of his questioner, said:

"No one but Odin himself can answer that question, and no one but
Odin would have asked it. For only he who has drunk of the water of
wisdom would foresee the death in the far-off future of his dearest
son. Kill me now, therefore, for thou hast triumphed."

Here the tale comes to an end; but we should like to think that Odin
spared the life of the Most Learned Giant, and perhaps he would have
done so the more readily because his heart was softened by the
knowledge, born of his new-found wisdom, that Balder, his beautiful
son, must die.

Another story is told in which Odin's great wisdom seemed for a time
at fault.

We have noticed how fond was the All-Father of watching the affairs of
mortal men. He was especially interested, at one time, in two handsome
little princes, the sons of a certain king, who were usually to be
found playing or wrestling or riding together on the seashore which
bounded their father's kingdom.

Geirrod and Agnar were the names of these boys, and All-Father Odin
and his wife Frigga grew so fond of them both that, disguising
themselves as an old man and woman, they went to live upon a desert
island which lay far out at sea, opposite the beach where the children
played. Presently it came to pass, exactly as they hoped, that the
boys went fishing, and Odin made a storm to arise, and the rough wind
blew the little boat away from the land, and finally stranded it upon
the island.

The boys, frightened, wet, and hungry, came timidly to the door of the
hut where the old people dwelt and asked for shelter. They were
received kindly by Odin and Frigga, who kept the boys all the long
winter, making much of them and delighting in their childish fun and
merriment. Geirrod was Odin's favourite. He taught him to fight, to
swim, and to use the bow and spear. But Frigga loved best the gentle
little Agnar, the elder boy, who would sit by her side and rest his
head upon her knee, well contented, while she told him strange tales
of beautiful Asgard, the home of the gods.

Spring came at length, and, when the sea was calm and still, Odin put
the two boys aboard a boat and bade them sail back to their father.
And Agnar grieved at leaving his kind old friends, but Geirrod did not
even so much as look back to respond to their farewell.

The favourable breezes which Odin had called up soon urged the boat to
land; but the moment it touched the shore Geirrod sprang out, and,
pushing i