"This is the reward you deserve!" Thor cried. "Not Freia nor the Sun and
Moon, but the death that I have in store for all the enemies of the
Æsir."

In this extraordinary way the noble city of Asgard was made safe and
complete by the addition of a fortress which no one, not even the giant
who built it, could injure, it was so wonder-strong. But always at the
top of the gate were lacking three great stones that no one was mighty
enough to lift. This was a reminder to the Æsir that now they had the
race of giants for their everlasting enemies. And though Loki's trick
had saved them Freia, and for the world the Sun and Moon, it was the
beginning of trouble in Asgard which lasted as long as Loki lived to
make mischief with his guile.




CHAPTER XII

HOW ODIN LOST HIS EYE


In the beginning of things, before there was any world or sun, moon, and
stars, there were the giants; for these were the oldest creatures that
ever breathed. They lived in Jotunheim, the land of frost and darkness,
and their hearts were evil. Next came the gods, the good Æsir, who made
earth and sky and sea, and who dwelt in Asgard, above the heavens. Then
were created the queer little dwarfs, who lived underground in the
caverns of the mountains, working at their mines of metal and precious