was because Mimer whispered in
Hoenir's ear all the wisdom that he uttered. Witless Hoenir was
quite helpless without his aid, and did not know what to do or say.
Whenever Mimer was absent he would look nervous and frightened, and if
folk questioned him he always answered:

"Yes, ah yes! Now go and consult someone else."

Of course the Vanir soon grew very angry at such silly answers from
their chief, and presently they began to suspect the truth. "Odin has
deceived us," they said. "He has sent us his foolish brother with a
witch to tell him what to say. Ha! We will show him that we understand
the trick." So they cut off poor old Mimer's head and sent it to Odin as
a present.

The tales do not say what Odin thought of the gift. Perhaps he was glad
that now there was no one in the whole world who could be called so wise
as himself. Perhaps he was sorry for the danger into which he had thrust
a poor old giant who had never done him any wrong, except to be a giant
of the race which the AEsir hated. Perhaps he was a little ashamed of the
trick which he had played the Vanir. Odin's new wisdom showed him how
to prepare Mimer's head with herbs and charms, so that it stood up by
itself quite naturally and seemed not dead. Thenceforth Odin kept it
near him, and learned from it many useful secrets which it had not
forgotten.

So in the end Odin fared better than the unhappy Mimer, whose worst
fault was that he knew more than most folk. That is a dangerous fault,
as others have found; though it is not one for which many of us need
fear being punished.

CHAPTER XIII

THE QUEST OF THE HAMMER

One morning Thor the Thunderer awoke with a yawn, and stretching out his
knotted arm, felt for his precious hammer, which he kept always under
his pillow of clouds. But he started up with a roar of rage, so that all
the palace trembled. The hammer was gone!

Now this was a very serious matter, for Thor was the protector of
Asgard, and Mioelnir, the magic hammer which the dwarf had made, was his
mighty weapon, of which the enemies of the AEsir stood so much in dread
that they dared not venture near. But if they should learn that Mioelnir
was gone, who could tell what danger might not threaten the palaces of
heaven?

Thor darted his flashing eye into every corner of Cloud Land in search
of the hammer. He called his fair wife, Sif of the golden hair, to aid
in the search, and his two lovely daughters, Thrude and Lora. They
hun