ies in the flower's cup,
Mother snuggles the babies up.
Birdie in the tree-top,
Do not spill the dewdrop.
Cat be still, and dog be dumb;
Sleep to babies' eyelids come!"

Nils and Ebba Jorn tiptoed across the room and closed the door carefully
behind them. Anders Ekman took up some wood-carving and went quietly to
work; while Grandmother Ekman selected a well-worn book from the
book-shelf, and seated herself in the big chair by the window to look
over the Norse legends of the gods and giants.

She turned the pages slowly until she found the pleasant tale of Frey,
who married Gerd, the beautiful daughter of one of the frost giants. This
was her favorite story, and she began reading it aloud in a low voice,
while the fire burned cheerfully on the hearth, and the cradle swayed
lightly to and fro.

* * * * *

"Njoerd, who was the god of the sea, had a son, Frey, and a daughter,
Freyja. Frey was the god of the seed-time and harvest, and he brought
peace and prosperity to all the world.

"In summer he gathered gentle showers and drove them up from the sea to
sprinkle the dry grass; he poured warm sunshine over the hills and
valleys, and ripened the fruits and grains for a bountiful harvest.

"The elves of light were his messengers, and he sent them flying
about all day,--shaking pollen out of the willow tassels, filling the
flower-cups with nectar, sowing the seeds, and threading the grass with
beads of dew.

"But in the winter, when the frost giants ruled the earth, Frey was idle
and lonely; and he rode up and down in Odin's hall on the back of his
boar, Golden Bristles, longing for something to do.

"One morning, as he wandered restlessly through the beautiful city of
Asgard, the home of the gods, he stood before the throne of Odin, the
All-father, and saw that it was empty. 'Why should I not sit upon that
throne, and look out over all the world?' he thought; and although no one
but Odin was ever allowed to take the lofty seat, Frey mounted the steps
and sat upon the All-father's throne.

"He looked out over Asgard, shining in the morning light, and saw the
gods busy about their daily tasks. He gazed down upon the earth, with its
rugged mountains and raging seas, and saw men hurrying this way and that,
like tiny ants rushing out of their hills.

"Last of all he turned his eyes toward distant Joetunheim, the dark,
forbidding home of the frost giants; but in that gloomy land o