that he raised his hammer and would have slain the giantess
had he not been restrained by his companions. Easily appeased, as
usual--for Thor's temper, although quickly roused, was evanescent--he
now boarded the vessel once more to consecrate the funeral pyre with
his sacred hammer. As he was performing this ceremony, the dwarf
Lit provokingly stumbled into his way, whereupon Thor, who had not
entirely recovered his equanimity, kicked him into the fire, which
he had just kindled with a thorn, and the dwarf was burned to ashes
with the bodies of the divine pair.

The great ship now drifted out to sea, and the flames from the pyre
presented a magnificent spectacle, which assumed a greater glory
with every passing moment, until, when the vessel neared the western
horizon, it seemed as if sea and sky were on fire. Sadly the gods
watched the glowing ship and its precious freight, until suddenly it
plunged into the waves and disappeared; nor did they turn aside and
return to Asgard until the last spark of light had vanished, and the
world, in token of mourning for Balder the good, was enveloped in a
mantle of darkness.

"Soon with a roaring rose the mighty fire,
And the pile crackled; and between the logs
Sharp quivering tongues of flame shot out, and leapt
Curling and darting, higher, until they lick'd
The summit of the pile, the dead, the mast,
And ate the shrivelling sails; but still the ship
Drove on, ablaze above her hull with fire.
And the gods stood upon the beach, and gazed;
And while they gazed, the sun went lurid down
Into the smoke-wrapt sea, and night came on.
Then the wind fell with night, and there was calm;
But through the dark they watch'd the burning ship
Still carried o'er the distant waters, on
Farther and farther, like an eye of fire.
So show'd in the far darkness, Balder's pile;
But fainter, as the stars rose high, it flared;
The bodies were consumed, ash choked the pile.
And as, in a decaying winter fire,
A charr'd log, falling, makes a shower of sparks--
So, with a shower of sparks, the pile fell in,
Reddening the sea around; and all was dark."

Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).

Hermod's Quest

Sadly the gods entered Asgard, where no sounds of merriment or
feasting greeted the ear, for all hearts were filled with anxious
concern for the end of all things which was felt to be imminent. And
trul