kin of
the son and the brother that was all glittering with gold and gems. But
they looked at each other more than they looked on the glittering mass,
and very deadly were the looks that Fafnir and Regin cast upon their
father and cast upon each other.

Over Bifroest, the Rainbow Bridge, went all of the AEsir and the Vanir
that had been at old AEgir's feast--Frey and Freya, Frigga, Iduna, and
Sif; Tyr with his sword and Thor in his chariot drawn by the goats. Loki
came behind them, and behind them all came Odin, the Father of the Gods.
He went slowly with his head bent, for he knew that an unwelcome one was
following--Gulveig, who once had been cast out of Asgard and whose
return now the Gods might not gainsay.

PART III

THE WITCH'S HEART

[Illustration]

FOREBODING IN ASGARD

What happened afterwards is to the shame of the Gods, and mortals may
hardly speak of it. Gulveig the Witch came into Asgard, for Heimdall
might not forbid her entrance. She came within and she had her seat
amongst the AEsir and the Vanir. She walked through Asgard with a smile
upon her face, and where she walked and where she smiled Care and dire
Foreboding came.

Those who felt the care and the foreboding most deeply were Bragi the
Poet and his wife, the fair and simple Iduna, she who gathered the
apples that kept age from the Dwellers in Asgard. Bragi ceased to tell
his never-ending tale. Then one day, overcome by the fear and the
foreboding that was creeping through Asgard, Iduna slipped down
Ygdrassil, the World Tree, and no one was left to pluck the apples with
which the AEsir and the Vanir stayed their youth.

Then were all the Dwellers in Asgard in sore dismay. Strength and beauty
began to fade from all. Thor found it hard to lift Mioelnir, his great
hammer, and the flesh under Freya's necklace lost its white radiance.
And still Gulveig the Witch walked smiling through Asgard, although now
she was hated by all.

It was Odin and Frey who went in search of Iduna. She would have been
found and brought back without delay if Frey had had with him the magic
sword that he had bartered for Gerda. In his search he had to strive
with one who guarded the lake wherein Iduna had hidden herself. Beli was
the one he strove against. He overcame him in the end with a weapon made
of stags' antlers. Ah, it was not then but later that Frey lamented the
loss of his sword: it was when the Riders of Muspell came against
Asgard, and the Vani