Many stories were told of Thor's adventures, when visiting
Jötunheim, the abode of the giants. In a drinking-match he tried to drain
a horn of liquor, not knowing that one end of the horn reached the sea, which
was appreciably lowered by the god's huge draughts. He sought to lift from the
ground a large, gray cat, but struggle as he might, could raise only one of the
animal's feet. What Thor took for a cat, however, was really the Midgard
serpent, which, with its tail in its mouth, encircled the earth. In the last
trial of strength Thor wrestled with an old woman, and after a violent contest
was thrown down upon one knee. But the hag was in truth relentless old age, who
sooner or later lays low all men.
MYTH OF BALDER
Most beautiful and best beloved of the Scandinavian
divinities was Odin's son, Balder. He was represented as a gentle deity of
innocence and righteousness. As long as he lived, evil could gain no real
control in the world and the power of the gods would remain unshaken. To
preserve Balder from all danger his mother Frigga required everything on earth
to swear never to harm her son. Only a single plant, the mistletoe, did not
take the oath. Then the traitor Loki gathered the mistletoe and came to an
assembly where the gods were hurling all kinds of missiles at Balder, to show
that nothing could hurt him. Loki asked the blind Höder to throw the plant
at Balder. Höder did so, and Balder fell dead. The gods tried to recover
him from Hel, the gloomy underworld, but Hel demanded as his ransom a tear from
every living creature. Gods, men, and even things inanimate wept for Balder,
except one cruel giantess—Loki in disguise-- who would not give a single tear.
She said, "Neither living nor dead was Balder of any use to me. Let Hel
keep what it has."
