The ghastly rotting smell rose towards him. The cold began to burn him. The darkness reached up to him and he drew near to the place as dreadful as the worst of fears, the worst of dreams. Even now, he did not flinch or falter. Svidag was swift as light. He reached the gates of [...]
Category Archives: The Myths
Gylfi and Gefion – Myth 21
“You have treated me like a king,” said Gylfi. The wizened beggar-woman sat in her cocoon of filthy, reeking rags and listened. “Our bed was only this bare ground,” said Gylfi, “and our roof was only this whispering tree and the litter of stars beyond. But all that you had to share – your scraps [...]
Odin and Billing’s Daughter – Myth 20
“A creaking bow,” cried the High One. “a burning flame, a yawning wolf, a croaking raven, a grunting wild boar, a tree with shallow roots, mounting waves, a boiling kettle, a flying arrow, tide on the ebb, new ice, a coiled snake, a bride’s pillow talk, a sword with a hairline, a playful bear, the [...]
Thor’s Duel with Hrungnir – Myth 19
Odin, god of gods, was not content with being able to see everything that happened in the nine worlds. He was not content even with being able to understand all that he saw. His blood raced and he longed to test life’s winds and tides for himself. While Thor was away fighting trolls and troll [...]
Hyndla’s Poem – Myth 18
The giantess Hyndla was asleep. She was growling in her gloomy cave, and it wasn’t a pleasant sound. Freyja and her boar stood in the cave’s mouth, listening. Then Freyja called out: “Hyndla, my friend! Hyndla, my sister! Wake up! Came out of your hole in the hill.”
The Lay of Hymir – Myth 17
The gods had plenty of food but they had run out of mead and ale. They began to feast but the more they ate, the less they felt like eating, with no drink to wash the food down. They sacrificed a small animal and dipped twigs into its blood. They shook them and the runes [...]
Thor’s Journey to Utgard – Myth 16
Thor said Summer was the open season and he announced his plan of making a journey east into Utgard and flexing himself against the giants. ‘However few they are,’ he said, ‘they are too many.’ In Utgard,’ said Loki, ‘you’ll need sharp wits.’ ‘Sharp wits,’ repeated Thor seriously. ‘And yours are as blunt as your [...]
The Lay of Vafthrudnir – Myth 15
SUCH FEVER IN MY BLOOD!’ cried Odin. ‘I so long to range far and wide.’ Allfather prowled up and down Valaskjalf as if he were caged. ‘What do you think, Frigg? I’ve a mind to visit Vafthrudnir in his high hall.’ ‘I would rather the Father of Warriors stayed in Asgard, home of the gods,’ [...]
The Lay of Thrym – Myth 14
WHEN THOR AWOKE and reached out to grasp his hammer, it was not there. The Hurler leaped up. He tousled and tangled his red beard; his hair bristled as he searched for Mjollnir. ‘Listen, Loki!’ said Thor. ‘No god in Asgard has seen my hammer; no man in Midgard has seen my hammer: it has [...]