The Thrymskvitha [þrymskviða] - In Modern Poetry Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

Then Thor the son of Odin and of Mother Earth
Woke to find that his thunderous hammer
Had been taken as he slept and that his power was gone.

And his beard and hair afire with anger
At the loss of the moulder and melder of fates -
He sought out his sly brother Loki

Raging that the striker down
That grounded sky to earth
Had been stolen by the giants.

Then Loki went to Freya the Fair
The Mistress of the Heavens
And asked to borrow her cloak

And fearing massive devilry
She gave her cloak willingly
With its silver clouds and golden dawns

And Loki flew far abroad with the sky-cape
Coming at last to the Home of the Giants -
Cunning and enchanted from the Elf-kingdom

There Thrym the mighty giant king hailed him,
As he flexed the golden leashes of his hounds
And stroked the flowing manes of his steeds.

"Ghostly one, how are the gods faring now
Have they sent you to bring me good news? "

"Alas" said Loki, "things go badly now with us
The hammer that anneals and tempers has been lost".

Unwisely Thrym confided to the spectre
"I have taken the hammer and hidden it
Eight miles deep in the heartless iron beneath

It will no longer ring for the making of things -
It will be locked within the anvil itself
Unless Freya the Fair becomes my wife".

Then Loki returned to the realm of the gods
Meeting Thor in the forecourt of Asgard
Both downcast with their separate sorrows.

"What news do you bring from the far realms
Tell me truly - is there an answer for our loss?
Quickly speak before the understanding fades".

"My honest brother, the news I bring is bad -
Thrym the king of giants has stolen the hammer
And will not return it until Freya is his wife".

Then they went to Freya, telling her the news
That she should bind on a bridal veil
To safeguard the bringing together of things

But she grew angry and snorted her disgust
At the thought of slaking the King of Giant's lust
Bursting the Brising-elfin Necklace on her breast.

Then the far-famed gods met in counsel
To plot for the recovery of the lightning-striker
And its return to the hands of its wielder Thor.

And Heimdall the white - the wisest of all -
Who foresaw the waxing and waning of fate
Said: ‘Thor must wear the bridal veil and necklace -

Dress him in a woman's pretty skirt and shift
Let there be keys hanging from his perfumed girdle
Gems in his hair and a fetching little cap for his head"

But Thor answered bashfully, blushing with wroth:
"It speaks badly of my honour and manhood
That I should be brought betrothed behind a veil."

Then Loki spoke up: "Thor accept your trial -
If you can no longer temper the earth with heaven's fire
The giants will become the rulers of Asgard".

And so they decked out Thor for the bridal feast
With the keys to pleasure rattling from his sash
And his beard well-hidden beneath a silken mask

And Loki went first as the bride's maid servant
Announcing to Thrym the arrival of Freya the Fair
Bringing the dowry demanded from the gods

And the giants made ready the beasts of sacrifice
And as the blood ran into the altar cauldrons
The mountains burst and earth burned with fire

Then Thrym ordered the giants to make ready:
"Put fresh straw on the floors and benches
Cleanse the tables and unseal the mead flagons

Now they are bringing Freya the Fair my bride -
Beyond compare to the gold-horned cattle of my byres
The jet-black oxen of my yards, and my gems and jewels -

She is come and with her beauty I will lack for nothing".
Then the feasting began - and beer and mead were served -
And Thor ate an ox, ten swans and eight salmon

And all the dainty treats that were set for the women
And out-drank all the other wedding guests together
Quaffing three tuns of mead and many horns of ale.

Then Thrym the leader of the giants became uneasy
"Whoever saw a bride with such a bite on her
Or a maiden who drank to the dregs of mead like this? "

But Loki the arch and artful handmaiden
Answered convincingly for her mistress:
"She has fasted eight days longing for Jotunheim and you".

Then Thrym lifted aside the silk - longing for a kiss
But became fearful and leaped back in dread:
"Why do the eyes of my beloved burn so fiercely? "

And again Loki, serving the goddess, answered:
Have no fear, her eyes are over-bright with dreaming
She has not slept for eight nights longing for Jotunheim and you"

And the giant's luckless sister asked for the bridal fee:
"Take off the rings of red gold that kept you whole
And take up willingly the welcome of your husband".

Then Thrym set to seal the wedding with spells:
"Bring in the hammer that it may hallow the bride
Let it lie on the maid's lap that we may be bonded".

But Thor, the hard-souled one laughed cruelly
Seizing the fiery hammer of the heavens to beat down
First Thrym his giant suitor and then his warriors and followers

Until finally, he slew the giant king's uncomely sister -
And she who had demanded the bridal fee of rings
Received scot-free a death blow from the hammer.

And the hammer Mjolnir was returned in triumph to Asgard
The moulder and melder once more of outcomes
The bringer of victories - the creator of lasting harmonies.