It looked ghastly, and I said so. ‘What’s the point of being famous if you don’t get to stay in the best accommodation?’

‘Ah, come on,’ said Thor. ‘Salt of the Nine Worlds, these farmer types. Besides, imagine what they’ll say when they find out who we are. They’ll be telling the tale for years.’

And so we knocked, and asked to share the meal that the woman of the house was preparing. A bit of a clichéd approach, I know, but Thor was in charge, and in his mind that was the kind of things gods were supposed to do. We called ourselves Arthur and Lucky – Thor winking hugely at me whenever he used the alias, so that I was sure we’d be recognized before we sat down to dinner.

Turns out I was wrong about that. The people were rustics from the hills, unable to see behind our disguise. I started to feel impatient. But Thor kept nudging and winking at me, and by then night had fallen, so I resigned myself to spending the night in less-than-luxurious surroundings and concentrated on making the most of the little that was offered me.

The meal wasn’t much. Some kind of stew. The beds were just straw mattresses. But the family seemed nice enough – a middle-aged couple, a teenage son, Thialfi, and a pretty daughter, Roskva – and so Thor had one of his brainwaves, offering to supply the meat that was so sadly lacking.

Now Thor had a couple of goats with him, picked up somewhere along the road. Carried away by his own generosity, he offered the goats to the little family, but warned them not to crack any of the bones – a test of obedience, if you like. Thor was very big on respect. I guess you can afford to be, when you weigh three hundred pounds.

Our hosts were touchingly overwhelmed by the gift of goat meat. The parents were stunned into silence, while the children asked all kinds of questions. Where did we come from? Were we rich? Had we ever seen the One Sea? Thialfi, the teenage son, especially, seemed very curious about Thor, while Roskva, the daughter, watched me from under her lashes.

Well, a good time was had by all, if you enjoy that kind of thing. We ate, we slept, and in the morning Thor gathered up all the bones from the feast of the previous night and prepared for a breakfast of bread and bone marrow. But on investigating the discarded bones, he saw that a thighbone had already been split, and knew someone had disobeyed.

‘What did I tell you not to do?’ he said, revealing his true Aspect.

Thialfi opened his eyes very wide. ‘Wow. Oh, wow. You’re Thor,’ he said.

‘Yes I know that,’ said Thor.

‘I knew it!’ said Thialfi. ‘I mean, the Thor. The Thunderer. The thunder god.’

‘Yes,’ said Thor. ‘And if you recall—’