Myth Retold

This is the myth of how a Jotun came in disguise and built a wall around Asgard and was tricked by Loki, and of how I got my horse, Sleipnir.

Way back in the early days of the universe, all of us gods had created Midgard and such, and we were working on Asgard, the home of the gods. A stone-mason came to us and said he could build it for us in three seasons if we gave him a heavy price - Freyja, the sun, and the moon. My fellow gods and I held a council, and we decided that if the stone-mason could finish it in a winter, which we knew was impossible, then we would give him the prize. We decided that this was the best way, as we could at least get part of the work out of him. He surprisingly agreed, but asked if he could use his stallion, called Svadilfari, to help him complete the work. We agreed, but were surprised to find that this stallion was hauling all of the rocks to Asgard to work on the wall.

When the end of winter was close, the stone-mason had almost finished the wall, and we knew that we were going to have to pay the stone-mason his prize. We all held another council and asked who had suggested giving Freyja, the sun, and the moon to the stone-mason as the prize. We were not surprised to find that it had been Loki's idea. So naturally, to avoid his punishment, Loki came up with a plan to keep the stone-mason from finishing the wall. Loki turned himself into a mare and lured Svadilfari off into the woods. When the stone-mason discovered that his horse was gone, he flew into a rage, revealing his true form as a Jotun (Giant). We called on Thor, who quickly came and, naturally, smashed the Jotun's head with his hammer, Mjöllnir. Later, Loki had been hanging out with Svadilfari, and he gave birth to a foal, who was Sleipnir. Loki presented Sleipnir to me as a gift, and I accepted it, knowing that this horse was the fastest in the world and had powers which I have already discussed in a previous blog.