transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:14] Hello and welcome to the best of Super Great Kids' Stories. We're releasing one popular story from our archive in the middle of each month. The story this month is Loki the Trickster and the God of Thunder, told by Tiernan Douieb. This story from our archive is a Norse trickster tale about two friends who are invited to a frost giant's party. I'm not sure it's such a good idea to go to a giant's party, but these friends decided it was a good idea. And even though they had superpowers, they only just escaped very big trouble. So here is Tiernan telling you how they managed it from a story which was featured on the podcast on February 12th, 2021.

Speaker 2:
[01:07] Have you ever heard of the Vikings? They lived long ago in Scandinavia and were fierce warriors who built amazing ships to sail around the world and conquer land. The Vikings worship many, many gods and goddesses who looked like normal people, but they had extraordinary superhuman powers. This story is about two of those gods, Loki and Thor. Thor is the Viking God of Thunder. He has a big golden beard and fierce eyes and would make most people know it wouldn't be very clever to mess with him. Thor always carries a hammer, but this isn't just a normal hammer like your grown-ups might use around the house. No, this is an enormous magical hammer that can shoot out lightning, start raging storms and defeat monsters. When Thor uses his hammer, it makes a loud ca-rac sound. Can you make that noise? Ca-rac! Now Loki is Thor's friend, but he is the God of Mischief and he has red hair like flames. Loki's special power is that he can change shape to become anything he likes. He can become a fish, or a horse, or a fly, or even an old lady. What would you turn into if you could become anything or anyone? One day the two friends Thor and Loki were invited to a delicious feast in the land of the Frost Giants. Would you go to a Frost Giants party? No, it doesn't sound very wise, does it? It's an even worse idea when the giant that was holding the party was the king of all the Frost Giants, Thrim, who was said to be meaner than anyone in the land. Thrim was a very, very tall and very, very wide giant and an icy blue colour of the coldest cold. But it's very hard to say no to a party invitation, isn't it? Especially when you know because it's a giant's party, all the food was going to be huge. Huge sandwiches, huge ice cream, huge fizzy pop. And unfortunately, Thor was always very hungry, as you need a lot of energy to keep making thunder and lightning. So Loki and Thor went to the party and sat and ate the most tasty huge food. Food that was so delicious that Thor didn't pay attention to anything else as he was too busy scoffing and noshing and drinking until his big belly was very, very full. But oh no! When they were nearly back home, Thor realised that he didn't have his magical hammer. He became very worried because this was the hammer that shoots bolts of lightning, crack! And keeps all the gods safe from the frost giants. So Thor tried his hardest to remember, but he just couldn't think where he might have left it. He'd been too busy scoffing and noshing and drinking and burping that all he could remember was that tasty delicious food. Don't worry, said Loki, I'll find a way to get back there really quickly and find out from Thrim the Giant King if he knows what happened to your hammer. Loki was a very quick thinker and he knew exactly what to do. He raced straight to Frigg, the goddess of love, and asked if he could borrow her special dress made from falcon feathers. Loki knew that by wearing her dress, he'd be able to use his powers to shapeshift into a majestic bird of prey and fly all the way back to Thrim. So Frigg helped Loki put the dress on his shoulders and his body shifted and changed and transformed into an amazing grey and white falcon with big wings. Good luck, Frigg said. Now you'd best hurry and find that hammer. So Loki flew up into the sky and flew and flew all the way back to the land of the giants. Loki the falcon landed on a tree right by mean old Thrim, the king of the frost giants, where he was putting silver collars onto his pet hounds. Now, these weren't normal dogs like you might have as a pet. These were giant hounds. Can you imagine how big they might be? The size of a cow? No, bigger. The size of a bear? No, bigger still. These hounds were the size of an elephant. And they looked like snow wolves with glistening white eyes. My hounds, my loyal pets, said Thrim. I will put collars of silver on you for now, but soon we will have all of the viking's gold more than we could ever wish for. For I have Thor's magic hammer that can shoot bolts of lightning. And with it, we will be able to take all of the gold we like. And then Thrim laughed a big mean giant's laugh that only a big mean giant could do. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! As the giant king laughed, Loki the Falcon swooped down to Thrim.

Speaker 1:
[06:17] Whoosh!

Speaker 2:
[06:19] Ahem! Said the God of Mischief. Hello, Thrim. Thanks again for that delicious dinner. I was just wondering, have you seen Thor's hammer anywhere? He seems to have lost it somewhere. Ha! Said Thrim. Loki the Trickster, I should have known you were there, but it doesn't matter how much you or the other gods spy on us. You will never find the magic hammer, because I have buried it deep in the earth, deeper even than the caves of the dwarves. Loki sighed. But imagine, said Loki with a twinkle in his eye, imagine what a reward you would get if you just gave Thor back his hammer. Good try, Loki the Trickster, said Thrim, but I will never give it back, not for anything. Oh, but is there nothing the gods have that you would like to own? asked Loki. What about the magic golden ring that can make endless golden rings appear? Or what about the finest ship in all the land? No, no, said Thrim. I don't want a ring or a ship. The only thing I could ever want from the land of the gods is the beautiful goddess Freya as my wife. Uh-oh, thought Loki. The gods wouldn't be happy with that. And he was certain that Freya, the goddess of beauty, wouldn't be that happy about having to marry Thrim, the meanest of all the frost giants, either. But Thrim wouldn't change his mind, so Loki flew all the way back from the land of the gods as quickly as he could. Whish, whish, whish. When he returned, he took off the falcon coat and, pop! He changed back into Loki again. Everyone had now heard that Thor's magical hammer had been stolen, and they were beginning to get very worried for their safety. What if the giants attack? They said. What shall we do? Loki went straight to the great hall where all the gods were having a meeting. He told them all about the frost giants' demands, but all the gods knew there was no way the beautiful and powerful Freyja would marry cruel Thrym, the frost giant king. But they also knew that without Thor's hammer, they could be in real trouble. The gods sat in the meeting, looking very glum. But they had forgotten what Loki was so very good at. Do you remember what they call him? That's right. Loki the Trickster. His eyes twinkled again, and Loki told them, I have thought of a plan to get the hammer back. Let's pretend to send Freyja to the land of the Giants as a gift to Thrim, the frost giant king. But really, we'll send Thor in disguise as a bride. And that way, when Thrim hands his bride the hammer, Thor can snatch it and bring it back here to the land of the gods. The gods all cheered. This was an excellent plan. But now Loki had to convince Thor. There is a way we can win back your hammer, Thor, announced Loki. And the gods have agreed that as you lost it, it's you who must do it. This is excellent news, said Thor, his frown turning into a beaming smile. What must I do? No matter what it is, tell me and I will do as you say. I am to take you to the giant king, disguised as a bride, said Loki. You will be wearing Freyja's very pretty bridal dress and veil and Thrym will think you are the goddess of beauty. He'll be so in love with you, he'll give you anything you want. So we'll ask for your magic hammer and correct! You'll have it back. Thor's face immediately turned into a growling sulk, lightning crackling around his eyes. What? I must wear a dress? Me? The mighty Thor? No way I shall not wear a dress. I am the God of Thunder. And the skies began to darken over his head. Yes, Thor, said Loki, really trying very hard not to laugh. And you must put a veil over your head and a beautiful garland of flowers upon it. Flowers on my head, boomed Thor, who was very angry at just the thought. Oh, and a lovely necklace and rings on your fingers too, said Loki. Stop this, bellowed Thor, or I will shake you so hard you'll be wobbling for weeks. Now listen, Thor, I'm being very, very serious, said Loki. You have to do this to keep the gods safe. And of course, if you agree, then I will be right there with you and dress up as your bridesmaid. Thor was very unhappy. Me in a dress, with a veil, all the gods will be laughing at me. True, said Loki, but there will never be laughter in our land again if we don't get the hammer back that you lost. And so, with a sulk, Thor agreed. He put on the dress and the flowers and the necklace and the rings. His fierce, angry eyes and big golden beard were all hidden behind the veil. Loki was dressed as a bridesmaid and wore a veil too, which was just as well or Thor would have seen him unable to stop grinning. Stop sulking and let's go get your hammer back, laughed Loki and the two friends travelled all the way back to the land of the giants. Thrimm's house was prepared for a wedding with big long tables, giant bowls for giant sized food, and all of the frost giants were gathered for this special occasion. As soon as Loki and Thor arrived, Thrimm rushed over to welcome them. Then the feast began. As soon as Thor saw food, he completely forgot about his hammer and what they were meant to be doing and began scoffing. He immediately gobbled down ten large salmon without even pausing for breath. Loki didn't think this was the right sort of behavior for a goddess, so he nudged Thor and kicked his foot under the table. But Thor was far too busy noshing and drinking, and as soon as he finished the salmon, he burped very loudly and then ate an entire cow. Can you imagine eating a whole cow in one go? The giants laughed, These maidens, they might be fancy gods, but their appetites are the same as ours. Ah, well, no wonder she eats, Loki said to Thrim, in his best bridesmaid's voice, so that he wouldn't get suspicious. It's been eight days since we left home, and Freya didn't eat at all on the way. She was so anxious to see you. Poor darling, said Thrim. You must be thirsty too, Freya. Would you like some mead to wash down all the food? Thor nodded under his veil, and glugged back not one, not two, but three large barrels of it, one after the other. Glug, glug, glug. Thor drank so quickly that his veil briefly slipped to the side, and the giants caught a glimpse of his fierce, fierce eyes. Hmm, said Thrim. Why does Freya have such a glaring red stare? Ah, said Loki, quick as ever. Poor thing, poor thing. No wonder her eyes are so red and staring. She has not slept for eight nights, as she was so anxious to see you. Thrim seemed very pleased with this reply. He was already madly in love with his bride. Poor darling, giants, bring out the magic hammer that her little friends won so much so we can get on with this wedding and make her happy. Then Thrim, the cruelest of all the frost giants, stood up and grabbed Thor's hammer and brought it right to the table. Thor could barely stop himself from snatching it, but Loki managed to stop him. They waited, and Thrim put the hammer into the hands of what he thought was his lovely bride, but the very second that Thor's hands clasped around it, lightning crackled up his arms and his eyes bled. As Thor stood up, his veil fell off, and Thrim stumbled backwards in shock. Thor yelled a mighty yell, Roar! And with one strike of his hammer, Crack! He hit the side of Thrim's house, and with a shake and a shudder, it all fell to pieces. Thor strode out of the tumbling house, with Loki beside him trying to wriggle out of his bridesmaid's dress while still giggling. And all the giants bellowed and cried as the roof and the walls fell down around them. And that is the story of how Loki's trickery helped return Thor's magic hammer back to the land of the gods where it belongs. And that is also why whenever Thor and Loki attended a wedding ever after, Loki would start to grin and giggle, and Thor would go very red and get rather embarrassed, even for a fearsome Viking God of Thunder with a magic hammer that shoots bolts of lightning.

Speaker 1:
[15:20] Thanks to Tiernan Douieb for that. If you like this story from our archive, there are over 300 traditional tales which are available to all our owlets who subscribe to Super Great Kids' Stories. Happy listening.