de his poor mother comfortable for the rest of her life.

1. What was the noblest thing Audun did? Why do you
admire the man? What in the story indicates its old
age?

2. Sketch the relative locations of Iceland,
Norway, and Denmark, showing a possible return
course for Audun.

THE STORY OF IRON

This is one of the tales from the _Kalevala_ ("Home
of the Heroes"), a group of legends from Finland.
These tales were sung in verse very similar to that
which Longfellow used in _Hiawatha_. The following
is a prose translation of one of the popular myths.

The first of all mothers was Air, and she had three
daughters. Of these three maidens there is much
to be said. They were as lovely as the rainbow after a
storm; they were as fair as the full moon shining above
the mountains. They walked with noiseless feet among 5
the clouds and showered gifts upon the earth. They sent
the refreshing rain, the silent dew, and the nipping frost,
each in its season. They gave life to the fields, and strength
to the mountains, and grandeur to the sea. And because
of their bounty the earth was glad and the stars twinkled 10
for joy.

"What more can we do to make the land fit for men to
dwell in? What other gift have we to bestow?" asked the
eldest of the sisters.

And the youngest said, "Let us send down iron--iron 15
of which tools may be made, iron of which sharp weapons
may be shaped. For without tools man will not be able
to plow, to reap, or to build; and without weapons he
cannot defend himself against the savage beasts of the
forest." 20

So when the sun was about going down, the sisters
went forth in trailing robes of purple and crimson and gold;
and in their hands they bore mighty vessels of foaming milk.
The eldest sprinkled red milk in the brooks and marshes
and along the banks of the rivers. The middle one scattered
white milk on the wooded hills and the stony mountains.
The youngest showered blue milk in the valleys
and by the gray seashore. And, on the morrow, where 5
the red milk had been sprinkled, red and brittle ore of
iron flecked the ground; where the white milk had been
scattered, powdery ore of a yellow hue abounded; and
w