o the Norse people, for he was before
all things a liar, a deceiver, a faith-breaker, a skilful worker of
mischief by guile instead of by fair fight. There are many stories of
his cunning thefts, of the miseries he wrought among his companions,
and of his envy of the beloved god Balder, whom he slew by a trick.
His children were terrible monsters, as hated as himself. Yet,
strange to say, Loki was Odin's companion in many of his adventures.

The gods inhabited Asgard, a city standing on a high mountain in the
middle of the world. Odin's palace of Valhalla was there, and other
palaces for his sons and daughters. All round Asgard lay Midgard, or
the ordinary world of men and women. Its caves and waste places were
inhabited by dwarfs, whom Odin had banished from the light of day for
various ill deeds. They were a spiteful and cunning race, jealous of
mankind, and eager to recover their lost power. Their strength lay in
their wondrous skill in handicraft, for they could forge more deadly
weapons, and fashion more lovely jewels than any made by the hands of
men. But, though possessed of wisdom, they had no spirit of kindness,
no respect for right, and no dislike of wrong.

Around Midgard lay the sea, and beyond that Utgard, a hideous frozen
country inhabited by giants, enemies of the gods.

But this arrangement of the world was only for a season. The gods
themselves looked forward to a time of defeat and death, when Asgard
should perish in flames and the world with it, and the sun and moon
should be darkened, and they themselves should be slain. This great
day was called Ragnarok, or sometimes the Twilight of the Gods. Then
Loki would gather giants and monsters to a great battle against the
gods, who would slay their enemies, but who would themselves fall in
the struggle. The sea would drown the earth, the stars would fall,
and all things would pass away.

This terrible fate the gods awaited with calm and cheerfulness,
showing even greater courage than in their many deeds of war. They
had to submit to this fate, for there were three beings even greater
than they. These were the Norns, deciders of the fate of gods and men
alike. They were three giant maidens who dwelt by a sacred,
wisdom-giving fountain, and who controlled the lives of men, giving
to each sickness and health, success and failure and death when they
would. No man or god might escape what the Norns decreed for him.

Many stories of these gods, together wit