of lightning that shattered the
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 1: pillars of the great hall, he seized the horn again.
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 1: Three long hours passed Utgard Loki trembled with fear and dread,
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 1: for never for one second had the angry god taken
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 1: the horn from his lips. The ruin of Utgard kingdom
• 2:11:44
  Speaker 1: is come, he groaned. There is no hope for victory
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 1: over such a god. The horn, even the magic horn,
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 1: will fail before the might of this fierce and awful
• 2:11:54
  Speaker 1: Fore the god of Thunder. Then Thor lifted the horn
• 2:11:58
  Speaker 1: from his lips. Defiance flashed from his eye. The king
• 2:12:01
  Speaker 1: of the Frost giants trembled. Both looked into the horn.
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 1: Alas for Thor, even now hardly could it be counted
• 2:12:09
  Speaker 1: one quarter emptied. Darkness gathered over the strong god's face.
• 2:12:14
  Speaker 1: Courage sprang into the eyes of the king. Let not
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 1: your valor fail, you, said the king, taking the horn
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 1: from the hand of Thor. You are great, you have
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 1: proved it, and that you have, even in so small
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 1: a degree as this, emptied the horn from which none
• 2:12:31
  Speaker 1: but a god could have quaffed. One dromp. It is
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 1: only that your greatness is less than you have boasted,
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: and less than we have believed it to be. I
• 2:12:41
  Speaker 1: will not stand defeated, thundered Thor. Bring before me another challenge.
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: I will not go forth until the giants of Ootgard
• 2:12:49
  Speaker 1: have indeed known and fell to the power of Thor.
• 2:12:52
  Speaker 1: The god whose lightnings rander the skies and whose thunders
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 1: rock the very mountains of the earth. Once more, then
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 1: shall you content for power, said the Utgard king, And
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: this time with Eli, the toothless giant of endless years, before,
• 2:13:08
  Speaker 1: whose power bend all the strongest sons of mid God,
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: and before whom, in some far off day, even the
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: gods of Asgard shall bow as powerless as the children
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 1: of mid God. Thor sprang upon the giant Elli, like
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: a demon of the underworld. He fought, and for a
• 2:13:25
  Speaker 1: time even this all conquering giant swayed before the wild
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 1: madness of his bursts of thunder and its crashing, hissing
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 1: bolts of fire. But alas for Thor, even his godlike
• 2:13:37
  Speaker 1: strength was doomed to fail him. He trembled, his sight vanished,
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 1: A strange chill settled over him, and he sank, conquered
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: before the power of the giant Eli. And now the
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 1: night had fallen upon the land, the light had faded
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 1: from the mountaintops, and the chill of night was in
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: the frosty air. Exhausted, the great god wrapped himself about
• 2:14:00
  Speaker 1: and sank into heavy sleep, and his dreams were of
• 2:14:03
  Speaker 1: great battles of terrible foes, and of the last great day,
• 2:14:07
  Speaker 1: which some time in the ages to come should fall
• 2:14:11
  Speaker 1: upon the city of the gods, and in which even
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: the power of Odin should fail, and the light go
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 1: out from all the earth. All night long, these dreams
• 2:14:19
  Speaker 1: haunted the great heart of Thor, And in the morning
• 2:14:22
  Speaker 1: the people in Midguard said it was a strange night.
• 2:14:26
  Speaker 1: Through all the hours of darkness, the thunders rolled in
• 2:14:29
  Speaker 1: the distance, and the pale lightnings flashed among the mountain
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 1: peaks beyond the seas. In the morning, even with the
• 2:14:36
  Speaker 1: first rays of light, Thor, with Loki and Thialfi and Roskovak,
• 2:14:41
  Speaker 1: set forth upon their journey homeward. There was a terrible
• 2:14:44
  Speaker 1: blackness upon the face of Thor, and the thunders rumbled deeply.
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 1: Never before had Thor known the bitterness of defeat. And
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: he returned to Asgard and to Odin, sick at heart.
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 1: Lose not thy courage, Thor said, the all wise know
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: that thou art not even now defeated in any true
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 1: test of strength Utgard, Loki has triumphed, to be sure,
• 2:15:10
  Speaker 1: But even he trembles now, and has closed the doors
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 1: of his castle, and has set thousands upon thousands of
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 1: sentinels to watch against thy return. The horn from which
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 1: thou didst drink reached far down into the depths of
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 1: the sea, and the people of Midguard even now throng
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 1: the shores. And wonder what power in heaven or on
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 1: earth can have so shrunk on the great waters of
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: the sea. Loji, with whom Loki contended, was none less
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 1: than the wildfire, And Huji was thought itself. Even the gods,
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 1: even Odin himself, with these would not but contend in
• 2:15:48
  Speaker 1: vain and eli. It is indeed as Utgard, Loki said,
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 1: No power in Heaven itself can equal hers. She is
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 1: thee all powerful, the never failing, the ever present old Age,
• 2:16:03
  Speaker 1: All the people of the Earth, all the gods of Asgard,
• 2:16:07
  Speaker 1: even the Earth, and Asgard must one day fall before
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 1: her mighty will. That you contended even as you did,
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 1: has driven terror deep into the hearts of the cruel
• 2:16:17
  Speaker 1: frost giants. Nor do they doubt that you are the
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: terrible God of Thunder, the greatest of all the sons
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 1: of Odin and of Chapter seventeen Chapter eighteen of Legends
• 2:16:39
  Speaker 1: of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick This LibriVox recording
• 2:16:44
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Thor in the mid Guard
• 2:16:48
  Speaker 1: serpent with these words of Odin. Thor's courage rose, Bring
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: me my hammer, he called to Seph, And again I
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: will go forth into the realm of the fras Giants.
• 2:17:01
  Speaker 1: The great Odin smiled, Fear not, my son, Remember there
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 1: can be no defeat to Thor, the son of Odin,
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 1: whose mighty land holds firm the terrible hammer forged by
• 2:17:14
  Speaker 1: the dwarfs of the underworld. Then Thor sprang into his chariot. Away,
• 2:17:20
  Speaker 1: Away he thundered, to the home of Hemier, the hateful
• 2:17:24
  Speaker 1: and boastful Hemier. Away to the land of the frost Giants.
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 1: Once and for all, Thor will prove to them the
• 2:17:31
  Speaker 1: power and the terror of the gods of Asgard. The
• 2:17:34
  Speaker 1: wheels of the chariot rumbled and rolled from their spokes.
• 2:17:38
  Speaker 1: The lightning flashed with the speed of thought itself. It
• 2:17:42
  Speaker 1: hissed and whistled through the air. The clouds scattering raised
• 2:17:47
  Speaker 1: a mighty wind in Midguard. The leaves ran like fire
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 1: before the gale. The trees rocked and ever and anon.
• 2:17:55
  Speaker 1: The moaning wind rose and fell like the voice of
• 2:17:58
  Speaker 1: a mighty tempest. It is the Valkyries, the people of
• 2:18:02
  Speaker 1: Midguard said, Always does the wind rise, Always do the
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 1: clouds hurry across the skies. When the Valkyries set forth
• 2:18:09
  Speaker 1: to battle, Somewhere there is war in our fair earth.
• 2:18:13
  Speaker 1: Somewhere heroes are falling on the bloody battlefield. For in
• 2:18:18
  Speaker 1: all this time there had come to be many people
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 1: in Midguard. The children of Ask and Emla had become
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 1: men and women had grown old, and their children too
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 1: had become men and women. And there were wars in
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: the land. Warriors in the east fought those in the west,
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: those in the north fought those in the south. But
• 2:18:40
  Speaker 1: the warriors were brave men, And over every battle Odin watched,
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 1: grinding the spears, now shielding and protecting, now, forcing the
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 1: warriors into the very hottest of the battle. And when
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: the battle was over and all was quiet, when the
• 2:18:56
  Speaker 1: great sun had sunk behind the hills of Jotunheim and
• 2:18:59
  Speaker 1: the soft moon shone down upon the battlefield, then Odin
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 1: would call to the Valkyries and bid them go down
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 1: into Midguard, and bring with them to Valhalla all who
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 1: had fallen bravely fighting. For this was the hero's reward,
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 1: with this hope. He entered battle with this hope. He
• 2:19:18
  Speaker 1: fought with this hope. He turned his dying eyes toward
• 2:19:22
  Speaker 1: Mount Ida and thanked the all Father that now he
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: too might enter into the joys of Asgard and know
• 2:19:29
  Speaker 1: the glory of immortal life in the golden halls of Valhalla.
• 2:19:33
  Speaker 1: And now the winds had died away, the clouds were
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 1: at rest. There was a peace over Midguard, for the
• 2:19:40
  Speaker 1: chariots had reached the home of the frost Giant, and
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: Thor had entered the great rock bound castle of the
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 1: giant Himir. Let us go out upon the sea to fish,
• 2:19:52
  Speaker 1: said Thor to the dread giant, with whom he longed
• 2:19:56
  Speaker 1: to measure power. Seizing the oars, Thor Or himself rowed
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 1: the great boat out into the sea. Give me the oars,
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 1: and bellowed Himer. You have already rowed a long way,
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 1: and must be wearied. I wearied, thundered Thor. Indeed I
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: have not rowed one half the distance. I shall row
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: even into the realm of the Midguard's serpent, whose length
• 2:20:21
  Speaker 1: lies coiled around Midguard, and whose home is deep down
• 2:20:24
  Speaker 1: beneath the raging waters. There only shall we find fish
• 2:20:28
  Speaker 1: worthy of the bait of a god. Himer trembled. He
• 2:20:33
  Speaker 1: feared the midguard serpent, whose great coil so lashed the
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 1: waters of the ocean that they rose white with foam,
• 2:20:41
  Speaker 1: even to the very mountain tops. The fishing just here
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 1: has never failed. There is no need to row farther
• 2:20:48
  Speaker 1: into the ocean, said Himeer, hoping to dissuade the god
• 2:20:53
  Speaker 1: from rowing farther from the shores of Yotunheim. But I
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: must fish in mid ocean, and in the deepest of
• 2:20:59
  Speaker 1: the waters, was Thor's reply. For hours and hours they rowed,
• 2:21:05
  Speaker 1: The mountain tops grew dimmer and dimmer. In the blue distance,
• 2:21:09
  Speaker 1: no land could be seen. The waters sparkled and shone
• 2:21:12
  Speaker 1: on every side as far as the eye could reach.
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: We will make this our fishing place, said Thor, at last,
• 2:21:20
  Speaker 1: throwing down his oars and preparing the great cable that
• 2:21:23
  Speaker 1: should serve him for a line. This he gave into
• 2:21:26
  Speaker 1: the hands of the trembling giant, and prepared for himself another.
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 1: The hours passed, but no fish had been drawn into
• 2:21:34
  Speaker 1: the boat. Had you listened to me, thundered Himere, our
• 2:21:40
  Speaker 1: boat might long before this have been filled with the fish.
• 2:21:43
  Speaker 1: I have never failed to catch in waters nearer the
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: shores of the land of the frost giants. Do you
• 2:21:50
  Speaker 1: think a god would be content with less than the
• 2:21:52
  Speaker 1: greatest fish in all the sea? Thundered Thor, Do you
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: not know? I shall bring to this boat's edge the
• 2:21:59
  Speaker 1: terrible midguard serpent itself. And even as he spoke, he
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 1: gathered in his line and dashed upon the boat floor
• 2:22:06
  Speaker 1: a whale of such enormous size that even the giant
• 2:22:09
  Speaker 1: looked with amazement upon so terrible a display of the
• 2:22:13
  Speaker 1: fisherman's strength and power. Surely this must be Thor himself.
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 1: The whale is yaws, muttered Thor, unfastening his line and
• 2:22:24
  Speaker 1: throwing it overboard again. I have no care for fish
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 1: as small as this. Suddenly there was a rush of waters.
• 2:22:31
  Speaker 1: It was as if a terrible tempest had burst upon
• 2:22:34
  Speaker 1: the sea. The water seethed and foamed, the great waves
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 1: rose mountain high. The boat rocked and reeled in the
• 2:22:42
  Speaker 1: green waters pouring over its sides, filled it so that
• 2:22:46
  Speaker 1: the great whale floated out upon the sea. It is
• 2:22:50
  Speaker 1: the mid God's serpent, roared Thor, and his mighty voice,
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 1: rising even above the rush of the great sea, mingled
• 2:22:58
  Speaker 1: with the thunder of the breaking waves, and echoed out
• 2:23:02
  Speaker 1: to the shores of the farthest lands. Thor sprang from
• 2:23:06
  Speaker 1: the boat and planted himself firmly upon the great rocks
• 2:23:09
  Speaker 1: beneath the sea. The giant, dumb with terror, clung to
• 2:23:13
  Speaker 1: the sides of the rocking boat. On on came the serpent,
• 2:23:18
  Speaker 1: nearer and nearer, the roaring waves and heaping foam, bursting
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: closer and closer upon the mountain like boat that tossed
• 2:23:26
  Speaker 1: now like seaweed upon the angry waters. One burst like thunder,
• 2:23:31
  Speaker 1: and the terrible serpent's head rose above the foam and
• 2:23:35
  Speaker 1: glistened in the light. Thor sprang forward, and with his
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: mighty arm threw the cable around the slimy neck of
• 2:23:43
  Speaker 1: the midguard's serpent and dragged him to the boat's edge.
• 2:23:47
  Speaker 1: The giant sprang to his feet. Give me my hammer,
• 2:23:52
  Speaker 1: thundered the god. I will not, thundered the giant, And
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: with one quick bound he sprang forward, raised shining sword,
• 2:24:01
  Speaker 1: and with a sweep miles high, cut to the great
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 1: cable which held the writhing serpent. Another roar, and the
• 2:24:08
  Speaker 1: great serpent arched his back even to the blue dome
• 2:24:11
  Speaker 1: of the sky above. Then with a hiss that sounded
• 2:24:15
  Speaker 1: through Midguard and even up to the shining city of
• 2:24:18
  Speaker 1: the fair mount Ida, he shot down beneath the waters,
• 2:24:22
  Speaker 1: and over him closed the angry waves. The foam dashed
• 2:24:27
  Speaker 1: mountains high, the caves howled and boomed, the skies echoed
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 1: crash on crash, and the whole earth trembled with the
• 2:24:36
  Speaker 1: upheaval of the troubled waters, a rushing back, a heaping up,
• 2:24:41
  Speaker 1: a breaking of great waves. And never again, by man
• 2:24:45
  Speaker 1: or giant or God was the loathsome serpent seen above
• 2:24:49
  Speaker 1: the waters, until on that last sad, fateful day, when
• 2:24:53
  Speaker 1: the light had gone out from the sun and the
• 2:24:56
  Speaker 1: dread chill of Ragnarok had fallen even upon Valhalla and
• 2:25:01
  Speaker 1: the beautiful shining city of Asgard. End of chapter eighteen,
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen of Legends of norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick.
• 2:25:20
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Valkyrie Song.
• 2:25:27
  Speaker 1: The Sea King looked over the brooding wave. He turned
• 2:25:30
  Speaker 1: to the dusky shore, and there seamed through the arch
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 1: of a tide worn came a gleam as of snow
• 2:25:36
  Speaker 1: too poor, and forth in watery light moved phantoms dimly white,
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 1: which the garb of woolm and bore. Slowly they moved
• 2:25:47
  Speaker 1: to the bill of side, and the forms as the
• 2:25:49
  Speaker 1: groom were clear, seemed each on a tall, pale steed,
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 1: to ride and shadowy crest, to rear, and to back
• 2:25:57
  Speaker 1: in with faint hand from the dark and rocky strand,
• 2:26:02
  Speaker 1: and to point a gleaming spear. Then stillness on his spear.
• 2:26:07
  Speaker 1: It fell before the unearthly train, for he knew Valhalla's daughters.
• 2:26:12
  Speaker 1: While the choosers of the slain, and a sudden rising
• 2:26:17
  Speaker 1: breeze bore across the moaning seas to zear their thrilling
• 2:26:23
  Speaker 1: strain Regni or, tell thy fair haired bride, she must
• 2:26:27
  Speaker 1: slumber at thy side. Tell the brother of thy breast,
• 2:26:32
  Speaker 1: even for him thy grave hath rest. Tell the raven
• 2:26:36
  Speaker 1: steed which bore thee. When the wild wolf led before thee,
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 1: he too, with his lord, must fall. There is room
• 2:26:44
  Speaker 1: in Odin's hall. There was arming heard on land and wave.
• 2:26:49
  Speaker 1: When afar the sun light spread, and the phantom forms
• 2:26:53
  Speaker 1: of the tideworn came with the mists of mourning fled.
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 1: But at eve the kingly hand of the battle axe
• 2:27:01
  Speaker 1: and brand lay cold on a pie love dead end
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 1: of chapter nineteen, Chapter twenty of Legends of Norseland by
• 2:27:17
  Speaker 1: Mara L. Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 1: public domain. Ages upon ages had rolled away, and now
• 2:27:26
  Speaker 1: the day of sorrow, which always Odin had known must come,
• 2:27:30
  Speaker 1: drew near. Already the god of Song had gone with
• 2:27:34
  Speaker 1: his beautiful wife Eyedoun, down into the dark valley of death.
• 2:27:38
  Speaker 1: And there was a new strange rustle among the leaves
• 2:27:41
  Speaker 1: of Yigdrasil, like the rustling of leaves that were dead.
• 2:27:45
  Speaker 1: Odin's face grew sad, and try as he would, he
• 2:27:49
  Speaker 1: could not join with the happy gods about him in
• 2:27:52
  Speaker 1: their joys and festal games. Odin said, frig one day,
• 2:27:56
  Speaker 1: tell me what grieves thee, what weighs thee down, and
• 2:27:59
  Speaker 1: puts such sadness into thine eyes and heart. Baldur himself
• 2:28:03
  Speaker 1: shall tell you all, answered Odin sadly. Then Baldur seated
• 2:28:08
  Speaker 1: himself in the midst of the gods and said, always
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 1: since Odin drank at the well of wisdom and learned
• 2:28:14
  Speaker 1: the secrets of the past and of the future, has
• 2:28:17
  Speaker 1: he known that a time would come when the light
• 2:28:19
  Speaker 1: must go out from Baldur's eyes, and he, although a god,
• 2:28:24
  Speaker 1: must go down into the dark valley. Now that time
• 2:28:27
  Speaker 1: draws near. Already have Braggy and Edun gone from us,
• 2:28:31
  Speaker 1: and with them have gone song and youth. Soon will
• 2:28:34
  Speaker 1: Baldur go, and with him must go the light and
• 2:28:37
  Speaker 1: the warmth he has always been so glad to bring
• 2:28:39
  Speaker 1: to Asgard and to Midguard both, Oh, Baldur, Baldur, Baldur,
• 2:28:45
  Speaker 1: my child, my child, my child, cried Frig, This cannot be,
• 2:28:51
  Speaker 1: This shall not be. I will go down from Asgard.
• 2:28:55
  Speaker 1: I will go up and down the earth, and every
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 1: rock and tree and plant shall pledge them to do
• 2:29:00
  Speaker 1: no harm to thee dear mother, Frag sighed Baldur, You
• 2:29:06
  Speaker 1: cannot change what is foretold. From the beginning of time,
• 2:29:09
  Speaker 1: this was decreed that one day the light should go
• 2:29:12
  Speaker 1: out from heaven and the twilight of the gods should fall.
• 2:29:15
  Speaker 1: There was a long silence in the hall of Asgard.
• 2:29:19
  Speaker 1: No god had courage to speak. Their hearts were heavy,
• 2:29:23
  Speaker 1: and they had no wish to speak. The sun sank
• 2:29:26
  Speaker 1: behind the western hills. Its rich sunset glows spread over
• 2:29:30
  Speaker 1: the Golden City and over the beautiful earth below. Then
• 2:29:33
  Speaker 1: darkness followed, slowly, slowly, creeping creeping on up the mountain side,
• 2:29:39
  Speaker 1: across the summit, until even the shining city stood dark
• 2:29:44
  Speaker 1: and shadowy beneath the gathering twilight. Like this, some day
• 2:29:48
  Speaker 1: the twilight will fall upon our city, said Odin, and
• 2:29:53
  Speaker 1: it will never never rise again. The mother heart of
• 2:29:57
  Speaker 1: Frig would not accept even Odin's word, And when the
• 2:30:00
  Speaker 1: sun's first rays shot up above the far off hills,
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 1: Frig stole forth from Asgard, down the Rainbow Bridge, to Midguard,
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 1: to every lake and river and sea. She hurried and said,
• 2:30:13
  Speaker 1: promise me, oh waters, that Baldur's light shall never go
• 2:30:16
  Speaker 1: out because of you, we promise. The waters answered, and
• 2:30:21
  Speaker 1: Frig hurried to the metals. Promise me, oh metals, that
• 2:30:25
  Speaker 1: Baldur's light shall never go out because of you, we promise,
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 1: answered the metals, And Frig hurried on to the minerals.
• 2:30:33
  Speaker 1: Promise me, oh, minerals. She said, that Baldur's light shall
• 2:30:38
  Speaker 1: never go out because of you, we promise, answered the minerals,
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 1: and Frak hurried on to the fire, the earth, the stones,
• 2:30:46
  Speaker 1: the trees, the shrubs, the grasses, the birds, the beasts,
• 2:30:51
  Speaker 1: the reptiles, and even to the abode of pale disease.
• 2:30:55
  Speaker 1: She went. Of each she asked the same earnest, anxious question,
• 2:31:00
  Speaker 1: and from each she received the same kind, honest answer.
• 2:31:05
  Speaker 1: As the sun sank behind the high peaks of the
• 2:31:07
  Speaker 1: frost giant's homes, Frig, radiant and happy, her eyes bright
• 2:31:12
  Speaker 1: and her heart alive with hope, sped up the rainbow bridge. Triumphant,
• 2:31:17
  Speaker 1: she hurried into the Great Hall to Odin and Baldur
• 2:31:21
  Speaker 1: be happy again. O Odin, be happy again, Oh Baldur.
• 2:31:25
  Speaker 1: There is no danger, no sorrow to come to us
• 2:31:27
  Speaker 1: from anything in the earth or under the earth. For
• 2:31:30
  Speaker 1: every tree has promised me, and every rock and every metal,
• 2:31:34
  Speaker 1: every animal and every bird, even the waters in the
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 1: fire have promised that never harm through them shall come
• 2:31:40
  Speaker 1: to Baldur. But alas for poor Frig, one little weed,
• 2:31:45
  Speaker 1: a wee little weed hidden beneath a rock, she had overlooked. Loki,
• 2:31:51
  Speaker 1: who had followed closely upon her in all her wanderings
• 2:31:54
  Speaker 1: through the day, had not failed to notice this oversight
• 2:31:57
  Speaker 1: of frigs. His wicked face shone with glee, his eyes gleamed,
• 2:32:03
  Speaker 1: and as the radiant Frig sped up the Rainbow Bridge.
• 2:32:06
  Speaker 1: He hurried away to his home among the frost giants,
• 2:32:09
  Speaker 1: to tell them of the little weed, which by and
• 2:32:12
  Speaker 1: by should work such harm to Baldure, in shutting out
• 2:32:16
  Speaker 1: his life and light from Asgard and the earth. The
• 2:32:20
  Speaker 1: ages rolled on every one in Asgard, save Odin, had
• 2:32:25
  Speaker 1: long ago thrown off the shadow of fear. No harm
• 2:32:28
  Speaker 1: can come to Baldur, they would say, and all save
• 2:32:33
  Speaker 1: Odin believed it. But a day came when Odin, looking
• 2:32:37
  Speaker 1: down to the home of the dead, saw there the
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 1: spirits moving about, hastening hither and thither. Something is happening
• 2:32:44
  Speaker 1: there in the pale valley, said Odin. They are preparing
• 2:32:49
  Speaker 1: for the coming of another shade, and it must be
• 2:32:52
  Speaker 1: some great one who is to come. See how great
• 2:32:56
  Speaker 1: the preparition is they make. We prepare for the coming
• 2:32:59
  Speaker 1: of Baldeu, answered the shades, as Odin came upon them,
• 2:33:03
  Speaker 1: busy in their work. We prepare a throne for Baldur.
• 2:33:07
  Speaker 1: We prepare a throne for Baldur for Baldur, asked Odin,
• 2:33:12
  Speaker 1: his heart, sinking for Baldur, chanted the shades for Baldur.
• 2:33:18
  Speaker 1: Baldur cometh, Baldur cometh, and Odin his godlike heart, faint
• 2:33:24
  Speaker 1: and sick at the thought, turned away and went slowly
• 2:33:27
  Speaker 1: up the rainbow bridge. There, in the great Garden of
• 2:33:31
  Speaker 1: the gods, he found Thor and Baldur and their brother
• 2:33:34
  Speaker 1: Hoder playing at tests of strength. Behind holder invisible stood Loki.
• 2:33:40
  Speaker 1: In his hand. He held a spear. Shame on you, howder,
• 2:33:45
  Speaker 1: whispered Loki, that you, the strong and mighty Hoder, cannot
• 2:33:49
  Speaker 1: overcome Baldur in a testive strength. Baldur may be beautiful
• 2:33:53
  Speaker 1: and sunny, and he is a great joy to the
• 2:33:56
  Speaker 1: world that we know, But what is he compared with
• 2:33:58
  Speaker 1: Hodur for strength? But the spears will not touch him.
• 2:34:02
  Speaker 1: See how they glance away. Indeed, it is true light
• 2:34:05
  Speaker 1: cannot be pierced, answered Hoder. Good naturedly. Take this spear,
• 2:34:11
  Speaker 1: said Logi quietly. It is less clumsy than those you throw.
• 2:34:15
  Speaker 1: Hodur took it, never thinking of any harm. Alas for
• 2:34:19
  Speaker 1: Baldur and Asgard and all the happy, smiling earth. It
• 2:34:23
  Speaker 1: was a spear tipped with a mistletoe, the one plant
• 2:34:27
  Speaker 1: that frig had failed to find, the one plant that
• 2:34:30
  Speaker 1: had not promised to do no harm to Baldur. Quickly,
• 2:34:33
  Speaker 1: the spear flew through the air one second, and Baldur,
• 2:34:38
  Speaker 1: the summer spirit, Baldur, the light of the earth, fell dead.
• 2:34:43
  Speaker 1: Oh Asgard, Baldur is dead, groaned Odin, oh Asgard, Asgard,
• 2:34:50
  Speaker 1: Baldur is dead. Hodur, Thor, the gods one and all
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 1: stood pale and white. A terrible fear settled over their faces.
• 2:35:01
  Speaker 1: They shook with terror. And even as they stood there,
• 2:35:04
  Speaker 1: speechless in their grief, a twilight dimness began to fall lightly,
• 2:35:09
  Speaker 1: lightly over all, the shining pavements grew less bright, the
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 1: blue of the great arch overhead deepened, and in the
• 2:35:17
  Speaker 1: valleys of Midguard there were long black shadows. Baldur was dead.
• 2:35:22
  Speaker 1: The light had failed. The Golden Age was at an end.
• 2:35:27
  Speaker 1: Now even the gods must die. End of Chapter twenty
• 2:35:39
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one of Legends of Norseland by Mara L.
• 2:35:45
  Speaker 1: Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 2:35:50
  Speaker 1: The Punishment of Loki. It is Loki that has done this,
• 2:35:55
  Speaker 1: thundered Thor, seizing the great hammer in his clenched fists.
• 2:36:02
  Speaker 1: Nor will the gods of as Good forgive this crime.
• 2:36:05
  Speaker 1: No promise of his no begging, no pleading, shall save
• 2:36:09
  Speaker 1: him from the punishment that belongs to him, oh Baldur Baldur,
• 2:36:14
  Speaker 1: that I had slain the evil Loki, ages upon ages ago,
• 2:36:19
  Speaker 1: when he stole the hare from the glorious Scythe, when
• 2:36:22
  Speaker 1: he stole the necklace from the beautiful Freya, when he
• 2:36:25
  Speaker 1: carried e Doon and the apples of life away into
• 2:36:27
  Speaker 1: the home of the frost giants, when he stung the
• 2:36:30
  Speaker 1: dwarf and broke shot the handle of my mighty hammer.
• 2:36:33
  Speaker 1: Had I slain him, then this sorrow need not have
• 2:36:36
  Speaker 1: come to us, oh Baldur Baldur. And the whole earth
• 2:36:42
  Speaker 1: shook with the grief of Thor. The skies grew black,
• 2:36:45
  Speaker 1: the wind shrieked, the lightnings flashed across the sky. His
• 2:36:50
  Speaker 1: tears fell in torrents down the mountain sides. Trees were
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 1: swept away, and the swollen rivers rushed and roared along
• 2:36:57
  Speaker 1: their course. Never even in memory of the gaunt old
• 2:37:01
  Speaker 1: giant at the Well of Wisdom, had such a storm
• 2:37:04
  Speaker 1: of wind and rain and thunder and lightning been known.
• 2:37:08
  Speaker 1: The earth people fled to the mountain caves in terror.
• 2:37:11
  Speaker 1: It is the wrath of Thor, cried Loki, gasping with dread.
• 2:37:17
  Speaker 1: Let me hide myself till it is over. And changing
• 2:37:20
  Speaker 1: himself into a fish, he dived deep into the great
• 2:37:23
  Speaker 1: seething mass of angry waters. But Thor and Odin were
• 2:37:27
  Speaker 1: close upon him. The fiery eye of Thor had caught
• 2:37:31
  Speaker 1: the sparkle of its shiny coat as the great fish
• 2:37:33
  Speaker 1: shot down from the mountain side into the sea. Then, too,
• 2:37:37
  Speaker 1: of what use was it to hide from the great
• 2:37:40
  Speaker 1: all seeing eye of Odin. Did he not see and
• 2:37:43
  Speaker 1: hear all sights and sounds, And more than that, did
• 2:37:48
  Speaker 1: he not know all things even from the beginning. We
• 2:37:52
  Speaker 1: will take a great net, and we will drag the sea,
• 2:37:56
  Speaker 1: said Odin quietly. Loki heard these words and trembled. He
• 2:38:01
  Speaker 1: hid himself beneath the seaweed, but so muddy were the
• 2:38:04
  Speaker 1: waters that he was driven out to breathe. The great
• 2:38:07
  Speaker 1: net was spread, held by the hands of Odin and Thor.
• 2:38:12
  Speaker 1: There was no escape for Loki. Sullenly, he allowed the
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 1: net to close over him. There was no other way,
• 2:38:20
  Speaker 1: for it stretched from shore to shore, and from above
• 2:38:23
  Speaker 1: the waters even to the ocean bed. And so at last,
• 2:38:28
  Speaker 1: because it was to be the fish held, and Loki
• 2:38:31
  Speaker 1: was in the power of the angry Thor come back commanded,
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 1: odin to your own shape and size. Loki obeyed, and
• 2:38:41
  Speaker 1: in his own form was borne to Asgard. The angry
• 2:38:45
  Speaker 1: gods fell one and all upon him. Not one showed
• 2:38:49
  Speaker 1: pity for him. They hated him, and well they might,
• 2:38:53
  Speaker 1: for had he not slain Baldur and so loose to
• 2:38:56
  Speaker 1: the power of the frost giants upon their shining city.
• 2:39:00
  Speaker 1: Let him be bound. Let him be bound, they cried.
• 2:39:04
  Speaker 1: Let him be bound, even as the fenerous wolf is bound.
• 2:39:08
  Speaker 1: Let him be bound with iron fetters. Let him be
• 2:39:11
  Speaker 1: nailed to the great rocks and the sea. Let a
• 2:39:13
  Speaker 1: poisonous serpent hang over him, And let the serpent drop,
• 2:39:17
  Speaker 1: moment by moment through all the time to come, his
• 2:39:20
  Speaker 1: burning poison upon him. Let him lie there, chain and
• 2:39:23
  Speaker 1: suffering till the last great day. All this shall be
• 2:39:28
  Speaker 1: thundered Thor. And thus it was that the cruel, evil hearted,
• 2:39:33
  Speaker 1: peace destroyer Loki suffered ages upon ages of punishment for
• 2:39:38
  Speaker 1: his malice and his crime. End of chapter twenty one,
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two of Legends of Norseland by Mara L.
• 2:39:56
  Speaker 1: Pratt Chadwick. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 2:40:01
  Speaker 1: The darkness that fell on Asgard The gods had avenged
• 2:40:07
  Speaker 1: themselves upon the cruel peace destroyer, and he lay suffering
• 2:40:10
  Speaker 1: the tortures they had put upon him. But even this
• 2:40:13
  Speaker 1: could not bring back the sunny God, the happy, cheerful,
• 2:40:17
  Speaker 1: life giving Baldur Bragie had gone, and there was no
• 2:40:21
  Speaker 1: sound of music in Asgard. Dune had gone, and signs
• 2:40:25
  Speaker 1: of age were again creeping over the faces of the gods.
• 2:40:29
  Speaker 1: Now Baldur was gone, and with him the long light
• 2:40:32
  Speaker 1: and warm softness of the summertime. He may come back,
• 2:40:37
  Speaker 1: frig would say, And every morning she strained her eyes
• 2:40:41
  Speaker 1: to see if he had risen from behind the far
• 2:40:43
  Speaker 1: off hills with the soft light she had learned to
• 2:40:46
  Speaker 1: know so well. Baldure is late, she would say. As
• 2:40:50
  Speaker 1: the days rolled on. But all this time from the
• 2:40:54
  Speaker 1: cold Northland, the frost giants triumphant were drawing near. Their
• 2:40:59
  Speaker 1: chilled breath was in the air. The days grew short,
• 2:41:02
  Speaker 1: the nights grew long. The rivers were locked in ice.
• 2:41:06
  Speaker 1: Great drifts of snow were everywhere. The sky was gray
• 2:41:10
  Speaker 1: and there were no stars. The sun shone pale and
• 2:41:14
  Speaker 1: white through the dull clouds and the blinding drifts of snow.
• 2:41:19
  Speaker 1: It grew bitter, bitter cold, the fimble winter, whispered the
• 2:41:24
  Speaker 1: earth people. Has the fimble winter come? And Odin answered, yes,
• 2:41:29
  Speaker 1: it is true. The fimble winter, foretold by the Nords,
• 2:41:34
  Speaker 1: even from the beginning of time, has come. Soon the
• 2:41:37
  Speaker 1: great Wolf will spring forth from the underworld, and he
• 2:41:41
  Speaker 1: will seize upon the Sun and devour it. Then dense
• 2:41:45
  Speaker 1: darkness will fall upon us, and Ragnarok, the end of
• 2:41:49
  Speaker 1: all things will be upon us. And it came to pass,
• 2:41:53
  Speaker 1: as Odin said, one day there was heard a mighty rumbling.
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 1: This time it was not the thunder from the mighty
• 2:42:01
  Speaker 1: hammer of the Great thor his hands were frozen, nor
• 2:42:04
  Speaker 1: had he heart to try to wield his hammer. The
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 1: thunder and rumble came this time from within the earth.
• 2:42:11
  Speaker 1: The great Earth trembled and shook, Great gaping mouths opened
• 2:42:16
  Speaker 1: and swallowed up the children. The mountains crumbled and fell.
• 2:42:19
  Speaker 1: The great Serpent lashed the seas. The great rocks rocked
• 2:42:23
  Speaker 1: and swayed and tore themselves apart. Logi and the fendroous Wolf,
• 2:42:28
  Speaker 1: freed from their fetters, sprang forth, burning with hate and
• 2:42:32
  Speaker 1: wild for vengeance. The frost giants already were upon the
• 2:42:36
  Speaker 1: Rainbow bridge, A terrible battle followed. The gods fell one
• 2:42:41
  Speaker 1: by one, thor by the deadly flood of poison from
• 2:42:44
  Speaker 1: the midguard serpent tire in the great jaws of the
• 2:42:47
  Speaker 1: fenroous Wolf, who ages before had torn from him his
• 2:42:52
  Speaker 1: strong right hand. And now the battle was over. The
• 2:42:56
  Speaker 1: gods lay dead. Even odin the shining city of Asgard
• 2:43:00
  Speaker 1: was a blackened, smoking ruin. The rabow bridge was gone.
• 2:43:04
  Speaker 1: The giants sent forth their cold winds, howling with cruel glee.
• 2:43:09
  Speaker 1: Loki's evil heart was glad. The great Serpent lashed the
• 2:43:13
  Speaker 1: water's mountain high, and the earth people perished in the flood.
• 2:43:17
  Speaker 1: Vendroous Wolf stretched its great jaw from heaven to Earth
• 2:43:20
  Speaker 1: and shook the skies. There was a strange hush. A
• 2:43:24
  Speaker 1: great ball of fire had fallen upon the battlefield. There
• 2:43:27
  Speaker 1: was a sudden rush of air, a great wave of
• 2:43:30
  Speaker 1: heat spread out across all space, a burst of thunder,
• 2:43:34
  Speaker 1: a crackling as of fire. Then one hiss, and the
• 2:43:38
  Speaker 1: whole earth was one great scorching blaze. One second, a
• 2:43:43
  Speaker 1: fierce red tongue of flame had shot up the trunk
• 2:43:46
  Speaker 1: of Yigdrasil, and it fell a mass of blackened ashes,
• 2:43:51
  Speaker 1: the sea hissed and steamed, the earth melted, the frost, giants, Loki,
• 2:43:57
  Speaker 1: the serpent, the fenroous wolf, all all were wrapped in flame.
• 2:44:02
  Speaker 1: A second more, and there was no living thing in
• 2:44:05
  Speaker 1: all the earth. For Ragnarok, the rain of fire had come,
• 2:44:11
  Speaker 1: and with it came an end to life, and end
• 2:44:14
  Speaker 1: alike to gods and giants, an end to all creatures
• 2:44:18
  Speaker 1: of the land and sea, an end even to the
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 1: great Earth itself. End of Chapter twenty one, end of
• 2:44:29
  Speaker 1: Legends of Norseland by Mara L. Pratt Chadwick