Page:Stories of Norse Gods and Heroes.djvu/31

Rh him, but Utgard said the men would think it beneath them to wrestle with Thor. Then he called his old nurse, Elle, to wrestle with him.

The tighter Thor gripped the old woman, the firmer she stood. Soon he was thrown on one knee, and Utgard sent the old woman away.

The next morning at dawn, Thor and Loke and the two children prepared to go away.

Utgard gave them breakfast and went a little way with them.

When he was ready to go back, he asked Thor how he liked his visit. Thor replied that he had done himself dishonor.

At this Utgard said: "I will tell you the truth now that we are out of my palace. You shall never come into it again. If I had known your strength you should not have come this time.

"In the forest it was I you met. If I had not held a mountain between your hammer and my head, you would have killed me. There is the mountain. The three caves you see were made by the three blows of your hammer.

"One end of the drinking-horn stood in the sea. When you come to the shore you will see how much water is gone.

"What you took for a cat was the great Midgard Serpent which encircles the earth and holds its tail in its mouth. The nurse was old age. No one can resist her."