and
Fenja. He set them to grind at the quern by day, and by night when
all slept, and as they ground him gold, and peace, and prosperity,
they sang:

"We grind wealth for Frodi, all bliss we grind, and abundance of
riches in the fortunate bin. May he sit on wealth, may he sleep on
down, may he wake to delight; then the grinding were good. Here shall
no man hurt another, prepare evil nor work death, nor hew with the
keen sword though he find his brother's slayer bound."

But when they wearied of their toil and asked for a little rest,
Frodi answered: "Ye shall sleep no longer than the cuckoo is silent,
or while I speak one stave." Then the giant-maids grew angry, and sang:

"Thou wert not wise, Frodi, in buying thy bondmaids: thou didst
choose us for our strength and size but asked not our race. Bold
were Hrungni and his father, and mightier Thiazi; Idi and Orni were
our ancestors, from them are we daughters of the mountain-giants
sprung.... We maids wrought mighty deeds, we moved the mountains
from their places, we rolled rocks over the court of the giants,
so that the earth shook.... Now we are come to the king's house,
meeting no mercy and held in bondage, mud beneath our feet and cold
over our heads, we grind the Peace-maker. It is dreary at Frodi's."

As they sang of their wrongs by night, their mood changed, and instead
of grinding peace and wealth, they ground war, fire and sword:

"Waken, Frodi! waken, Frodi! if thou wilt hear our songs.... I see
fire burn at the east of the citadel, the voice of war awakes, the
signal is given. A host will come hither in speed, and burn the hall
over the king."

So the bondmaids ground on in giant-wrath, while the sea-king Mysing
sailed nearer with his host, until the quern-stones split; and then
the daughters of the mountain-giants spoke once more: "We have ground
to our pleasure, Frodi; we maids have stood long at the mill."

A Norseman was rarely content to allow a fortunate ending to any
hero, and a continuation of the story therefore makes the mill bring
disaster on Mysing also. After slaying Frodi and burning his hall,
he took the stones and the bondmaids on board his ship, and bade them
grind salt. They ground till the weight sank the ship to the bottom
of the sea, where the mill is grinding still. This is not in the song,
though it has lived longer popularly than the earlier part. Dr. Rydberg
identities Frodi with Frey, the God of fertility.

_The Everlasting