Northern mythology

NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 55
swered Loki. " Yes/' replied Thrym^ " I have hidden it
nine miles underground^ and no one shall get it back,
unless he brings me Freyia for a bride/^ Loki then flew
back in his rustling plumage, with the giant's message,
and informed Thor where the hammer was, and of the
condition on which alone it could be recovered. On this
they both went to the lovely Freyia, to whom they communicated
the affair, and Loki said, " Adorn thyself then
with a bridal veil, and we two will go together to Jotunheim.'^
But Freyia snorted with anger, so that the hall
trembled under her, and her necklace, the Brisinga-men,
snapt asunder, and she said, " I must, indeed, be very fond
of men's society, if I went with thee to Jotunheim.-"
the ^sir now held a meeting, and all
All
the goddesses went
to their rendezvous, to consult how the hammer should be
recovered. Then said Heimdall the Wise, who as a Van
saw well into the future, ^' Let us bind a bridal veil on
Thor, and decorate him with the Brisinga-men ; let keys
jingle at his side, female attire fall about his knees, precious
stones adorn his breast, and an elegant head-dress
his head.'' But Thor, the mighty god, answered, " The
^sir would jeer me, if I allowed myself to be dressed out
in a bridal veil."
Loki then represented to them that the
giants would take up their abode in Asgard, if Thor did
not fetch back his hammer. So they bound a bridal veil
on Thor, and decorated him with the famed Brisinga-men,
let keys jingle at his side, female attire fall about his
knees, set precious stones on his breast, and an. elegant
head-dress on his head. Loki accompanied him as a
waiting-maid. The goats ran, the mountains burst, the
earth stood in a blaze, when Odin's son drove to Jotunheim.
Then said the giant chief, " Stand up, giants ! lay
cushions on the benches, and lead to me Freyia as a bride.
Let gold-horned cows and coal-black oxen be brought in
multitudes to my dwelling. Of ornaments I have enough.