Thor’s fishing trip
When the gods came back from hunting, they were hungry for a feast but all the mead and beer had run out. With the help of prohecy, they discovered that the sea giant Ægir was skilled at brewing and could provide them with drink. They went to Ægir’s hall and there sat Ægir happy as a child and content with life. A joy that Thor soon put an end to when he harshly ordered him to immediately brew large amounts of mead for them.Ægir did not dare to object but hoped for revenge and replied “I don’t have a cauldron big enough for you. If you get me a suitable cauldron, I will brew all the mead you can need”.
No one knew where such a cauldron was except the faithful Tyr who told them that his father, the giant Hymer, owned a cauldron a mile deep. “Do you think we can borrow the cauldron?” Thor asked. “Yes, but only if we use cunning” answered Tyr.
Thor and Tyr then set off to the east. They came almost to the end of the world and there on a mountain by the sea stood Hymer’s hall. First they met Tyr’s horrible grandmother who had nine hundred heads. A terrifying creature. Next came Tyr’s mother who was all the more beautiful. She offered them a welcome cup after which she urged them to hide in one of the cauldrons as her husband did not always appreciate visitors.
When Hymer returned from the forest with icicles jingling in his frozen beard, his wife told him that their son had come home for a visit, and with him the enemy of the mountain dwellers, the friend of mankind, and the guardian of Midgaard. “Do you see them sitting at the end of the hall hidden behind a post?” Hymer glared so harshly that the pole snapped and the rafters above fell down. Eight cauldrons fell down and broke, but one was particularly strong, and under it Thor and Tyr crawled forward. Hymer smelled a rat but ordered that as good custom required when receiving guests, three oxen should be slaughtered and boiled to treat the guests. Thor surprised his host by single-handedly voraciously eat two whole oxen. Hymer was taken aback by Thor’s appetite. “Tomorrow we must eat what we catch in the sea,” said Hymer angrily. Then they all went to sleep.
The following morning before dawn Hymer rose, and Thor hurriedly followed. True to his habit, Hymer intended to go fishing and Thor wanted to join. “You look too small to handle an oar,” muttered the giant. “You will be surprised,” said Thor. “But what should I have for bait?” asked Thor. Hymer nodded sullenly towards the enclosure where his stately oxen grazed and where there were large amounts of dung. Thor chose to misunderstand him and quickly cut the throat off the head of one of the oxen and jumped into the boat. “That was bad enough, what you ate last night,” said Hymer. “But this was worse.”
Hymer rowed in the bow and saw the sullenness of Thor’s back oars, but try as Hymer might, he could row as hard as his companion. After a while the giant stopped rowing and wanted to fish. Hymer quickly pulled up two whales but Thor was not impressed and wanted to row on. “Rest you and I will row alone” Thor said when Hymer protested. Hymer bit his lip and they continued at a brisk pace even further out.
“This is far enough,” cried Hymer. But Thor still refused to stop and Hymer had to keep on rowing. Finally he exclaimed, “Stop! We are already well into the area of the Midgaard Serpent. It is dangerous to be here!” “Here we can expect the best catches. Throw out the lines” Thor shouted back happily and grabbed Hymer’s biggest rod. This will do for me, he said, attaching the bull’s head firmly to the hook.
Hymer wanted to avoid entanglement with the World Serpent at all costs if he could avoid it, so he let the fishing depend on these waters. Deep down there lay the Midgaard Serpent lurking and when he caught sight of the bull’s head with the golden horns, he immediately swallowed the bait and the hook entered his throat. The World Serpent coughed and a huge air bubble was about to capsize the giant’s boat. Thor tore until his hands were skinned and the pain made him furious. He mustered all the strength he had and lashed his heels so hard against the bottom of the boat that his feet went right through the planks. Still, Thor did not release his grip, but dragged the snake to the surface. It was a horrible sight. The blood froze as Thor glared down at the Midgaard Serpent and the huge beast stared back. All the while the sea swelled violently. Hymer who was frozen with horror grabbed a knife and cut the fishing line with a few sharp cuts. The snake sank back into the depths of the sea.
Thor raised his hammer in terrible wrath. His booty had, in the moment of victory, eluded him, and Thor had forgotten the devastating consequences predicted if the Midgaard Serpent’s tail were twisted from its mouth. They rowed back in silence.
Once back on land, Hymer was very angry and once again wanted to compete with Thor as to who was the strongest. “You’re good at rowing,” he said. “But are you strong enough to break this glass goblet?” Thor accepted the challenge and threw the goblet with a violent force into a stone post, the post broke from the force but the goblet was carried back unscathed. Thor felt uneasy, then Tyr’s mother leaned forward towards him and whispered “Throw the goblet at Hymer’s head, it’s harder than any stone”. Thor used all the strength he had and hurled the goblet straight at Hymer again. The giant’s head held the throw but the goblet shattered beneath him. Hymer felt defeated. “What was mine is now yours,” he said sadly as he picked up the shards of his beloved goblet. “The cauldron is yours if you can drag it out of my hall”.
It was easier said than done. The cauldron was so heavy that Thor’s feet sank straight down through the floor. But at last he got a firm grip on the cauldron, lifted it over his head and stepped out of the hall with Tyr in tow. They hadn’t gotten far before they noticed that Hymer and his followers had followed them. Thor put down the cauldron and grabbed Mjölnir. With force he swung his hammer at the herd and soon Mjölnir had split the skulls of them all, even the thick-headed Hymer.
Back in Asgaard, Thor and Tyr were praised for their feat. The huge cauldron was handed over to the sea giant Ægir, who brewed the tastiest mead in the whole world. Then a big party was held in Asgård.