Norse gods

Chapter 12 Thor's Journey to the Land of Giants
1
Schiafe, his sister Roskoff, their father Ajier, and their mother live in a farm in the mountains.There are monsters, giants and wolves living outside the farm. Schiafe has encountered trouble many times, but fortunately he runs faster than trouble.He can run faster than anyone and anything.Living on the edge of the mountains meant that both Schiafe and Roskoff were used to miracles and all kinds of weirdness.

The weirdest thing happened.On this day, two gods from Asgard visited their farm.Loki and Thor came in a brass chariot pulled by Thor's two gigantic goats, the Tooth Grinder and the Tooth Grinder.Visitors from God's Domain expect them to provide shelter and food.They all looked tall and powerful.

"We have no food for you," Roskoff said apologetically, "we have some vegetables, but this winter is so cold that we don't even have a single hen."

Thor grunted, then drew his dagger, and killed both of his goats.He skinned them.He put the goat meat into the huge saucepan suspended over the fire while Roskoff and her mother busied themselves chopping up the vegetables they had stored for the winter and throwing them into the pot as well.

Loki called Schiafe aside.The boy was timid because he was afraid of Loki: of his green eyes, his scarred lips, and the way he smiled.Loki said: "Did you know that the marrow of those two goats was the best food a young man could eat, the rarest thing in the world. It's a pity that Thor only kept the marrow for himself. If you want to grow If you grow up as strong and as heroic as Thor, then you should eat the marrow of the sheep."

When the food was ready, Thor took a whole ram for his supper, and the remaining one for the five others to share.

He spread the sheepskin on the ground and threw the sheep bones onto the sheepskin while eating. "Put the bones you eat on another sheepskin," he told the others, "and, be careful not to break the bones or chew them. Remember, eat only meat."

You think you eat fast, don't you?Then you should see how Loki swallowed his food.One moment, the food was still neatly placed in front of him, but the next moment, you only saw him wiping his mouth with the back of his hand against an empty plate and bowl.

Others eat much more slowly.But Schiafe could not forget what Loki had said to him, so when Thor left the table for his convenience, Schiafe took his dagger and cut open a mutton leg bone and ate the marrow inside.He put the broken leg bone back on the sheepskin and covered it with other good bones so no one would find out.

They all slept in the hall that night.

Early the next morning, Thor wrapped the sheep bones in goat skin.He called out the hammer Mjolnir and held it high.He shouted: "Tooth Grinder, return to one." In an instant, a flash of lightning flashed, and the Tooth Grinder stood up from the sheep bones and sheepskin, stretched out his hooves, bleated and went to eat grass.Thor shouted again: "Tooth Grinder, become One." Tooth Grinder was likewise revived.However, it limped oddly and limping up to the Teeth Grinder, and screamed as if in pain.

"The Grinder's hind leg is wounded," Thor said. "Bring wood and cloth."

He made a splint for the goat's leg and bound it with cloth.After doing this, he looked at the family.Shiafee had never seen such a horrible sight—Thor's eyes were burning blood red.He gripped the handle of his hammer tightly. "Here is a man who broke that leg bone," he told them in a voice that thundered, "I gave you a feast, I only asked for one thing, and you betrayed me."

"I did it," said Schiafe, "I broke the bones."

Loki tried his best to maintain a serious expression, but even so, the corners of his mouth were still smiling.That's not the kind of smile that's reassuring.

Thor lifted his hammer. "I should hammer down this whole farm," he murmured, and Ajier trembled with fear, and Ajier's wife began to cry.Then Thor went on: "Tell me a reason why I shouldn't raze this place."

Ai Jier remained silent.His son Schiafe rose to his feet.He said: "My father has nothing to do with this. He doesn't know what I did. Punish me, let him go. Look at me: I run very fast. I'm good at learning. Let my parents go. I will be your servant."

His sister Rosekov also stood up. "He can't go alone," she said. "If you take him with you, take me with you."

Thor thought for a moment, then replied, "Very well. From now on, Rosecoff, you will stay here to take care of Grinder and Grinder, and wait for Grinder's leg to heal. I'll be back Come back on the road and take you and the goat." He turned to Shiafeh, "Come with me, Loki and me. We are going to Outgarde."

2
The world outside the farm is a wasteland.A group of Thor, Loki and Schiafe went west, towards Jotunheim, which is the country of giants and the direction of the sea.

It gets colder the further west you go.The cold wind passed through, plundering all the warmth.Towards sunset, there was only a little sunlight left, so faint that they could only see things vaguely.They looked around for a place to spend the night.Thor and Schiafe found nothing.Loki had been away for a long time, and when he came back he looked puzzled. "There's a strangely shaped house over there," he said.

"How strange?" Thor asked.

"It's just one huge room. No windows, big porch, no door. It's like a giant cage."

The cold wind numbs their fingers and aches their cheeks.So Thor said, "We've got to go and see."

The hall stretches all the way in. "There may be beasts or monsters in there," said Thor, "and pitch your tent near the entrance."

They did.The place was just as Loki had described it—huge house, a single room, a whole room down to the bottom.They built a fire near the entrance and slept for an hour or two.At this time, a sound woke them up.

"What's that sound?" Schiafe asked.

"Earthquake?" Thor replied.The ground is shaking.Something roared.Or it could be a volcano, or a boulder avalanche, or a hundred angry bears.

"I don't think so." Loki said, "Let's move to the side room next to it, for safety."

Loki and Shiafee slept in the side room, and the roaring and trembling sound continued until dawn.All night Thor stood guard at the gate of the house with the hammer in his hand.As the night went on, he became more and more angry. He wanted to vent his anger and smash the root that made the earth tremble.As day began to light Thor went into the forest to discover the source of the sound, and this time he did not wake his traveling companions.

The further he walked, the more he realized that the sound was not a single sound, but several sounds mixed together in a certain order.At first it was some sort of growling growl, then a low grunt, then some sort of whistling so sharp it gave Thor not only a headache, but a pain in his jaw every time he heard it.

Thor came to the top of a mountain, and he looked down.

Lying in the valley below was the largest human being he had ever seen.His hair and beard were blacker than charcoal; his skin was as white as snow.The giant snored steadily with his eyes closed: this was the source of the sound Thor had heard before.Every time the giant snores, the ground trembles.That's where the shock they felt before came from.The giant is so huge that Thor is like a beetle and an ant by comparison.

Thor touched Meginird, his power belt, and pulled it tight so that his strength would be doubled.With such strength, he can defeat even the strongest giants.

As Thor looked at the giant, the giant opened his eyes: he had piercing ice-blue eyes.He didn't seem very alert to the intruder.

"Hi." Thor greeted.

"Good morning!" The black-haired giant also greeted, his voice was as deafening as an avalanche, "People call me Scrimir. It means 'big guy'. But they are mocking me. Help man, call me a 'big guy' but I'm really big compared to you. Well, look, where did my gloves go? I have a pair of gloves, you know, but I lost them last night One." He held up his hands: his right hand wore a huge leather glove, the other was bare. "Oh! Here it is!"

He reached over to the other side of the mountain Thor had just climbed, and picked up an object, what should be another glove. "Weird. There's something in it," he said, and shook the glove, and Thor recognized the mittens as Schiafe and Loki fell out onto the snow almost at the same time. The house where we stayed the night before.

Scrimir put on the glove on his left hand and looked at it with joy. "We can travel together," he said, "if you like."

Thor looks at Loki, Loki looks at Thor, and then they both look at young Schiafeh.The young man shrugged. "I can keep up," he said, confident in his speed.

"That's right," Thor yelled.

They had breakfast with the Giant: he took the whole cow and sheep out of his ration-sack, and ate it; the other three ate a little less.After eating, Scrimir said: "Well. I will help you carry dry food and let me put them in my bag. This way you can carry less things, and we will have dinner together when we camp at night ’” He put their food into his sack, tightened the rope at the top of the sack, and headed west.

Thor and Loki followed the giant with the indefatigable speed of a god.Schiafe was running fast, probably the fastest of them all, but even so, it became harder and harder to keep up as time went on.Sometimes the giant looks like a mountain in the distance, with its head hidden in the clouds.

At dusk they overtook Scrimir.He had found a place for them to camp under a huge old oak tree, and he himself was comfortably nearby, his head resting on a boulder. "I'm not hungry," he told them. "Leave me alone. I want to go to bed early. Your rations are in my bag, hanging on a tree. Good night."

He started snoring.Accompanied by the familiar low hum and whistle that shook the big tree, Shiafe climbed to the giant's dry food bag.He called to Thor and Loki, "I can't untie the ropes. They're tied too tight, as if they were made of iron."

"I can break iron rods," Thor said, jumping over the ration bag, and began to pull hard on the rope that was tied.

"How?" Loki asked.

Thor grunted and tugged on the rope, he tugged and grunted again.Finally, he shrugged. "We probably won't have supper to-day," he said, "unless the damn giant can untie his bag for us."

He looked at the giant.He looked again at the magic hammer Mjolnir in his hand.Then he climbed down from the bag and onto the sleeping Scrimir's head.

Scrimir opened one eye in a daze. "It's as if a leaf just fell on my head and woke me up," he said. "Have you all finished eating? Are you ready to go to bed? Go to sleep if you want. Tired enough today." He turned over, closed his eyes, and started snoring again.

Despite the deafening snoring, Loki and Schiafe fell asleep, but Thor could not.He was angry, he was hungry, and he didn't trust the giant in the eastern wasteland anymore.At midnight, he was still hungry and tired of the snoring.Again he climbed onto the giant's head and stood between the giant's brows.

Thor spat into the palm of his hand.He adjusted his power belt and lifted Mjolnir over his head.He mustered all his strength and swung the hammer.He was sure the hammer had gone into Scrimir's forehead.

It was still too dark to see the color of the giant's eyes, but he opened them. "Whoa," said the big one, "Thor? Are you there? I think an acorn fell out of a tree and fell on my head just now. What time is it?"

"Midnight," said Thor.

"Okay, then, see you in the morning." The giant snored again, shaking the ground, and the branches and leaves above his head were trembling.

At dawn, before dawn, Thor, hungrier and more angry after a sleepless night, decided to deliver the fatal blow to end the snoring forever.This time, he aimed for the giant's temple, and hit it with all his might.The blow was unprecedented.Thor heard an echo from the mountains.

"You know," Scrimir said, "it looks like a bird's nest fell on my head just now. I don't know." He yawned, stretched, and stood up. "Okay, now I'm awake. It's time to go. Have you three heard of Utgard, or Outland? They'll take good care of you there. They promise you a good dinner, full Horn's beer, and after that wrestling, and running, and power-testing. Outland, they like to have fun. Outland is due east—go right there, just beyond the lightning in the sky. And I'm going Go north." He smiled at them, showing a missing front tooth.The grin would have looked like a head-stopped smirk were it not for his eyes being so blue and piercing.

Then he leaned forward and put a hand to his mouth, as if he didn't want someone to overhear what he had to say.His whispers were still deafening, though, so it didn't help. "I just overheard you guys talking about how huge I am. I guess you're flattering me. But if you go up north too, you'll meet real giants, really big ones You guys. Then you'll understand that I'm nothing more than a little shrimp."

Scrimir smiled again, then stomped heavily on the ground and headed north.The earth made a dull sound under his feet.

3
They passed Jotunheim eastward, and they had been heading towards the sunrise all this time.

At first they thought they were heading for an average-sized castle not far away.They quickened their pace, but the castle didn't look any bigger, or any closer.As the days passed, they began to realize at last how huge the castle was, and how far away it was.

"Is that Outland?" Schiafe asked.

Loki looked almost serious, and said, "Yes. That's where my family comes from."

"Have you been here before?"

"No."

They went up the castle steps without seeing any of them.They could hear what seemed to be a party going on inside.But the city wall is taller than many churches, and it is surrounded by metal railings.Such railings can keep out any uninvited guests, even giants.

Thor called out, but no one answered.

"Shall we go in?" he asked Loki and Shiafeh.

The group of them lowered their bodies and crawled under the door rail.They walked across the courtyard and into the hall.The benches there were as high as the tops of the trees, and the giants sat on them.Thor strode in, Schiafe was a little timid, but still walked beside Thor, and Loki followed behind them.

In the innermost part of the hall, the King of Giants sits on the highest throne.The three of them walked through the hall and bowed deeply to the King of Giants.

The king had a wise, thin face and fiery red hair.His eyes were as blue as ice.He looked at the traveler in front of him and raised his eyebrows.

"Boy," he said, "the little dolls are invading. Oh, I was wrong. You should be Thor of the famous Asir, which means you must be Loki, Laufey's." Son. I know your mother. Hello, little relative. I am Loki of Utgarde, also known as Loki of Outland. Who are you?"

"Siafer," said Schiafer, "I am Thor's squire."

"Welcome all of you, and welcome to Utgarde," said Loki of Outland. "This is the place where the mightiest gather, the best place in the world. Here, whether it's artisanship or cunning, as long as you have If you have a skill, you are better than everyone else, then you are welcome. Does any of you have special abilities? How about you, little relative? Do you have any unique skills?"

"I eat faster than anyone else," Loki said without bragging about it.

"Very interesting. My servant is here. His name, by coincidence, is Logy. Would you like to compete with him?"

Loki shrugged like he didn't mind.

Loki of Outland clapped his hands, and the servant brought in a long wooden trough, which was filled with all kinds of wild animals and rare birds: roast goose, roast cow, roast sheep, roast goat, roast rabbit and roast deer.When he clapped his hands again, Loki started eating.He ate from the farthest end of the wooden trough and ate all the way in.

He ate desperately, with total concentration, as if he had only one goal in life: to eat, to eat, to eat, to eat as fast as possible, and as much as possible.His hands and mouth moved so fast that only shadows of movement could be seen.

Rocky and Rocky were rivals and met in the middle of the table.

Loki of Outland looked down from his throne. "Well," he said, "you both ate as fast--both good--but Logy ate the bones, and, you see, he ate the wooden troughs. Key did eat all the meat, but he didn't even touch the bones, let alone the wooden trough that held the meat. So this round, Logy won."

Loki of Outland looked at Shiafeh. "You," he said, "boy. What can you do?"

Shiafe shrugged.He was the fastest runner of anyone I knew.He can run over frightened rabbits, flying birds."I can run," he said.

"Very well," said Loki of Outland, "then you run."

They went out, and there was a track out on a flat field, perfect for racing.Several giants stood waiting beside the runway, rubbing their palms together and blowing hot air into them to keep them warm.

"You're but a child, Schiafeh," said Loki of Outland, "so I won't let you race a grown man. Where's our little Hughie?"

A giant child stepped out, so slender he seemed not to be standing there before, not much bigger than Loki or Thor.

With a smile on his face, the child silently looked at Loki in Outland.Schiafe wasn't sure if the boy had been there before he was called, but he was standing there now.

Hughie and Schiafe stood side by side on the starting line, waiting for the start.

"Run!" Loki of Outland yelled like thunder, and the two boys ran away.Schiafe was running faster than ever before, but he saw Hughie pass him.When Hughie reached the finish line, he was only halfway there.

Loki of Outland yelled, "Hughie wins." Then he bent down and crouched beside Shiafeh. "You'd have to run faster to outrun Hughie," said the giant, "but I've never seen a human run as fast as you, though. Go faster, hope." Yafei."

Schiafe stood next to the start line again, next to Hughie.Shiafe gasped, his heartbeat echoing in his cochlea.He knew how fast he was running, but Hughie was faster, and what was worse, Hughie seemed to win easily.He wasn't even out of breath.The giant boy looked at Shiafeh and laughed again.Hughie kind of reminded Shiafeh of Loki of Outland, and he wondered if the boy was Loki of Outland's son.

"run!"

They ran.Schiafe ran faster than ever, as if he and Hughie were the only ones left in the world.And Hughie was always ahead of him.When Hughie reached the finish line, Schiafe had five, or ten, seconds to go.

Schiafe knew he was close to winning this time, and he knew he had to run as hard as he could.

"Let's do it again," he gasped.

"Very well," replied Loki of Outland, "you can compete again. You run fast, young man, but I still don't believe you can win. Well, we will win the last match."

Hughie walked to the starting line and Schiafe stood beside him.Shiafee could barely hear Hughie's breathing.

"Good luck," said Schiafe.

"This time," said Hughie, "you'll see me run." The voice seemed to come from Schiafe's head.

"Run!" cried Loki of Outland.

Like an arrow leaving the string, Shiafei ran faster than anyone else.He was like a peregrine rushing downward, like a storm sweeping the earth, he ran like himself, and no one else ran as fast as he did, never did, and never will.

But Hughie was easily ahead of him, faster than ever.Shiafee hadn't run halfway, but Hughie had already reached the finish line and turned back.

"Enough!" roared Loki of Outland.

They returned to the hall.The mood of the giants is now more relaxed and carefree.

"Ah," said Loki of Outland, "it is probably understandable that you lost these two contests. But now, now we shall see something jaw-dropping. Now it is Thor's turn, God of Thunder , the most powerful and valiant hero. Thor, the story of his valor is told in the Nine Realms. Will you show us your power?"

Thor watched him. "First of all, I'm a drinker," he said, "and there's nothing I can't drink."

Loki of Outland thought for a moment. "Of course," he said. "Where's my cup-holder?" The cup-holder stepped forward. "Bring me my special drinking horn."

The cup holder nodded and walked away. After a while, he came back with a very long horn cup.The horn was longer than any Thor had ever seen, but he didn't care.He is Thor, and there is no horn in this world from which he can drink.The outer wall of this horn cup is engraved with runes and patterns, and the horn is inlaid with silver.

"This is the drinking corner of this castle," said Loki of Outland. "We've all drank it here. The most powerful and mighty can be drunk in one gulp, and the others , probably not as good as them, who need two sips to finish. I can tell you with pride, no one here is weak enough to take three sips to finish a dime. That would be so disappointing.”

That was a really long horn.But Thor is Thor after all.He lifted the full horn to his lips and began to drink from the wine.The giants' mead tasted cold and salty, but he drank it anyway, trying to drain the horn with gulps until he had to stop for breath.

He thought the horn must be empty by now, but the odd thing was that the container was as full, or at least nearly full, as when he first started drinking.

"I thought you were a real drinker," said Loki of Outland sarcastically, "but at least you can drink it up on a second sip. We all can."

Thor took a deep breath, then put the horn cup to his lips, and drank heartily.He could feel that he was absolutely dry this time, but when he lowered the horn cup from his lips, the liquid inside was only reduced by the height of a thumb.

The giants looked at Thor and began to laugh at him.Thor glared at them, and they fell silent immediately.

"Ah," said Loki of Outland, "it seems that the legend about the majestic Thor is nothing more than a legend. Even so, we will give you another chance, and you can try to drink the horn in the third sip." cup. There shouldn’t be much left here.”

Thor lifted the horn to his lips and began to drink.He drank so godly, so long and so deeply that both Loki and Schiafe looked at him in amazement.

But when he put down the horn, the mead sank like a knuckle. "I quit," said Thor, "I don't believe it's just a little mead."

Loki of Outland sent his toasting squire over to take the horn. "Then let's have a test of strength. Can you lift a cat?" he asked Thor.

"What's the problem? Of course I can lift a cat."

"All right," said Loki of Outland, "but we've all seen that you're not as strong as we thought. In Utgarde the boys used to lift my cat for strength. But I should warn you , you are much smaller than us, and my cat is a giant cat, so if you can't lift it, I can completely understand."

"I'm sure I can lift your cat," said Thor.

"She probably slept by the fire," said Loki of Outland. "Let's find her."

The cat was sleeping cross-legged, but when they entered the room, it got up and walked into the middle of the room.The silver-gray cat was about the size of a man, but Thor was stronger than any man, and he put his arms around the cat's belly, trying to lift it above his head with both hands.The cat didn't seem to respond: she was arched so high that Thor had to stand up straight.

Thor isn't going to be defeated by a simple game of cat lifting.He lifted it up with all his strength, and finally, one of the cat's paws was lifted.

Just then, Thor, Schiafeh, and Loki heard a loud noise in the distance, as if huge rocks were rubbing against each other, as if the rocks were making a sound with pain.

"Enough," said Loki of Outland, "it's not your fault you couldn't lift my cat, Thor. It's a giant cat, and you're nothing more than a skinny little man among us giants." .” He bared his front teeth and smiled.

"Slim little man?" Thor said. "What, I'm going to wrestle with one of you giants..."

Loki of Outland replied, "After what happened before, it would be very disrespectful for me to let you wrestle real giants. You might get hurt. Besides, I probably don't have anyone on my team." Will wrestle with a man who can't drain my horn or lift my cat. But I'll try to accommodate you. If you really want to wrestle, you can wrestle with my old wet nurse."

"Your wet nurse?" Thor asked in disbelief.

"Yes, she is very old. But she taught us to wrestle a long time ago, and I believe she has not forgotten how. She has shrunk a little because of old age, so she is probably not as tall as you. Too far. She used to play with the kids." Looking at the look on Thor's face, he added, "Her name is Iri, and she beat guys who looked stronger than you, and I saw that with my own eyes. So don't take your enemies too lightly, Thor."

"I'd rather wrestle with your warriors," Thor said, "but that's okay, I'll wrestle with your old mother first!"

They went for this old lady, and she arrived, looking frail and decayed, wrinkled and withered, as if a light wind could blow her away.She was indeed a giant, but she seemed only a little taller than Thor.Her head was covered with fine, wiry hair, which made Thor wonder how old she really was.She looked older than anyone he'd ever seen.He doesn't want to hurt her.

They stand facing each other.Whoever gets to the ground first loses the game.Thor pushed the old woman, then pulled her, tried to push her, tripped her, made her fall to the ground, but she was as solid as a rock.She had been looking at him silently with her old, colorless eyes.

Then the old woman reached out and touched Thor's leg lightly.He immediately felt that his legs became weak wherever he touched them.He pushed her back, but she wrapped her arms around him and pushed him to the ground.He pushed her with all his strength, but it was useless. Soon, he was half kneeling and pressed to the ground...

"Enough!" cried Loki of Outland. "That is enough, great Thor. You are no match for my old nurse. My men will not match you."

Thor looked at Loki, and then they both looked at Shiafeh.They sat by the fire, and the giants entertained them warmly—the food was plentiful, and the wine was not so salty as in the giant's horn—but all three of them were taciturn, and nothing like a common feast of them.

The three companions were silent, with a little embarrassment, they were very humble because of their previous failures.

At daybreak they left the castle of Utgarde.The king, Loki of Outland, personally saw them off.

"How is it?" asked Loki of Outland. "How are you doing at my house?"

They looked up at him angrily.

"Not so much," Thor said, "I've always thought I was strong, and now I feel like I'm nothing."

"I thought I was running fast," Schiafe said.

"And I've never lost an eating contest before," Rocky said.

They walked through the last gate of Loki's castle in Outland.

"You know," said the giant, "that you are not nobodies, and you are not worthless. Honestly, if I had known all this last night, I would never have invited you to my house, and never will again. You are invited. You see, I tricked you all with illusions."

The three travelers looked up at the giant, who looked down at them and smiled. "Do you remember Scrimir?" he asked.

"The giant? Of course."

"That's what I changed. I used illusion to change my appearance and make myself so huge. My dry food bag is bound with unbreakable iron wire, which can only be opened by magic. And Thor, when you hit it with a hammer When I was, I was pretending to be asleep. I knew you could kill with a single blow, so I used a spell to move a mountain between your hammer and my head, and make it invisible. Look over there. "

From a distance, there is a saddle-shaped mountain with several valleys in between: three square valleys, the last one is particularly deep.

"That mountain is what I use," said Loki of Outland. "Those valleys come from your power."

Thor didn't speak, he bit his lower lip, his nose flared, and his red beard began to stand up.

Loki asked: "Is what happened in the castle last night also an illusion?"

"Of course. Have you ever seen a wildfire start a wildfire? A wildfire roars down a valley and eats up everything in its path. You think you eat fast? But you'll never eat as fast as Logy, Because Logy is wildfire personified, and he eats food and troughs of food because he burns them all up. Then again, I've never seen anyone eat as fast as you."

Loki's green eyes flashed anger and reverence at the same time, for as much as he hated being teased, he also loved and appreciated the tricks.

Loki of Outland turned to Shiafeh. "How fast can you think, kid?" he asked. "Can you think faster than you can run?"

"Of course," replied Schiafe, "I can think faster than anything."

"That's why I had you race Hughie, he's the mind. You're the fastest man we've ever seen, no doubt, but Schiafe, no matter how fast you run, Impossible to go faster than thought."

Shiafe said nothing.He wanted to say something, to protest the unfairness of the game, or to ask some questions, when Thor asked in a low voice.His voice was as low as thunder echoing in the distant mountains.

"What about me? What the hell did I do last night?"

Loki of Outland stopped smiling. "A miracle," he said, "you have done the impossible. You cannot see it with your own eyes, but the bottom of the horn from which you drink is connected to the deepest ocean. You drink enough water to make the whole sea fall, so , the seas are chopping. Because of you, Thor, the oceans will ebb and flow from now on. I'm glad you didn't take a fourth sip: you might drink the ocean dry."

"The cat you're trying to lift isn't a cat either. It's Jormungandr, the Serpent of Midgard that circles the center of the world. Lifting the Serpent of Midgard is never Possibly, but you did, and you even loosened one of its rings - as you lifted one of the cat's paws off the ground. Do you remember that loud bang? That's the earth moving sound."

"Where's the old woman?" Thor asked. "Your wet nurse? What is she?" He sounded very gentle, but he was holding the hammer tightly, in the way he was most comfortable with.

"That's Iri, old age. No one can beat old age, because in the end she'll beat each of us and make us weaker, and in the end, she'll close our eyes forever. It's true for all of us, Except you, Thor. You wrestled old men, and we were all jaw-dropping in amazement at your ability to stand in the middle of the wrestling. And when she threw all her strength at you, you took only one knee. We never saw Have a miracle like last night, Thor. Never."

"Now that we have seen your power, we know how foolish it was to have you come to Utgarde. In the future, I must protect my castle better. I will make it impossible for any of you to find it and see it again. It. No matter what happens in the future, you will never come back."

Thor raised the hammer in his hand high, but before the hammer came down, Loki from Outland had disappeared.

"Look," said Schiafe.

The castle also disappeared.Loki's castle in Outland has disappeared without a trace.Now, there are only three travelers standing on the deserted plain and looking at each other.

"Let's go back," Loki said, and then he added, "Have to say, that one was pretty well done. The illusion was just right. I think I learned something today."

"I'll tell my sister I've raced the mind," Schiafe said. "I'll tell Roskoff that I'm fast."

But Thor said nothing.He was thinking about the night before, wrestling with the Old Man and drinking the ocean.He was thinking of the serpent of Midgard.

(End of this chapter)