dgehogs and squirrels, crept into holes and refused to eat
for weeks and weeks.

The pleasure of all living things in Baldur's presence means the
happiness that the sunlight brings. The sorrow of all living things
at his death means the gloom of northern countries when winter
comes.

The Val-kyr'ies were beautiful female warriors. They had some of
Woden's own strength and were armed with helmet and shield and
spear. Like Woden, they rode unseen through the air and their horses
were almost as swift as Sleipnir himself. They swiftly carried
Woden's favorite warriors to Valhalla, the hall of the slain. The
walls of Valhalla were hung with shields; its ceiling glittered
with polished spearheads. From its five hundred and forty gates,
each wide enough for eight hundred men abreast to march through,
the warriors rushed every morning to fight a battle that lasted
till nightfall and began again at the break of each day. When the
heroes returned to Valhalla the Valkyries served them with goblets
of mead such as Woden drank himself.

The Teutons believed that before there were any gods or any world
there was a great empty space where the world now is. It was called
by the curious name Gin'nungagap, which means a yawning abyss.

[Illustration: ONE OF THE VALKYRIES BEARING A HERO TO VALHALLA]

To the north of Ginnungagap it was bitterly cold. Nothing was there
but fields of snow and mountains of ice. To the south of Ginnungagap
was a region where frost and snow were never seen. It was always
bright, and was the home of light and heat. The sunshine from the
South melted the ice mountains of the North so that they toppled
over and fell into Ginnungagap. There they were changed into a
frost giant whose name was Ymir (_e'mir_). He had three sons. They
and their father were so strong that the gods were afraid of them.

So Woden and his brothers killed Ymir. They broke his body in pieces
and made the world of them. His bones and teeth became mountains
and rocks; his hair became leaves for trees and plants; out of
his skull was made the sky.

But Ymir was colder than ice, and the earth that was made of his
body was so cold that nothing could live or grow upon it. So the
gods took sparks from the home of light and set them in the sky.
Two big ones were the sun and moon and the little ones were the
stars. Then the earth became warm. Trees grew and flowers bloomed,
so that the world was a beautiful home for men.

Of all the trees