the queen of
the gods, the dwarfs remained obstinately silent, and, seeing that
no information could be elicited from them, Odin commanded that the
statue should be placed above the temple gate, and set to work to
devise runes which should endow it with the power of speech and enable
it to denounce the thief. When Frigga heard these tidings she trembled
with fear, and implored her favourite attendant, Fulla, to invent some
means of protecting her from Allfather's wrath. Fulla, who was always
ready to serve her mistress, immediately departed, and soon returned,
accompanied by a hideous dwarf, who promised to prevent the statue
from speaking if Frigga would only deign to smile graciously upon
him. This boon having been granted, the dwarf hastened off to the
temple, caused a deep sleep to fall upon the guards, and while they
were thus unconscious, pulled the statue down from its pedestal and
broke it to pieces, so that it could never betray Frigga's theft,
in spite of all Odin's efforts to give it the power of speech.

Odin, discovering this sacrilege on the morrow, was very angry indeed;
so angry that he left Asgard and utterly disappeared, carrying away
with him all the blessings which he had been wont to shower upon gods
and men. According to some authorities, his brothers, as we have
already seen, took advantage of his absence to assume his form and
secure possession of his throne and wife; but although they looked
exactly like him they could not restore the lost blessings, and allowed
the ice-giants, or Jotuns, to invade the earth and bind it fast in
their cold fetters. These wicked giants pinched the leaves and buds
till they all shrivelled up, stripped the trees bare, shrouded the
earth in a great white coverlet, and veiled it in impenetrable mists.

But at the end of seven weary months the true Odin relented and
returned, and when he saw all the evil that had been done he drove
the usurpers away, forced the frost-giants to relax their grip of the
earth and to release her from her icy bonds, and again showered all
his blessings down upon her, cheering her with the light of his smile.

Odin Outwitted

As has already been seen, Odin, although god of wit and wisdom, was
sometimes no match for his wife Frigga, who, womanlike, was sure to
obtain her way by some means. On one occasion the august pair were
seated upon Hlidskialf, gazing with interest upon the Winilers and
Vandals, who were preparing for a battle wh