In the Days of Giants

IN the beginning of things, before there was any world or sun, moon, and stars, therewere the giants; for these were the oldest creatures that ever breathed. They lived in Jotunheim, theland of frost and darkness, and their hearts were evil. Next came the gods, the good Æsir, who madeearth and sky and sea, and who dwelt in Asgard, above the heavens. Then were created the queerlittle dwarfs, who lived underground in the caverns of the mountains, working at their mines ofmetal and...
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IN the beginning of things, before there was any world or sun, moon, and stars, therewere the giants; for these were the oldest creatures that ever breathed. They lived in Jotunheim, theland of frost and darkness, and their hearts were evil. Next came the gods, the good Æsir, who madeearth and sky and sea, and who dwelt in Asgard, above the heavens. Then were created the queerlittle dwarfs, who lived underground in the caverns of the mountains, working at their mines ofmetal and precious stones. Last of all, the gods made men to dwell in Midgard, the good world thatwe know, between which and the glorious home of the Æsir stretched Bifröst, the bridge ofrainbows.In those days, folk say, there was a mighty ash-tree named Yggdrasil, so vast that its branchesshaded the whole earth and stretched up into heaven where the Æsir dwelt, while its roots sank fardown below the lowest depth. In the branches of the big ash-tree lived a queer family of creatures.First, there was a great eagle, who was wiser than any bird that ever lived--except the two ravens,Thought and Memory, who sat upon Father Odin's shoulders and told him the secrets which theylearned in their flight over the wide world. Near the great eagle perched a hawk, and four antlereddeer browsed among the buds of Yggdrasil. At the foot of the tree coiled a huge serpent, who wasalways gnawing hungrily at its roots, with a whole colony of little snakes to keep him company,--somany that they could never be counted. The eagle at the top of the tree and the serpent at its footwere enemies, always saying hard things of each other. Between the two skipped up and down a littlesquirrel, a tale-bearer and a gossip, who repeated each unkind remark and, like the maliciousneighbor that he was, kept their quarrel ever fresh and green.In one place at the roots of Yggdrasil was a fair fountain called the Urdar-well, where the threeNorn-maidens, who knew the past, present, and future, dwelt with their pets, the two white swans.This was magic water in the fountain, which the Norns sprinkled every day upon the giant tree tokeep it green,--water so sacred that everything which entered it became white as the film of aneggshell. Close beside this sacred well the Æsir had their council hall, to which they galloped everymorning over the rainbow bridge.