‘Well, if that’s the best in Asgard,’ said Utgard-Loki with a smile, ‘I wonder you’ve kept it safe for so long. Your enemies must be very gullible, believing everything they hear about your strength and prowess.’

‘My strength!’ said Thor. ‘You can test it. What sort of weights do you have in here?’

Utgard-Loki looked amused. ‘I’m not sure I should be encouraging you to make a fool of yourself this way. But some of our youngsters play a game called “Lifting the Cat”. Perhaps you could try. I wouldn’t normally suggest it to a man of your stature . . .’ he smirked, ‘but maybe you’ll surprise us.’

He made a curious clicking noise, and a cat snaked out from under one of the tables. It was quite a large cat; black, with sleepy yellow eyes.

‘What am I supposed to do with this?’ said Thor.

‘Why, lift it from the floor, of course. Don’t do yourself an injury; it’s a big cat, and you’re a bit on the small side.’

Thor growled and squared his feet and grabbed the cat in both hands. Then he lifted it high in the air – but the cat just arched its back and purred, and its feet stayed firmly on the ground. Thor tried to get a better grip, but the cat seemed boneless; it rolled and squirmed and Thor had no more luck than before. At last, Thor grabbed the cat squarely around the body. Grunting and cursing with the effort, he lifted it right over his head and stretched his arms as far as he could . . .

The cat stopped purring and lifted one paw from the ground.

Sarcastic applause from the giants. Thialfi put his head in his hands. Thor turned to Utgard-Loki in rage. ‘I’ll wrestle you,’ he said. ‘No tricks. No cats. No games. I’ll wrestle you.’

‘Who, me?’ said Utgard-Loki. ‘Oh, please. I thought you might have learnt a little humility by now. There’s no one in this hall who’d agree to wrestle a little man like you. It wouldn’t be fair – and it wouldn’t reflect well on any of us to try.’

‘You’re afraid to fight me,’ said Thor.

‘Not at all,’ said the giant king. ‘But I might do you an injury. I’ll tell you what – my old nurse sometimes likes to wrestle. She’s tougher than she looks, and she’s used to dealing with children.’ He raised his voice. ‘Elli! Come over here!’

A very old woman came into the hall. White-haired, bent like driftwood; bright eyes in a face that was nothing but wrinkles. Thor clenched his teeth so hard that it hurt to watch. But the old lady cackled and crowed when she heard that he wanted to wrestle.