in the form of a bird he then winged his flight across the river Ifing,
and over the barren stretches of Joetun-heim, where he suspected that
the thief would be found. There he saw Thrym, prince of the frost
giants and god of the destructive thunder-storm, sitting alone on a
hill-side. Artfully questioning him, he soon learned that Thrym had
stolen the hammer and had buried it deep underground. Moreover, he
found that there was little hope of its being restored unless Freya
were brought to him arrayed as a bride.

"I have the Thunderer's hammer bound
Fathoms eight beneath the ground;
With it shall no one homeward tread
Till he bring me Freya to share my bed."

Thrym's Quida (Herbert's tr.).

Indignant at the giant's presumption, Loki returned to Thrud-vang,
but Thor declared it would be well to visit Freya and try to prevail
upon her to sacrifice herself for the general good. But when the AEsir
told the goddess of beauty what they wished her to do, she flew into
such a passion that even her necklace burst. She told them that she
would never leave her beloved husband for any god, much less to marry
a detested giant and dwell in Joetun-heim, where all was dreary in the
extreme, and where she would soon die of longing for the green fields
and flowery meadows, in which she loved to roam. Seeing that further
persuasions would be useless, Loki and Thor returned home and there
deliberated upon another plan for recovering the hammer. By Heimdall's
advice, which, however, was only accepted with extreme reluctance,
Thor borrowed and put on Freya's clothes together with her necklace,
and enveloped himself in a thick veil. Loki, having attired himself as
handmaiden, then mounted with him in the goat-drawn chariot, and the
strangely attired pair set out for Joetun-heim, where they intended to
play the respective parts of the goddess of beauty and her attendant.

"Home were driven
Then the goats,
And hitched to the car;
Hasten they must--
The mountains crashed,
The earth stood in flames:
Odin's son
Rode to Joetun-heim."

Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).

Thrym welcomed his guests at the palace door, overjoyed at the thought
that he was about to secure undisputed possession of the goddess
of beauty, for whom he had long sighed in vain. He quickly led them
to the banqueting-hall, where Thor, the bride elect, distinguished
himself by eating an