er over
his words, he hurried off to Freya and informed her of Thrym's
proposal.

The beautiful Freya was walking in her garden, and round her neck she
wore her famous necklet of stars. When she heard Loki's suggestion
that she should wed a hideous giant she fell into such a rage that she
broke her necklace, and all the stars went falling through the sky, so
that men cried: "See how the stars are shooting!"

Meantime the Asa folk had met together to consider all that had
happened, and, having calmed the fury of Thor, they pointed out to him
that Asgard stood in the gravest danger of an attack which would find
them quite unprotected. When they had said this several times over,
Thor began to weary of the subject, and he replied with great
surliness: "Very well, then. Let Freya go to Thrym as his wife, and
then shall we be as before, with Mioelnir to defend us."

When Freya heard this, her rage turned to tears and lamentations, and
she declared that it would be death to her to send her to the gloomy
halls of Giantland, whence she could never hope to revisit the flowery
meads and grassy slopes of Asgard. And the Asas, unable to bear the
sight of her grief, with one voice declared that they would never
spare her from the Home of Bliss.

Then there stepped forward Heimdall, the watchman who sits on guard
over the Rainbow Bridge by night and day.

Now Heimdall had the gift of seeing into the future, and the Asas were
always ready to hear his words, well knowing them to be wise.

"My plan is this," said he. "Let Thor borrow the clothes of Freya and
put a thick veil over his face; and let him go thus to Thrym's castle
and pass for his bride. And if he cannot by some means manage to get
hold of the hammer when he is there--why, he must give it up
altogether."

At this suggestion the Asas clapped their hands with approval--all,
indeed, save Thor, who looked most glum, and was extremely unwilling
to agree to the plan.

"Dress me as a bride!" he grumbled. "A pretty maiden I shall make.
Ready enough am I to fight, but I will not make myself a
laughing-stock if I know it."

But the Asas besought him to give way, while Loki twitted him with
cowardice. Fair Freya, too, appealed with tearful eyes; and so at
length, with great reluctance, the Thunderer agreed to do what they
wished.

Fortunately the maiden Freya was very tall, but even so it was with
some difficulty that they managed to cover the burly form of Thor with
her