248 wife were not yet free from care, for the giant stood threatening in a neighbouring field, and was now coming towards the house, where he scented his victim. They prayed Honir that he might guard their darling from the monster; the beneficent god did not tarry; he took the boy with him into the greenwood, where immediately two silvery swans settled down before him, and he hid his little charge in the form of a feather of down in the neck of one of them. However, the giant, who was called Skrymsli, strode onwards to the greenwood; he was powerful in magic, and enchanted the right swan to him, and bit his neck off. Yet the feather of down was wafted from his mouth, and Honir caught it up, and carried the terrified boy back to his anxious parents. The peasant and his wife now called to Loki for his help in their need; for they saw the giant coming with angry strides out of the wood. The god appeared at once, took the boy to the strand, and rowed with him far out to sea. And he angled and caught three large flounders. After he had hidden the boy as the tinest egg in the roe of one of them, he threw the fishes overboard, and turned again towards land. Here he saw with astonishment, that Skrymsli had prepared his boat to go out fishing; he got into it with the giant, and sought, but all in vain, to put a stop to the voyage; the vessel flew on, driven by the powerful strokes of the giant, hurrying over the sound into the open sea, where the boatman sank his angle and stone into the water. He caught at once three flounders, and amongst them the desired Rogner. “Give me that poor little fish,” asked Loki insinuatingly. “Hast thou an appetite then, Gaffer, hey?” snarled the giant; “thou wilt have to wait a long time I fancy!”

249 Thereupon he took the flounder between his knees, and counted every egg in the roe, until he found the one he wanted. But with a dexterous finger Loki snatched it up, and told the boy, when they reached the land, to spring with a light foot over the sand towards home. Skrymsli saw the boy running, and hastened after him, but with every step he sank knee-deep into the sand. He found the door of the house shut; when he threw himself against it with great force, it broke in two; but, springing forwards, he ran his head into an iron pole. Loki was at once at hand, and cut off one of his legs, and then the other; and so the monster died; and his body covered the field. The peasant and his wife brought thank-offerings to the god Loki, for their darling, whom the other gods had only hidden a short time, and who now rested safely in their arms. The above story is still told on the Faroe Islands, and in fuller detail than we have been enabled to give it. It shows us an important fact, that Loki was not always looked upon as the principle of evil, as the enemy of gods and men. Originally he was the god of the indispensable household fire, the god of the beneficent, kindly hearth; therefore he regularly appears in the trinity: thus the sons of the primeval giant Ymir were called Kari (air), Ögir or Hler (water), and Logi (fire); and similarly on the creation of mankind the trinity appears, Odin, Hönir and Lodur. Loki also accompanied Odin and Hönir on their travels to the giant Thiassi. The father of Loki was Farbauti and his mother was Laufey (leafy isle). The former was probably the same as Bergelmir, the giant who escaped drowning in the Deluge by taking refuge in a boat, as another name for his mother was Nal, ship. Logi, the element of fire, was distinctly separated from Loki, for we saw that when in the halls of Skyrnir or Utgard-

250 Loki, the two were rivals in a wager as to which could consume the greater quantity of food in a given time. At first Loki was held in high honour as the giver of warmth and god of the domestic hearth, and was looked upon as the brother of Odin and Hönir, for the elements air, water and fire are intimately connected. He therefore belonged to the Ases, sat in their council, and often helped them out of difficulties by means of his cunning. As fire is not always the friend of man, but is also the element of destruction, the Loki of the myth developed ever more and more the dark side of his character. He showed himself as a cunning adviser, a false, traitorous comrade, and lastly as the murderer of all that was pure and holy. He destroyed innocence and righteousness, became the blasphemer of the Ases or their evil conscience; and although he received immediate punishment for his wickedness, he yet succeeded in bringing about the universal destruction. The name Loki has been derived from the old word "liuhan,” to enlighten. It therefore has the same origin as the Latin lux, light. Thus he was also related to Lucifer (light-bringer), a title of honour which was given to the Prince of Darkness. In like manner as the northern tempter was chained to a sharp rock, Lucifer was believed in the middle ages to be chained down in hell. Saxo Grammaticus describes his Utgarthlocus (Utgard-Loki) as laden with chains in Helheim, which proves that the myth of Loki and his punishment was believed long after the Christian era. As has been said before, Loki had three wicked children by the giantess Angurboda (bringer of anguish), Fenris, Hel and Jörmungander. But he also had a lawful wife, the faithful Sigyn, who brought him two sons, Wali and Narwi, and who remained with him during all the misery his punishment brought upon him. He had no servants or subjects, for the Salamanders

251 or Fire-spirits which played a part in Roman and Oriental mythology were unknown in the north. But he had other mighty relations, namely Surtur of the Flaming Sword and the sons of Muspel, who helped him in the Last Battle when he had got rid of his bonds. The Dwarfs and Black-Elves that needed fire for their labours were in alliance with him, but were not subservient to him; indeed, as we have already seen, they were often his enemies.