Northern mythology

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52 NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.
tliee/^
The wolf answered^ ^^ If ye bind me so fast that I
cannot free myself again, I am well convinced that I shall
wait long to be released by you : I am, therefore, not at
all desirous to let the cord be fastened on me. But rather
than that ye shall accuse me of want of com'age, let one of
you place his hand in my mouth as a pledge that there is
no guile in the case." Tlie gods now looked at one another,
but not one would put forth his hand. At length
Ty stretched forth his right hand, and placed it within the
jaws of the wolf. The wolf now began to struggle, and the
more he strove to get loose, the more tightly did the bond
bind him. Hereat they all set up a laugh, except Ty,
who lost his hand for his rashness. "Wlien the ^sir saw
that the wolf was effectually bound, they took the
the chain, called Gelgia, which was fastened to
end of
the bond,
and drew it through a huge rock named Gioll, which they
secured far down in the earth, and beat down still lower with
a fragment of rock named Thviti.
In his yawning jaws they
stuck a sword, the hilt of which was diiven into his lower
jaw, while the point penetrated the upper one. He howls
dreadfully, and the foam that issues from his mouth forms
the river called Von ; whence he is also called Vanargand
(Vanarganndr) . There will he lie till Ragnarock ^
Of Thor and his journeys there were many stories, of
which the following are preserved.
Thor in the House of Getrrod (GeirroJ^r)^^.—Loki
for his amusement had one day flown out in Frigg^s falcon-plumage,
and came to the mansion of Geirrod, where
seeing a spacious hall, and prompted by curiosity, he
perched himself, and peeped in at a window. Geirrod
having caught a glimpse of him, ordered one of his people
to catch and bring the bird to him ; but the man to w^hom
tlie order w^as given found difficulty in clambering up
1 Gylf. 34. Ilyndlulj. Str. 27-39. Lokaglepsa, Str. 38.
2 See a travestie of this story in Saxo, pp. 420-428.