before you to the city called Utgard. I
have heard you whispering to one another that I am not a man of small
dimensions; but if you come into Utgard you will see there many men
much taller than myself. Wherefore I advise you, when you come there,
not to make too much of yourselves, for the followers of Utgard-Loki
will not brook the boasting of such mannikins as ye are. The best
thing you could do would probably be to turn back again, but if you
persist in going on, take the road that leads eastward, for mine now
lies northward to those rocks which you may see in the distance.'

"Hereupon, he threw his wallet over his shoulders and turned away from
them, into the forest, and I could never hear that Thor wished to meet
with him a second time.

47. "Thor and his companions proceeded on their way, and towards
noon descried a city standing in the middle of a plain. It was so
lofty that they were obliged to bend their necks quite back on their
shoulders ere they could see to the top of it. On arriving at the
walls they found the gateway closed with a gate of bars strongly
locked and bolted. Thor, after trying in vain to open it, crept with
his companions through the bars, and thus succeeded in gaining
admission into the city. Seeing a large palace before them, with the
door wide open, they went in and found a number of men of prodigious
stature sitting on benches in the hall. Going further, they came
before the king, Utgard-Loki, whom they saluted with great respect.
Their salutations were however returned by a contemptuous look from
the king, who, after regarding them for some time, said with a
scornful smile--

"'It is tedious to ask for tidings of a long journey, yet if I do not
mistake me, that stripling there must be Aku-Thor. Perhaps,' he added,
addressing himself to Thor, 'thou mayst be taller than thou appearest
to be. But what are the feats that thou and thy fellows deem
yourselves skilled in, for no one is permitted to remain here who does
not, in some feat or other, excel all other men.'

"'The feat I know,' replied Loki, 'is to eat quicker than any one
else, and in this I am ready to give a proof against any one here who
may choose to compete with me.'

"'That will indeed be a feat,' said Utgard-Loki, 'if thou performest
what thou promisest, and it shall be tried forthwith.'

"He then ordered one of his men, who was sitting at the further end of
the bench, and whose name was Logi,[134] to come forward an