#+SETUPFILE: ../../../template/level-2.org
#+TITLE: odin's saga 2
#+DATE: <2006-12-01 Fri>
#+AUTHOR: vaeringjar
#+EMAIL: vaeringjar@land
#+DESCRIPTION: 
#+KEYWORDS: edda





















Odinssaga
by Alan Shea Anderson-Priddy

Written as a story that is told aloud, first person, past tense well after the fact. 




Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - To Slay the Beast, Ymir	3
Chapter 2 - Tyr and the Alfar	15
Chapter 3 - Kvasir, The Good in the Bad	20
Chapter 4 - Casting an Eye	21
Chapter 5 - Skadi's Assault on Asgard	27
Chapter 6 - The Sacrifice at Yggdrasyl	28
Chapter 7 - Harbard's Song, Harbardzljod	31
Chapter 8 - Odin's Return from the Dead	37
Chapter 9 - Loki's Quarrel, Lokasenna	38
Chapter 10 - Epilogue, After the Doom	45
Chapter 11 - Appendices	46
Appendix 11.A - NOTES, AXIOMS, DECISIONS	46
Appendix 11.B - LINGUISTICS	47
Appendix 11.C - ODIN'S STEPS TOWARD PREVENTING RAGNAROK	48
Appendix 11.D - THE PLOT, OBJECTIVE THIRD-PERSON	49
Appendix 11.E - ACCORDING TO KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND	54
Appendix 11.F - UNANSWERED QUESTIONS	55

Chapter 1 -  To Slay the Beast, Ymir
Darkness. The smell of hot soup from down the hall. The door to my room cracked open allowing only a slim crack of light in. The light from the open door divided me from my sleeping brothers but the angle crossed over to my right eye. 

Just enough light. Enough to read by if I had had a book. We were all still so young, but we would grow up fast. Our parents were in the other room. Eating soup. The old wooden door to the front of the house creaked slowly. More people. I thought I could hear my father dap a spot of grease on the hinges. Not the act itself, but as he fanned the door open and shut and open again it made a soft wind that made the door to our bedroom wave. The crack of light grew and shrank. Eventually the front door made no more noise and the air settled. But I could still hear the sound of people entering, usually in pairs every few minutes. Many of the visitors ate the soup and it made me hungry. The smell and the thought of eating kept me awake. The light from the door across my face and curiosity egged me even further. 

What time was it? Summer had faded into autumn months ago. Longer nights and clouds deceived my senses. The new moon and and starless sky could have been early morning. It was cold enough and I felt awake and rested. Many mornings would I wake to see my father down the hall making a hot breakfast. But tonight's company I have never seen. Nor heard before. 

Then after they were finished eating in silence, I heard the whispers of my parents. Footsteps came down the hall and shadows blocked the light over my eye. I held perfectly still and then the door opened. Two people walked in and the dusty light came from behind them. I could feel my brothers move, reacting to the sudden light on their faces, but I was still in the shadow of the figures. They took two steps closer into the room and then I could tell who was paying me the visit. 

"This could be the last time," my grandmother lightly whispered. She smelled of sweet honey and berries like she always did. I remember thinking it, but now, I can only remember the memory. With all I have uncovered about the world, none of it can bring back the actual memory of her smell. But if I would recognize it in an instant if smelled it again. 

"Let them sleep," my grandfather replied in his low voice. He smelled like grandmother also, but his hair was also a bit smokey and he always seemed to bring the cold air with him. I squinted open my eyes to watch them watching my brothers sleep. 

"I have something here," Grandfather motioned to his large bag. He never parted with it. He quietly dug inside and handed to Grandmother three small boxes that she placed accordingly next to our shoes. Then he stood there motionless as Grandmother finished arranging things. I knew she was trying to make things nice. My grandfather's shadow still blocked me from the light and so he was still just an outline. We started at each other, unaware. Did he know I was awake? And why were out grandparents here? Grandmother returned to his side, doubling the shadow all over the room. 

"Shall we then?" my grandfather asked. 

"Yes, everyone's waiting for us now," she returned in her small whisper. She left down the hall, but Grandfather stayed a moment longer. 

Finally he turned towards the growing company in the other room. But as he was shutting the door he paused. 

"Take care, grandson. And get some sleep." And then he shut the door and I blanked out. 

*****

My grandfather always spoke of how he had been released from the prison of the ice. Audhumla, the goddess of aurochs, licked the ice until all that remained looked like a man. Grandfather sat down with me when I was young to tell me all about it. The trouble was that even though he was there for the deicing, he could remember almost as much about it as I could my own birth. 

"She told me very little. That some day I, or one of my line, would be responsible for repairing the damage that was Ymir. To this day we still endure the pain of Ymir and the strife of his children." He would go on like that until the subject changed. 

The subject never changed, not until I was older. For the first few years of my life, when Vili and Ve were too young to remember, this was all he spoke of. Grandfather spent his life fighting Ymir. "Our family, he would say, "has spent a lifetime in a small area of the world on the edge of the nonthingness of the Ginningugap, the ices of the north, the fiery sands of the south, the mountains of the east, and the wide ocean of the west." I had known very little in my years at the time. 

There is much that I cannot remember anymore, and much more than I never knew. My mother and father were Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn, and Bur, son of Buri--Grandfather Buri. My brothers were Vili and Ve. I never knew my grandmothers' names. Our home was the edge of the sky before it touched the ground near the shores of the ocean. But Ymir was ever-present, and even though our grandfather Buri might have known of the world beyond, before he was encased in the ice, all that I knew was simple and terrible. Grandfather's tales of the world beyond did little to soften life. 

I am Vodin, and that was the most I knew for a very long time. My brothers and I, we knew nothing but the creek, the beach it lead to, and the forest around it. Grandfather Buri told us of land, mud, and clay, but there was the nothingness of the gap. All around us, but only the sliver of existence. "Everything is consumed or shall be consumed by Ymir, my child," he would say, not to scare us, but to remind us. "I am nothing more, now, than the servant of Audhumla. Never forget this, her, or me, else you all be lost."

Ymir was the giant of giants, the father of the frost giants, the chief Jotunn. "He is not a god! We will never allow him that!" Grandfather knew that if Ymir found a way out of the edge of the gap into the world he would rise to power. He would destroy everything, not that I knew what everything was yet. Grandfather told me stories to help fill in the blanks, but things usually defaulted to Ymir. "When he sleeps he breaks out into sweat. It beads up between his legs and there the frost giants are born." 

The repeating theme of an old warrior gone mad, all too common is every history of Earth. Buri had been waiting for the perfect moment to strike Ymir. But over the years he spoke of it less and less. I think my father was tired of hearing about it. But then he took on the torch of telling my brothers. 

*****

The next morning was very strange. I can only tell you what I know, but some of that comes from what I remember and the rest from evidence left behind. 

My brothers were awake first as if they could sense the gifts that our grandparents had placed neatly by our shoes. My brothers, like the twins they were, both received toy longships. The design was so accurate that had we shrank ourselves down by some magic, we could have set sail for the other side of the world. 

My gift seemed less impressive at the time. It was a necklace of wooden beads. At the end, hanging out of place was a key. I picked it up and the beads rattled faintly. The key felt colder than ice. It was old and made of blue metal. 

"Let's go try out our new ships."

"We can race them down the creek to the waves!"

Together my brothers would ally with themselves and sometimes that meant without me. They stomped outside before I even put on the necklace. 

I walked around the house looking for clues as to why there had been a large gathering. But there was nothing except the lack of anything. The dishes were clean and on the table was the usual setting of breakfast that happened once every two weeks when Mother and Father both had business. 

My brothers and I took these days off to play. Vili and Ve had grabbed and gobbled some of the portion of the food as they had run off. I sat down at the table and took a bite of the cold jam on thin rye bread. It felt stale, like maybe our parents left earlier than usual. No butter. 

Our house had one glass window in the kitchen which was rare at the time. The sun was peeking through the clouds. It was cold enough that a sprinkle of snow from a week ago still lightly covered the ground. The air was dry and wind blew just fast enough to give notice. 

But after a few minutes I saw something outside that started to answer my questions. 

*****

Outside I found my father's walking stick. It wasn't right that he would have left it; it was outside on the ground. I picked it up. My father who was still taller than me was at least two heads shorter than the stick. I looked straight up at the head of the walking stick. But above that was one of the branches of the ash tree. On it was my father. 

Panic. Where are my brothers? I thought. The creek. I dropped the walking stick and sprinted down the path to the creek. I thought he was dead. I ran as quickly as I could until my breakfast caught up to me. I started to feel like I was about to vomit in mid-gallop down a small hill. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, scraping my hands. I swallowed hard, but the reflex was too much and I lost to my stomach, quivering and drooling out the last of it. My hands would be okay but I had to wait until the heaves subsided before I could wipe the dirt away and pull out the slivers in my palms. 

I was glad I threw up because it took my mind away from what I saw in the tree. I was out of breath from running, but I was calming down. Drool pooled up on the dirt path and I stared at a leaf in front of me. It was brown and dried out with veins scattered around like lightning in slow motion. Endless salivation. My eyelids sagged, I felt removed, but I focused on the leaf. I closed my eyes but I could still see it from memory. Father in the tree. The veins of the leaf. My breathing was out of control and my head felt light. I gulped a rock of nausea down to my gut. The pain was going and I took a deep breath. I stood up and rubbed my stomach hoping the warmth might take away what I had seen. 

Father was missing his legs. What did that? I wanted to turn around in circles to see if something was following me, but I stood petrified in fear and illness. All I could see was the forest and the path that lead to the creek. No one, not my brothers, not a stranger, not even the rest of father. I took one last deep breath in and out and back in again and then continued to run down the trail. 

*****

It was a beautiful day out. The air was cold but not completely freezing. The sky was dark blue. I could see my breath but the frost on the ground was melting in places where the sunlight touched. I was the loudest noise in the forest. I wasn't paying enough attention. 

When finally I rounded the last turn of the path to the creek, there were my brothers playing with their new toys and they were completely unaware of the body floating slowly behind them, downstream. 

I held my breath, fighting my burning lungs and holding back tears. They were on the other side of the water facing boats with backs turned towards me and whoever was washing their way out to the sea. My brothers were four years younger, almost nine. They didn't care about getting wet or cold as long as they were together. I fought my breathing until I heard them laugh at Vili's boat beaching itself. I wasn't out in the open, but I was visible on the path. I needed to get them back to me but I wanted to keep it secret. There was no immediate danger, just the chance of two terrified kids. I didn't need the attention of our father's killer because my brothers lost their nerve. 

*****

We were not allowed to go north or south except to go to and from the house and the creek. My brothers and I were supposed to always be careful of strangers, especially if our parents were not with us. It had only happened once. I was alone in the house resting in bed, sitting up. I had cut my foot on a rock in the creek. My brothers were at the creek with Father and Grandfather and Grandmother. Mother was outside in the field. I could see out the window to where she should have been, but all I could see was vegetation, the crops, tall grass, and the trees. It was a warm summer day and the wind blew the tops of the trees gently back and forth. 

Then pounding came from the door. It kept on getting louder and angrier. I wanted to hide but the noise froze me in place. I had trouble breathing; I had never been so scared. 

"Bestla, come out!" he shouted. Usually when I heard people say my mother's name I phased it out and replace the name with "mom" in my conscious thoughts. I could not do that right now. 

I turned my head back to the window, but Mother was gone. The wind blew a gust. I focused on the sound of the air, but it paled in comparison to the front door, now apparently the drum of a mad man. 

The door had a special lock but the intruder broke through. He splintered the door, crying out my mother's name. He stomped from room to room, crashing over chairs and shouldering into door frames. I still sat in my bed. Then he found me. I was confused and terrified. He was dressed better than anyone I had ever known and he was strong and handsome for someone so enraged. But his huge blue eyes told the story of a murderer and his grin, when he saw me, showed that he liked this; he enjoyed frightening people. 

*****

Grandmother was a collector and to a smaller extent so was my father. Something of the mother rubbed off on to the son. When I was young it was harder to see. I could understand other things better. I used to watch ants in long trails marching from the garbage heap back into the woods. To me it made sense. 

But I could not eat garbage. For me, gathering berries was more intuitive. My brothers and I would collect a bucketful of them and bring back what we spared from snacking to Grandmother. She made jam, along with other jarred and bottled foods that would last for years. To me, back then, I thought it would last forever. 

*****

"The Ginningugap was the nothingness and in it was Ymir." Our parents made us say these words often so we would not forget them. But we never were told exactly what it meant. I blame this on old memory. Either we were too young to understand or our parents were keeping something from us. Or something more?

"What is the Ginningugap?" Vili asked father one night. The sky was clear and cold. Spring had melted some of the snow and we could hear the usual sound of the overflowing creek. 

We sat inside on the wooden floor. A warm fire lit the dusty room. Father smiled and walked to the window. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned to Vili. "Do you see the stars?"

My brother nodded. 

"The Ginningugap, The Gap, is everywhere where the stars are."

"You call Mommy a star. Does that mean she is in the Gap?"

With Ymir? I remember thinking, but I kept quiet. But the idea was correct. Ymir was here with us, somewhere. 

*****

The body felt like it took an hour to float down the river past my brothers. It was an older man, possibly a friend of my father's. He was intact but he was face down. I tried to breathe slower and finally I held my breath, but my beating heart pounded in my ears. I was sure my brothers would be able to hear it. 

*****

How could I keep it secret? I gathered my brothers with their ships. We headed back to the house. My brothers were starting to chill, their legs were turning pale blue from the cold creek water. I kept them moving to get them home. Inside it would be safer. The fast walk make their hearts warm them up. Vili complained and I told him to hush. Ve gloated with a smirk that he remained unscolded. I grabbed both of their hands and tugged them behind me. I wanted to go back to the long way to the backdoor so we could avoid seeing the remains of Father. 

Then the ground shook. Loud noises, stomping and the cracking of wood. The three of us froze in place. Vili squeezed my hand tighter and tighter. I started to smell smoke. Then the ground shook again and again. Each quake happened sooner and felt stronger than the one before. We could see trees ahead of us rocking back and forth. One of them fell over and then we heard a scream. I thought it was Mother, but I never found out for sure. I heard men yelling out and what sounded like a dozen whips repeatedly cracking on rocks. More trees fell over. The louder quaking stopped and I heard a deep roar that echoed and caused wind. 

I yanked around my brothers to run back down to the creek and hide in one of our play forts. Vili and Ve knew something bad was happening now, but they were very quiet about their fear. We had only run around a small bend in the path when we ran into Grandfather. 

He looked rugged and hurt. Over his head he wore a white bearskin with the upper-jaw and face above his eyebrows. The skin, which was new and terribly fearsome to me, flowed down his back as a cloak. I could see his regular carrying sack slung underneath. In his hands he held a large walking stick that was smoking at the top, near his shoulder. The disturbances continued behind my brothers and me, but we were so glad to see Grandfather. Vili and Ve pulled themselves out of my graphs and hugged him. Grandfather stared at me with pain and anger in his face, but I knew he was relieved. 

"I was looking for you," he said. 

I was out of breath again and the sounds of whipping and breaking stone made me startle. I started to cry silently as I thought about Father. Grandfather already guessed it. 

"I know. But we need to leave. Be strong for me. I need you." He was exhausted too. Finally he took his eyes off me and looked from side to side at my brothers. "They need you, too."

We traveled east, walking up the creek. The trail was less traveled but the sounds of battle in the distance drove us. This was a horrible dream come to life. My brothers and I knew just enough about the events to cloud our minds with terror and imagination. The feelings were so strong that our cold bodies ignored the winter. We walked farther up the creek than we were usually aloud to, to the point where the water came from the south off the side of the mountain as a waterfall as tall as a house. There was an old bridge just before the waterfall that lead to the mountain pass. 

The climb was a winding and steep ordeal through thick forest. The path looked well traveled enough. I saw deer droppings and frosted-over berry bushes, fruitless, waiting for a new season to come and take the frost away. Everything felt cold, and the higher we rose, the worse we felt. Grandfather trudged ahead, followed by Vili holding my hand, me holding Ve's hand, and Ve dragging behind. My brothers still had their boats in their free hands. 

"When we get to the top, just on the other side is a safe place," Grandfather assured us. It was the first thing anyone had said for what felt like a long time. The Vili and Ve started to whine, but I hushed them. Grandfather was staring to stumble and I cried hot tears on my frozen face. I stayed quiet. 

At the summit of the pass I had enough time to look back down while I urged Ve to keep walking. The sounds of the battle had faded across the distance. We could still hear very faint sounds of rocks. But looking west I saw that it was not over yet. In the endlessness of the sea ran the creek. North of it were lands I had never seen before. But I was not interested in that or anything beyond what had been our small strip of land. the high angle from the mountain altered how things looked. But not enough to keep the truth from me. Again I stayed quiet. 

Moments later we arrived at the safe place our grandfather told us about. From the outside it looked like a large knoll on the mountain ridge. The door was an illusion that looked like a solid face of rock, but it was actually a trick with unfrozen water, glimmering light, ice, and the surrounding vegetation. Inside we followed a short curved hallway before we came to a wooden door that opened up to a large room. The size of it was so vast and open that it could have held two life-sized versions of my brothers' toy boats.

Grandfather brought us over to a large bed and even though it was only just midday, my brothers and I crawled up and fell asleep. That afternoon I had a dream about my parents and grandparents. It was unpleasant and I would not have wished it upon anyone, let alone my brothers. But they soon would grow up with it, or the reality that fed my nightmare. These events stole more of their childhood than mine, and years later they would affect us all in unique ways, some of them poor. 

I lived the imagined suffering of my family in that dream, if not some sort of ghostly vision of what happened. It still haunts me. 

*****

For the first two days, Grandfather made us stay put. My brothers missed Mom and Dad and the house, but they were easily distracted. The main floor had several bedrooms, a large parlor, kitchen, dining room, privy, and a workspace. The workspace was full of tools and weapons. 

"Leave the tools and weapons alone!" Grandfather was strict. 

A canal that supplied the water illusion at the door flowed from room to room along the ceiling at the top of the walls. They were inlayed with silver and gems, and light came from the water so that even when no candle burned, every room still had enough light to manage. 

Down the stairs into the basement below there were more tools, weapons, and piles of rubble. There was also a passage to tunnels that went down and down into the heart of the mountain. 

"In these tunnels there is something we need, and then I will tell you everything." This news made my brothers very excited, and luckily it was enough to keep them distracted. And so Grandfather traveled down there alone. The disguised hatch led to another stairway and continued into the darkness. I peaked my head in, but Grandfather scolded me. "But you must not follow me down, unless I give you permission." 

I alternated guarding the two doors, one to the world outside, and the other into the deep of the mountain. My key on the necklace of beads was nice and felt important, but I could not entertain myself with it. Occasionally, Grandfather opened the hatch to pop out with a bucket of rubble. 

"This is the one," he said. "Look through it, pick out the larger rocks and pile them up in the corner. Look through the rest. You'll know you have found something worth while." 

So I spent my time searching. 

Meanwhile, when my brothers thought they were by alone, they speculated about what had happened and where our parents were. They had the only two toys, the boats. 

"They sailed away and left us the ships as a clue," Vili whispered, convinced he knew more than anyone. 

"No, not out to sea! Mom went to the stars and Dad is close behind in the other ship." Ve did not know how right he was. "The gap is the nothingness, and it is was Ymir.' Mom says Grandfather used to talk about it all the time, but then Dad got upset and he started telling it instead."

"Maybe he wanted to be the storyteller. I want to tell the stories now!" Vili was getting excited, but I could still hear them getting louder. Soon they both realized this and returned to whispering. 

This continued for hours. I was getting anxious of moving stones and rubble when Grandfather popped up from the hatch again. "I found it. Let's get washed up for a meal, and I will tell you all a story before bed." 

Grandfather fed us aebleskivers and meatballs with a side of jam that came endlessly from a jar larger than his head. Also, just as huge were the plates and the mugs--these held frothy milk, the best I ever had. He was very proud of the feast and encouraged us to eat more even when we should have had our fill. The food warmed our bellies and made us sleepy. The three of us drowsily made our way to the beds from the dining table. I was still clutching my mug. 

"Where did the milk come from?" I asked while kicking my shoes off. 

"Good, very observant even after such a meal! True, we lack the animals for milk at the top of this mountain. But what you drank," he poased when he saw the mug in my hand, "or what you are drinking will never go sour." 

I yawned and then finished the mug. "Then it must be difficult to turn into cheese." 

He laughed at this and it made me feel very clever. He waited for the three of us to get settled and then told us to quiet down for his story. "I heard you Ve, and Vili, talking about the stars in the Gap. Tonight I will tell you about Night, the wise woman named Nott."

*****

Nott was the daughter of a giant named Nörfi. They are not of the frost giants, nor the ice where I came from, nor are they of the fiery giants of Muspell. She came from the Gap. Her skin and hair were beautiful and dark like the night and her eyes and teeth gleamed and shimmered even in the dark. Wherever she was the sky would darken and her eyes cast a motherly spell on whoever saw them. 

"She was never content," Grandfather told us. Nott married Naglfari when they were both very young, at the beginning of the Gap, or the way things are now. Naglfari was a simple giant. He did not create life or cause death, but it was his job to move and regulate the draugr, spirits, and other dead souls. "What you might call ghosts," Grandfather noted; he always had more than enough to say when describing things while storytelling. He continued, "They had a son together, named Authr or Aud, depending on who you asked."

It was not to say that Naglfari did his job poorly, but like many things in life, this cosmic match between Nott and he was not eternal. Nott left him and traveled the Gap for a new love. Eventually, she found another husband named Annar and they had a daughter who is now the keeper of this world. "We live on something called a planet."

"A plant?" Ve asked. Our parents had told us little about the world. 

"Earth. That is her name," Grandfather continued speaking. One day she will leave Annar just as she did her first husband. She will find a new husband named Delling. He is one of the Aesir. With him, she will have another son, named Dag. 

"From Night will come Day. They are the family that came from the Gap. Dag is a marker. A landmark. A good sign that things will be better, at least for a while." 

"What are the Aesir?" I asked. "I have heard it before, from Mom and Dad."

"There is more to tell, yes. But I am tired. And you will find out the answer on your own. Soon. Goodnight!" Grandfather left the room and dimmed the light in the water. It was the last time he told us a story, and one of the last times we saw him. I miss Grandfather Buri. I only knew him for a short few of the years I was alive, but he remained frozen into my memory, greater than most. He had a hand in shaping what I became as an adult. Years later when I dreamt, I would still see him, and if I was lucky, we would talk to each other just like when I was young during that last night when he told my brothers and me stories. 

*****

I woke up in the middle of the night. Time was difficult to tell inside our hidden mountain home. The air was not so cold, but I felt chilled inside like the black of night was piercing my skin, causing goosebumps and making me shiver just enough to wake me up. I clung to the blankets to try to warm up. After a few minutes I gave up. I was impatient and I realized it was because I had drank too much water before bed. I swept away the covers and walked over to the pot. 

The air felt too quiet. Something was missing. Our new home already lacked most of the things that had given our former house the comfortable feelings of security and warmth. Only the running water lights gave it a mysterious, and at this time of night a creepy sense of foreboding. 

Grandfather? No snoring of an old man who had seen ages and lived longer that he remembered. I checked to see if he was in bed, lying awake. But usually he would have spoken by now, urging me to get back to bed. He was not in bed so I checked, next, the basement. The hidden door into the mountain was shut and covered with a sack of rubble to keep the air from blowing the door against the latch. No where could I find him. He must have left through the front door. 

This reasoning is important when telling an old story. One never knows exactly what is going on in the head of a young boy. Especially when it is my own, separated by more years than you know yourself. I could have been scared to find my brothers and myself abandoned. I could have found Grandfather dead of natural causes. Or I could have found not found him at all because he was intentionally hiding. These thoughts all briefly had crossed my mind at the time, but the emotion I felt was a mixture of fear and curiosity. 

The front door was a water illusion. This time I met something different. A large, thick, wooden ash door blocked the way. The hinges were dark grey and the size of my hands. There was no handle or knob, just a keyhole in the middle of a faceplate that matched the hinges. I ran back to the bed. My own present from my grandparents. I had been so unexcited about it, wanting a toy like my brothers. I put on all my clothes and while doing so I found it inside my hat. The key began to glow as I approached the door with it. It slid in perfectly and the door opened and disappeared and another small wooden bead lightly added itself to my necklace with the key. It was one of the most peculiar things I had or have ever seen to this day. 

Indeed it was night. But it was not dark as I had expected. Not only were the stars and the full moon out, but fires all along the side of the mountain blazed with hate and vengeance. I could see my grandfather, pouring flame and shouting louder than I had ever heard anyone shout. Everything was new that night. I witnessed so many things that night that redefined my life. 

The smoke was thick and the bright orange and red flames blocked my view of most of the landscape. I could see the ocean down below in the distance. The waves crashed against the beach and rocks, imitating the fires. 

And then out of the darkness and the smoke, behind the fires, came Ymir. He frightened me as much as he was disgusted to look at. Out of his nose oozed snot that mixed with the drool from the corners of his mouth. When is slopped and dripped onto the ground it froze and put out the fires it touched with a loud hiss that added steam to the smokey night. I could not smell it, but I felt sick watching. 

Grandfather saw Ymir approach and retreated down the slope. Every few steps he would turn to point the staff at the Master of the Frost Giants and it crackled and fire poured from the end. I ran down to follow to keep them both in view. I tripped over roots and skinned my hands. The dirt and blood mixed together on my palms and stung making me tear out of my left eye. I knew that I needed to keep Grandfather in plain view. As I got closer I noticed something more: At the base of the slope, standing in the frozen creek there were more giants. 

*****

The other giants at the base of the slope were not as terrible as Ymir, except for one. I recognized him, the face that cornered me back in our house over the summer. He was larger now. My father had tried to explain that the giants were capable of changing themselves. Some could grow larger, others shift into other forms of animals. The most horrible ones, like Ymir, were able to play with the reality of the world. 

At this point it seemed like all of the attention was on Grandfather. No one noticed me, or if they did, I was not even grown up enough to matter to them. Even though he was serious threat to the giants, grandfather was clearly not enough to face them all alone. His fire burned many of the giants and they raced around and around him, falling farther down the slope of the mountainside, away from me. 

I continued to chance after the fire and ice until I came to a dead giant who was sizzling in blood, ash, and charred vegetation. Under a branch I found a pole arm, nearly twice my height. The blade gleamed icy and everything around it was still cold and untouched by the roasted master. It must have been only a short sword to the giant. I struggled to free the blade, but was surprised to find that it was as light as air. I had to help my grandfather. 

The landscape smoked with burning and vaporizing bodies and ice. Fear and anxiety bit at my stomach. I started to feel sick, but I continued toward grandfather. But hope was leaving me. He was no longer running from them. Many of the giants lay dying and shrieking in agony, but the rest surrounded him, keeping their distance only out of fear of the fire from the staff. Some of them might have even been afraid of Ymir's icy slobber. 

I knew that it was suicide, but I decided to charge the group. But instead, I ran into Vili and Ve, who had somehow followed after me without my notice. "If you think it was easy for the giants to miss someone as small as you, it was even easier for us to avoid you, big brother." 

"Don't leave us alone," whispered Ve into my sleeve. 

"Grandfather is gone. Look at him. Throw the weapon at Ymir if you are going to help at all." Vili spoke louder, not afraid of being heard. "You need to take care of yourself and us first!"

I remember feeling a lack of confidence. The giant's weapon was light enough to throw, no heavier than a small stone. But I was unsure of my aim. My hands were covered in blood and ached from scratches and cold. Seeing my brothers here with me reminded me of the danger I should have felt for myself. They should have been in bed, safe in our hideout. I was supposed to be the one to follow grandfather! I looked over to him, toasting another giant. His face was bright from the fire. Fatigue and sweat marked his face. We made eye contact and I saw panic. He felt the same about me as I did for my brothers. 

Vili gave me a face that pressed me, "Now, now, now!" I told them to stand back, took a deep breath, and threw the magic weapon as straight as I could at the chest of the beast. I must have had help from the weapon because it flew precisely where I had intended. Ymir gave one final roar before falling to his knees. Blood spurted out faster and faster until a river gushed. Nine of the giants closing in on grandfather met their cold fates in Ymir's bloodbath. 

Two of the giants fled and one turned to face me. The giant closing in gnashed his teeth and stuck out his snake-like tongue that forked at the end. I turned to look for my brothers to get them to run away, but they were already moving to hide behind a boulder. But then the huge monolith came loose and tumbled down the mountainside. I dodged out of the way, hands in even worse pain as they softened my landing. 

The avalanche grew. Grandfather yelled out and blazed one last burst at the giants. The giants never touched him, but Ymir's blood slashed over him and the remaining giants, making frozen statues. The landslide crashed down and covered everything down there. I never saw Grandfather again. His body had returned to the ice. 


Chapter 2 -  Tyr and the Alfar

The smell of the of burned flesh from the giant I took the weapon from was becoming more pungent. Its blubbery mass fed those flames, while the rest of the mountainside calmed down in the early morning cold and damp hours of the daytime. The world had stayed up all night in excitement and was now falling asleep despite the rising sun that was just starting to thaw the sky out from black to blue. My brothers were frozen and I could barely feel my hands from cold and cuts in my palms. We huddled near the pile of smoldering and sputtering carcass. 

My brothers were chaotic and I was losing my consciousness. "I can't believe he's gone" and "Look at the dead giant burning I can see his guts" and "I miss Mom" along with several other disarranged chattering escaped my brothers' mouths. Not that it seemed like things could get any worse even if we somehow lost each other. Dread pierced my heart and hopelessness sank in. I sat down as close to the fire as I dared. At some point my body decided shivering was a prudent course of action, which at the time did not bother me because I could not think of anything else. 

"He looks really tired," Vili said quietly, probably he thought I did not notice. But I just did not have the energy to react. "I wonder if he even knows what he just did?"

"He's still thinking about Grandfather. I'm still thinking about everyone else. They're all gone. I saw two of those giants get away!" Ve began to panic. "What if they come back?"

I knew some part of what my grandfather must have felt. The cold wind played with the surging truth that knifed the inside of my stomach. I bent over on the ground, fell to my knees, and shivered and coughed. Reality licked me over and over, and I felt like the birthing of my insides through my eyes and mouth. Under my face, I looked at the now frozen pile of tears and bile. "There is both Audhumla and Ymir in you, my sons," Grandfather had once told us. "But there can come good from bad. Stay positive when you can." 

My brothers knelt down beside me, one on each shoulder, to rub my back and warm me. "We need to get back inside," they repeated several times as they urged me back to the mountain top. 

*****

In the morning things were plain. All was quiet, save the breathing of my brothers and the rippling of water. Everything was perfect, no thirst to quench nor bladder to relieve. I could not see it, but my dirty blonde hair as frazzled and felt stiff. I pulled the blankets away and looked to the floor. My clothes were a mess. Gradually the pain my skinned palms reminded me of the cold mountain outside. Somewhere under the surface, frozen once again, lay my grandfather. I was only twelve and already I was the head of the family unless Mom or Grandmother had survived. 

Dad. His halved body hung lifeless in that tree. I had to go. I could not leave him there to rot or feed seagulls or crows! I jumped out of bed and grabbed my shoes without putting them on. But I had forgotten to put the door back using my necklace of beads. A tall grey-haired metal armored figure caught me by the shoulder and pushed me to the floor. 

"Stop! There is no rush and the last of the Jotnar roam free on the mountain."

"My father...!"

"Will have his funeral in due time." He sounded old, but strong and cheerful. He was used to death. I struggled with his grip but her persisted. "Sit back down."

"The others?"

"They have all fallen. But we are still looking for..." My brothers peeked around the corner and the old, armored-one grinned out the left side of his mouth and squinted with his left eye at them and then back and me. "Well, you just saved the day."

"Jotnar?" I asked.

"The Frost Giants. At least two got away." He picked me back up to my feet. "I saw you throw the weapon at Ymir from across the beach by the north where the cape jets into the water. The tide had only just receded to allow me passage."

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"I am Tyr. I have come here to destroy what a joint army of noble giants and gods were unable to accomplish, yet their children and an elder ice-man were able to do in only a few desperate moments. We came here to stop the beast." He laughed as he spoke. I did not detect disrespect in his voice, only the surpise that a boy, I, had slain the giant.

"Who do you mean 'we?'"

Before he could answer my question someone entered through the front door. This person had long golden hair unlike anything I had ever seen. Eyes larger than the fullest crescent moon with a small dark dot in the center. Thin but strong. Wise yet childish. Strong and beautiful. Even after speaking I could not tell if who I saw was male or female or a child or an adult. 

"Tyr, I have secured the area. No surviving threats remain."

"Outstanding," bellowed the old warrior, still laughing. "Vaennsker, say hello to these three young ones. They're Buri's grandchildren." And then he spoke in a loud whisper not to actually keep a secret. "I don't think they've ever met an elf before."

"It is a good thing. Nor have I ever encountered such brave young ones." He introduced himself finally, thought I felt hypnotized by his voice. Only his name ever gave away his gender, and if I was mistaken then it is my own fault for not telling things the way they really happened and were. But it was so very long ago. 

Vaennsker continued to speak. My brothers inched closer to the three of us. After a momment another elf entered the building with a kettle. Another behind that one followed with a collection of mugs. 

"Araethihlaup, thank you. These young heroes must be thirsty!" Tyr took the kettle. "Come you two," he said to my brothers. "Take one of these mugs that old Frothforn is handing out before we forget to share."

I was caught on the word: Old. The elf looked as young as I did. I, even, was just as tall. "Unless... Tyr is a child, but he looks so old." In my mind I spoke those words and strangely out came, "Old?"

Tyr looked up at the ceiling. In a slow and less humored tone he answered me, "Frothforn is older than I am."

*****

I could taste smoke in my mouth. The air smelled like freshly cut lumber. I only know the death with my eyes. My hands ached from the night before. The few of us walked single file out through the front door. Outside an army and a funeral ceremony awaited us. 

I felt smaller and the world shined larger than I had ever seen it. In the morning sun all was blue, white, and yellow. Ice down the side of the mountain cape blazed a brightness against shadows. The beach far below, damp and cold, yet warmer in the morning glow from the sky. Almost no clouds blotted the blue sky. The white waves of the surf blended with the few streaks and fluffs on the horizon. 

Elves moved everywhere I could see. Perhaps they numbered more than any group of people who I had witnessed before at that age. All of them were so busy clearing trees and branches that fell by the giants. They worked so well together without speaking. But when I listened more carefully I could hear the faint, alternated tune of humming. And on occasion, when the elves took their breaths, a group of white steam shot out of their mouths on the beat of the song. Soon the debris had been piled. The elves broke off into groups to form a long series of lines down the slope, past the icy grave of my grandfather, along the flowing water creek beside my family's home, and out to the beach. 

The humming became louder and faster and one elf stood apart from the others on the beach. That elf threw a stone against a large boulder causing a rolling thunder of moving tree limbs and trunks among the lines of the rest of the elves. 

A convoy of branches transformed along the lines of elves towards the beach into finely cut lumber. Another thundering stone slammed against the rocks of the beach. That signaled the beginning of saws. Elves pushed and pulled in their lines. Their work was music and they were all a large hive. The humming grew louder and louder when finally finished shapes and pieces of wooden materials reached the sand where the lone elf stood. 

My brothers, Tyr, the three elves, and I stood on the top of the mountainside looking down. The long line of elves stretched across the woods, more than a mile of synchronization. My brothers were hypnotized by the performance. I felt like it was all for their benefit. Tyr said nothing but his mighty and arrogant stance was a presence enough to match that of the elves below. He reminded me of what grandfather might have been as a young man and I very much disliked that. 

My feelings shined with frustration and dark anger. The war leader could read me. "Something troubles you, young giant slayer. I can see it in your face and I hear it even though you stand so silently. You keep eyeing me." 

"I am part giant," I had thought about it all night. I turned to face him directly. My shock of losing my family acted like bravery on the surface of my blank expression. "Slayer would seem more a word for monsters. I killed distant family relatives. Some would call that murder." 

"Oh, I only left out monster to be polite! A young one like yourself, I must be careful around you or a horrible fate will come to me. Look down below. You will be impressed, terrible one. " 

The elves had built a very large longship out of the wood. When I had glanced towards my closer companions, those who were down on the beach had begun to form the beginning of the ship. Tyr stepped forward and turned to face my brothers. "We are going to send your family and your family's friends to the next world. Would you like to view the ceremony from here or from the beach?"

"Given the choice, I would rather watch it up close," I replied with as much respect as I could deliver. I felt anxious standing still; I wanted to move; the  pain in my hands and a flood of sudden distaste for this old warrior. "We should hurry if they will they wait for us to arrive."

"They will wait until I signal them to begin."

Tyr looked like a person�a man�just like my brothers and me. I remember wondering how he managed to come to lead or control such a large army of other types of people, these elves. It seemed so obvious to me at that age that he was their leader. But I may have missed things. Perhaps he was simply the only one who could or wanted to related to three children. Or maybe his command was only in lieu of some absent leader. 

*****

At the beach, we all gathered. I faced to the northwest. Behind me, the sun crawled up the sky as she reached nearer to noon. The sky was unusually clear for the winter and the light warmed my back. In front of me the new longship rested in the shallow waves. Elves stood everywhere. More times than I could remember had I stood on that beach, but never with so many people. 

From the ends of the lines elves passed glittering steel swords, black iron spearheads, perfectly circular oak shields, silver figurines of elves, golden rings, and unequaled gilded clothing of reds and greens and blues. The items traveled, hand by hand, until they reached the front and center of the congregation. One at a time, in the hands of those with the highest honor, the burial treasures boarded the ship. All but the last of the elves, Vaennsker, disembarked. 

In words I understood none of, the remaining elf spoke while the ones who had carried the treasures launched the longship. Tyr interpreted the words of Vaennsker for us, but the sight of the chilling waves splashing against their bodies distracted me. Even though I remember nothing of what he said, I knew what was happening. My family and everyone the elves had found from the onslaught was on board. 

Araethihlaup and Frothforn stood beside me holding bows, arrows, and a fiery torch. Frothforn quietly whispered a question to bring me back to my senses in a voice as deep as a storm rumbling, "Would you like to start the blaze?" 

I looked at Tyr with a panic, but my mouth opened to let out silence. Not even a breath escaped my lungs. My head throbbed and I began to feel dizziness and nausea. Excess liquid filled my mouth and I swallowed and I coughed. My airways opening up I finally gasped, "Wait, we have to do something, Vaennsker is still aboard!"

"Ha ha ha, he thought we were really going to kill one of our own as sacrifice during the memorial! It is a fictitious play to symbolize honor. Do not be fooled, young hero. Only humans would be so silly. Never waste a life." 

"What are humans?"


Chapter 3 -  Kvasir, The Good in the Bad

Some say Mimir held the title of the wisest of the Aesir. Much do people say about many things and more will they continue to talk. The opinions of those who have their mind set on a belief will always move and change like a mountain; altering a rocky cliff can cause a serious avalanche. Others thought of Kvasir as the wisest. 

He gave his time to the people like many of us had in those days. Kvasir lured all types of people. Honest workers asked him, "Kvasir, where should I fish to find the biggest catch?" Children approached him as well, wondering about things such as "Why do I need to do what my parents tell me?" and "Why does the moon change?" When he thought it could help people more, he would answer their questions by asking them questions until they had answered it themselves. 




*****

In his time he answered questions or questioned the questions until those who sought his help were better prepared for living or for at least combating their own curiosity.

*****

Kvasir left Asgard to teach the world what he knew. Even though he seemed to know everything, he himself knew there was more to learn. Earth was beautiful again. While the rest of us were busy rebuilding our home from the war he traveled east. But it only takes a sliver in the arch of the foot to slow a journey. 

We had not heard from him for a long time. "He would not be hiding unless there was a reason; unless he knew of trouble. My ravens have lost track and I can see nothing from Hlidskjalf."

I received much opposition even in the discussion of Kvasir and his whereabouts. "But there is no reason. He has left us of his own choice," Freyr said. "He has the age in years of a child, but the appearance of a wizard. He can take care of himself." 

"We need you here, not off on some strange adventure like Freyja," said Njord. 

"Don't tell me how to live. I will make it who I am if I wish it to be so!"

"Kvasir is a man, though a very wise one and rare," Freyja thought outloud. "Go bring him back. I will guard the halls while you are away." 

51, 62, 70, 72


Chapter 4 -  Casting an Eye

(Thjazi is dead and Idunn has her apples once again. Odin is going to visit Mimir for the first time since he placed the head by the well. He is traveling as Vegtam...)

The star to the north stared at me the same way it always did at night. Nothing ever changed it and I began to think of it as a friend. The last light of the sun was falling into dusk. One great iceberg peaked up in the distance, on the ocean's horizon. We were both going somewhere; we were both lone travelers. Our paths were different and far apart, but I felt like we had crossed before. 

I walked along the beach. The tide was out and the summer low tides gave me just a little more sand on the rocky beach. The salt was undetectable in the air; the rain had bathed the shore all afternoon, but as the sun set most of the clouds retreated for the night. It was going to get unusually cold tonight, even in the middle of summer. And many times the warmer weather only meant a colder ocean. But I was not looking for pleasantries. 

When the Vanir sent back Mimir's head I was both confused and frustrated. At the time I could not spare my anger. There was too much to think about like giants attacking and rebuilding our defenses. In the middle of the conflict I left temporarily to restore my old friend as best I could. I resuscitated him and gave him life without a body. Just a head. I sent Hugin and Munin, Geri and Freki to take him far away to the abandoned well of knowledge that Urdr had told me about. Now that the world was coming to a calm I had the time to pay a visit to him, and help him find a new body. 

I was getting close. The well was in a small cove between two rocky capes. I had to wait until this time of the year. The waters off the coast are too dangerous with rocks; the capes are too steep to climb over by any normal means; I could not change myself to fly, not this time. This was the easiest way and I felt like it would draw little attention, this time of the evening. 

The star to the north stared at me, one eye looking down. Keeping things a secret can draw attention, sometimes, and doing things with purpose in the open can sometimes make a person disappear. I did nothing to hide myself. My large hat was better suited for keeping shade and only kept my head just a little warmer than it would have been bare. I wore a large coat that covered me from shoulders to ankles and I held my spear Gungnir, though I had detached the spearhead and hid it on my back. I looked like an old man. 

A sneaker wave came close to me as I crossed the southern cape and walked inland. I wanted to feel the cold water to remind me of what it was like to play as a child. I let the waves hit me. My boots filled up with water and each step sloshed, slowing me down and giving me away to anyone who might have been watching. Sand over-collected painfully under the arch of my feet and between my toes like expanding bread. 

There was more beach with sand between the capes. A small stream came down between them. I listened for the tiny waterfall; it told me where I was going. The ground was rocky between the sand and the woods off the beach. I sat down on a boulder to empty out my boots. Starlight glimmered off the waterfall. Any evidence of day was now gone. I used the ends of my sleeves to dry out my boots and wipe out the sand. My cold, numb hands squeezed out my socks and found more gritty sand. I rinsed off my hands with water from the stream. 

I used the spear shaft to push myself up along the way, making noises to announce myself. I told my ravens and wolves to stay behind, not to come; I wanted to know if Mimir still lived from firsthand experience. Now I had to find my way, alone. 

There was no trail, but the stream cut a path between the bushes and the trees. Their leaves turned to blue and black in the low light. Everything was still wet from the rain earlier that day and the moisture on the leaves glowed. A little farther and the stream suddenly stopped into the rock face. I was drenched and exhausted, but it was something I had not been in a long time. The exertion kept me warm. I decided to wait before I ditched my hat and coat or built a fire to warm and dry myself. 

The abandoned well was the source of this stream. I hiked uphill and made myself dirtier in the mud. I could feel the grime digging itself painfully between my fingernails. It was difficult to get there and I wanted to keep it that way. I preferred the idea that the well remain a secret to many. My hands were sore from grabbing roots and branches to pull myself up the incline. I pondered the idea of reassembling Gungnir and throwing it back to Hlidskjalf. I wanted to stop and rest. 

Suddenly after pulling myself up, I fell forward and down. But not too far. I landed on a paved stone surface, crushing the brim of my hat. The sound of the ocean, of water crashing, sounded like it was no longer coming from in behind me, but in front of me. It was the well. But I could see nothing. The canopy of the trees allowed only for the sky directly above me to shine in. Clouds were gathering up again, and the moon was new. 

"Is anyone there?" 

"Sleep," replied a whisper. "We well talk in the morning, traveller." 

No longer having the strength to keep myself awake, I crawled up in my coat and put my head down on the ash staff. 

I woke up the next morning to no startling surprises. I stood up slowly, expecting to find Mimir, in some form or another. I fixed my hat as best I could. The crease in the brim was off to my left. I angled it down and turned it to make sure that my face was a little more difficult to see. It had been some time since I had seen Mimir, and there was no doubt that it was he who spoke to me last night. But he sounded different. And now, he was gone. 

The well was just as loud this morning. It sat above an underground river. The people who were here originally used it for a holy place. The well was on a slope and inland between the two capes in the middle of wilderness. A small temple made of marble, granite, and basalt. The rain had weathered the marble. In most places it was smoother than it had been. The basalt looked like the skin of an old whale. Everything was wet from rain that had fallen just before dawn. And the morning dew only accentuated the black-grey rock. Where had the granite come from? 

The sun was red and the sky orange, but soon it would mix with the blue of a summer morning near the sea. Surrounding the temple were evergreens and slopes. The temple was dug into the hill with a wall going all around, varying in height with the grade of the ground. Only a few ferns dared to grow out from gaps between the paved stones. Within the walls, the paved ground spread up to the well, nine steps higher, like a on a stage, awaiting an audience. I only stood there, thinking about how sacred this place was to the people who were here before. I felt like breaking the silence would desecrate the well. 

"Good. You are awake now." I could not see who was speaking. "I am the keeper of the well. You know where you are. Tell me who you are and why you have come." 

"Perhaps you have heard of me. I am Vegtam, the skald." It was always good to start out with a deception, to keep the upper hand. "I have traveled far to come here, to the place of my ancestors." If the voice was not my old friend, I needed to be cautious; I was in the open, and nearly defenseless since I did not know where he was. 

"You are a rarity, Vegtam. Your people have long since passed from the world of Midgard. You..."

"I am one of the last," I interrupted. "I am here to see what is left of the well that long ago served as a source, both for water and for knowledge. I did not know there was still someone who kept the grounds."

"Well let me tell you about a time before. Before. Your people were peaceful, living in the northern part of the world. They lived in the thawing world with the Fylgjur, Landvaettir, Vanir, and Alfs. Your people were simple in the ways of magic, but they had hearts and spirit with more power than the Norns. When Ymir and the Frost Giants came they gathered up your people. They were relocated to the south in the lands of Muspell. Cities burned to the ground and roads were flooded in blood. When the Frost Giants were sure they had collected everyone and destroyed everything: genocide. The other civilizations would have been next if it had not been for Audhumla and her Ice Men."

"She fought Frost with Ice."

"How did you survive, Vegtam? It is not completely uncommon from a people to be hunted down and exterminated, but you are unique."

And now I stopped my lies, and traded them in for ambiguity. "I could not tell you anything of the world before the giants. And there is much I do now know about my own family or where we came from. But one thing I do know is that we did not leave a guardian for the well."

"You are correct. Odin of the Aesir left me here." Mimir! "Step towards the well. Drink from it and perhaps the water will grant you the knowledge of your people."

I faced the well and carefully stepped forward. Gungnir pulled on my back, wanting to fight the invisible speaker. I carefully dropped the pole to the ground. It tapped five times and then rolled to the wall. I continued to walk up the stairs to the well. Hanging over the side was a large wooden bucket, big enough for a horse to drink from, that looked older than my disguise that was tied to a rope. I picked up the bucket. 

"Odin, you liar!" His yell startled me, and I nearly dropped Mimir, who was in the bucket. "I knew you would return some day, but I did not know you would take so long or that you would come disguised as someone else. Do you not trust me? Could you have at least made me a body?"

"I have been trying to hold the giants out of Midgard."

"And beyond that, there is something much more pressing to talk about. You are failing the world, Odin. And more importantly, if you do not turn yourself around, you will fail humanity the same way the Vanir did before with the people of the well."

"You tell me this very instant how I have failed humanity!" I yell at Mimir, my voice a fury of flame. I leaned in closer to the bucket. "How am I leading them to genocide?" 

"You are misleading them! The humans are not Aesir and the more and more of them that conduct those meaningless sacrifices..."

"I am not responsible for them!"

"Even so, you are an influence. There have been enough public murders in your name that it should have grabbed your attention! Think Odin, that's what you're best at, is it not? You might send Thor out to stop a thousand giants from crossing into Midgard, but in the mean time, the apple rots from the middle out. And the growing power of the patriarchy is killing both the men who are good and the women in general. I have not seen you for so long, Odin. But from what I have seen, it is difficult not to think that perhaps you are intent on destroying them."

The human sacrifices. Ever since word made it to the world of Midgard of the treatment of Freyja when we burned her over and over again, some people have taken a turn to the worse. The humans are not inherently good or bad. They just are. And some of them have learned to be evil. 

Mimir continued his lecture. "Have you been misleading humanity since the beginning? Why all the deaths? Even without the sacrifices, what is the point of the Einherjar? Why are you building an army?" But in the case that this were the truth, that I had actually been leading them in order to mislead them, was I responsible or were these killings just coincidence of a mortal insane gone astray? 

I looked down the well. I could see my reflection, not far below. There must have been an entire cavern below with gold. The sound of flowing water, like an ocean, sang up with small mist drops that touched my beard. I was not speaking to Mimir. "I identify with you the most, though I might be blind from a thousand years of change. I, waiting to be born, to write down the stories of my people. Of our people. Did you exist outside of stories? Do I exist?"

I walked to the wall and pulled on ferns and branches and bushes that dared reach above the wall. Roots clinging to their precious soil tumbled on the stone floor. On my knees I made the shape of a man using the dirt for flesh and wood for bones. I wrote and ansuz with my finger in the chest. "This will resolve at least some of my debts to you, old friend. Just before dusk the body will be ready."

"So I'll be a Dvergar. Well, things could be worse."

"It's all I can do for now. You'll have to stay out of the sun." 

"But the topic at hand. What are you writing, Odin? And why are you building an army?"

I turned to Mimir to give him a glimpse of my sound mind. "I am working for the Norns, old friend. I am both completely faithful to their orders, but skeptical of their answers. They speak to me in riddles and answer me with questions."

"Even so, the people starve. If it is true that you act not as a role model for the humans, but as a peer, you are a miser in your wealth."

"I am not so unfair. I save countless spirits of humans. Freyja, I learned from her the way to save spirits of the dead. And Hel, I have brought her up well and given her purpose other than to destroy like the rest of the Jotnar. With her the old and weary find refuge."

"I do not deny that the good you have spread is important. But there are simple actions and richer things. Think of the good the humans could have if you gave but one of every gold ring dropped. Yes, I know of your ring Draupnir and its secret magic." 

Mimir was right, at least about that part of it. How much have I been hoarding away and for what purpose? I turned back to the golden water at the bottom of the well. "Knowing and not knowing, but thinking even in ignorance. I ignore nothing to thinking, but my actions discriminate one choice from many. What I do is by but partial chances of chances. So if my actions are what constitute who I am, then my being is by slim odds. For ever possible course I have pondered, but there exists not the time nor the means to travel every road. And if this one chain of choices, one after another, is what dictates who I am, am I to judge it? Is the next person? And what if they choose to judge me differently? From one instance to the next, am I changed? No I reject that, generally! I am me to myself and only to myself. Everything else to everyone else is personal taste. And I am no opinion."

Mimir looked at me with less aggression, and more caution. My ideas were what troubled him, not the irrational spreading of death and violence that he had attributed to me. But his emotions had simmered down; he squinted and took a deep breath. 

"You had me frightened, old friend. It has been too long, since the war. I never really recovered. I blamed you for that, what the those few Vanir did to me, and I blamed you for what the humans were doing to each other. It all spelled the beginning of the end. I know why you are here, Odin. You seek the knowledge of doom." He stopped talking, and his breath became faster and shallower. But after a moment, the wind picked up, cold and creeping. He took another deep breath and sighed, staring at me straight in the eyes. 

But I was still angry. I was angry at my old friend for hating me and at myself for leaving him twice to his fate. I stepped back towards the well. I began to digress. "Tyr, you old warrior! Even with Idunn's apples to keep your youth I can still see your age. But I hesitate to judge, for as I have just explained, the world can change from one eye to the next." 

"Odin, offer something to the well. It must be something important. Is it really worth it?"

"Of course it is. I know what to give it. So you have your answer, Mimir." And with that I, Odin, proceeded to rip out my eye and dropped it down. Then I carefully lowered the bucket to the water and after one draft my remaining eye could see better than had I never gouged out the other. And in the reflection of the water of Mimir's well I could see the eye in my head burning brighter than the sun itself. I turned to the sky to face it and I swear the sun blinked that I was so bright. 

But in my eye I saw the futures of Gods and humen and alfs and dwarfs. I could see giants and snakes and flying birds of prey. Midgard set afire under the sea and Asgard a blaze in the heavens. The doom of all Gods. Sometimes I think I never smiled again after that visit to Mimir. I had to collect my thoughts, so from here I would return to draw what I had seen and plan and make sense of it all. 

"You understand it now. Or at least that it will happen," Mimir observed from my transformation. "You see why I have been so angry. Midgard will fall and after it, Asgard. What will you do now?"

"Now, my friend I will write until there is nothing left. I will figure this out on stone, in case I fail, someone will need to be able to pick up from where I left off. And if we make it past the doom, someone will need to remember it." 

Mimir looked at me, this time with a different face. He already knew the doom, and he must have given up or he would have told me before. "Go. We will see each other once more, before the end."


Chapter 5 -  Skadi's Assault on Asgard

(Odin is returning from visiting Mimir after trading his left eye. He now knows Ragnarok will claim many of the Gods. He also feels empowered with some of his new knowledge. But overall he is saddened and it makes him a little depressed. And he can't hide it very well.)

It was early afternoon when I returned to the waterfall at the mouth of stream of the well. Sleipnir waited for me. I often wondered whether he even considered himself a horse. His father was the horse of a giant and his mother, Loki, a rarity of giants. 

Sleipnir stepped into the waterfall to cool off. Only his two back legs stood out of the water. He was a rarity also. 


Chapter 6 -  The Sacrifice at Yggdrasyl

I put Ygg's head in the noose and forced him to stand upon Sleipnir. The noose hung from one of the low branched of the world ash. Sleipnir stood tense, uneasy about what was about to happen. 

"Differences between the two. The old and the new. A cycle, recycling for the next time. Faith is going to get them killed. It will get me killed. If I wait around for the others we will all perish. I have seen it and I see it. I do not know it all, but I know enough. Hear me, sibyls and Norns! The only way to escape Ragnarok is to find out more, and even then it does not mean the doom will stop. I know I can only do so much, but waiting will destroy us all." 

I pulled the noose tight. 

"Only a fool would not fear (what I am about to do). Step forward friend."

The eight-legged good son of the treasure bringer took eight heavy steps forward. As the terrible one fell from the back of his horse, Gungnir shot back down from the (opposite side of the sky) south. The missile burned with flame and exploded through Ygg's chest. He fell the rest of the length of rope and part of the branch strummed against the taunt rope. The note it produced sent Sleipnir to gallop. Ygg was dead. I am Ygg. 

At first I did not know how long I had been there. Sometimes what seems like and eternity to a person is but a moment to another. One thing was certain; I was no longer under the canopy of the world ash. 

"My friends, where are they?"

Hunin and Munin. They will come. 

"I can already start to hear them." 

I waited and observed. The place, it must have been the gap. I looked golden to myself and the world was black and white. A sky or a ceiling so huge it became the very ground under my feet. the snow moved slowly and in all directions. Or stars. I could not tell what was what. In the realm of Audhumla things are very different. 

But that was only the beginning of it! The air was colder than iceberg melt, but the snow was hot. Every flake, not only a drop of fire, but tiny and strong enough to pass through my fingers! Every one that I reached for only ignited more questions. Yes they were stars! Being a God felt so much smaller. 

No one had even conceived this. A few had theories as to where Audhumla had gone to after the slaying of Ymir and from where she had come. The majority of giants believed she was the highest power in the gap. Even the giants now believe that Ymir was a being of evil; Audhumla could not tolerate such an enemy so she created the AEsir. Surt, the powerful fire giant from the south believes that Audhumla made a mistake when she did not recollect us. He believes we were not created by Audhumla, but merely set loose from our prison in the ice. 

It was becoming more clear than less; the gap was everywhere and the proportions that a normal being living by the roots of Yggdrasil were not like the ones in the gap. There might not even be any relation between the snow and the stars, just as the dragon's feast is unlike the meal of the salmon. But these were in fact stars. The gap was large enough to contain all the stars and more. If Audhumla is anywhere, if she still exists, I will find her here. 

The Vanir have the AEsir convinced that Audhumla spent the last of her power to create the AEsir from the ice, after which time she faded into oblivion. This would be unfortunate. I can know the stars and I can know the gap, but in oblivion I would not know the stars. So I assume that the gap cannot be elsewhere in oblivion. 

I stopped waiting and marched for the brightest star; there was only one. I continued to ponder the origins and the fate of Mother Aurochs. I was dead and I had killed myself to get here, but this was not Hel. The stars I approached glowed blue and the ones beside and behind me dimmed red. 

My own theory on Audhumla. If she was still alive she would be wandering the gap. And if I was wrong in my assumption, the Ragnarok would claim the gods anyway. I could not know if she created us or if she released us, beginning with my grandfather Buri. 

In the distance, beyond the stars to the right of the brightest I saw a waving pattern. I could not see, but I already knew what they were. "My thoughts and mind have returned to me. Come my friends, sit upon my shoulders and tell me what you know and what you have heard. I have been stuck in this void of stars for time unknown and have only had the thoughts of past to keep me pointed in the correct direction. Inform me of what you have seen."

Audhumla has traveled away from here, they told me. "She will come back when the time she wishes. For now you must travel the world one last time. 'You are more than I ever needed you to be.' Those were her words, Odin."

"It is always good to start early my friends. Go wake Geri and Freki. Tell them to meet me by the gates of Vafthrudnir." But I would meet them there much later. 

"These are stars. In some way I have risen to the gap in a scale unknown to anyone I have left behind." This I though to myself as I walked for time I could not tell. Until I finally found Audhumla. 

Or she found me. Approaching her, I noticed that all of the stars formed a dense wall, like a hall. And once inside they were like any other, but with radiant walls. She even had a massive chandelier in the center, hanging from the ceiling. It swirled darkly purple and black in the air. And I looked to see my shadow from the light it seemedly cast and it was brighter than the floor around it. I can not explain as to how this came to be. 

And for the rest of my existence after I returned from the gap I could sometimes see my shadow under the starlight. But it was not a shadow but a spotlight casting down. Each step closer to her I gook, the hall looked more and more solid. Then the walls became more detailed. Textures of wood grains and distant stratospheric clouds flowed through the moldings that protruded from the brighter, plainer wall surfaces. In one section the current flowed upwards to the ceiling. I stopped just before the chandelier and I looked past it at the mural above. It moved as a living picture. My father taking his last steps and falling to the ground before Ymir. 

Audhumla turned her gaze directly at me. I could feel her looking so I tore my attention from the final failed attack on the father of the frost giants. The incredible pain that I met with that look. It was the dread and suffering of losing a father, a bride, and a daughter all in the same day. 

I was caught up in the emotions of pain that she sent straight for me. But after too long I lost track of her. She had changed slowly from the form of a beast to a very mature, yet unaffected by the pains of aging, beautiful woman. Her skin was almost as dark as the skies of her realm, the gap, but every single feature--crease of skin, eyelash, lips--were as bright as the snow at midday. It was not until later when she began speaking that I saw her teeth as well. 

Rarely do I feel so, I had almost never had the experience of being so unsure about what to do. It had worked, my sacrifice, and I knew what to ask her. But I had not expected to see the mighty ice-liberator in such spirits with the look of a normal being of the world. Suffering. I could feel it freezing me also from with my heart. 

"So it is come that you know from the words of Heidi, of the doom that approaches. I can see it in your eye. It burns brighter than mine now. In the end all of the Gods will perish, and Baldr will be first. The valiant Einherjar will feast their last supper and die their final deaths." 

I then interrupted, "Yes it is true that I know and I know more. But there is yet more still that I know not."

A tear slid down her newly formed human face. "When I freed your family from the ice I already knew that Ymir was only a delay for your fate and for the fate of all beings under the world ash. This is all there is, Ygg. I am master and servant. There is nothing that can be done." 

(In the spirit of Ynyr convincing Lyssa in Krull that she must do all that she can to provide him with the information on the next location of the Black Fortress, Odin convinces Audhumla to aid him. To the outside world, Odin hangs from the world ash, but he is really in search of Vafthrudnir and his knowledge of how to stop the complete doom of the Gods.)


Chapter 7 -  Harbard's Song, Harbardzljod

(Odin is currently happy for the information he has just received from Vafthrudnir, that "the son of Odin shall stop the doom of the gods.")

I woke up on the ground, tree sap on my back, a frayed noose around my neck, and naked. My hair felt longer. My clothes, why was I naked? I had taken off most of my clothes before I sacrificed myself to myself. They should have been nearby, but all I could find was my spear, impaled into the trunk of the world ash. More immediately, my stomach called out for food. Throat and tongue for drink. 

A little while later I found my clothes. They were damp from being outside for days. There was no food. For water the only thing I could think of was to just find a stream. Huginn and Muninn were nowhere around. Slowly I began to walk down hill until I came to water. I pulled my spear out from the tree and used it to help walk. Sleipnir was gone also. 

I stumbled several times from the pain of the wound my spear Gungnir had left in my chest. I clutched the long weapon to my shoulder and stood looking down at the ground. Had it only been nine days? My body disagreed with nausea and my hands were weak from waking from a long sleep. Idunn's apples were wearing off and I was old from being dead. The wind and cold made tears drip down the corner of my eye and I wiped the dampness away on my wrist. Whether or not I felt up to the journey, it was time to go home. 

Walking for hours I finally came to a drop. I stood on the top of a high ridge, looking down at the waters of a fjord. The sun was coming out and the days were getting longer again. The air was cold, still, but the warm sun peaking around the clouds gave me hope. And down below on the other side I could see a man, younger than I, bundled up for the coldest of weather, frustrated and looking for a way to cross the water. 

Both of us had spotted a small boat on my side of the fjord. In my pain, I ran down as fast as I could while the man caught notice of my existence. He thought I was the ferryman and that was my plan. Near the bottom I found the drips of snow melt coming down the side of the rock face. 

"Who is that little old man drinking from the side of the rock?" he asked to himself. Then he yelled, though normally I could hear him even when he was talking in his usual volume. "Hey there, grey-bearded old man, let me cross the water."

I paused my drinking to recover from racing down the side of the rock. I was out of breath and I was still thirsty. My head faced the ground, but it is not so much that I was facing away from this younger fool; I was nauseous from my reanimation. "At least I can grow a proper beard. Who is that fool across the fjord?" The sound from the dripping water reminded me of beer from the pitcher. 

"Silly old man!" he said upset. But he cooled off and realized I was not his enemy. "Ferry me across and down the way and I'll feed you in the morning this fine oatmeal and these herrings. Look, none could be better than what I carry in my packs, and since I have eaten my own fill already, there is plenty for you. Now, I must get to my destination. There is much to be done." 

The food sounded good, and reality was setting back in. I knew this man. But first I would tease him for his initial disrespect. "A proud man you are?"

"Proud as Earth."

"How proud are you of this morning's tasks? You don't even know what's in front of you. Your mother has gone and died."

"Though the fierce frost giants would relish in the thought of it, I can assure you as we are standing here now, that my mother lives." 

"Really? I would have thought that once she saw the likes of you, she would have fallen to Hel. You beggar, wearing rags against the cold. Go south to the warmer lands. You won't need your rags there."

"Just steer the boat over here, I'll help once I've come aboard and you can eat your fill. I will pay you more than your own master does to keep watch and to ferry the weary."

"Ah, but my master Hildolf, the warrior of Counsel-island Sound ordered me not to aid bandits nor thieves, fighters nor brawlers. Only good men shall pass and those who I know. I do not recognize you, son. Tell me who you are." But this was a lie, because now my senses were returning. The blurred vision and ringing in my ears were subsiding. 

"Even if I were one such fiend, I would still tell you my name, as we have already established that I am a proud man. I am the chariot rider, and the sea-tide turner. I call down the thunder and I clap lightning between cloud and rock. I am the freer of slaves and the savior of mortal beings. I am Odin's son, Meili's brother, Magni's father. I lead the Aesir; I am Thor! Now you tell me who..."

"Well, that is a very long name. I think I've forgotten most of it already. Call me Harbard. It is rare that I conceal my name." Of course this was a lie. I have a name for almost every encounter with every person I have ever met. And now, my own son shall have a new title for me. 

"Why would one hide their name, unless they have a reason?"

"Reasons or not, would not a person defend against the likes of you? Your name hides itself, it's so long." 

"Though I would like to avoid giving my balls a shrinking swim in this cold water, soon I'm going to get across. When I do I'll have a payment less than kind for your words."

Now Thor was really getting angry, but I was just waking up. Leader of the Aesir? Had I not been away for nine sunsets? I was still facing just enough away from him not to give away my identity. "I'll wait for you right here, rock-head!" I laughed and took another drink; it made me cough. "I don't think you've seen the likes of a foe such as myself since you faced Hrungnir."

"You have heard of me. Then you must have heard how I defeated him. Hrungnir--he was the rock-head--thought I was going to attack him from underground so he stood on his shield. It was my cleverness that took him down."

Cleverness? "But he still made a rock-head out of you."

"Tell me, Harbard," Thor was starting to lose his temper, "what were you doing when I was having vengeance upon the Jotunn?" 

"I was with Fjolvar for five long winters on the island of Algrön. The two of us were war heroes, fighting the evils of Ymir's bile. When we were done," I grinned, "there were many women there to greet us." 

"And these women, do you allow them to greet you?"

"I will answer questions with questions. Were the lively to be loyal to us? Were the wise to be faithful to us? Did they have other things in mind? Ropes and sand, digging valleys in the ground. But I slept with them all, seven sisters, pleasure and hearts. What were you doing when I was killing beasts and loving women, Thor?"

"I killed Thjazi, the powerful-minded giant." 

I coughed out a "What!" But I did that. My own son is taking credit for my victories. 

Thor went on. "I threw the eyes of Allvaldi's son up into the sky. At night, all under the world ash can see them looking down. What were you doing when I was shaping the gap?"

I was no longer thirsty, but I kept my face angled down. Thor probably thought my spear was an oar for the boat. I hung on it, but the anger from having my own son claim victories that were my own to show himself up to weak old men gave me strength. If Thor could claim famous victories of Odin, then so would I, as the Harbard. 

"I cast love-spells on witches and seduced them away from their men. And from the bold one, Hlebard, who gave me the magic staff Gambantein, I took his mind. I drove him mad. I made him pay." 

"You repaid his kindness with treachery."

"One oak thrives when the bark off another is stripped away. Every man for himself, Thor. What were you doing when I was fighting to survive?" 

Thor was starting to test the waters. I was doing a good job of boiling his blood. He was trying to get a better view of my face, but before he got much time to think about it I stuck my head under the dripping water and turned my back. Thor took one step into the water. His massive body caused a wave. 

"I was in the eastern lands, fighting the Jotnar, malicious women, and tyrants who roamed the mountains. Had it not been for me, these evils would be a threat to the all the free souls of Midgard and there would be none left alive. Then truly would my mother, Earth, have perished. What were you doing, filthy Harbard!"

As proud as I was for my son's fight against the giants, what was this talk about women? My anger mixed with a sadness for my son. Someone had broken his heart and made him hateful towards women. It was time to sway this flyting to a close. 

"I was in Valland and I made war after war, convincing the leaders, chiefs, and princes to avoid peace. Odin has the nobles, but Thor, you have the serfs. But even with this unequal arrangement of warriors, you have enough strength. Even if sometimes you lack the courage." 

Thor took another step into the water. "I would boot you to hell if I wanted to cross this water."

"But we have nothing to fight about. Tell me more about the great Thor. What were you doing when I was waging wars?"

"In the east I defended the river where Svarang's sons attacked me."

My son fought Svarang's sons? I have missed much in my absence. 

"They threw stones, but it was no use. I defended the river and the free peoples of Midgard are safe because of it. Wave after wave, I have stopped the beasts and saved the lives. What were you doing while I saved humen, the alfs, the dwarfs, and the Aesir?"

"I, too, was in the east. Another women, a linen-white and gold and bright lady, I seduced her into an affair. We laid together..." Our conversation deteriorated into bickering. I joked with him, but my harbard appearance was uninviting. It was difficult to be sure whether Thor knew it was me or if his frustration towards me had dimwitted him. 

"Berserk women I fought in Hlesey, those who had done the worst things and bewitched the hearts of men."

More hatred towards women. My poor son. The whole world. Hating and hurting. Only I stand true. My taunting will serve a purpose. "That is shameful, Thor, to fight against women like that. The berserks are honorable. They must have had  good reason. And even so, do you think all of those who you fight for are so innocent?" 

"You assume that I assume too much. They were she-wolves, hardly women at all. They attacked my ship while it was ashore and tried to harm Thjalfi. If not myself, nor the others, at least Thjalfi has a clean past. They never should have touched him." 

"Wars often claim the lives of young men. I was in the army. We came here to redden our spears with the blood of our enemies."

"I'm beginning to think that you are not a ferryman at all, Harbard."

"You know me now. I would not fight a woman. And since you hate them so much, perhaps you'd feel better with another man to make you feel better..."

"Hold your tongue old man!"

"Older men taught me. Ancient men."

"Your words will bring you harm." Thor took a third step into the water. And this time he lifted his hammer. Mjolnir, the weapon of the son of Earth. And my son. "If I wade across the sound to you, you'll feel the hurt of the hammer. You'll yelp like a dying wolf, you dog!"

"You resolve empty words with weighted pain. Against women as well. And what of your wife? Does she feel this contempt? You should direct your hate towards her secret lover. Then and there would you have a worthy challenge."

He took a deep breath and turned around, stepping out of the water. "Harbard, you speak the worst with ease. I know these are lies."

There it was. I had figured it out on a lucky guess, or an unlucky one for my son. I could see it in the way he stood there. I finally lifted my head to face across the water. Sif had been intimate with another and it was destroying Thor from the inside. But, this was not new to him. Jarnsaxa had been with others. Why was it different with Sif? 

"I think I have spoken the truth."

Thor turned back to me, but didn't look up. "Only part of it, Harbard. You've held me up for too long now." 

"Never did I think that the Son of Earth would be made a fool by a ferryman." He wasn't trying to attack the giants; he was off to be alone. I would not let him. 

"Row the boat here and stop this mockery." 

"I shall not let you across that way. There is something going on in your mind that you need to address first." And with that Thor really should have been able to tell that I was not just a Harbard. But he was starting to sulk on the inside. He knew that I had won, but he did not know it was me. 

"Show me the way, since you won't take me across."

"I can show you quickly, but the rest will take time."

Thor looked up at me, gripping his hammer. The red hair on his face was pale to the color of his skin. The darkness of the winter had claimed the color in his complexion. "Can I get there today?" 

I could not help but cry a little, which was unfortunate because I broke character completely. Harbard I was no longer. "Go to where the fiends are?"

"Father!" he shouted. I could tell he was relieved. "Where have you been all these years?"

"Years? But I have only been gone for a little more than a week."

"You have been gone for time out of mind. I have had to assault the Jotnar on my own. I'm the only one who can do it regularly enough to keep them at bay."

He was happy to see me and I was turning his mind away from his lover's grief. "Son, they call you the giant slayer. Need I remind you that we are in a part, decedents of giants?"

His relief and surprise cooled down, back in character. "Their words, not mine, my father. I do not kill for the sake of killing. Just as you have dedicated your life to bring the world of the mighty ash to order, I have chosen to spend my life in service to keeping the free people of our domain safe."

"But you parade the world, boasting your might. Someday I will need you and I hope not to lose you to a mad giant. I cannot have you running about on an unsound mind." 

Thor sighed and sarcastically replied, "If only I could change my appearance like Loki or hid my nature as you do!"

"No need for the attitude, my son. I too have slain my fair share of giants." 

"No one has a mightier or a more difficult father. Let us return to Asgard." 


Chapter 8 -  Odin's Return from the Dead
I couldn't do it. After seeing my parents and grandparents die I knew that the pain was too great. It was a bitter feeling, to grow old for my children. But then everything changed. I learned of the fate to come. Dying before one's children is painful and being the one left behind is too. I always had hope, though, because grandfather was still locked away in the ice. 

When I got back she had changed. I knew she had been with others, as had I, but this time I knew something was different. The aching emptiness inside me reminded me of the bliss I had once known. She had been my voice of reason before I left on my quest. But maybe she had other motives than just helping me. 

But I was reminded of another. A long time ago she had been the world to me. Losing her killed me. Since, I had become The Terrible One. My temper lived on in infamy, preceding me wherever I went. I did not die hanging from the branches of Yggdrasyl. When she left my life, I not only died, but my spirit lay wasted. 



Chapter 9 -  Loki's Quarrel, Lokasenna


Baldr was dead. After sending off his body, Thor went off into the east to fend off a wave of Jotnar that had their eyes and stomachs aching for Midgard. He still hurt and it showed. The pain was crushing him from the inside, changing him. He'll take out his rage on the giants, but it won't solve the real problem. 

Baldr. The first mark of Ragnarök. It's happening after all my hard work. But I've changed things. The Völuspa will not happen, at least not the way the wand carrier, Heidi, foretold. The chances are still grim. I can feel Fenrir and Garm scraping their claws into the ground. 

But all is not lost and we have not lost our sense of hope, nor have we lost our desire for recreation. Ran and Gymir have invited us to their hall to feast. The rest of the Aesir are oblivious--or pretending it--to the impounding doom, though they all still feel the aching of the death of a God. Frigg has not lost her mind. She always surprises me with her control and wisdom. And even though I have, myself, a wounded heart, she is still helping me to keep myself together. 

With us some of the Gods and Alfs have come, namely Sif, Bragi, Tyr, Skadi, Njord, Freyr, Freyja, and Vidar, Beyla the elf and her husband Byggvir, as well as Fimafeng and Eldir. Loki was not invited, purposefully. The consensus among the rest of the Aesir was that he was responsible for both the death of Baldr and the failure to raise him from hell. 

We all arrived and were beginning our joyous meal. But Loki would not miss a party. He entered the hall and a wave of silence swept across the lot of us. "My, I am thirsty. What a long journey it has been for me, Loki. Send me a beer, and ale, a precious mead. Give me your best honeyed cup. Everyone, drink with me." 

But no one moved, nor did they speak. Only our eyes tracked Loki as he approached the empty chair near Frigg, Vidar, and myself. The seat was for Baldr. Loki looked at me, but spoke aloud to my son behind him. "Vidar, has your silence washed away the music from everyones' hearts? Why so quiet, my brothers and sisters? And where should I sit? Ah, here is a place. Good Baldr, I would thank him for this wonderful place at the table. I'll send word to my daughter to let him know, the next chance I get." 

"We will not have you, Loki!" Bragi was the first to protest. His true power came only in words. "Your seat was not made. That one belongs to Baldr, and Baldr only."

Loki turned toward Bragi and sighed. He picked up the nearest cup, even though it was not his, and drank the contents in one tilt of his head. He stared at Bragi with a quiet, but obvious hatred, and asked me with ice on his tongue, "Odin, do you remember in those days long ago when we became blood kin? You said never would you drink unless it was brought to us both."

"My good son, Vidar, please show some respect and give your blood uncle a seat. We must all be courteous guests of our good friend and host, Gymir." 

Vidar, stood up for Loki and poured him a drink. He had as of yet said nothing about the death of his brother, but his eyes gave him away. He said nothing and looked at nothing. Very deliberately, he walked softly away in his heavy war boots. 

"Thank you Vidar. A good nephew you've grown into." Loki cleared his throat and looked all around at the gathering. "Hail! All hail the Aesir, especially the beautiful Asynior, and all of the sacred gods. May the memory of Baldr survive in all of us. Except for Bragi, you twisted troll! I'll teach you to hold your words. Poor Gymir, he always puts up with so much. Stop writing poems and go do some real work."

"Loki, I am sorry. But if not in my apologetic words, then in gold I will pay you if you just do no further deeds against the people here tonight."

"Bragi, I don't need your 'sorries' or your garbage metal. You're such a coward, you'd pay off anyone rather than stand up in a fight."

Bragi stood and drew his silver pen from his belt pocket. "If words do not amuse you," and he pulled out his dagger and laid it by his plate, "then I have a better idea. If you would like to take this matter out to the courtyard I swear your head would be rolling off your shoulders."

"Brave Bragi, everyone knows that what comes from your mouth is already poisoned by your clever trickery. But beyond your place at this table I think you'd run away before the first sign of danger. Well, maybe the second sign..."

"If anyone here is indulging in clever trickery, it's..."

Idunn, put a gentle hand on her husband's shoulder. "Bragi, please, for the hall, our host Gymir, stop blaming Loki before the fact."

Sarcastically, Loki thanked Idunn, but then turned to the point. "Shut your mouth, traitor. The last thing I need is the help from someone who marries the killer of her own brother." 

"I was only trying to quiet Bragi, who was made more than talkative from the drink. But as I can see, you too are troubled from overindulgence. Please, I don't want any fighting." 

None of this would stop Loki. He was adamant about causing hurt and attacking us for things that needed to be done. I should have seen this. We all knew that Loki's son would lead the true terror of Ragnarök, even though I knew much more. And it had already happened that my own son should die to signal the beginning of the end. My son killed by my son, his brother. Höd has hurt me. Did Loki understand this, that I shared his grief and shame? Our sons would play a part in the end of the world. Or was he upset for some other reason?

"Gefjon! Whore! You seduced the young prince of Sweden, and his father, to take land to form your own realm. Is that where the honor of the Valkyries lies? Choosers of the bed laid?"

"I am older and stronger than most of the company in this hall! And if I choose not to slay, but to lie with my enemies to gain my victories, then so be it! I have killed more than you will ever be responsible for, Loki. The world could do with some other methods of defeating an enemy."

Loki laughed uncontrollably, "Well then, haha, maybe you'd like me to remind you of your possible battle strategies."

Madness. Loki has gone insane for reasons I cannot understand as of yet, and I know too much. But sometimes the simplest and least likely explanations are fact. "All that we have seen together, brother, has taken its tole on both of us. You have lost yourself, friend. I am beginning to see your end if you do not come back to us. Gefjon would not go easily when she attacks you, and even I fear her knowledge of the fates of men, though I know just as much."

"You have changed the fates many times, One-eye. Where is your honor when you turn the battle against those who deserved what their power should have delivered them?"

To think up the answers to my blood brother's quarrels on the spot without using my magic was costing me. Also, the feeling of betrayal was tearing out my heart. My old friend was losing himself and if he did not stop with words, I would cast the same spell I used on Vafthrudnir. But for the moment there was no danger, only my own weakness for holding back. "I honor all of those who fight and die. But I have changed much since I was defending the young walls of Asgard. As long as I am alive, might shall not be the price for a victory."

"How ingenious, One-eye. You're saving your warriors in the bank for a rainy day."

"And you have changed too, brother. Yes, I know now where you came from. The knowledge of the powerful giant, the well, and the mead has shown me. But Loki were you not. Loka, the milkmaid, mother of many children. I know that you have lost them all, but age will claim all mortals. But I know this isn't why you are acting like this now. Something else has triggered this. Tell me what you are suffering from." 

"How did you know that? You think me a pervert. But we are all to blame. You shall see the corruption in your ways, as if the murders and assassinations of war were not enough. All of you have wronged. I too have knowledge, like your beloved Alfather. He traveled once among the Sami as a wizard of seid. That disgusting magic of dirty witches and drums."

"This is all old business," Frigg said. "We all know that good has always struggled with doing unkind deeds, if at least to one's enemy. None of us are perfect, but neither are we evil. Please, Loki, let us move on from the past."

"I would be quiet, but you are too sorry to leave alone. You sons are either dead or fiends, and you sleep with your husband's brothers. Did that happen all at once, for I would pay for the sight of that Valknut."

"We thought Odin was dead..." Frigg started to shed tears and looked away from Loki at the empty chair. "If my son were still alive he would not let you do this."

Loki turned to face me and whispered, "I have myself to thank for that. It was I who would not agree to the resurrection of your son and I who turned his brother against him." But I already knew this. It was part of the plan, and it had to happen. 

Freyja also jeered at Loki for his madness. I never really thought she liked him in the first place. Gymir, our host, had been drinking, but was doing his best to keep his and Freyr's elves from spearing the shape-changer. Vidar was lacing his boots tighter and had just finished his meal as quickly as possible. My son marches on his stomach. I continued to drink from my cup. The rest of the guests were shocked and not eating or drinking. They sat nervously in their seats, not knowing whether they should wait for it to pass, fight, or just leave. They were scared of Loki, and I could tell they were even more puzzled with the news of his origins that I had been keeping as it was not their business. 

But Loki wanted to share everything about anyone with everyone. "Freyja, isn't it true that for all the elves and gods here, each one has been your lover?"

"That's a lie," Freyja screamed. "You just want to put holes in our friendships so you can misdirect what you are starting here tonight."

"I've been working on it much longer than tonight, Asynior. Not as long as you've been secretly in love with your own brother." 

"These are harmless actions that happened as children," said Njord. 

"Don't think that just because we share a common trait having once been women, that I will side with you so easily. I won't keep this a secret: with your own sister you had a son!"

"It was the only way for us to continue our family," Njord said shamefully. "At the time when Ymir was ruler of the world, master of the Gap, our numbers had dwindled so that we were on the brink of extinction." 

"Maybe your should have died out."

"Freyr is one of the best alive," affirmed Tyr. "He is good to women just as much as to men. And, in his affairs, he is monogamous even more so than you."

"You would not say that if you knew what Skirnir said to Gerd to get her to marry his master. That poor girl was broken before she ever laid eyes on him. It's easy to please those who have been reduced to nothing." 

Gymir turned an angry glare at Freyr with the news that his daughter had been threatened by one of Freyr's messengers. But the wise old giant just sat there, because he knew that he had been drinking much, and this was exactly what Loki wanted. He would speak to his daughter about the matter before jumping at hearsay. 

"I have lost my hand," Tyr pointed his handless arm at Loki, "and you have lost your mind, but neither of us is any easier to please. I think we may be the worst of the bunch."

"Your wife had a son by me." Loki stopped talking and let the remark sink in to Tyr. I had no idea that Tyr even had a wife. He was so old, had been around for so long, that it was not surprising, but I did not know her, even in all my knowledge. I knew everything, could see all, hear all, but some things were buried deep within my mind like old memories. And so it was not surprising, but I needed more to jog my mind to remember it. 

"And you, Freyr, because of your lust, you gave away your magic sword to Skirnir. What will you fight with, though, when you must face Surt's forces of Muspell when the ride over Myrkwood? They are all wielders of magical blades."

And then an unexpected voice spoke out. Byggvir, who was friends of both the lost Skirnir and of Njord's son, spoke his mind. "None of us are tarnish free/ shape-changer Loki. But the fact is here/ that we've all been alive for years upon years. During this long race of life/ hard it is not to have fumbled a few times."

"Alfs, alfs, alfs," Loki said as a series of laughs. "Now your witty rhyme, thanks to the drink, will be stuck in my head for the rest of the night. Why don't you shut up until you can put up a fight. Your words are childish."

Heimdall stood up and started walking around the table. "Odin, he's drunk. Let me take him outside before he does any further harm." Skadi threw her chair back behind her and made her way the other way around the table to Loki. "No let me, I'm stronger than the lot of you." At the same time, Sif stood up and poured a cup of mead. 

Alarmed by Heimdall and Skadi, Loki got out of his chair, holding on to his drink. But then he smiled and rolled his eyes. "Oh Skadi, I forgot! You only smile when I play with my balls. Well, it's only fitting that Heimdall should be walking over here to help." 

Sif reached Loki first. "Welcome Loki. Please take this drink and be at peace. We have nothing against each other."

"Sif, my dear, thank you." Loki took the cup and drank it quickly. Heimdall and Skadi were just steps away from him with their hands on their hilts. Loki tilted his head back to drink the new cup and dropped the other one on the floor. Beyla commented that she could hear Earth shaking, but no one else was listening but me. Loki slurped the last in his cup, but no one wanted to attack him while he had his eyes turned to his drink. Sif pushed the two swords-masters back. 

"Sif, that was delicious. The last time you gave me such a sweet cup of honey was on the night in your bed when I cut off your hair." 

"Loki!" 

The lightning started immediately and the front gates opened followed by the doors to the dining room, more lightning, and more thunder. There stood the Son of Earth, wearing a rain drenched coat and hood, holding a body in his arms. Wind blew threw the hall. The candles went out, but the fireplace at the end of the room and the rhythmic lightning flashes made it so the rest of us could see. But we could only see the shape oh him standing in the door, walking slowly toward the table. 

"Thor, you've come back from fighting off the giants!" Loki knew Thor was upset, but he sounded like he was excited to see him back. "And you've brought something for dinner. Is it a deer?"

Thor laid Fimafeng on the table. The elf was one of Thor's friends as a child. I could tell in the dark that he was crying under his hood, but no one else could see it. But there was something else on his mind that had been rotting away far longer. 

"You and my wife were together."

"Fimafeng!" Gymir finally took action. He ran to his friend, the elf, and held the cold body. I think Gymir thought of Fimafeng almost as a son. 

Loki took a deep breath and put on a serious and concerned face. "My dear boy, Thor, it's not like it's any different from the rest of the behaviors of the rest of the Aesir. Everyone seems to be sleeping with everyone else these days."

"Well, there aren't many of us left even in Midgard," said Gefjon. 

"In fact, I've been trying to address this sensitivity of the problem all night, but no one seems to be in a good mood for talking about it." At this point Loki was laughing uncontrollably without end. All of his words were mixed with cackling, though he was clear and understandable. 

"But you lied to me! Not only that, but you tortured her by cutting off her hair. I understand it all now. How could I have been so dense?"

"Thor come on," teased Loki. "You literally have a rock in your head. That counts as being pretty dense to me." 

Thor was not impressed nor was I. This was not the plan. Loki, like all of us had his part to play, but tonight was going to be the end of us. "Thor, take him out of here."

"Thor, please..." Loki was backing away from the giant slayer, towards a window that had opened with one of the gusts of wind. "If I hadn't cut off Sif's hair, you never would have got all the fun toys I brought back. Where would we be without Mjollnir? No harm done. Everyone's having a great night; it's just too much beer."

"Nanna and Baldr and Fimafeng are dead, Loki." 

"Oh, to where the trolls will take you all! Gymir, this has by far been the worst party ever. I had more fun even at Skrymir's Utgard castle. I mean, there was a court. This place is terrible. Look how you treat your guests. I hope this place goes up in flames." 

Loki jumped out the window and was gone. Thor reached for his hammer, but I told him that was enough. Hugin and Munin were already following him. Gymir had got ahold of himself. Skadi, Heimdall, and Gefjon looked ready to go to war. But Thor had shut off. His recent bad temper was now a dazed mind. 

"Sif, why didn't you tell me?"

She walked up behind him. Thor knelt down on the floor facing the open window. "I was scared of you," she said, "and I was scared of Loki. It was only one time. He didn't 'torture' me as you put it. I don't know why he cut off my hair. I chose him, I don't know why. You're always gone. I was tired. And I am now. I'm tired of all this fighting."

The night was a disaster. We had lost Baldr and Nanna, and now Loki. But the end was coming, I could feel it. "Soon, we won't have to fight anymore." 

Chapter 10 -  Epilogue, After the Doom

When an old fighter like me dies, another always steps up to take their place. And now I am dead, not like when I sacrificed myself on the World Tree, but something else. Many people, wise people, foolish people, desperate people have made their attempt to find out the truth about what happens when we die. Maybe it is true that some of the brave and the just people among us go to Valhalla or [Freyja's hall] to await a time when they are needed again. Maybe we are reborn again as something else. Others think we disappear after death, completely. And maybe some of us who simply need to rest will go to Hel to wait until the time is right for themselves, if ever that comes. There are so many variations to these afterlifes and rebirths. The idea of it is nearly universal. 

But I will not tell you the truth. It is one of the greatest kept secrets and I would not break the ancient and sacred truth of it even for all the wisdom and knowledge in all the Gap. 

My adventure is over now. Ragnarok has been stopped, or at least postponed, for now. My last hope is that you take my story now to let it serve as an example, however you wish it to, but preferably I hope that it sparks something in you. Go find your place and protect those you love from your own frost giants, winters, and famines. 

The world is going to change. 

Chapter 11 -  Appendices
Appendix 11.A -  NOTES, AXIOMS, DECISIONS

"Gods" shall refer to the unified Aesir and Vanir members. 

When pertaining to the runes, default to the Elder Futhark as much as possible. The Younger Futhork and others shall be used only when they contain an element that is not available. 

Odin's ravens are Hugin and Munin; his wolves are Geri and Freki. 

Odin is the basis for the out-of-universe conception of Santa Claus. 

The Völuspa is the main guide for the story. 

Gap is a synonym for universe or cosmos. 

Everywhere and anywhere pertain to phenomenal world. 

Elsewhere pertains to the numenal world. 

Odr, or Od, bares resemblance to Odin. I will anglicize it as Other, as in The Other. He is essentially Odin, or he is Odin. 



Appendix 11.B -  LINGUISTICS

My opinion is the International Phonetic Alphabet is too complicated. In spoken conversation IPA is fine, but as soon as a person begins singing, to my ears the vowels merge together. I think languages should be preserved in singing, so I reject the complexity of IPA. The following are my decisions on vowel pronunciations, mainly for the sake of consistency and simplicity. I have also listed the Futhark equivalents preceding the Latin letters. 

a == as in bot, 

ᚨ, ᚫ, ae, ä == as in bat, cat

i == as in beet, meat

ᛝ, ᛜ, y, j == as in you, yes, llama $$

ie, ï == as in bit

ᚢ, u == as in boot, food

ue, ü == as in but, shut

ᛖ, e == as in bet, send

oe, ö == as in look, book

ᛟ, o == as in boat, oak *

ᚱ, ør, r == as in bird **


$$ I do not really think of the "y" sound as a proper vowel because it is awkward to sustain the sound. Also, it contradicts my standard for a vowel sound to not be ambiguous when sung. However, the letter is present in the language, so I will not completely ignore it. 

* remembering not to apply my own accent in the form of a dipthong of "o" and "u"

** it is my belief that the letter "r" is a vowel, as the rolling "r" is scarce in English. It is sometimes referred to as "vocalic r." The letter "ø" is merely a placeholder to go with the letter "r" in a word. The spelling of Baldr in modern Icelandic as Baldur in this case would be spelled Baldør. However, I will tend toward simply Baldr, only using the "ø" when necessary. 

Appendix 11.C -  ODIN'S STEPS TOWARD PREVENTING RAGNAROK

The Volva tells Odin about Ragnarok. 

Odin casts an eye into the well and gets his first vision of Ragnarok when he drinks. The knowledge causes his remaining eye to burn bright like the sun. Some say he never smiled again after this. 

Odin sacrifices himself for nights all nine on the World Ash. He gains the knowledge of the Runes. 

Vafthrudnir tells Odin that one of his sons will prevent Ragnarok from completely wiping out the Aesir and humanity. Here Odin also finds out his own fate by Fenrir. 



Appendix 11.D -  THE PLOT, OBJECTIVE THIRD-PERSON

[THE MYTHOLOGICAL PAST]

The Ginningugap is nothingness. Ymir comes to be. From him spawn the frost giants. 

Audhumla frees Buri, the beginning of line of Aesir, from the ice to make a balancing force against the frost giants. 

Odin is eventually born. Buri, his wife, Bur, and Bestla attempt to kill Ymir. They all fail and perish. 

Out of revenge, Odin and his brothers slay Ymir. In the blood bath most frost giants perish. 

The Aesir build Asgard, the rainbow bridge, and Midgard as a defense against the remaining giants. In Asgard they make the temples, the world, the dwarfs, and humans. They enjoy a golden age. 

In their fame, the Aesir meet the other beings of the local world. The Disir and the Valkyries meet with Odin. The Valkyries swear allegiance to Odin, and Odin vows upon his life to uphold the values of the Disir. Three giantesses (I can probably name these by filling in the gaps: Earth, Frigg, Nott) from Jotunheim visit the Aesir, seeking husbands. Social tensions rise among the Aesir and the Jötnar. 

The remaining Norns, Urdr and Verdandi, reveal themselves to the Aesir. 

Odin befriends Loki and Tyr. 

Gullveig, a rogue Disir and Valkyrie, visits the Aesir looking to join them. She is a Seidr, which the Aesir fear. When the Aesir do not show her open and warm hospitality, due to their fear of the magic, Gullveig transforms into Heid. A wandering giantess disguises herself and tells Lodur that Heid will destroy the Gods unless they burn her. Lodur ties up Heid and burns her, but each time she resurrects herself, more beautiful and more powerful than the last. After the eighth burning, Odr the Mysterious interrupts the torture. Heid rises from the ashes around her and transforms into her final form: Freyja, queen of the Vanir. 

The Vanir think their queen is dead. An army of elves and Vanir, lead by Freyr, surrounds Asgard, demanding retribution. Odin refuses to submit and throws his javelin over the seige (this cannot be Gungnir due to continuity). The army raises the outer wall to the ground. But after the sun sets, the Dwarfs, unable to fight during the day, come to aid the Aesir. But by the morning the Dwarfs are forced to retreat. The casualties are none, but both sides are exhausted at fighting their match. Asgard is in ruins. Freyja returns to her people and the battle is over.

After the war, the Vanir and the Aesir trade "hostages." The Vanir give Njord, Freyr, and Freyja. The Aesir give Mimir and Lodur. 


[THE MYTHOLOGICAL PRESENT]

Peace, once again, and the Aesir rebuild Asgard. 

Loki cuts off Sif's hair. The treasures are built by the Dwarfs and Loki returns to the Aesir. 

A giant offers to rebuild the walls of Asgard in a very short time in exchange for the sun, moon, and Freyja. The Gods agree, thinking the task impossible, but when the builder nearly succeeds Loki turns into a mare to lure away his horse. Then Thor destroys him, breaking the Gods' promise of safe conduct. 

Loki gives birth to Sleipnir, sired by the giant's horse. (Sleipnir is the greatest of horses, and the only good child of Loki. And somehow, here Loki begins his descent to evil.)

Loki is not content with his wife Sigyn. He travels to Jotunheim where he meets Angrboda. There, over the course of their relationship, she has Jormungandr, Hel, and Fenrir. 

The Norns warn Odin of the children of Loki and Angrboda. The Gods sneak into Jotunheim to capture Angrboda, Sleipnir, Hel, and Fenrir (possibly she is still pregnant). They succeed. Thor casts Jormungandr into the depths of the ocean; Odin negotiates with Hel who is sent to rule the underworld, land of the dead; and with the loss of Tyr's hand, Fenrir is eventually bound with Gleipnir. 

Odin questions Sybil, the seeress (or völva), of what is to come. She tells him of the Doom of the Gods. It will begin with the death of Baldr by someone close. The world will fall into endless winter. Humanity will suffer social breakdown. Ultimately this is Ragnarök. 

[BEGIN PROPHESY]

Ragnarök. Yggdrasill will tremble at the advance of the fire giants of Surt. Heimdall will blow his horn in alarm and Bifrost will break. Lopt will escape and gather an army from the most vicious beings of Hel's abode. Armies of Berserks will intercept the giants and wights of Surt and Lopt, but it will not be enough. Alfheim and Vanaheim will fall as well. Jormundgandr will raise Midgard and Fenrir will hunt down humanity. Jormundgandr, Fenrir, and the armies of Surt and Lopt will advance to Asgard, even with the rainbow bridge broken. To save the Gods, Odin will lead the Einherjar and the Valkyries into their final battle. But Fenrir will devour Odin. The giants will cheer and Surt will begin by slaying Freyr. Before Jormundgandr can raise Asgard, Thor will throw Mjollnir for the last time; both shall die. Vali Odinsson will have revenge for Baldr and Loki and Heimdall will kill each other. Fenrir will ravage the remaining armies of Asgard until finally confronting Vidar the silent God. But Fenrir will never end another life. Vidar will avenge his father, but only just before the world is burnt away. 

Earth arises anew from the sea. 
Baldr rises from Hel. 
A mysterious figure comes into the world. 
Nidhogg is... (Sybil's vision ends)

[END PROPHESY]

Odin realizes he must save the world. He and Loki depart for the underworld to seek council from Hel. 

The Theft of Idunn's Apples. Loki meets Thjazi while he is accompanying Odin on his return from the underworld. 

Traveling as Vegtam, Odin sacrifices his eye into Mimir's magic well to acquire Mimir's omniscient knowledge and wisdom for himself.  

Skadi conducts one of the most impressive assaults upon Asgard, ever. She demands compensation for the loss of her father. The Gods offer her marriage to an As of her choice, but she must choose by only seeing the feet. Skadi wishes for Baldr for his beauty, but she chooses Njord whose feet are cleaner because he spends his time on the coast, walking in the tide pools. 

Odin realizes he must visit the wisest people of the world. He discusses visiting Vafthrudnir with Frigg, who fails to persuade him not to. But before he can venture to visit the giant, he needs something more. Odin hangs from Yggdrasill, pierced by Gungnir, for Nights All Nine in order to learn the wisdom that would give him power in the nine worlds. Odin learns the power of the runes. While hanging he enters a state of being where he leaves his body. In this state, he encounters Suttung and has many of this other adventures, taking aliases and changing his shape when needed. Upon his resurrection from the gallows of Yggdrasill, he then discovers the Futhark. For a time, Odin continues his alias identities. 

In Odin's absence, the stories of the other Gods take place. But Odin is busy with his own adventures. 

Odin's brothers marry Frigg and split Odin's possessions among them. 

[SAGAS OF FREYR]

In Odin's absence, Freyr sits upon Hlidskiaf (Odin's throne). There he sees the giantess Gerd and falls madly in love with her, obviously a curse for sitting on the high-seat. Freyr's parents convince Skirnir to woo Gerd for Freyr. But instead of wooing her, he threatens her. Eventually she submits.  

[SAGAS OF THOR]

Thor and Loki travel to Utgard. Along the way he is joined by Thjalfi, Röskva, and later Skrymir. He is made a fool by the giant Skrymir who always seems to trouble the other travelers, but seems invulnerable to Thor's beatings. Skrymir leaves the group, and they eventually make it to Utgard. There the giants welcome Thor, aware of his reputation as a giantslayer. But they require that he, or a member of his party must pass a feat of incredible difficulty. One by one the travelers are shamed by the giants until even Thor is proved impotent. And so Thor and his band of travelers are shamed to leave Utgard. But on the way out, the leader of the giants reveals himself to be Skrymir, master of illusion; Thor and his group did not fail any of their tasks, rather they were unfair odds. Because of their incredible abilities, the giants considered Thor's group too dangerous to let stay. And so just as Thor, in his frustration, reached for Mjolnir, Utgard disappeared. Skrymir the illusive and the rest of the Utgard giants were nowhere to be seen. 

Alvissmal: All-wise the dwarf comes to Thor with the intention of marrying Thrúd. Thor, disapproving and unaware of any marriage agreement, proposes a wisdom contest. Eventually Thor distracts the dwarf so long that the sun comes up and turns All-wise to stone. (This is very similar to the Volsung myth.)

Hymiskvida. To celebrate Odin's return, Tyr and Thor go to visit Hymir to borrow his brewing cauldron. Thor and Hymir decide to compete to show their manliness. Among other things, they go fishing and Thor almost nets Jormundgandr. 

[SAGAS OF HEIMDALL]

Heimdall, travels under the name of Rig among the humans. 

[SAGAS OF ODIN]

Vafthrudnismal (Odin as Gagnráðr). At last, Odin reaches Vafthrudnir. The Jotunn tells the wanderer that he will only allow him to live if he proves to be the wiser of the two. Vafthrudnir becomes more interested in belittling his guest than his own prudence; he wagers his own life in return. Finally, Gagnráðr asks him what Odin whispered in Baldr's ear prior to Baldr's body being placed on the funerary ship, a question to which only Odin knows the answer; the common rule of the wisdom contest is that the questioner must know the answers to the riddles. It is at this point that Vafþrúðnir recognizes his guest for who he is:

You alone know that, what long ago
You said in the ears of your son.
I doomed myself when I dared to tell
What fate will befall the gods,
And staked my wit against the wit of Odin,
Ever the wisest of all.
(Vafþrúðnismál 55, translated by Auden and Taylor)

While wandering Midgard, Odin comes to a town holding a town hall meeting. A woman is being charged for murdering a man by "riding" him to death. Odin figures out that she is a Seidr who transformed into a stallion to kill a rapist in a way that to her seemed an appropriate form of revenge. The Seidr is Freyja, though she does not recognize Odin, but Odr. 

The story of Kvasir and the mead of poetry and Odin's victorious acquisition of the mead from the giants. (Odin as Bolverk)

Odin travels the world as Julnir and later as Annar. 

Any parts of Sayings of the High One that are not yet included. 

[ODIN RETURNS]


[THE MYTHOLOGICAL FUTURE]

The Death of Baldr. 

Hermodr visits Hel. 

Loki's Flyting

The Binding of Loki

Ragnarok



Appendix 11.E -  ACCORDING TO KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND

The Creation
The War of the Aesir and the Vanir
The Building of the Asgard Wall
The Lord of the Gallows
The Song of Rig (starring Heimdall)
The Mead of Poetry (Odin disguises himself and goes by Bolverk
Loki's Children and the Binding of Fenrir
The Theft of Idunn's Apples
The Marriage of Njord and Skadi
The Treasures of the Gods
Skirnir's Journey
The Lay of Grimnir
The Necklace of the Brisings
The Lay of Thrym
The Lay of Vafthrudnir
Thor's Journey to Utgard
The Lay of Hymir
Hyndla's Poem
Thor's duel with Hrungnir
Odin and Billing's Daughter
Gylfi and Gefion
The Lay of Harbard
The Ballad of Svipdag
Thor and Geirrod
The Lay of Loddfafnir
Otter's Ransom
The Lay of Alvis
The Death of Baldr
Loki's Flyting
The Binding of Loki
Ragnarok



Appendix 11.F -  UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Is Mimir Aesir, Vanir, or Jötnar? How does he die? This also affects the drinking horn and the time at which this takes place in the timeline. 

Why do Odin and Thor not get along? (I need an in-universe explanation, not the probable out-of-universe explanation that rival sects were competing.)

Was it Loki or Thjalfi who accompanied Thor on the journey to Geirröd?

What of Odin's in-universe replacement of Tyr?

It makes sense to add Aegir to the story either after Gerd or Heimdall join the Aesir (probably Heimdall). And so when is Heimdall born? 

Who are Glen and Delling, and when do they become part of the Aesir?

Who exactly is Annar? Aesir or Jotnar?

When does Odin have Vidar with Grid and Vali with Rind?

When is Thor born? Baldr can be born at about the same time. 

When and how do Bragi and Idunn join the Aesir? 
