Thor's Wonderful Journey

One morning Thor asked Loki, the fire-god, if he would like to go with him to Utgard, the stronghold of the giants, where he was going to try to conquer those fierce enemies of Asgard with his mighty hammer. Loki was glad to go with him, and the two gods started out in Thor's chariot, drawn by two goats.

Thor often went on journeys, so the dwellers in Asgard did not wonder to see him getting ready for a long drive. As Thor and Loki drove along, the heavy chariot rattled, making thunder echo among the hills. People in our world, down below in Midgard, heard the rumbling and said, "What a heavy thunderstorm! How the thunder crashes and rumbles!"

Toward evening the travelers stopped at a peasant's hut. Thor alighted from his chariot and went to the door to ask for shelter for the night. "I will gladly give you a room, but I have no food in the house," said the man who opened the door. "Oh, never mind that," said Thor. "I will provide the food." Thor and Loki stayed the night at the peasant's hut. They found the family within: the man, his wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. All looked on in great surprise to see Thor kill his two goats and cook them for the evening meal. "Eat all you wish of the meat," said Thor, "but be careful not to break any of the bones; throw them all into the two skins I have spread upon the floor."

The boy, whose name was Thialfe, wondered why Thor said this. He happened to have a piece of the leg-bone and thought there could be no harm in breaking it open to get the soft marrow inside. Thor was just then talking to Loki and did not notice what had been done. But next morning the boy learned a lesson he never forgot.

When Thor was ready to leave the next day, he held his magic hammer over the skins where the bones lay. Suddenly the goats became whole again and stood there as before, except that one of them limped with its hind leg. Then young Thialfe understood why Thor had told them not to break the bones. At first, when he saw Thor's angry face and how he grasped his hammer, the boy was frightened and wanted to run away. But soon he remembered it would be cowardly to do that, so he went to Thor and asked his forgiveness. The mighty thunder-god, though often angry, was always just and kind. After scolding the boy as he deserved, he freely forgave him and said that he and his sister might go along with Loki and him on their journey.

The four started off after saying good-bye to the peasant and his wife, leaving the chariot and goats in their care, for it seemed best to finish the journey on foot.

At nightfall they entered a thick forest, through which they wandered for miles. Suddenly they came upon a house—a very strange house. The wide front door opened into a big room; at the left was a small room, and just opposite the front door were four long, narrow rooms. The travelers wondered to find a house in the depths of a forest, but they were glad to have shelter for the night, and all lay down for a good rest. Soon after midnight they were awakened by groans and strange sounds, and the earth began to tremble. Thor sent his companions into the farthest room, grasped his hammer, and stood guard by the door. At daybreak he set out to find what had caused the noise. He had not gone far when he came upon a huge giant lying on the ground asleep. Thor realized the giant was making the earth tremble with his snoring, which must have been the sound they heard in the night.

While Thor looked at the giant, he awoke and spoke. "Ho, ho! I think you little fellow must be Thor, of whom I have often heard. But really, I did not think you were quite so small! Now the sun is up, and I must be off. But where is my other glove? Oh, here it is, on the ground!" The giant stooped and picked up his glove, which was the very house where the four travelers had spent the night—the big front door where the hand went in, the thumb for the side room, and the four narrow finger rooms opposite the door.

"If you are going my way, you may come along with me," said the giant. So they journeyed together for one day, but even mighty Thor could hardly keep up with the giant's long strides.

When night came, the giant stopped under a large oak tree and said, "I am going to sleep. You may eat your supper if you wish; here is a bag full of things." Saying this, he fell asleep and soon began snoring. But when Thor tried to open the bag of food, he could not untie the cord. This made him angry, for the giant had tied their food in his own bag. He looked at the huge figure lying before him asleep, and thinking what a mean trick the giant had played, Thor seized the magic hammer and threw it at him.

"Did a leaf fall on me?" said the giant sleepily. "Haven't you eaten your supper yet? Well, I am going to sleep again." Soon he was snoring louder than before. Thor grasped his hammer tighter and threw it with such strength that it seemed it must have killed the giant. But again he rubbed his eyes and said, "I thought an acorn fell on my head!" He had hardly spoken when he fell asleep again.

Then a third time Thor hurled his hammer with all his strength. It seemed to hit the giant in the forehead and was buried out of sight, but the giant only said, "I think there must be birds overhead in this tree; I thought a feather dropped on me. Are you awake, Thor? I think we'd better continue our journey. If you are bound to go to Utgard, I will show you the way, but I advise you to go home instead. You will find bigger fellows than me in Utgard!"

But Thor had made up his mind to go on, and nothing could make him change. At noontime the four friends left their giant guide, whose path led another way. They had not traveled far when Thor saw a large city looming before them, and soon they came to Utgard, the home of the fierce giants.

Although surrounded by high walls, Thor and his friends were able to creep through the bars of the great gate. When they came to the palace and found the door open, they went in. There sat all the giants with their king, Utgard-Loki, at their head. This giant king was a very different Loki from the mischievous fire-god from Asgard who now stood before him.

Upon seeing the four strangers, the king of the giants said, "Why, this must be the god Thor. I really did not suppose you were such a little fellow, Thor! But probably you are stronger than you look. Now, before you sit at our table, you must each show some proof of your strength."

Loki, who was very hungry, said he could eat more than anyone else. So the king called one of the giants forward and said to Loki, "If you can indeed eat more than one of my men, you will perform a great feat." A huge trough full of meat was brought in. Loki began eating at one end while the giant began at the other. They reached the center together, but Loki had eaten only the meat, while the giant had devoured meat, bones, trough, and all.

Thialfe, the peasant boy, took his turn next and boasted he was the fastest runner of them all. "Oh," said the king, "it will be a most wonderful feat if you can win a race against one of my men!" The first time Thialfe ran the course, he kept ahead until near the end and was beaten by only a few yards. The second time he did worse, and the third time he was only halfway around when the giant reached the goal.

Thor was not at all discouraged by the others' failure, and he proposed a drinking match. So the king brought forth a long drinking horn, saying, "My men usually empty this in one draught if they are very thirsty, though sometimes they take two or three swallows." Thor put his lips to the horn and took one long, deep pull, thinking he had surely emptied it. To his surprise, the water had only lowered a few inches. He lifted the horn again, feeling sure he would empty it this time, yet he did no better than before. The king said, "You have left a great deal for your last drink!" This made Thor try his very best, but it was no use; he could not empty the horn.

"So you are not as strong as you seemed, after all! Do you care to try anything else?" said the king in a mocking tone. "Oh, certainly, anything you like!" replied Thor. "Well," said the king, "I will give you something easy this time, since I see you are not as strong as I expected. You may try to lift this cat from the floor; it would be mere child's play for one of my men." Thor put out his hand to lift the cat, but he could raise only one paw, though he used all his strength.

"Well, it is no more than I expected!" said the king. "You boast of your strength, but you do not show it." By now Thor was very angry and spoke fiercely, "I will challenge any one of you to fight with me!" The king looked around the hall to find someone small enough to wrestle with Thor. Then he said, "All my men are too large; I shall have to send for one of the women!" Soon a bent old woman came hobbling in, and Thor thought it would be nothing to overcome her. But the longer they wrestled, the stronger the old woman became. At last, when it was clear she was going to win and Thor had been thrown to the floor, the king called for them to stop.

Thor and his friends were then invited to sit at the feast. The next morning, after a good breakfast, they started on their journey homeward. Utgard-Loki went with them to the city gate. As they were about to part, the king said, "Do you find it as easy as you expected to overthrow the giants?" "No," said Thor, too honest to hide his shame. "I am vexed that I have done so little, and I know after this failure you will all laugh at my weakness." "No, indeed," replied the king. "Since you are now well outside our stronghold, I will tell you the truth about what you saw there, and I will take care not to let you get in again. You have greatly surprised us all, for we did not dream you were so strong, and I have had to use magic to hold out against you.

"When you met the first giant in the forest, you would have killed him with your hammer if he had not put a mountain between himself and you. Loki was a wonderful eater, but we matched him against fire, and who can devour more than fire? The boy was a swift runner, and I had to make him race against thought to beat him; what can be swifter than thought? The horn from which you drank was the ocean, and you took such a mighty draught that the people in Midgard saw the tide ebb. It was really not a cat you tried to lift, but the Midgard Serpent, and you pulled him so far that we feared he would let go. Then you wrestled with Old Age, and who can overcome Old Age?"

With these words the giant king vanished, and Thor, looking around, saw the city of Utgard was also gone. Then silently, but with many thoughts of these strange things, Thor and Loki, with the boy and the girl, made their way back to Asgard.