Skegga's Edda Chapter 17 - The Birth of Sleipnir

In the tide after the building of Friendly Hall there was much unrest in the Outlands.  The Eastern ettins had grown in number and fought over land and hunting grounds.  Many of the Outland folk were forced out of the hills and wastelands by their mightier kinfolk and moved into the land of the trolls.  The trolls were driven ever closer to Middle Garth.  Tempers were high and wisdom lacking as fury bred violence.  Thor was kept busy holding the Ettinhome's western borders and had not been seen in Godhome for many a tide.  Frey and Skirnir were likewise busy on the borderlands of Elfhome.

Odin was also concerned about the safety of Godhome and tried to rally the remaining Osfolk to improve the Garth's defences.  He found little support.  Frigga shook her head and said nothing, meaning that she could see ahead into the web of wyrd but wasn't going to speak of it.  Freya simply replied 'If the ettins attack Godhome, Os Thor will defend us.'
'He is not here' Odin replied, angry that no one agreed with him.
'If we need him I will go and fetch him back' Freya replied sweetly.
'But what use would he be?'  Odin persisted. 'Spellcraft is spreading through the Outlands like the pox.  I agree he is strong but he is not exactly gifted in magic, is he?'
Freya smiled: while in Godhome Thor was a frequent visitor at her hall.  It was well known that the folk of Battlehall thought it a great jest that he was still struggling with the simplest spellcraft.  Meanwhile Thor and his sister shared her bed, drank mead, played chess and laughed at the mockers.  'I assure you that between us we can keep Godhome safe.'

Finally, Odin took the matter into his own hands and used his mind-magic to bellow for his blood brother.  Loki flew across the fields of Godhome and scurried through the halls of Battlehall to heed the summons of the impatient Os.  Odin's private chamber was unexpectedly barred before him, the Warfather himself blocking the threshold.  Loki fought for balance on the rush-strewn flagstones. 'Why did you want me?' he asked sulkily, moody for the interruption to his sport among the farm lasses of Stormbright Hall.

'I need your counsel' Odin replied briskly. 'How long would it take to build a stone wall, twelve fathoms high and six fathoms wide, around the Garth of Godhome?'

Loki gaped, caught off guard by the question.  His brain struggled to measure the distance around the gods' dwellings.  There were many estates in Godhome and all of a good size, even by an ettin's standards.  Beside the rambling Battlehall, there was Fenbank with its lakes and gardens, Stronghome with its towering hall and endless fields, Friendly Hall with its orchards and weaving sheds, Folkfield, Yewdale and Heavensmount. To build a wall around all that, why it would take… 'A very long time' Loki answered.

'So,' the Warfather encouraged him 'you don't think it could be done in the time it takes a woman to quicken, bare, and birth her bairn?'

'No, I don't think that would be possible,' Loki replied.  'Not a wall of stone so high and wide'.

'Thank you', Odin replied and slammed the door, leaving Loki alone outside and none the wiser to the purpose of the question.

Within Godhome the folk were enjoying a peaceful tide and lived contentedly together among the golden fields and lush gardens. The complacency was marred by the arrival of an ettin leading the stockiest stallion the gods had ever seen, standing fifty hands at the shoulder, and a young man of mortal build. The ettin, a rough, uncombed fellow clad in untrimmed ox hide bellowed for Odin from Godhome's gate. For a stranger among potential foes, he showed great confidence and paid no heed to Heimdall, who dutifully barred the outlander's way.

Odin strode proudly to the gate to meet the newcomer with his brothers Vili and Ve beside him, 'Greetings, Hrimthurs' he cried.

The giant spoke again in his rumbling voice. 'I have come, as we agreed. Do you have the virgin girl by which our bargain can be measured?'

Ve pulled a young woman forward 'Here'.  Odin's brother held a woman of Middle-Earth.  She averted her eyes from the ettin in fear, but her beauty was clear beneath her black locks held by a crudely beaten band of gold.

'Is this your bondsman?' Odin inquired, nodding at the young man holding the stallion's reigns.

'Oh yes' the giant beamed proudly.  'This is Fal. He is a good servant and I trust him in all things. He has fathered many a bastard rutting with my house maids. He will be quick to report if you have cheated me.'

'You will not be cheated in this wager' Odin responded, hurt by the suggestion.  'Let the two of them be joined, and join me at my table for your welcome feast, for you will be eager to start work soon, I am sure.'
'Oh yes,' the ettin responded 'I am eager to claim my pay.'

There was much speculation among the Osfolk as to the ettin's business in Godhome and the nature of Odin's bargain, but the Warfather kept his knowledge to himself.  Hrimthurs ate heartily from the platters of meats and bread served at Battlehall's tables and spent much of his time admiring the sigwives.

Fal returned after an hour, grinning from the pleasures of his sport 'It is done, master.'
'Was she a virgin then?' demanded Hrimthurs.
'Oh yes,' Fal replied and brandished the girls blood stained linen shift for his master's inspection.
'Excellent' the giant acknowledged as Fal helped himself to a joint of meat from his master's trencher.  'Go back to her boy! She must bear you a child or this rascal' (the giant nodded towards Odin) 'will find some excuse to break our bargain.'  Fal grinned and accepted a full horn of mead and returned to the girl's chamber chewing on his supper.

Soon after the feasting the ettin got to work. The halls of Godhome shuddered as he delved deep into the earth below the existing boundary banks. Hrimthurs' magnificent horse dragged great boulders straight from the packed earth. Despite the size of the excavation, the work progressed fast, and the foundations of the new wall were both cleared and laid when the girl's belly was swollen by Fal's child. Both ettin and horse proved amazingly strong and the walls rose at an alarming rate.

The birthing came ever nearer but Odin was greatly fearful that he might be forced to pay the ettin after all. He summoned Loki to his chambers. 'You were wrong, Loki' he said bluntly. 'Hrimthurs has nearly finished. You must prevent him from completing the wall.'
Loki was puzzled 'But surely you want the wall completed?'
'Started, yes, but not completed: the price would be too high', Odin answered, scowling with concern.
'What did you promise him?' Odin passed over a formal carved tablet which recorded the Warfather's promise to Hrimthurs. Loki read it and gasped.
'Stop him!' Odin commanded.

Loki had no wish to tangle with the ettin, but as Hrimthurs relied so heavily on his stallion he thought a different approach would work well. The outlander was encouraging the horse to pull one of the last great blocks into position. The horse paused and his nostrils twitched as a familiar scent reached him. The unmistakable, irresistible smell of a mare in heat.

The stallion reared and jerked aside. The traces snapped and the great stone block and its oak sledge tumbled back down the step path. The giant howled in fury and frustration as the horse galloped straight down the slopes and vanished into the misty forest below.

'Odin!' Hrimthurs bellowed, storming into Battlehall and carelessly knocking his lofty head on the lintels 'Where's my horse?'
The Warfather glanced up from his battle charts, feigning annoyance at the interruption. 'How should I know?'
'You will not get away with this. This is a deliberate attempt to delay the building past the birthing.'
'Don't be ridiculous!' Odin retorted 'Get another horse if you cannot control the one you brought.' He looked at the panting girl on the bottom step of his high seat. 'You might wish to hurry Hrimthurs, you have very little time.'

Hrimthurs cursed and turned to leave but stopped as the girl cried out in pain. Eir ran forward to attend the girl and hitched up her skirts to examine her. 'You are too late, Hrimthurs' said Eir.  'The child's head is emerging.'
'Hah, you have failed to complete your work and your pay is forfeit!' cried Odin in triumph.

'No!' Hrimthurs tore his bushy hair in anger as Fal's child gave its first lusty cry. He rounded on Odin, eyes blazing in accusation. 'I want you to make a holy oath Odin.  Swear that neither you, nor any other Os or Oswife, servant or elf of Godhome, had any hand in the loss of my horse. Swear that and I will leave peaceably and without payment for my work.' Odin hesitated and Hrimthurs was convinced of his suspicions. 'Then I will claim my payment now.'  The ettin strode purposefully out of the wide door of Battlehall.  Odin shouted for his warriors to follow him and ran in pursuit of the long-legged outlander.

Hrimthurs strode directly to Folkfield.  Oswives from Friendly Hall and farmers from Stronghome ran to see what was happening. Alerted by the commotion Freya came to the door of her hall to be confronted by the determined ettin. 'Pack your dresses and jewels Freya', demanded Hrimthurs. 'You are coming back to the Outlands with me.'
'Well' laughed Freya 'I have heard some terrible courting speeches, but few as bad as that.'
'I am not courting woman.  You are mine, you belong to me.'
'Pardon?'
'Read this' Hrimthurs tossed her a wooden stave carved with runes.
Freya glanced at the carving, then clutched it in both hands, noting every word, she rounded on Odin who had just arrived in the ettin's wake. 'How dare you?'
'What's wrong?' asked Idun.
'That, traitor, has bought the services of that ettin, by bargaining with my life and the possession of the sun and the moon.'
'Never!' cried Idun shaking with anger.
'The bargain is sworn, Freya', Hrimthurs cried.  'Even you must agree that you are bound by it as much as Odin!'
'Surely not.' Freya searched the crowd for an ally but the godfolk averted their eyes, unable to approve breaking Odin's sworn oath.
Hrimthurs reached forward and clutched Freya's shoulders with his heavy hands.  'Enough talk woman, now come with me.'

'Let me go!' Freya shouted in fury, shaking herself free of the ettin's grip. 'If you are so sure of yourself outlander, you can explain yourself to Thor.' Freya's last word rang with all her mind strength through the Nine Worlds causing every Os and Van in Godhome to wince.
'Huh!' laughed Hrimthurs.  'He's not here.'
'Think again, lofty' the Thunderer replied shoving the ettin away from the Vanlady.  Hrimthurs stared down at Thor in shock, the Os had just appeared out of nowhere.  Thor grinned at his sister 'Lucky you know that spell, Freya.  Can I assist you in removing this angry ettin from your garden?'

Freya sighed and replied 'As pleasing as that would be, Thor, I am not sure that would be a worthy deed under the circumstances.  Odin asked Hrimsthurs here to build a wall around Godhome. He kept very quiet about the price he promised in return but now that Hrimthurs has come to claim his reward, the truth is known.'  Freya passed Jord's son the rune stave. 'I can only assume that Odin was confident that he had set an impossible task and would never have to pay.'
Thor frowned at the carving, and looked towards Freya.  'You knew nothing about this?'
'No,' Freya replied, glaring at Odin.
'Did Loki have a hand in this?'
'Yes.' Odin replied with relief, 'I asked his advice, he said Hrimthurs had no chance to complete the wall.'
'But was he aware of this?' Thor waved the tablet.
'Er, no' Odin replied with great reluctance.

'Look' interrupted Hrimthurs; 'Freya you are coming with me. If Odin didn't tell you about our agreement that is your problem.'
'No', said Thor, 'it is his problem, and yours. Odin cannot promise what is not his to give. You must agree on a new payment. Never fear, ettin, Odin has enough treasures to pay you!'

The outlander bristled.  'I could take this knave's lands, his treasures, the shirt from his back and his tricky tongue from his head, but I WANT Freya, I want the sun and the moon. I will not leave with anything less.'
'No' Thor repeated.

Furious, the ettin swung his fist at Thor, the Thunderer stepped aside and the ground shook as Hrimthur's blow connected with Freya's threshold. 'You certainly know how to lose my sympathies, ettin!' laughed Thor dodging another wild swing. One of the pillars of Folkfield shattered from its footing in a shower of splinters.

'Shut up and die, you interfering bastard,' Hrimthurs howled, trying to stamp his foot on the Thunderer's head. Thor grabbed the ettin's foot as it descended and hurled him over, then sprang to the outlander's chest wielding a shard of the broken pillar as a heavy spear. The ettin died, screaming obscenities. The gore splattered thundergod glared at Odin 'You are very, very lucky.'
Silent, the Warfather turned and trudged back to Battlehall.
As they were left alone the Vanwife smiled at her brother 'I don't believe you got away with that.  As if I could bring you here by way spell when I didn't know where you were, hah!  Come in while your are here, Beyla has a new batch of mead.'

Time passed and Odin's treacherous bargain was, if not forgotten, a wound that smarted less.
Loki returned to Godhome leading the ettin's mighty horse and a foal, remarkable in itself for it pranced on no less than eight legs. Although quiet of late, Odin was delighted by the arrival of the remarkable beasts. Ever an admirer of fine horses, Odin greeted Loki warmly 'Well done, well done, I will take those two to my stables.'

Overhearing, Heimdall snorted from the door to his hall at Godhome's gate. 'What makes you think you have any claim to these beasts? I know well what has been happening in the forests below
Godhome since we last saw Loki. I would not deny him his well earned reward for his services.'

The Osfolk were gathering to hear the exchange and seeing Freya, Loki smiled and led the horses to her. 'Freya I realise that you suffered from Odin's bargaining, I want you to have Hrimthurs' stallion to give to whom you will.'

Freya smiled 'Thank you Loki, I will give him to Frey, he will add good seed to the horses of Vanhome.' Loki turned to Odin who was watching the exchange miserably.
Loki nodded to the foal, 'You really want this horse, don't you.'
'Yes.'
'You can have him on one condition.'
'What?'
'Release me from my oath of brotherhood.'
Odin frowned, then shrugged. 'Very well, I release you. I no longer look to you as kin or expect any service from you.' The Warfather put his arm around the foal's neck and proudly led away his new possession.

Loki surveyed the gathered folk of Godhome and laughed 'Well Oswives, now I am a free man, who will offer me the shelter of their roof?' Many Oswives giggled and whispered among themselves for most had already enjoyed his company. One came forward, coal-skinned, practical Sigyn, Thor's housekeeper.
She smiled 'I might be able to find you a corner somewhere.'
Loki hugged her fondly.  'A corner of Stormbright Hall eh? That may suit me very well indeed.'

Notes
This retelling of the famous myth of the Building of Godhome's wall is very close to the surviving Eddic version. Who is responsible for promising Freya, the sun and the moon to the ettin is not clear, but Loki is blamed and has to save the day. It fits within the pattern of the Loki myths for him to be at fault, but I have chosen to pin the blame on Odin, a god with an equal reputation for untrustworthy behaviour.

In the Eddic tale Odin uses his status as creator and Allfather to sell the lesser gods to achieve his aims, but here he stands among them as an equal and has no such authority.  Thor can safely break the bargain as it is unjust and kill the ettin who has threatened his life, despite standing on the hallowed ground of Folkfield.  Thor appears here in his role as god of justice. The attempt to reason with the ettin makes more sense to me than the original version which simply has Thor thump the aggrieved outlander into the ground, adding murder to the crimes of oathbreaking.

Thor's ability to appear magically from the distant Outlands when the gods call him is from the original tale, and in this version of the myths his ability follows on smoothly from his tuition from Freya in 'The Kindling of the Fire Crown'.  Thor's talents at spellcraft are still a closely guarded secret.

I have placed this story chronologically before the tale of Loki's children. This means there is no wolf chasing the sun; day and night do not exist and therefore nor does measured time. To get round this I am using the 'nine months' of pregnancy as the duration of the wager.