valley, and asked for food, and for shelter during the night.

"Shelter you shall have," said the farmer, whose name was Hreidmar,
"for the rising clouds foretell a storm. But food I have none to give
you. Surely huntsmen of skill should not want for food, since the
forest teems with game, and the streams are full of fish."

Then Loki threw upon the ground the otter and the fish, and 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 Northern 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 debased 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."

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