“Nine nights he swung in the wind, offered up to himself, on that tree whose roots go into the unknown. Loki waited. No loaf or horn was there for them, only night and the wind.

“Then did Odin’s staring eye kindle again. He looked down and saw what none else had ever seen. He shrieked aloud. The rope, which had creaked to and fro for so long, broke. He fell. Rising, he took in his hands the graven runes and read them.

“They are the runes of the high magic, the deep wisdom, gathered together from the lore of gods, elves, dwarves, giants and men. With them can one who knows bring help in sorrow and sickness; he can break fetters and blunt a foeman’s sword; he can stop arrows, spells, and fire; he can quell hatred among men and storms at sea; he can make witches flee; he can hearten warriors when their hearts are failing them; he can raise the dead and they will foretell for him what shall come to pass; he can win the love of any maiden—and thus did Odin afterward win the love of skaldcraft; he can know the hidden names of gods, elves, dwarves, and giants; he can know what he will never tell to anyone else.

“So did Odin go beyond death and come back. So did he find the runes. Ever since has the Tree borne the name Yggdrasil, the Horse of the Terrible One, who is Odin. And when men are offered to him it is by hanging, for he is the Lord of the Gallows.”

Hadding stopped. Rain rushed loud. Cross-legged at the little fire, their hands held to it unless the mead was going by, Ketil and Vigleik peered blearily at him through the curdling gloom. His tale had been of such uncanniness that they wanted great swigs from the horn while they listened.

“Well, what then?” Ketil mumbled.

Hadding laughed. “The rest is merrier. Mind you, I heard it from a jotun, who may not have felt as worshipful toward the gods as he should.

“Two brothers does Odin have, Vili and Ve. It was with them that he slew Ymir and made Midgard from the body of the father of giants. Afterward he had taken the lead, and they dwelt aside. Less and less did they like this.

“Now, while he was away and none knew if he would return, they went to Asgard. They said—honestly enough, maybe—that theirs was the right of kingship after him, and ill would the Aesir fare unless they yielded it Indeed, what but lawfulness makes gods different from thursir? Thus Vili and Ve took over the might and riches of their brother, and, yes, his wife Frigg, lady of Fensalir and mother of Baldr the Bright.