uld leave Asgard for a while, wife of Odin," he said.

"Yea," said Frigga. "Much has to be done in Midgard, the World of Men."

"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 Koermt and Ermt, his hammer
Mioelnir upon his shoulder.

Little Hnossa, the youngest of the Dwellers in Asgard, was there,
standing beside Heimdall, the Watcher for the Gods 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 Joetunheim."

PART II

ODIN THE WANDERER

[Illustration]

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 Joetunheim, 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
Joetunheim, 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, s