re
smiling. He stamped his feet and raged. Then he went up to Loki and
said, "I may not take your head, but I can do something with your lips
that mock me."

"What would you do, Dwarf?" asked Thor.

"Sew Loki's lips together," said Brock, "so that he can do no more
mischief with his talk. You Dwellers in Asgard cannot forbid me to do
this. Down, Loki, on your knees before me."

Loki looked round on the Dwellers in Asgard and he saw that their
judgment was that he must kneel before the Dwarf. He knelt down with a
frown upon his brow. "Draw your lips together, Loki," said Brock. Loki
drew his lips together while his eyes flashed fire. With an awl that he
took from his belt Brock pierced Loki's lips. He took out a thong and
tightened them together. Then in triumph the Dwarf looked on Loki.

"O Loki," he said, "you boasted that the Dwarfs who worked for you were
better craftsmen than Sindri, my brother. Your words have been shown to
be lies. And now you cannot boast for a while."

Then Brock the Dwarf, with great majesty, walked out of the Council
House of Asgard, and the attending Dwarfs marched behind him in
procession. Down the passages in the earth the Dwarfs went, singing the
song of Brock's triumph over Loki. And in Svartheim it was told forever
after how Sindri and Brock had prevailed.

In Asgard, now that Loki's lips were closed, there was peace and a
respite from mischief. No one amongst the AEsir or the Vanir were sorry
when Loki had to walk about in silence with his head bent low.

[Illustration]

HOW FREYA GAINED HER NECKLACE AND HOW HER LOVED ONE WAS LOST TO HER

Yes, Loki went through Asgard silent and with head bent, and the
Dwellers in Asgard said one unto the other, "This will teach Loki to
work no more mischief." They did not know that what Loki had done had
sown the seeds of mischief and that these seeds were to sprout up and
bring sorrow to the beautiful Vana Freya, to Freya whom the Giant wanted
to carry off with the Sun and the Moon as payment for his building the
wall around Asgard.

Freya had looked upon the wonders that Loki had brought into Asgard--the
golden threads that were Sif's hair, and Frey's boar that shed light
from its bristles as it flew. The gleam of these golden things dazzled
her, and made her dream in the day time and the night time of the
wonders that she herself might possess. And often she thought, "What
wonderful things the Three Giant Women would give me if I