s had, and what they longed to be,
And their dim-eyed understanding, and his wood-craft waxed so great,
That he seemed the king of the creatures and their very mortal fate.

"Now as the years won over three folk of the heavenly halls
Grew aweary of sleepless sloth, and the day that nought befalls;
And they fain would look on the earth, and their latest handiwork,
And turn the fine gold over, lest a flaw therein should lurk.
And the three were the heart-wise Odin, the Father of the Slain,
And Loki, the World's Begrudger, who maketh all labour vain,
And Hoenir, the Utter-Blameless, who wrought the hope of man,
And his heart and inmost yearnings, when first the work began;--"

The three wandered over the earth till they came to a mighty river,
haunted for long by Otter, by reason of its great wealth of fish.
There he lay on the bank, and as he watched the fish in the water his
shape was changed to that of a true otter, and he began to devour a
golden trout. Two of the gods would have passed without stay, but in
the otter Loki saw an enemy, and straightway killed him, rejoicing
over his dead body.

As night fell the three gods came to a great hall, wondrously wrought
and carved, with golden hangings and forests of pillars. In the midst
of the hall sat a king on an ivory throne, and his garments were made
of purple from the sea. Kind welcome he gave to the wanderers, and
there they feasted and delighted in music and song; but even as they
drank and made merry they knew they were caught in the snare.

The king's welcome changed to scornful laughter, and thus he spoke:
"Truly are ye gods, but ye are come to people who want you not. Before
ye were known to us, still was the winter cold, and the summer warm,
and still could we find meat and drink. I am Reidmar, and ye come
straight from the slaying of Reidmar's son. Shall I not then take the
vengeance I will? Unless, indeed, ye give me the treasure I covet, and
then shall ye go your way. This is my sentence. Choose ye which ye
will."

Then spake the wise Allfather and prayed Reidmar to unsay his word,
and cease to desire the gold. But Reidmar the Wise, and Fafnir the
Lord, and Regin the Worker cried aloud in their wrath:--

"'O hearken Gods of the Goths! ye shall die, and we shall be Gods,
And rule your men beloved with bitter-heavy rods,
And make them beasts beneath us, save today ye do our will,
And pay us the ransom of blood, and our hearts