Make Valleys / Move Mountain

‘Then Skrymir went to sleep and snored hard, and Thor took
the knapsack and was about to undo it, and the story goes,
incredible though it must seem, that no knot could he get undone
and no strap-end moved so as to make it less tight than it was
already. And when he realized that this labour was going to get
nowhere, he got angry, grasped the hammer Miollnir in both
hands and stepped forward with one foot to where Skrymir was
lying and struck at his head. Skrymir awoke and asked whether
some leaf of foliage had fallen on his head, and whether they had
finished eating and were ready for bed. Thor said they were just
about to go to sleep. They then went under another oak. To tell
you the truth, it was not possible to sleep without fear.

‘But at midnight Thor heard that Skrymir was snoring and
sleeping deeply so that the forest resounded. Then he stood up and
went up to him, swung the hammer quickly and hard and struck
down in the centre of his crown. He felt the face of the hammer
sink deep into the head. And at that moment Skrymir woke and
said:

‘“What’s the matter now? Did an acorn or something fall on
my head? And what are you doing, Thor?”
‘But Thor backed away quickly and replied that he had just
woken up, said that it was now midnight and still time to sleep.
Then Thor resolved that if he got an opportunity to strike him a
third blow, he would never open his eyes again; he now lay
waiting to see if Skrymir fell fast asleep. And a little before dawn,
then he could hear that Skrymir must have fallen asleep, and he
got up and ran at him, swung the hammer with all his might and
struck at the temple that was facing upwards. Then the hammer
sank in up to the handle, but Skrymir sat up and stroked his cheek
and said:

‘“Can there be some birds sitting in the tree above me? I am
sure as I awoke that some rubbish from the branches fell on my
head. Are you awake, Thor? It must be time to get up and dress.
And you do not now have very far to go on to the castle called
Utgard. I have heard you whispering among yourselves that 1 am a
person of no small build, but you will see bigger men there if you
get into Utgard. Now I will give you some good advice: don’t act
big. Utgarda-Loki’s men will not easily put up with cheekiness
from babies like you. Otherwise turn back, and that I think will be
the better course for you to take. But if you are determined to go
on, then make for the east, but my road now lies to the north to
these mountains that you should be able to see.”

‘Skrymir took the knapsack and threw it on his back and turned
abruptly away from them into die forest, and there is no report
that the Æsir expressed hope for a happy reunion.

‘Thor continued his journey with his companions and went on
until midday. Then they saw a castle standing on some open
ground and had to bend their heads back to touch their spines
before they could see up over.

[...]

Then Utgarda-Loki appeared and had a table laid for them. There was
no lack of good cheer, food and drink. And when they had
finished eating then they set off. Utgarda-Loki went out with
them, and accompanied them on their road out of the castle. And
as they parted, Utgarda-Loki spoke to Thor and asked how he
thought his expedition had gone, and whether he had come up
against any person more powerful than himself. Thor said that he
could not claim that he had not suffered great loss of face in their
encounter.

‘“And moreover I know that you will say that I am a person of
little account, and it is that which irks me.”

‘Then spoke Utgarda-Loki: “Now you shall be told the truth,
now you have come outside the castle, which is that if I live and
can have my way you shall never again come into it. And I swear
by my faith that you never would have come into it if I had known
before that you had such great strength in you, and that you were
going to bring us so close to great disaster. But I have deceived you
by appearances, so that the first time when I discovered you in the
forest it was I that came and met you. And when you tried to undo
the knapsack I had fastened it with trick wire, and you could not
find where it had to be unfastened. And next you struck me three
blows with your hammer, and the first was the smallest and yet it
was so hard that it would have been enough to kill me if it had
struck its mark. But where you saw near my hall a table-
mountain, and down in it you saw three square valleys, one
deepest of all, these were the marks of your hammer. I moved the
table-mountain in front of your blows, but you did not notice. So
it was too with the games in which you competed with my men.


- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning