STUDY HELPS There's joy in the mountains; The rain is over and gone! What sounds and sights are mentioned in the first stanza? Explain, "The green field sleeps in the sun." To what is the melting snow compared? Why would the snow on the hill top "fare ill"? What sounds and sights are added by the second stanza to those already mentioned? HOW THOR WENT TO JOTUNHEIM ANNIE AND ELIZA KEARY I. THOR AND HIS GOATS Once on a time, Asa Thor and Loki set out on a journey from Asgard to Jotunheim. They traveled in Thor's chariot, drawn by two milk-white goats. It was a somewhat cumbrous iron chariot, and the wheels made a rumbling noise as it moved, which sometimes startled the ladies of Asgard, and made them tremble; but Thor liked it, thought the noise sweeter than any music, and was never so happy as when he was journeying in it from one place to another. They traveled all day, and in the evening they came to a countryman's house. It was a poor, lonely place; but Thor descended from his chariot, and determined to spend the night there. The countryman, however, had no food in the house to give these travelers; and Thor, who liked to feast himself and make every one feast with him, was obliged to kill his own two goats and serve them up for They traveled in Thor's chariot, drawn by two milk-white goats supper. He invited the countryman and his wife and children to sup with him; but before they began to eat he made one request of them. "Do not, on any account," he said, "break or throw away any of the bones of the goats you are going to eat for supper." "I wonder why," said the peasant's son, Thialfi, to his sister Roska. Roska could not think of any reason, and by and by Thialfi happened to have a very nice little bone given him with some marrow in it. "Certainly there can be no harm in my breaking just this one," he said to himself; "it would be such a pity to lose the marrow"; and as Asa Thor's head was turned another way, he slyly broke the bone in two, sucked the marrow, and then threw the pieces into the goats' skins, where Thor had desired that all the bones might be placed. I do not know whether Thialfi was uneasy during the night about what he had done; but in the morning he found out the reason of Asa Thor's command, and received a lesson on "wondering why," which he never forgot all his life after. As soon as Asa Thor rose in the morning he took his hammer, Miolnir, in his hand, and held it over the goatskins as they lay on the floor, whispering runes the while. They were dead skins with dry bones in them when he began to speak; but as he said the last word, Thialfi, who was looking curiously on, saw two live goats spring up and walk toward the chariot, as fresh and well as when they brought the chariot up to the door, Thialfi hoped. But no; one of the goats limped a little with his hind leg, and Asa Thor saw it. His brow grew dark as he looked, and for a minute Thialfi thought he would run far, far into the forest, and never come back again; but one look more at Asa Thor's face, angry as it was, made him change his mind. He thought of a better thing to do than running away. He came forward, threw himself at the Asa's feet, and, confessing what he had done, begged pardon for his disobedience. Thor listened, and the displeased look passed away from his face. "You have done wrong, Thialfi," he said, raising him up; "but as you have confessed your fault so bravely, instead of punishing you, I will take you with me on my journey, and teach you myself the lesson of obedience to the Æsir which is, I see, wanted." Roska chose to go with her brother, and from that day Thor had two faithful servants, who followed him wherever he went. A'sa (ä'sä) (sing. of Æsir), god or lord; Thor (thôr), the god of thunder (Thursday is named after him); Lo'ki (lō'ke), a god of the northland; As'gärd, the dwelling place of the gods; Jo'tun heim (yō'toon hām), the dwelling place of the giants; cum'brous (kum'brus), unwieldy, hard to manage; Thi al'fi (tē älf'e), one of Thor's attendants; Ros'ka, Thialfi's sister, the name meaning "lively," "active"; Miol'nir (myŭl'ner), the name of Thor's hammer; Æ'sir (e'sir) (plural of Asa), the chief gods of the northland. STUDY HELPS How did Thor and his companion travel? Where did they stop for the night? How did Thor provide the feast? What instructions did he give to those at the table? Give an account of what happened the next morning. What reason did Thor give for allowing Thialfi and Roska to go along with him? What was the lesson on "wondering why"? II. THOR AND THE GIANT The chariot and goats were now left behind: but, with Loki and his two followers, Thor journeyed on to the end of Manheim, over the sea, and then on, on, on in the strange, barren, misty land of Jotunheim. Sometimes they crossed great mountains; sometimes they had to make their way among torn and jagged rocks, which often, through the mist, appeared to them to wear the forms of men, and once for a whole day they traversed a thick and tangled forest. In the evening of that day, being very much tired, they saw with pleasure that they had come upon a spacious hall, of which the door, as broad as the house itself, stood wide open. "Here we may very comfortably lodge for the night," said Thor; and they went in and looked about them. The house appeared to be perfectly empty; there was a wide hall, and five smaller rooms opening into it. They were, however, too tired to examine it carefully, and as no inhabitants made their appearance, they ate their supper in the hall, and lay down to sleep. But they had not rested long before they were disturbed by strange noises, groanings, mutterings, and snortings, louder than any animal that they had ever seen in their lives could make. By and by the house began to shake from side to side, and it seemed as if the very earth trembled. Thor sprang up in haste, and ran to the open door; but, though he looked earnestly into the starlit forest, there was no enemy to be seen anywhere. Loki and Thialfi, after groping about for a time, found a sheltered chamber to the right, where they thought they could finish their night's rest in safety; but Thor, |