out of the giant's hand, and restored the boy to his parents,
telling them that he had done all in his power to help them. But as
the giant vowed he had been cheated, and would again claim the boy
on the morrow unless the parents could outwit him, the unfortunate
peasants now turned to Hoenir for aid. The god heard them graciously
and changed the boy into a fluff of down, which he hid in the breast
of a swan swimming in a pond close by. Now when, a few minutes later,
Skrymsli came up, he guessed what had occurred, and seizing the swan,
he bit off its neck, and would have swallowed the down had not Hoenir
wafted it away from his lips and out of reach, restoring the boy safe
and sound to his parents, but telling them that he could not further
aid them.

Skrymsli warned the parents that he would make a third attempt to
secure the child, whereupon they applied in their despair to Loki,
who carried the boy out to sea, and concealed him, as a tiny egg,
in the roe of a flounder. Returning from his expedition, Loki
encountered the giant near the shore, and seeing that he was bent
upon a fishing excursion, he insisted upon accompanying him. He felt
somewhat uneasy lest the terrible giant should have seen through his
device, and therefore thought it would be well for him to be on the
spot in case of need. Skrymsli baited his hook, and was more or less
successful in his angling, when suddenly he drew up the identical
flounder in which Loki had concealed his little charge. Opening the
fish upon his knee, the giant proceeded to minutely examine the roe,
until he found the egg which he was seeking.

The plight of the boy was certainly perilous, but Loki, watching his
chance, snatched the egg out of the giant's grasp, and transforming it
again into the child, he instructed him secretly to run home, passing
through the boathouse on his way and closing the door behind him. The
terrified boy did as he was told immediately he found himself on land,
and the giant, quick to observe his flight, dashed after him into
the boathouse. Now Loki had cunningly placed a sharp spike in such a
position that the great head of the giant ran full tilt against it,
and he sank to the ground with a groan, whereupon Loki, seeing him
helpless, cut off one of his legs. Imagine the god's dismay, however,
when he saw the pieces join and immediately knit together. But Loki
was a master of guile, and recognising this as the work of magic, he
cut off the other l