said, "We
have sought in both forest and stream, and we have taken from them at
one blow both flesh and fish. Give us but the shelter you promise, and
we will not trouble you for food."

The farmer gazed with horror upon the lifeless body of the otter, and
cried out, "This creature which you mistook for an otter, and which you
have robbed and killed, is my son Oddar, who for mere pastime had taken
the form of the furry beast. You are but thieves and murderers!"

Then he called loudly for help: and his two sons Fafnir and Regin,
sturdy and valiant kin of the dwarf-folk, rushed in, and seized upon the
huntsmen, and bound them hand and foot; for the three Asas, having taken
upon themselves the forms of men, had no more than human strength, and
were unable to withstand them.

Then Odin and his fellows bemoaned their ill fate. And Loki said,
"Wherefore did we foolishly take upon ourselves the likenesses of
puny men? Had I my own power once more, I would never part with it in
exchange for man's weaknesses."

And Hoenir sighed, and said, "Now, indeed, will darkness win: and the
frosty breath of the Reimthursen giants will blast the fair handiwork of
the sunlight and the heat; for the givers of life and light and warmth
are helpless prisoners in the hands of these cunning and unforgiving
jailers."

"Surely," said Odin, "not even the highest are free from obedience to
heaven's behests and the laws of right. I, whom men call the Preserver
of Life, have demeaned myself by being found in evil company; and,
although I have done no other wrong, I suffer rightly for the doings of
this mischief-maker with whom I have stooped to have fellowship. For all
are known, not so much by what they are as by what they seem to be, and
they bear the bad name which their comrades bear. Now I am fallen from
my high estate. Eternal right is higher than I. And in the last Twilight
of the gods I must needs meet the dread Fenris-wolf, and in the end
the world will be made new again, and the shining Balder will rule in
sunlight majesty forever."

Then the Asas asked Hreidmar, their jailer, what ransom they should
pay for their freedom; and he, not knowing who they were, said, "I must
first know what ransom you are able to give."

"We will give any thing you may ask," hastily answered Loki.

Hreidmar then called his sons, and bade them strip the skin from the
otter's body. When this was done, they brought the furry hide and spread
it upon the gro