Chapter 15
2845 years ago
Jotuenheim
The land of giants was full of towering mountains and deep valleys. On the eastern boarder was a vast range of mountains that looked towards distant Asgard. High up on the one face was a great cave., Iinside it was dark and dank,dank; the floor was littered with animal bones. This cave was home to a giantess called Thokk. She was nearly eighteen feet tall and was very fat. Her face was broad and flat, a mop of tangled hair covered beady black eyes and a stubby nose. Thokk sat in the cave's opening and watched all the comings and goings of the giants., Sshe had no friends or family and all the other giants steered well clear of her. From this high vantage point Thokk could just make out the rainbow road that led to the land of the gods.
For many years now the road had been packed with messengers racing back and forth. Hermod had returned from his long journey and delivered Hella'ss message., Eever since then Odin had dispatched messengers to all corners of the nine worllds asking for all to weep for his son's return. Thokk had no love for the Aesir gods and she cared even less about their comings and goings., Aall she wanted was to be left alone. As the years had gone by everything had been done as was asked and all had wept for Bbalder. Birds wept, animals wept, insects wept even the cold bloodedcold-blooded snakes wept. Now the Asgard messengers were in Jotuenheim and one by one the giants did as was asked.
Thokk screwed up her ugly face and glared down at the base of the mountain. Two messengers were talking to a giant who was easily three times as tall as they were. The giant listened and his tear- soaked face looked straight up at Thokk., Hhe spoke to the messengers and pointed at her. There was no path or road up to the cave so the messengers had to climb and scrabble up as best they could. They wore heavy bearskin cloaks which they wrapped tighter around themselves the higher they got. Their heavy leather boots slipped on loose rocks and small plants. Despite the challenge, the messengers were in high spirits. Balder was so well loved that everything in eight of the nine worlds had wept. Jotuenheim was the final hurdle and so farfar, every giant had wept. Fur- lined gloves covered noses as the messengers reached the cave., Tthe stench coming from it was unbearable.
Thokk sat in the cave's entrance glaring at the messengers. She was wearing nothing but a filthy rag around her waist which did nothing to conceal her dignity or the matted black hair. Her skin was a dirty brownbrown, - grey colour. Trying not to look at the giant sagging breasts the first messenger spoke.
"Greetings, we bring word from Asgard."
Thokk just stared and said nothing.
"The most loved and fairest of all the gods has been cruelly sent to Helheim, it was not his time and his death was not fit for an Aesir god."
Thokk continued to glower at the messenger and still did not speak. The messenger began to wonder if the giant even understood him.,
Hhe pressed on.
"In order for Beloved Balder to return to Asgard, Queen Hella has demanded that all must weep for him."
The words were met with silence, the only noise was the heavy breathing of the giantess.
"Will you weep for Balder?" asked the second messenger.
The giant growled deep in her throat.
"Thokk will not weep for a dead god.......... I care not for him or for his trickster father!"
The messengers exchanged worried looks. After all these years and the many miles, they had travelled, was it all about to be for nothing?
"But you must weep, your tears can free the kind and fair god. Do not condemn him to Helheim until the end of days!" pleaded the first Messenger.
"No! Thokk will not weep!"
"But you must, please we beg you!" said the second messenger.
The giantess got to her feet growling deeply, she picked up a large bone and wielded it like a club. The messengers began to back away. They begged and pleaded but it was no use.
"Thokk said no!" the giant roared as the messengers began to run and they practically fell all the way to the bottom of the mountain.
Odin stood on the rainbow road that led to Jotuenheim. He leaned heavily on his black staff, his worn grey travelling cloak flapped gently in the summer breeze. It was a beautiful summer day., Tthe deep green forests and fields were vibrant against the cloudless blue sky. Odin greeted every single messenger to return from the land of giants, all were happy and came bearing good news. It looked as though all was well and that Balder would be freed from Helheim. One of Odin's great ravens flapped down and landed on the bridge, it let out a short sharp cry.
Odin turned his attention to the bird and almost instantly wished he hadn't. Sadness filled his heart followed by an unshakeable feeling of certainty. Behind the raven in the far distance, two small figures could be made out. Odin watched them., Aas they came closer it was clear they were walking very slowly with heads bowed. Odin rested his forehead against his staff as he waited for them to arrive. Both messengers arrived with tears flowing freely, they said nothing and just fell to their knees in front of the old god. Odin tried to keep his calm and gently asked them what had happened. As the messengers retold their tale Odin's fury rose. The beautiful blue sky above Asgard began filling with storm clouds.
"Tell me the name of this giantess!" Odin demanded. The giant raven let out a loud caw then took to the sky.
"Thokk!" said the messengers in unison. A howling wind began to rise, lightning streaked across the sky.
"I know the name of every single giant in Jotuenheim both living and dead."
Odin raised his arms to the sky and icy cold rain began to pelt down. All over Asgard people began to run for cover., Aall knew of Odin's rages and temper and it was not a good thing to be caught in one of his storms.
"Tthere is no giantess called Tthokk!" Odin shouted. Rivers began to swell and burst their banks, lightning shattered trees to splinters. The two messengers ran for cover.
***
Thor stood in the doorway of his great hall, it was called Thrundheim. He watched the storm raging across the land. The howling wind whipped his long red hair and beard all over the place. What could have angered the old one so much? hHe wondered. Thor was over seven feet tall and heavily muscled, he stood on the stairway unmoved by the storm. All around him people were being hurled and tossed in every direction. After a few minutes of watching the destruction Thor decided that he should best go and find out what had upset Odin. He stormed through the great hall, passed the feasting table, passed the comfy chair where his wife was sitting calmly and knitting away doing her needlework, She barely even glanced up from her needle work as Thor stormed by. He was heading for the back of the great hall and that meant only one thing. A great, round boulder stood a t the very back of the hall. It was over ten feet tall and nearly as wide. Thor was the only person in Asgard strong enough to move it. As the boulder rolled aside it revealed a hidden alcove in which the mighty hammer Mjollnir stood.
The magical hammer had been forged long ago by two brothers, they were dwarves and were masters of their craft. It was Loki himself who got the dwarves to make it., He challenged the brothers to forge a mighty treasure worthy of the gods. Eager to prove their skills, the brothers quickly went to work. The forging of the hammer didn't go smoothly, their progress was constantly hindered by a small stinging fly which only attacked them during the most critical moments of the forging.
Near the end of the process the elder brother instructed that,
"No matter what happens now, you must not stop working the bellows."
His brother nodded and set to work. The fly seized the moment and stung the younger brother on both eyelids causing him to let go of the bellows. The attack had served its purpose, when the hammer emerged from the furnace it was badly misshapen, its head was large but the handle was very short.
The hammer was presented to Thor who graciously accepted the gift despite its odd appearance. He practiced with the weapon daily but could not get used to its odd shape and weight. One night, in secret, Thor set off to the land of the elves and sought out their finest metalsmiths. He offered them a massive amount of gold to forge a proper handle for his hammer. The elves were happy to help but refused to accept his gold, saying it was far too much. After a lot of arguing and Thor threatening to crush their skulls, the elves finally accepted the gold and went to work.
The elves being wise and clever, thought of a way to return Thor's gold without him even knowing it. They took half of it and melted it down, from it they forged a three-foot handle. There was still some melted gold left so they coated the iron head as well. When the elves returned with the hammer it was one piece and solid gold. The handle was carved with a cross- hatch pattern to provide grip. The head had a Runic inscription running around it, which Thor could not read. The elves named the hammer Mjollnir, but they would not tell him what the name meant or what the inscription said. Thor had asked Odin many times what it said and although the Rune master knew he wouldn't tell, he just claimed it was an Elvish joke aimed at the dwarves.
Thor had added a leather strap to Mjollnir so he could sling it across his back, without a word to his wife Thor raced out of the hall and into the storm. Odin stood on the rainbow road and continued to vent his anger and grief on the surrounding landscape. At the sound of heavy feet pounding up the road he whirled. Thor came to a stop well back from the elder god, although Thor was over two feet taller and at least twice as wide, he still feared Odin and the powers he wielded. The storm bringer stood with his one eye blazing, wild grey hair flying in the wind, black cloak flapping madly. Thor kept his distance and waited quietly for the old one to speak.
"We have been tricked!" Odin shouted, "that vile rat Loki disguised himself as a giant and refused to weep for my son!"
Thor played with the strap of Mjollnir and his eyes began to glow red as his temper flared.
"I will go to Jotuenheim and crush that scum's skull!"
"NO! Bring him back alive. He will answer to all the gods!"
Thor bowed his head respectfully and then raced past Odin towards the land of giants.
When the news reached Frigg of her son's fate she was consumed by grief and loss. At firstfirst, she stopped attending the meetings of the high court, then she began to isolate herself, spending days, even weeks, alone. The beautiful hall, Fensalir began to fade and decay. All the plants and gardens inside withered and died. Eventually Frigg evicted all of her servants from the hall and then barricaded herself inside. She stopped eating or doing anything else. She just sat on her golden throne amongst the dead plants, growing weaker and weaker until Frigg was never seen in Asgard again.
