Up In heaven, Thor the thunder god was furious. Someone has stolen his magic hammer. Thor's magic hammer was terror of the gods. Whenever he threw it, it killed anything that it touched and it always returned to his hand. It was perhaps the most deadly weapon that the gods possessed to protect them against their enemies, the giants.
Now the raging Thor's roaring sounded like the clouds were clashing together. His face was so black with anger that it sent a dark shadow over the whole sky. As Thor grabbed blazing lightning bolts and hurled them, the mischief-maker god, Loki, came nervously to see him.
"I have good news, my angry friend," Loki explained. "I have used my cunning to find out that it is the giant Thrym who has stolen you hammer. He has agreed to give it back on one condition - that he has the most beautiful of all the goddesses, Freya, as his bride."
The thunder god's sulky face brightened a little and he charged off to find Freya straight away."Put on your best dress, Freya!" Thor boomed, throwing open her wardrobe doors. "You have to marry the giant Thrym so I can get my magic hammer back."
Freya's eyes flickered with cold fire. "Excuse me, Thor," she said, calmly. "Would you care to repeat that?"
"You~have~to~marry~the~giant~Thrym~so~I~can~get~my~
magic~hammer~back!" the impatient thunder god cried at top speed.
Freya stood glaring, her hands on her hips. "Firstly Thor, as the goddess of beauty I don't have to do anything." Thor's face reddened. "Secondly," Freya continued, "I wouldn't marry that ugly monster Thrym if he were the only creature left in the world." The ashamed thunder god hug his head.
"Thirdly," Freya finished, "it's your problem, you sort it out."
"Sorry, Freya," Thor mumbled, shuffling about a bit. The he turned and stormed back to Loki. The two gods sat down glumly and wracked their brains to come up with another way to get back the hammer.
"How about..." Thor started to suggest. Then he shook his head. "No, no good."
"What if..." Loki began. Then his face fall. "No, it would never work."
It looked as if Thor's magic hammer would have to stay in the land of the giants forever - until the god Heimdall had an idea.
"That's absolutely out of the question!" Thor thundered.
"Outrageous!" Loki squealed. "I'll never do it!"
"Well, you come up with another plan then," Heimdall laughed, knowing that there wasn't one.
That night, the giant Thrym was delighted to see a chariot with a bride and bridesmaid in it rumbling up to his castle.
"It's Freya!" the gormless giant gasped with delight. "I shall gladly give back Thor's magic hammer in return for the most beautiful wife in the world!" The overjoyed giant commanded a magnificent banquet to be prepared and his guests to be sent for at once.
"But Thrym wouldn't have been so overjoyed if he could have seen what was underneath the veils of his bride and bridesmaid - the angry, highly embarrassed faces of Thor and Loki! As it was, the giant was far too excited to notice how big and clumsy the bride and bridesmaid looked in their frilly dresses. Thrym didn't take in that the had low, gruff voices and huge, hairy hands. And he hardly thought twice about the way that Freya swigged down two whole barrels of beer and ate an entire roast ox.
When the guests had eaten and drunk their fill, the beaming Thrym stood up to make a speech.
"My wife and I," he began, blushing bright red, "would like to thank you for celebrating this happy occasion with us. Freya has made me the luckiest being in the whole universe. And now, I will keep my word and give back the magic hammer I stole from that ugly thug of a thunder god."
There was a roll of drums as one of Thrym's servants brought in the magic hammer on a cushion. Thrym held it high in the air for his marvelling guests to admire. Then with a grand flourish, he presented it to his bride.
"The ugly thug of a thunder god thanks you!" roared Thor, ripping off his veil and springing to his feet. And before Thrym and his guests could really take in the trick, they were lying dead on the floor and the wedding feast was unexpectedly over.
All the gods were truly relieved to have the magic hammer back in Thor's hands in heaven, where it belonged. But it was a long time before Thor and Loki could laugh with the other gods about how charming they both looked in a dress!
A Norse legend
Copyright ⓒ Miles Kelly Publishing Ltd 2011
