182 
LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 
Thor understood what the noise was which they heard 
in the night. He buckled on his belt of power, by 
which he increased his divine strength. At the same 
instant the man awoke, and rose up. It is said that 
Thor was so much astonished that he did not dare 
to slay him with his hammer, but inquired his name. 
He called himself Skrymer. ‘ Thy name,’ said he, 
‘ I need not ask, for I know that thou art Asar-Thor. 
But what hast thou done with my glove ? 7 
“ Skrymer stooped and took up his glove, and Thor 
saw that it was the house in which they had passed the 
night, and that the out-building was the thumb . 77 
Here follow incidents which do not differ widely 
from certain passages in the history of Jack the Giant 
Killer. Thor makes three several attempts to knock 
out the easy-going giant’s brains during a slumber, 
in which he is represented as “snoring outrageously,” 
—and after each blow of the Thunder god’s hammer, 
Skrymer merely wakes up—strokes his beard—and 
complains of feeling some trifling inconvenience, such 
as a dropped acorn on his head, a fallen leaf, or a 
little moss shaken from the boughs. Finally, he takes 
leave of them,—points out the way to Utgard Loke’s 
