The Prose Edda (11 page)
Authors: Snorri Sturluson
âThor left the goats behind and began the trip east into Giant Land, all the way to the sea. From there he continued out over the deep ocean. When he came to land he went ashore, and with him were Loki, Thjalfi and Roskva. After they had travelled a little while they came to a large forest. They continued walking that whole day until dark. Thjalfi, who was faster than anybody else, carried Thor's food bag. They were low on supplies.
âWhen it became dark they looked for a place to spend the night and came across a very large hall. At one end was a door as wide as the hall itself, where they sought quarters for the evening. But in the middle of the night there was a powerful earthquake; the ground heaved under them and the house shook. Thor stood up and called to his companions. They searched and found a side room on the right, towards the middle of the hall, and they went in. Thor placed himself in the doorway, and the others, who were scared, stayed behind him further inside. Thor held the hammer by its handle, intending to defend himself. Then they heard a loud noise and a roaring din.
âAt sunrise, Thor went outside and saw a man lying in the forest a short distance from him. The man snored heavily as he slept, and he was not little. Thor then thought he understood the noise he had heard during the night. He put on his belt of strength, and divine power began to swell in him. But just at that moment the man awoke and quickly stood up. It is said that for once Thor was too startled to strike with the hammer.
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Instead he asked the man his name, and the other called himself Skrymir.
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â“And I do not need,” he said, “to ask your name. I know you are Thor of the Ãsir. But, have you dragged away my glove?”
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âSkrymir then reached out and picked up his glove. Thor now saw that during the night he had mistaken this glove for a hall. As for the side room, that was the glove's thumb. Skrymir asked
if Thor wanted to have his company on the journey, and Thor said yes. Then Skrymir took his food bag, untied it, and started to eat his breakfast. Thor and his companions did the same thing elsewhere. Skrymir next suggested that they pool their provisions, and Thor agreed. Skrymir tied together all their provisions in one bag and threw it over his shoulder. He went ahead during the day, taking rather large strides. Later, towards evening, Skrymir found them a place for the night under a great oak tree. Skrymir then told Thor that he wanted to lie down to sleep â “but you take the food bag and prepare your evening meal.”
âNext Skrymir fell asleep, snoring loudly, and Thor took the food bag, intending to untie it. There is this to tell, which may seem unbelievable, but Thor could not untie a single knot, nor was he able to loosen any of the straps. None was any looser than when he started. When Thor realized that his effort was being wasted, he became angry. Gripping the hammer Mjollnir with both hands, he strode with one foot out in front to where Skrymir lay and struck him on his head. But Skrymir awoke and asked whether a leaf from the tree had fallen on his head and whether they had eaten and were preparing to bed down. Thor replied that they were getting ready to go to sleep. They then moved to a place under another oak, and it can truly be said that it was not possible to sleep without fear.
âIn the middle of the night Thor could hear that Skrymir was sleeping soundly, the forest thundering with the sound of his snoring. Thor stood up and went over to him. Quickly he raised the hammer and with a hard blow struck Skrymir at the midpoint of his skull. He felt the hammer sink deeply into the head. But at that instant Skrymir awoke and said: “What now? Has some acorn fallen on my head? What's new with you, Thor?”
âThor quickly moved back and said that he had just awakened, adding that it was the middle of the night and there was still time to sleep. Then Thor resolved that, if he could get close enough to strike a third blow, he would arrange matters so that this meeting would be their last one.
âThor now lay awake watching for Skrymir to fall asleep. A
little before dawn, hearing that Skrymir was sleeping, Thor stood up and, running towards Skrymir, raised his hammer and, with all his might, struck Skrymir on the temple. The hammer sank up to its shaft, but then Skrymir sat up, brushed off the side of his head, and asked:
â“Are there some birds sitting in the tree above me? It seemed to me as I awoke that some leaves or twigs
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from the branches had fallen on my head. Are you awake, Thor? It is time to get up and get dressed. You don't have a long way to go to reach the stronghold, which is called Utgard. I have heard you whispering among yourselves that I am no small man, and you will see still larger men if you go to Utgard. Now I will give you some good advice: do not act arrogantly. The retainers of Utgarda-Loki will not tolerate bragging from such small fry as you. Your other choice is to turn back, and in my opinion that would be the best thing for you to do. But if you intend to continue, then head for the east. My path now leads me northward to those mountains that you can now see.”
âSkrymir took the food bag and threw it on to his back. He turned sharply and headed north into the forest, leaving the others. In this parting, there is no report that the Ãsir mentioned they were looking forward to meeting him again.
âThor and his companions continued on their journey, travelling until midday. Then they saw a fortress standing on a plain, and it was so big that in order to see over it they had to bend their necks all the way back. They approached the fortress, but the front entrance gate was shut. Thor went to the gate and tried to open it, but after struggling to open the stronghold, they finally had to squeeze between the bars. Entering in this way, they saw a large hall and approached it. The door was open, and inside they saw many people sitting on two benches; most of them were rather large.
âThey went before the king, Utgarda-Loki, and greeted him, but he took his time in noticing them. Then he said, grinning through his teeth: “News travels slowly from distant parts, but am I wrong in thinking that this little fellow is Thor the Charioteer? Surely there is more to you than meets the eye. Tell me, companions, in what skills do you think you are capable of competing? No one can stay here with us who does not have some skill or knowledge greater than other men.”
âThen he who stood at the back of the group, the one called Loki, spoke up: “I have a skill in which I am ready to be tested. No one here in the hall will prove quicker than I at eating his food.”
âUtgarda-Loki answered, “That would be an accomplishment, if you are up to it, and feats such as that will be put to the test.” Next he called out to the end of the bench to the one who was called Logi [Fire] and told him to come forward on to the floor and pit himself against Loki. Then a trough filled with meat was brought in and set on the hall floor. Loki placed himself at one end and Logi at the other. Each began to eat as fast as he could, and they met in the middle of the trough. Loki had eaten all the meat from the bones, but Logi had eaten not only the meat but also the bones and even the trough. To everyone it seemed that Loki had lost the contest.
âThen Utgarda-Loki asked in what the youngster could compete. Thjalfi replied that he would run a race against whomever Utgarda-Loki chose. Utgarda-Loki called that a fine sport, but said that Thjalfi would have to be very quick if he intended to win. Utgarda-Loki made it clear that the matter would quickly be put to the test. Next Utgarda-Loki stood up and went outside where there was a good running course over the flat plain. He called a little fellow named Hugi to come to him and ordered him to run a race with Thjalfi. They ran the first race, and Hugi was so far in the lead that he turned around at the end and faced his opponent.
âThen Utgarda-Loki said, “Thjalfi, you will need to exert yourself more if you are to win the contest. Yet it is true that no one else has come here who seemed to me faster on his feet than you.”
âThen they began to race for a second time. When Hugi came
to the end of the course he turned around, but Thjalfi was behind him by the distance of a long bow shot.
âUtgarda-Loki then said: “I think Thjalfi knows how to run a good race, but I have no faith that he will win. Now comes the test; let them run the third race.” When Hugi reached the end of the race and turned around, Thjalfi had not even reached the midpoint of the course. Everyone then said that the contest was over.
âUtgarda-Loki asked Thor what feat he wanted to show them, as so many tales were told about his exploits. Thor answered that he would most like to pit himself against someone in drinking. Utgarda-Loki said that this contest could easily be arranged. He went into the hall and called to his cupbearer, telling him to bring the feasting horn from which his retainers usually drank. The cupbearer quickly brought the horn and placed it in Thor's hand.
âThen Utgarda-Loki said, “It is thought that drinking from this horn is well done if it is emptied in one drink. Some drain it in two, but no one is such a small-time drinker that he cannot finish it in three.”
âThor eyed the horn, and it did not seem to be very large, although it was rather long. He was quite thirsty and began to drink, swallowing hugely and thinking that it would not be necessary to bend himself over the horn more than once. When he had drunk as much as he could, he bent back from the horn and looked in to see how much drink remained. It seemed to him that the level in the horn was only slightly lower than it had been before.
âUtgarda-Loki then said, “Good drinking, although not all that much. I would not have believed it if I had been told that Thor of the Ãsir would not have drunk more, but I know that you will drain it in a second drink.”
âThor gave no reply but put the horn to his mouth and resolved to take a larger drink. He struggled with it as long as he could hold his breath and noticed that he could not lift up the bottom end of the horn as much as he would have liked. When he lowered the horn from his mouth and looked in, it seemed to him that the level had gone down even less than it
had in the first try, although there was now enough space at the top of the horn above the liquid to carry the drink without spilling it.
âUtgarda-Loki asked, “What now, Thor? Are you going to be so brave that you will take one sip more than is good for you? It seems to me that if you want to take a third drink from the horn, then it will have to be the biggest. But among us here, you will not be known as great a man as the Ãsir call you, unless you give a better account of yourself in other contests than it seems to me you are doing in this one.”
âThen Thor grew angry. Placing the horn to his mouth, he drank with all his might, continuing as long as he could. When he looked into the horn he could see at least some difference. Then he gave the horn back and would drink no more.
âUtgarda-Loki said, “Clearly your strength is not as great as we thought, but will you still try your hand in other contests? It is obvious that you are not going to succeed here.”
âThor replied: “I will make a try at still another game. But when I was home among the Ãsir, I would have found it strange if such drinks were called little. What sort of contest will you offer me now?”
âUtgarda-Loki replied, “Here among us, little boys do something that is thought a rather small matter: they lift my cat off the ground. But I would not have thought it possible to propose such a thing to Thor of the Ãsir if I had not already seen that your strength is much less than I had thought.”
âNow a grey cat, and rather a large one, jumped out on to the floor of the hall. Thor approached it, and, placing his hand under the middle of the belly, started to lift up the cat. But as much as Thor raised his hand the cat arched its back. When Thor had reached as high as he could, one of the cat's paws was lifted off the ground. Beyond this effort, Thor could do no more.
âThen Utgarda-Loki said, “This contest has gone as I expected it would. The cat is rather large, whereas Thor is short and small compared with the larger men among us here.”
âThor replied, “Although you call me little, let someone come forward and wrestle with me! Now I am angry!”
âUtgarda-Loki looked over the benches and replied, “Here
inside, I do not see any man who would find it dignified to wrestle with you.” Then he went on, “But wait, first let us see. Call my nurse, the old woman Elli, to come here, and let Thor wrestle with her, if he wants to. She has thrown to the ground men who seemed to me to be no less strong than Thor.”
âNext an old woman walked into the hall. Utgarda-Loki said she should wrestle with Thor of the Ãsir. The story is not long to tell. The match went this way: the more Thor threw his strength into the grappling, the more steadfastly she stood her ground. Then the old crone showed her skill. Thor lost his footing and the contest grew fiercer. It was not long before Thor fell to one knee. Then Utgarda-Loki intervened. He told them to stop the contest, saying that there was no need for Thor to challenge others to wrestle in his hall. By then it was late at night. Utgarda-Loki showed Thor and his companions to places on the benches, and there they were treated well for the rest of the night.
âIn the morning, at first light, Thor and his companions stood up, dressed and prepared to leave. Utgarda-Loki then came in and had a table set for them. There was no lack of hospitality as to food or drink. When they finished eating they turned to leave. Utgarda-Loki stayed with them, accompanying them as they left the fortress. At their parting, Utgarda-Loki asked Thor how he thought the trip had gone and whether Thor had ever met a man more powerful. Thor replied that he could not deny that he had been seriously dishonoured in their encounter: “Moreover, I know that you will say that I am a person of little account and that galls me.”