Norse Mythology

by Neil Gaiman

There were things Thor did when something went wrong. The first thing he did was ask himself if what had happened was Loki’s fault.

“Fair enough,” said Thor. “What’s the price?” “Freya’s hand in marriage.” “He just wants her hand?” asked Thor hopefully. She had two hands, after all, and might be persuaded to give up one of them without too much of an argument. Tyr had, after all.

“But. My hammer,” said Thor. “Shut up, Thor,” said Loki. Thor shut up. They left.

“It is time for a test of strength. Can you lift up a cat?” he asked Thor. “What kind of a question is that? Of course I can pick up a cat.”

(that was Naglfar, the Death Ship, made from the untrimmed fingernails of the dead),

In their huge bedroom that night, Tyr said to Thor, “I hope you know what you are doing.” “Of course I do,” said Thor. But he didn’t. He was just doing whatever he felt like doing. That was what Thor did best.

Vidar’s two feet are different. One of them has a normal shoe on it. The other wears a shoe that has been constructed since the dawn of time. It is assembled from all the bits of leather that people cut from the toes and the heels when they make shoes for themselves, and throw away. (If you want to help the Aesir in the final battle, you should throw away your leather scraps. All thrown-out scraps and trimmings from shoes will become part of Vidar’s shoe.)