The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)

Hugin and Munin fly each day over the wide world. I fear for Hugin that he may not return, though I worry more for Munin.’

Another condition of her settlement was that the Æsir must do something she thought they could not do: make her laugh. Then Loki tied one end of a cord to the beard of a goat and tied the other end around his own testicles. The goat and Loki started pulling back and forth, each squealing loudly until finally Loki fell into Skadi’s lap, and then she

Loki is pleasing, even beautiful to look at, but his nature is evil and he is undependable. More than others, he has the kind of wisdom known as cunning, and is treacherous in all matters.

‘You say that all men who have fallen in battle from the beginning of the world are now with Odin in Valhalla. With what does he feed them? I should think the crowd there is large.’

‘Also counted among the Æsir is one whom some call Slanderer of the Gods, the Source of Deceit, and the Disgrace of All Gods and Men.

‘Odin is called All-Father, because he is the father of all the gods. He is also called Father of the Slain [Val-Father], because all who fall in battle are his adopted sons. With them he mans Valhalla and Vingolf, and they are known as the Einherjar.

‘Odin’s second son is Baldr, and there is much good to tell about him. He is the best, and all praise him. He is so beautiful and so bright that light shines from him. One plant is so white that it is likened to Baldr’s brow.1 It is the whitest of all plants, and from this you can judge the beauty of both his hair and his body. He is the wisest of

From Ymir’s flesh was the earth created, from the bloody sweat, the sea, cliffs from bones, trees from hair, and from the head, the heavens; And from his eyelashes the gentle gods made Midgard for the sons of men; and from his brains all the oppressive clouds were formed.’

Gangleri answered, ‘What did Bor’s sons do next, if you believe they are gods?’ High said, ‘It is no small matter to be told. They took Ymir and they moved him into the middle of Ginnungagap and made from him the world. From his blood they made the sea and the lakes. The earth was fashioned from the flesh, and mountain cliffs from the bones. They m