Part 8 (1/2)
”I would change what knowledge I have into wisdom,” said Odin, ”so that the things that are to happen will be changed into the best that may be.”
”You would go to Mimir's Well,” said Frigga.
”I would go to Mimir's Well,” said Odin.
”My husband, go,” said Frigga.
Then they went back over that Rainbow Bridge that is more beautiful and more tremulous than the one that men see from the earth; they went back over the Rainbow Bridge, the aesir and the Asyniur, Odin and Frigga, Baldur and Nanna, Tyr, with his sword, and Sif beside Tyr. As for Thor, he went struggling through the Cloud Rivers Kormt and Ermt, his hammer Miolnir upon his shoulder.
Little Hnossa, the youngest of the Dwellers in Asgard, was there, standing beside Heimdall, the Watcher for the G.o.ds and the Keeper of the Bridge to Urda's Well, when Odin All-Father and Frigga, his Queen, went through the great gate with heads bent. ”Tomorrow,” Hnossa heard Odin say, ”tomorrow I shall be Vegtam the Wanderer upon the ways of Midgard and Jotunheim.”
PART II
ODIN THE WANDERER
[Ill.u.s.tration]
ODIN GOES TO MIMIR'S WELL: HIS SACRIFICE FOR WISDOM
And so Odin, no longer riding on Sleipner, his eight-legged steed; no longer wearing his golden armor and his eagle-helmet, and without even his spear in his hand, traveled through Midgard, the World of Men, and made his way toward Jotunheim, the Realm of the Giants.
No longer was he called Odin All-Father, but Vegtam the Wanderer. He wore a cloak of dark blue and he carried a traveler's staff in his hands. And now, as he went toward Mimir's Well, which was near to Jotunheim, he came upon a Giant riding on a great Stag.
Odin seemed a man to men and a giant to giants. He went beside the Giant on the great Stag and the two talked together. ”Who art thou, O brother?” Odin asked the Giant.
”I am Vafthrudner, the wisest of the Giants,” said the one who was riding on the Stag. Odin knew him then. Vafthrudner was indeed the wisest of the Giants, and many went to strive to gain wisdom from him.
But those who went to him had to answer the riddles Vafthrudner asked, and if they failed to answer the Giant took their heads off.
”I am Vegtam the Wanderer,” Odin said, ”and I know who thou art, O Vafthrudner. I would strive to learn something from thee.”
The Giant laughed, showing his teeth. ”Ho, ho,” he said, ”I am ready for a game with thee. Dost thou know the stakes? My head to thee if I cannot answer any question thou wilt ask. And if thou canst not answer any question that I may ask, then thy head goes to me. Ho, ho, ho. And now let us begin.”
”I am ready,” Odin said.
”Then tell me,” said Vafthrudner, ”tell me the name of the river that divides Asgard from Jotunheim?”
”Ifling is the name of that river,” said Odin. ”Ifling that is dead cold, yet never frozen.”
”Thou hast answered rightly, O Wanderer,” said the Giant. ”But thou hast still to answer other questions. What are the names of the horses that Day and Night drive across the sky?”
”Skinfaxe and Hrimfaxe,” Odin answered. Vafthrudner was startled to hear one say the names that were known only to the G.o.ds and to the wisest of the Giants. There was only one question now that he might ask before it came to the stranger's turn to ask him questions.
”Tell me,” said Vafthrudner, ”what is the name of the plain on which the last battle will be fought?”
”The Plain of Vigard,” said Odin, ”the plain that is a hundred miles long and a hundred miles across.”
It was now Odin's turn to ask Vafthrudner questions. ”What will be the last words that Odin will whisper into the ear of Baldur, his dear son?”