as always royally entertained, and
he delighted in Bragi's many tales of the adventures and achievements
of the gods. Excited by these narratives, as also by the sparkling
mead which accompanied them, the god on one occasion ventured to
invite the AEsir to celebrate the harvest feast with him in Hlesey,
where he promised to entertain them in his turn.

Thor and Hymir

Surprised at this invitation, one of the gods ventured to remind
AEgir that they were accustomed to dainty fare; whereupon the god
of the sea declared that as far as eating was concerned they need
be in no anxiety, as he was sure that he could cater for the most
fastidious appetites; but he confessed that he was not so confident
about drink, as his brewing kettle was rather small. Hearing this,
Thor immediately volunteered to procure a suitable kettle, and set
out with Tyr to obtain it. The two gods journeyed east of the Elivagar
in Thor's goat chariot, and leaving this at the house of the peasant
Egil, Thialfi's father, they wended their way on foot to the dwelling
of the giant Hymir, who was known to own a kettle one mile deep and
proportionately wide.

"There dwells eastward
Of Elivagar
The all-wise Hymir,
At heaven's end.
My sire, fierce of mood,
A kettle owns,
A capacious cauldron,
A rast in depth."

Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).

Only the women were at home, however, and Tyr recognised in the
elder--an ugly old hag with nine hundred heads--his own grandmother;
while the younger, a beautiful young giantess, was, it appeared,
his mother, and she received her son and his companion hospitably,
and gave them to drink.

After learning their errand, Tyr's mother bade the visitors hide under
some huge kettles, which rested upon a beam at the end of the hall,
for her husband Hymir was very hasty and often slew his would-be guests
with a single baleful glance. The gods quickly followed her advice, and
no sooner were they concealed than the old giant Hymir came in. When
his wife told him that visitors had come, he frowned so portentously,
and flashed such a wrathful look towards their hiding-place, that
the rafter split and the kettles fell with a crash, and, except the
largest, were all dashed to pieces.

"In shivers flew the pillar
At the Joetun's glance;
The beam was first
Broken in two.
Eight kettles fell,
But only one of them,
A hard-hammered cauldron,