Thor's Journey to Utgard

The Journey Begins

Thor, the Thunder God, set out from Asgard with Loki at his side, driving his chariot pulled by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr. They traveled to Midgard and stopped at a peasant's cottage, where Thor slaughtered his goats for a feast, instructing the family to throw the bones onto the skins without breaking them. He would resurrect the goats in the morning with his hammer Mjolnir.

But the peasant's son Thjalfi, tempted by the marrow, split a thighbone to suck it out. When Thor revived the goats, one was lame. In his fury, Thor nearly slew the family, but they offered their children, Thjalfi and Roskva, as servants. Leaving the chariot behind, the four travelers continued on foot toward Jotunheim.

Thor's grip on Mjolnir's handle tightened until his knuckles went white. Even the god of thunder would learn humility in the halls of Utgard-Loki.

The Giant's Glove

As darkness fell, they came upon an enormous hall and took shelter inside. During the night, the earth shook with terrible tremors, and they retreated into a side chamber for safety. At dawn, Thor discovered their shelter had been the thumb of a giant's glove, and the tremors had been the snoring of Skrymir, a giant so vast that Thor barely reached his belt buckle.

Skrymir offered to carry their provisions and walked with them through the day. That night, when Thor tried to open the provision bag for supper, he could not undo the knots. In frustration, he struck the sleeping giant with Mjolnir, but Skrymir merely asked if a leaf had fallen on his head. Thor struck twice more, each blow harder than the last, but the giant dismissed them as acorns and twigs.

At dawn, Skrymir directed them toward Utgard and departed. Thor's pride was already wounded.

The Challenges of Utgard-Loki

Utgard, the castle of the giant king Utgard-Loki, was so vast that the travelers could slip between the bars of its gate. The king received them with contempt, demanding they prove themselves with some skill or depart in shame.

Loki boasted that no one could eat faster than he. A trencher of meat was brought, and Loki raced a giant called Logi from opposite ends. They met in the middle, but while Loki had eaten all the meat, Logi had devoured meat, bones, and the wooden trencher itself. Loki lost.

Thjalfi, the swiftest of mortals, challenged a giant named Hugi to a footrace. Three times they ran, and three times Hugi won with increasing ease, finishing the last race before Thjalfi had reached the midpoint.

Thor was offered a drinking horn. Utgard-Loki claimed any decent drinker could drain it in one draft, or at least two. Thor drank mightily three times, but the level seemed barely to drop. He was then challenged to lift a gray cat from the floor, but despite all his strength, he could only raise one paw. Finally, humiliated, he agreed to wrestle an old woman named Elli. Thor strained with all his divine might, but the crone forced him to one knee.

The Truth Revealed

Utgard-Loki bid them leave, and Thor's shame was complete. But once outside the walls, the giant king revealed the truth. Everything had been illusion.

Skrymir's provision bag had been bound with iron wrought by trolls. Thor's hammer blows had struck mountains, carving three deep valleys that stand to this day. Logi, who had beaten Loki at eating, was wildfire itself, which consumes everything in its path. Hugi, who outran Thjalfi, was thought, which nothing can outpace.

The drinking horn's tip had rested in the ocean, and Thor's three drafts had lowered the sea level, creating the tides. The cat was the Midgard Serpent, Jormungandr, and Thor had nearly pulled it from the sea. The old woman Elli was old age itself, which no living thing can defeat.

No one who saw what you did could fail to realize that you are much stronger than you appear. And I never want you near my castle again.

Thor raised Mjolnir to smash Utgard to rubble, but the castle and its king had vanished, leaving only empty plains where no giant realm had ever stood. The god of thunder returned to Asgard with a new understanding: there are forces in the universe that even the mightiest of gods cannot overcome through strength alone.