VIII. ] THE LAST SUNSET. 115 



called Loge, was fire, which consumed the trough as well as 

 the meat. And Huge (mind) was my thought with which 

 Thjalfe ran a race, and it was impossible for him to match 

 it in speed. When thou drankest from the horn, and 

 though test that its contents grew no less, it was, notwith- 

 standing, a great marvel, such as I never believed could 

 have taken place. The one end of the horn stood in the 

 sea, which thou didst not perceive ; and when thou comest 

 to the shore thou wilt see how much the ocean has dimin- 

 ished by what thou hast drunk. Men will call it the ebb. 



" ' Further,' said he, ' most remarkable did it seem to me 

 that thou liftedst the cat, and in truth all became terrified 

 when they saw that thou liftedst one of its feet from the 

 ground. For it was no cat, as it seemed unto thee, but the 

 great serpent that lies coiled round the world. Scarcely 

 had he length that his tail and head might reach the earth, 

 and thou liftedst him so high up that it was but a little way 

 to heaven. That was a marvellous wrestling that thou 

 wrestledst with Ella (old age), for never has there been any 

 one, nor shall there ever be, let him approach what great 

 age he will, that Ella shall not overcome. 



" ' Now we must part, and it is best for us on both sides 

 that you do not often come to me ; but if it should so hap- 

 pen, I shall defend my castle with such other arts that you 

 shall not be able to effect anything against me.' 



" When Thor heard this discourse he grasped his hammer 

 and lifted it into the air, but as he was about to strike he 

 saw Utgard Loke nowhere. Then he turned back to the 

 castle to destroy it, and he saw only a beautiful and wide 

 plain, but no castle." 



So ends the story of Thor's journey to Jotunheim. 



It was now just upon the stroke of midnight. Ever since 

 leaving England, as each four-and-twenty hours w r e climbed 

 up nearer to the pole, the belt of dusk dividing day from 

 day had been growing narrower and narrower, until having 

 nearly reached the Arctic circle, this, — the last night we 

 were to traverse, — had dwindled to a thread of shadow. 



