Teutonic Mythology

Gods and Goddesses of the Northland

IN

THREE VOLUMES

By VIKTOR RYDBERG, Ph.D.,

MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OF "THE LAST ATHENIAN" AND OTHER WORKS.

AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH

BY

RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., EX-UNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK; AUTHOR OF "NORSE MYTHOLOGY," "VIKING TALES," ETC.

HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., Ph.D., EDITOR IN CHIEF. J. W. BUEL, Ph.D., MANAGING EDITOR.

VOL. III.

PUBLISHED BY THE NORRŒNA SOCIETY, LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK 1906

OF THE Viking Edition

There are but six hundred and fifty sets made for the world, of which this is

No. 99

COPYRIGHT, T. H. SMART, 1905.

THOR'S JOURNEY TO GIERRODSGARD. (From an etching by Lorenz Frölich.) Loke, in the guise of a falcon, having been captured by Geirrod, promised if released to bring Thor into the power of the giant without his hammer, belt or iron gloves. Thor being persuaded by the crafty Loke, started upon the journey. When he came to the river Vimer he attempted to ford it, though the stream had become a great torrent. As he reached the center the waters rose rapidly until they washed over his shoulders and he seemed to be in imminent danger of being carried away. At this juncture, looking toward the source of the river, he perceived Gjalp, Geirrod's daughter, who stood astride the stream and was causing its rapid growth. He thereupon seized a stone and threw it with his usual precision at the offending woman, who retreated. But it was with much struggling that Thor reached the bank which, however, he would have had great difficulty in ascending but for his fortune to seize a projecting shrub, by the aid of which he drew himself out of the raging waters. See page 933.