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was approaching. He then invited Thor and his companions to sit down at the table, and spend the night with him as his guests. Thor, though feeling somewhat perplexed and mortified, accepted his invitation courte5 ously, and showed, by his agreeable behavior during the evening, that he knew how to bear being conquered with a good grace.

In the morning, when Thor and his companions were leaving the city, the King himself accompanied them 10 without the gates; and Thor, looking steadily at him when he turned to bid him farewell, perceived, for the first time, that he was the very same Giant Skrymir with whom he had met in the forest.

"Come now, Thor," said the giant, with a strange sort 15 of smile on his face, "tell me truly, before you go, how you think your journey has turned out, and whether or not I was right in saying that you would meet with better men than yourself in Giants' Home."

"I confess freely," answered Thor, looking up without 20 any false shame on his face, "that I have borne myself but humbly, and it grieves me; for I know that in Giants' Home, henceforward, it will be said I am a man of little worth."

"By my troth! no," cried the giant, heartily. "Never 25 should you have come into my city if I had known what a mighty man of valor you really are; and now that you are safely out of it, I will, for once, tell the truth to you,

Thor. All this time I have been deceiving you by my enchantments. When you met me in the forest, and hurled your Miölner at my head, I should have been crushed by the weight of your blows had I not skillfully placed a mountain between myself and you, on which 5 the strokes of your hammer fell, and where you cleft three deep ravines, which shall henceforth become verdant valleys. In the same manner I deceived you about the contests in which you engaged last night. When Loki and Logi sat down before the trough, Loki, 10 indeed, ate like hunger itself; but Logi is fire, who, with eager, consuming tongue, licked up both bones and trough. Thialfi is the swiftest of mortal runners; but the slender lad, Hugi, was my thought; and what speed can ever equal his? So it was in your own trials. When you took such deep drafts from the horn, you little knew what a wonderful feat you were performing. The other end of that horn reached the ocean, and when you come to the shore you will see how far its waters have fallen away, and how much the deep sea itself 20 has been diminished by your draft. Hereafter, men watching the going out of the tide will call it the ebb, or draft of Thor. Scarcely less wonderful was the prowess you displayed in the second trial. What appeared to you to be a cat, was, in reality, the serpent 25 which encircles the world. When we saw you succeed in moving it, we trembled lest the very foundations of

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earth and sea should be shaken by your strength. Nor need you be ashamed of having been overthrown by the old woman, for she is old age; and there never has, and never will be, one whom she has not the power to lay low. 5 We must now part, and you had better not come here again, or attempt anything further against my city; for I shall always defend it by fresh enchantments, and you will never be able to do anything against me."

At these words Thor raised Miölner, and was about to 10 challenge the giant to a fresh trial of strength; but, before he could speak, Skrymir vanished from his sight; and, turning round to look for the city, he found that it, too, had disappeared, and that he was standing alone on a smooth, green, empty plain.

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"What a fool I have been," said Thor, aloud, "to allow myself to be deceived by a mountain giant!”

"Ah," answered a voice from above, "I told you, you would learn to know yourself better by your journey to Giants' Home. It is the great use of traveling." 20 Thor turned quickly round again, thinking to see Skrymir behind him; but, after looking on every side, he could perceive nothing, but that a high, cloud-capped mountain, which he had noticed on the horizon, appeared to have advanced to the edge of the plain.

A. AND E. KEARY: The Heroes of Asgard.

HELPS TO STUDY

2.

I. 1. What three travelers started for the Giants' Home? Describe their journey; their experience that night. 3. What caused the noise that disturbed them? 4. Compare Thor and Skrymir. 5. What was the hall the travelers had slept in? 6. How did Thor try his strength upon the giant? 7. What advice did Thor get? 8. Describe the Giants' Home and the giants who sat around the table. 9. Tell the story of Loki's defeat; of Thialfi's defeat.

II. 1. Tell the story of the drinking match; of lifting the great gray cat; of wrestling with the old crone. 2. How did Thor, after all his failures, show himself a gentleman? 3. How did the giant receive his confession of failure? 4. How had the giant defended himself from Miölner? 5. Who was Logi? 6. What had Thor really tried to drink? 7. What was the cat? the old crone? 8. Milton speaks of "the thoughts that wander through eternity." Which contest does this line of poetry make you think of? 9. What lesson did Thor learn from these experiences? 10. How does Skrymir compare in cleverness with the giant, Atlas? with Cyclops?

For Study with the Glossary. I. Thialfi, Miölner, Skrymir, wallet, uncouthly, manikin, Logi, Hugi. II. Utgard, Elli, troth.

SIEGFRIED THE VOLSUNG

The chief hero of the ancient German tribes was Siegfried. His deeds have been told in many old poems and tales and in modern times have been the subject of William Morris's Sigurd the Volsung and of Wagner's famous opera Siegfried. Like most stories of ancient peoples, these tell of feuds between families, of fierce fights, cruel deeds, and many enchantments; but they tell also of many virtues, bravery, generosity, and kindliness.

Volsung, a great prince of the Northland, was a son of the god Odin himself. Volsung had ten sons, the eldest of whom, Sigmund, was the father of Siegfried. All these sons were slain in a great feud which began at the ill-fated marriage feast of their sister. A stranger had come to the feast bearing a sword which he had smote deep into the heart of a great oak. "To him that can draw it forth, I give this sword," said the stranger and quickly disappeared. All the warriors tried in vain to draw forth the sword, including the bridegroom, King Siggeir. But all failed until Sigmund came forward, and as he touched the sword it leapt forth into his hand. This aroused the anger of Siggeir, and so began the famous feud. The sword had stood Sigmund in good stead until the last battle. Then the same stranger who gave the sword tall, one-eyed, and grey-bearded - appeared again, and against his spear the good sword split in two pieces.

Sigmund alone recognized that the stranger was Odin, and he treasured the pieces of the broken sword and gave them to his wife to preserve, that they might be welded again into a mighty weapon for their unborn son Siegfried.

Then the Queen fled to Denmark, bearing with her Sigmund's treasure and with it the pieces of his sword,

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