How Thor Lost His Hammer

"Come, Loki, are you ready? My goats are eager to go!" cried Thor, as he jumped into his chariot, and off they went, thundering over the hills. They traveled all day, and at night they lay down to rest by a brook.

When Baldur, the bright sun-god, woke them in the morning, the first thing Thor did was reach for Mjölnir, his magic hammer, which he had carefully placed by his side the night before.

"Why, Loki!" he cried. "

Alas, my hammer is gone! Those evil frost giants must have stolen it while I slept. How can we defend Asgard without my hammer? They will surely take our stronghold!"

"We must go quickly and find it!" replied Loki. "Let us ask Freyja to lend us her falcon garment."

Now the goddess Freyja had a wonderful garment made of falcon feathers, and whoever wore it looked just like a bird. As you might guess, this was sometimes very useful. So Thor and Loki hurried back to Asgard and drove straight to Freyja's palace, where they found her sitting among her maidens. "Asgard is in great danger!" said Thor. "We have come to ask if you will lend us your falcon garment, for my hammer has been stolen, and we must search for it."

"Surely," answered Freyja, "I would lend you my falcon cloak even if it were made of gold and silver!"

Then Loki quickly dressed in Freyja's garment and flew away to the land of the frost giants, where he found their king making gold collars for his dogs and combing his horses. As Loki approached, the king looked up and said, "Ah, Loki, how are the mighty gods in Asgard?"

"The Æsir are in great trouble," replied Loki, "and I am sent to fetch Thor's hammer."

"And do you think I am foolish enough to give it back after all the trouble I had getting it?" said the king. "I have buried it deep in the earth, and there is only one way you can get it again. You must bring me the goddess Freyja to be my wife!"

Loki did not know what to say, for he was sure Freyja would never agree to leave Asgard to live among the fierce giants. But seeing no chance of getting the hammer, he flew back to Asgard to see what could be done.

Thor was anxiously watching for him. "What news do you bring, Loki?" he cried. "Have you brought back my hammer?"

"Alas, no!" said Loki. "I bring only a message from the giant king. He will not give up your hammer until you persuade Freyja to marry him!"

Then Thor and Loki went together to Freyja's palace. The fair goddess greeted them kindly, but when she heard their errand and realized they wanted her to marry the cruel giant, she became very angry and said to Thor, "You should not have been so careless as to lose your hammer. It is your own fault that it is gone, and I will never marry the giant to help you get it back."

Thor then went to tell Father Odin, who called a meeting of all the Æsir, for it was a very serious matter they were to consider. If the king of the giants only knew the power of the mighty hammer, he might storm Asgard and carry off the fair Freyja to be his bride.

So the Æsir met in their great judgment hall in the palace of Gladsheim; long and anxiously they discussed their danger, trying to find a plan to save Asgard from these enemies. At last Heimdall, the faithful watchman of the rainbow bridge, proposed a plan.

"Let us dress Thor," he said, "in Freyja's robes, braid his hair, and let him wear Freyja's wonderful necklace and a bridal veil!"

"No, indeed!" cried Thor angrily. "You would all laugh at me in a woman's dress. I will do no such thing! We must find another way." But when no other way could be found, Thor was finally persuaded to try Heimdall's plan. The Æsir went to work to dress the mighty thunder-god like a bride. He was the tallest of them all, and of course he looked very queer to them in women's clothes, but he would be small enough beside a giant. Then they dressed Loki to look like the bride's waiting-maid, and the two set off for Utgard, the stronghold of the giants.

When the giant king saw them coming, he ordered his servants to prepare the wedding feast and invited all his giant subjects to come and celebrate his marriage with the lovely goddess Freyja.

So the wedding party sat down to the feast, and Thor, who was always a good eater, ate one ox and eight salmon and drank three casks of mead. The king watched him, greatly surprised to see a woman eat so much, and said: "Where have you seen such a hungry bride!"

But the watchful Loki, who stood nearby as the bride's waiting-maid, whispered in the king's ear, "Freyja has fasted for eight nights and would take no food, so anxious was she to be your bride!"

This pleased the giant, and he went toward Thor, saying he must kiss his fair bride. But when he lifted the bridal veil, such a gleam of light shot from Thor's eyes that the king started back and asked why Freyja's eyes were so sharp.

Again Loki replied, "For eight nights the fair Freyja has not slept, so greatly did she long to be here!" This again pleased the king, and he said, "Now let the hammer be brought and given to the bride, for the hour of our marriage has come!"

All this time Thor was so eager to get his treasure back that he could hardly keep still, and if it had not been for the clever Loki, he might have been found out too soon. But at last the precious hammer was brought and handed to the bride, as was the custom at weddings. As soon as Thor grasped it, he threw off his woman's robes and stood before the astonished giants.

Then the mighty Thunderer struck down his foes, and many of the cruel frost giants were slain. Once more the sacred city of Asgard was saved from danger, for Thor was its defender, and he was careful never again to let his magic hammer be taken from him.

Besides the hammer, Thor had two other precious things: his belt of strength, which doubled his power when he tightened it, and his iron glove, which he put on when he was going to throw the hammer.

"I am the God Thor, I am the War God, I am the Thunderer! Here in my Northland, my fastness and fortress, Reign I forever! Here amid icebergs Rule I the nations; This is my hammer, Mjölnir the mighty; Giants and sorcerers Cannot withstand it! These are the gauntlets Wherewith I wield it, And hurl it afar off; This is my girdle, Whenever I brace it Strength is redoubled!" --LONGFELLOW