rs had neither breakfasted nor dined. Even Odin was
beginning to feel the pangs of hunger, like the most ordinary mortal,
when suddenly, entering a little valley, the famished gods came upon a
herd of cattle. It was the work of a minute to kill a great ox and to
have the carcass swinging in a huge pot over a roaring fire.

But never were gods so unlucky before! In spite of their hunger, the
pot would not boil. They piled on the wood until the great flames
crackled and licked the pot with their fiery tongues, but every time
the cover was lifted there was the meat just as raw as when it was
put in. It is easy to imagine that the travelers were not in very good
humor. As they were talking about it, and wondering how it could be,
a voice called out from the branches of the oak overhead, "If you will
give me my fill, I'll make the pot boil."

The gods looked first at each other and then into the tree, and there
they discovered a great eagle. They were glad enough to get their
supper on almost any terms, so they told the eagle he might have what
he wanted if he would only get the meat cooked. The bird was as good
as his word, and in less time than it takes to tell it supper was
ready. Then the eagle flew down and picked out both shoulders and both
legs. This was a pretty large share, it must be confessed, and Loki,
who was always angry when anybody got more than he, no sooner saw what
the eagle had taken, than he seized a great pole and began to beat the
rapacious bird unmercifully. Whereupon a very singular thing happened,
as singular things always used to happen when the gods were concerned:
the pole stuck fast in the huge talons of the eagle at one end, and
Loki stuck fast at the other end. Struggle as he might, he could not
get loose, and as the great bird sailed away over the tops of the
trees, Loki went pounding along on the ground, striking against rocks
and branches until he was bruised half to death.

The eagle was not an ordinary bird by any means, as Loki soon found
when he begged for mercy. The giant Thjasse happened to be flying
abroad in his eagle plumage when the hungry travelers came under the
oak and tried to cook the ox. It was into his hands that Loki had
fallen, and he was not to get away until he had promised to pay
roundly for his freedom.

If there was one thing which the gods prized above their other
treasures in Asgard, it was the beautiful fruit of Idun, kept by the
goddess in a golden casket and