A Way of Life

Why stop at reforging a nation when you can remake its people? It was precisely this idea which gripped Lycurgus now. After so many years spent in exile, and so many years travelling the world, the onetime King of Sparta had singlehandedly built a country, raising her from the brink of destruction to greatness anew (for the first part of the this story, please click here).

Mount Taygetus - Where rejected infants were abandoned
Photograph taken by the author

But it is in the revolutionary education that Lycurgus made Sparta the envy of the world. Seeing the weak and passive boys of Athens, who reclined in their homes being tutored by foreign slaves, Lycurgus resolved to make the sons and daughters of Sparta the most fearsome in all the world. Unique among the nations which have lived in this world, the Spartans practised selective breeding and eugenics upon themselves. When a baby was born, be it a boy or a girl, they would be immediately examined by the senior elder. If the child was strong and healthy, then it would be allowed to live. If the infant displayed any sign of physical deformity or poor health, it would be destroyed, regardless of the parent’s wishes, as it was deemed better for both the child and the state if it were incapable of the formidable demands of the Spartan state. Infants were trained not to fear the dark or being left alone, to eat up their food without fussing, and fits of temper and crying were soon bred out of them. Boys that survived to the age of seven were divided into ‘herds’, and were inducted into the legendary agoge, the brutal path that would turn a boy into a Spartan. The boys exercised vigorously, and perpetually, carefully observed by the older citizens, who spurred them on to fight each other, to ready them for war. They learned to read and write “no more than was necessary”, focusing their training on “obedience, perseverance under stress, and victory in battle”. The older they grew, the more intensive the training. At twelve, each surviving boy was given the iconic red cloak to wear, for all other clothing was forbidden in Sparta. As others wasted fortunes on lavish clothing, Lycurgus reasoned that a powerful body showed the devotion of a man to wellbeing, and silken clothing a hideous corruption of it. Such practice would also harden the boys against the effects of cold and heat. Shoes were forbidden too, to toughen the boy’s soles, so that each was well accustomed to running in the wild. At night, torches were forbidden, so that each would be used to operating in the dark and would have no fear of it.

A Spartan Warrior
Marble statue of the 5th century BC

The ruthless agoge not only honed the body, but the mind too. All boys were allocated to a common mess, and frequently held discussion on important topics with the elders. Each boy was regularly asked to scrutinise his fellow comrades. “Answers had to be reasoned, supported by argument, and at the same time expressed with brevity and conciseness”, defying the stereotype of the Spartans as unthinking warriors. The Spartan’s quick wit and use of few words, from where our adjectives ‘laconic’ or indeed ‘Spartan’ come from, became legendary even in ancient times. Once a foreigner asked the Spartan Eurypontid King Ariston how many fighting men lived at Sparta. “Enough”, replied the King. Centuries later, when King Philip II of Macedon had conquered all the other cities of Greece, he sent an ultimatum to Sparta. “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city”. The Spartans sent a reply of just a single word – “If”. Philip never again dared threaten the Spartans. Once, in a time of crisis, a Spartan who had been crippled in one leg eagerly enlisted with the fighting men. Some were determined to bar him from combat as a result of his injury, he answered, “But what is needed to fight our foes is a man who stands his ground, not one who runs away”. When once a foreign man bragged loudly of his wealth and riches, sneering as he asked where Sparta’s wealth lay, a nearby Spartan declared “Stranger, we are rich in valour and deeds”. During the dramatic Persian invasion of Greece, when just three hundred Spartans faced a Persian army numbering in the millions, the Persian Great King Xerxes sent a herald to the Spartans. “Spartans! Lay down your arms!”, he cried. “PERSIANS! COME AND GET THEM!” the Spartan King Leonidas roared back. When a terrified Greek scout declared that the Persians were so many that their arrows would block out the Sun, one of the three hundred declared, “Excellent, then we shall fight in the shade”. A Spartan ambassador in Athens was once mocked by the Athenians as hailing from an uneducated people. “It serves us well, for we have learned nothing wicked from you”, came the calm reply, wiping smiles clean from Athenian faces. When once a man was invited to a great meal on account of his legendary speeches, and remained silent throughout the entire meal, much criticism of him spread throughout the room. The Spartan King Archidamadas, puzzled by this reaction, pointed out “an expert at speaking also knows when to do so”. When the people of Elis received lavish praise once for their fair conduct of the Olympic Games, only the Spartan King Agis did not join in. The other Greeks angrily turned to him to ask why he was not offering praise. “What great or wonderful achievement is it on their part if they act fairly on just one day in every four years?”, the King retorted. When far away on campaign in Asia, a foreigner asked the Spartan King Agesilaus how far the boundaries of the Spartan domains extended. Seizing his spear, he replied “As far as this can reach”.


Lycurgus decreed that each boy was to be deliberately given rations that were not enough for one person, forcing them to fight and steal. If a boy was caught stealing, he would be savagely beaten and whipped, not for theft, but for incompetence at theft. Indeed, a story abounded how one young Spartan boy was caught after he had stolen a fox cub and hid it under his cloak, but refused to admit his crime, even as the frenzied beast clawed his abdomen open. The idea of retreat in battle was the most polluting shame a man could suffer in Sparta. Death was preferable. If any fled in war, they would be reduced to subhuman status, mocked and beaten in the streets, his family members forbidden from marrying and his name disgraced. Valour was everything, even if it led to death. To die fighting in battle was the highest honour a man could aspire to, and only those Spartan men who died in war were permitted to be buried in a marked grave, as a beacon of inspiration. One man expressed his fears for the safety of Sparta, as the city had no walls to defend it. Lycurgus retorted that “a city cannot be unfortified if it is ringed with brave men and not bricks”. To the end of its days, Sparta never built walls. Lycurgus fondly recalled the division of labour in Egypt, and decreed that all Spartan men were forbidden from practicing any craft, ensuring they focused their life on training for that thing which makes nations free - war - all day, all days. Only during times of war was training relaxed, so that the Spartans would see battle as a respite, and relish it more.

Spartan girls exercising
Painting by Edgar Degas

It was not only the males who trained. Unique among all the civilisations of the ancient world, in Sparta girls too would exercise and devote themselves to physical perfection, even competing in the arenas of sport. By their late teens, a Spartan girl would be more than a match even for the most battle hardened of men from other cities. Some even competed in the Olympic Games. The Spartan Princess Cynisca shocked the Greek world by triumphing in the chariot races, not once, but twice, at the Olympic Games of 396 and 392 BC, making a mockery of the men she raced against. “Why are you Spartan women the only ones who can rule men?” an envious Athenian lady once asked Queen Gorgo of Sparta. “Because we are the only ones who give birth to real men”, the Queen famously replied. Just as the supreme honour was for a man to die in war, for a lady to die in childbirth would warrant her name being immortalised in stone. Lycurgus reasoned that each had entailed the greatest sacrifice for the state, and was worthy of honour.


Lycurgus looked proudly upon the new state he had built, and the Spartan people eagerly accepted it. Summoning the people to assembly, he declared that Sparta was secure, but the greatest reform was yet to come. He volunteered to take the road to Delphi, and hear from the Oracle if his reforms were pleasing to the gods on high. In the meantime, he declared, the people must swear an oath to abide by the laws until his return. This the people readily did, awed by Lycurgus as they were. A path trodden by so many great souls, now Lycurgus followed in their wake to the Oracle’s Mount. ‘Will these laws secure the happiness and greatness of the state?’, spoke the exiled King. The Oracle was unusually forthright. The gods had decreed that Sparta would enjoy an everlasting legacy that would be the envy of the world, and that so long as she obeys the new way of life, she may never fall. Tearful with joy, Lycurgus wrote down the Oracle’s words, and sent them to Sparta. But Lycurgus was a prudent and pious man. Well did he know that many revolutionary ideas die with their creator, and decided to ensure the survival of his masterpiece. Lycurgus, the King who became an exile, and the exile who became the father of a nation, true to his own teachings until the end, decided to give the greatest sacrifice for the state. Ordering his friends to take his ashes and scatter them in the sea, the once exiled King took his own life, so as to never release Sparta from her oath, and to ensure the glory of his city lived forever...


United Kingdom

On Sparta:
On Sparta (Penguin Classics)
(A unique insight into the stories, customs and founding of the Spartan state, written in ancient times)

United States

On Sparta:
On Sparta (Penguin Classics)
(A unique insight into the stories, customs and founding of the Spartan state, written in ancient times)

The Exiled King

Speak today of eugenics and we think of Nazi Germany. Speak today of unwavering loyalty to honour and we think of feudal Japan. Speak today of absolute rejection of wealth and we dream of a more noble tomorrow. But all are far older than many of us would think. It has been done. There was a civilisation once which bound all three into one of the most controversial, admired, and feared states that ever existed. This was the formidable city state of Sparta, the deeds of whose citizens inspire awe and disbelief in equal measure. Here is the story of the man who had the courage to change everything.

Greece in the Classical Era
Map created by the author

Nearly three thousand years ago, in the most archaic times of Greece, there was no Greece. Greece has existed in its present form only since 1830. About five hundred years after the Trojan War, in the Greek Dark Ages, the land was filled with independent city states, each united by a common language, religion and culture, but fiercely divided by their relentless struggle for supremacy over the others. This rivalry, which never truly faded, would one day spell their doom. Around this time, many of the Greek cities were crippled by the squabbles of the rich and the toils of the poor. Whilst the fields of Attica and Boetia were a battleground between Athens and Thebes, two of the most powerful Greek cities, the peninsula to the south lay largely ignored by their high-minded neighbours. But a new power was rising in the Peloponnese (for the story which gave this land its name, please click here). For the tiny city of Sparta, in the eastern lands of Laconia, thrived. Marvelling at its recent conquest of the neighbouring city of Messenia, the Spartans rejoiced, though their city was in a wretched state.

Uniquely, Sparta was ruled by not one, but two Kings, one borne of the Agiad royal line, and his co-ruler hailing from the Eurypontid royal house, who both could claim descent from Heracles and his progeny who had first conquered Laconia in the distant mists of time. For three generations after the days of Heracles (whose own story begins here), Argeia, Queen to the afflicted Spartan King Aristodemus, gave birth to twin boys. Aristodemus lived just long enought to see his sons, dying tragically of illness within days. As was the law, the Spartans declared that the elder son should be hailed as King. But never before had twin boys been born to the royal bloodline. Who is the elder of twins? Both boys were identical, in size and form, and the succession became a crisis. The Spartans asked the Queen which had been born first, but Argeia replied that she was no more able to tell them apart now than they could. In secret, the Queen knew precisely which was which, though she could not bear to favour one over the other. Desperate now, as constitutional crisis meant the crippling of the state, the Spartans sent an urgent envoy to consult the Oracle of Delphi. Employing the arcane wisdom and ambiguity at which she was so adept, the Oracle answered. “May both be crowned as Kings of Sparta, yet to the elder grant the highest of honour”. The Spartans obeyed, but were still at a loss as to who was the elder. Just then, as hope seemed lost, a wise man from Messenia suggested they secretly watch the mother as she washed and fed her twin boys. If she always attended to the same child first, then that must surely be the elder. Seeing a grain of logic in his words, the Spartans obeyed. As they watched, they saw that the Queen did indeed always care for the same one first. The elder boy was named Eurysthenes, and he was crowned the High King, and his brother Procles his fellow King. So was founded the Agiad and Eurypontid royal houses of Sparta, named for their grandsons Agis and Eurypon, which ruled Sparta for near a thousand years. Some of their Kings ruled by oppressive force, and others through total lack of force. Eurypon was the first King to rule as a true man of the people, relaxing his more autocratic powers. Great was his popularity, but within generations, soon all Sparta was wracked by anarchy and strife, and it seemed as though it would become just another Athens. So grave were matters that, in a violent brawl in the streets, the Eurypontid King Eunomus was slain whilst trying to break up a fight. His throne passed to his oldest son, Polydectes, who died himself not long after. It was to Polydectes’ younger brother, Lycurgus, that the future greatness of Sparta owed its glory.

Sparta today, before Mount Taygetus
Photograph taken by Κούμαρης Νικόλαος

Lycurgus, an honourable and austere man, ruled well, but soon came a revelation which troubled the elders. Not long after the death of Polydectes, it became apparent that his widow was bearing a child. Magnanimous as ever he was, Lycurgus decreed that the throne was rightfully the child’s if it turned out to be a boy, and that he would rule as a guardian until the boy was ready. When, some months later, the widow gave birth to a boy, Charilaus, Lycurgus honoured his pledge, declaring the boy the rightful heir to the Eurypontid throne. The Spartan people rejoiced, and praised Lycurgus for his fair and noble character. But, ever ready to lay waste to the best of people is the shadow of envy. Charilaus’ relatives grew wary of Lycurgus, resenting his popularity. Soon suspicion turned to paranoia, and rumours began to spread that Lycurgus desired the throne alone. When at last Lycurgus, resigned to being the target of false charges, heard these fears he decided to leave Sparta until Charilaus was old enough to be crowned, and thus put an end to the false rumours. Forced into exile by his own city, the resourceful Lycurgus decided to travel the world, and see its nations with his own eyes.

Shrewd and charming, Lycurgus earned the respect of all who crossed his path with his insight and sagacity. By leaving behind his own country for the first time, his eyes were opened to the world, and he began to think what he, and his city, could learn from its peoples. His travels carried him further along the road to enlightenment, and further from home. First he landed upon the shores of verdant Crete, and marvelled at the close knit camaraderie of the locals, their fair songs and lyrical poems. The exiled King befriended many prominent Cretans, studying their way of life intently, admiring their ready obedience to the state. If only things were so in Sparta! Then to Asia did wise Lycurgus venture, and horror and disgust was his. For while it was here that he first heard the stories of Troy and the poetry of Homer, he was appalled at the unbridled extravagance and worship of money around every corner of the Ionian cities. Corruption stalked the land with a festering presence, and men fought tooth and nail to swell their fortunes and shatter those of their rivals. The people groaned under the towering burden of the rich, and the wealthy indulged in the most grotesque revelry, utterly oblivious to the ruin of the poor. Lycurgus, shuddering with anger, eagerly scribbled down all that he saw. South then, to Egypt and the land of the Pharaohs. Most awed was the Spartan King, as he saw the efficiency of this realm. Each man and woman scurried about on his or her errand like bees in the hive, all knowing their place and what to do. The soldiers fought, the priests prayed and the builders built. Such division of labour caught Lycurgus’ eager eye. Some say the wise man’s travels even brought him to the courts of India, the sands of Libya and the pillars of Spain.

Lycurgus
One of twenty three portraits of famous lawgivers
to adorn the Chamber of the United States
 House of Representatives

After many years on stranger tides, word reached Lycurgus’ ear, a plea to return from his city of old. Energised by what he had seen in exile like never before, eagerly did he return to the city which bore him. The people of Sparta hailed Lycurgus as a man who was truly a King in heart, though others may wear the crown. Seeing an opportunity to bring all he had learned to bear, Lycurgus seized the chance. Seeing that modifying one law or making some pedantic amendment would be utterly useless, he swept aside the entire constitution, and built a state from the ground up. One of his most dramatic reforms was the abolition of wealth, and the pursuit of it. All gold and silver was seized and melted down, coinage was rendered invalid, and the new system of currency was henceforth to be in iron bars. Lycurgus assigned a tiny value to even a huge weight of iron, such that even a small sum needed substantial storage space and a wagon to carry it. The surface of each bar was doused with vinegar, making it fragile and brittle, rendering the metal useless for anything else. Overnight, almost all crime vanished from Sparta. “For who would set out to steal, or accept as a bribe, or rob, or plunder something which could not be hidden, excited no envy when possessed, and could not even be profitably chopped up?”. Since no other nation would accept such currency, Sparta became completely self-sufficient. No foreign goods flooded the streets, and luxury disappeared. The desire for more money than was necessary became a stigma of the greatest disgrace.


Lycurgus divided all the land of Laconia equally between the Spartan citizens, each part providing just enough farmland to provide for his family. With possessions beyond this prohibited, what was the point of desiring wealth, when there was nothing to spend it on? Recalling the extravagant banquets in Asia, Lycurgus henceforth decreed that all men would live and dine together in common messes. Even the King would dine alongside the citizens in the mess, and each man would bring his share of food from his land. If any man had been out hunting, he would bring along his catch to the mess to share with his comrades. Excessive drinking, which Lycurgus saw as destructive to the mind and the body, was stopped. Lycurgus saw in many other nations, the young and the old mistrusted each other, and never mixed. Here in Sparta, young and old lived and dined together. The young listened in reverence to the stories and wisdom of the old, and the old had the joy of sharing their experiences and inspiring the young. Power at Sparta was now in the hands of the newly created Great Council, consisting of the two Kings and twenty eight elected elders, for whom the age of sixty was a minimum requirement. That way, Lycurgus reasoned, men would be motivated to lead virtuous lives for all of their years, not just a few, and their help of the young in the messes might be rewarded by a place on the council. The Elders could champion the people should the Kings fall to tyranny, or side with the Kings should democracy need to be resisted.

Satisfied that politics had been cured of its maladies, Lycurgus turned to his most legendary reforms. After all, he thought, why just change a state when you can change its people too? Seeing that all the evils that afflict nations stem from the evils of individuals, Lycurgus embarked on an unprecendented revolution. But this would be no mere toppling of a tyrant, only to be replaced by a greater one, such as those which have characterised almost every revolution in history. This time it would run far deeper, changing forever the way that people lived their very lives, and creating a new nation which would be feared and respected even two and half thousand years later...



                                          To be continued...


United Kingdom

On Sparta:
On Sparta (Penguin Classics)
(A unique insight into the stories, customs and founding of the Spartan state, written in ancient times)

United States

On Sparta:
On Sparta (Penguin Classics)
(A unique insight into the stories, customs and founding of the Spartan state, written in ancient times)

The Serpent and the Hammer

For a god to be humiliated by a lesser being was burden that weighed heavily upon the shoulders of Thor, Son of Odin and thunder god. Stung by his trials in the Giant Kingdom (for this story, please click here), he could scarcely look the other gods in the eye. So to lands afar the Thunderer cast his fearsome eye, in search of trials anew, and a chance to prove himself mightiest of the Aesir once and for all...

Thor and Hymir at the World Ocean
Image taken from the SÁM 66 manuscript

Not long did the Son of Odin delay in Asgard's golden fields. So swift was the Thunderer's leave, neither chariot nor retinue nor friend followed in the god's footsteps this time. Far and wide Thor travelled, descending through the Nine Worlds to the realm of Midgard, the earthly abode of men. His eyes roved hither and thither, but one thing alone caught his eye. There was, far below on the shores of the World Ocean, a giant tending his nets by the water's edge. Intrigued by the seemingly peaceable giant, the Son of Odin sought him out. Adopting the guise of a young man, Thor soared down to the Earth, making his approach. As his feet touched the sand, he bade greetings to the stranger. The giant jovially returned his warm words, introducing himself as Hymir. God and giant, Aesir and Jötunn, soon became something of friends, boy though the Thunder god was to Hymir's eyes. As night fell, the two dined merrily together, though Hymir was most shocked by the appetite of his 'youthful guest'. Voracious in his appetite, Thor had devoured two whole oxen, so great was the god's hunger. Startled, but impressed, Hymir reasoned that he would now have to venture out to hunt the next day. Dawn arose over Midgard, and over a fateful day. Thor arose quickly, asking Hymir if he might accompany him on the ocean today. Hymir, seeing the small stature of his guest, mournfully declared that the seas would be no place for a boy, "and thou wilt freeze, if I stay so long and so far out as I am wont". The Thunderer suppressed a powerful surge of anger at this insult, but, wary of revealing his true identity, maintained his calm demeanour. Replying that perhaps it would not be him to ask to row back first, the god asked what bait he might use. The giant, impressed by his guest's bravery, told him he may use any bait he wished. Turning to Hymir's vast herd of oxen, the Thunderer slew the mightiest of them, the bull Himinbrjotr. Cutting off the vast head, Thor took his bait, as the giant prepared his boat for the high seas.

Pushing out into the calm surf, Hymir began to row out into the great blue yonder. For a long while god and giant rode the waves in search of the fruits of the ocean, and very soon the shores of Midgard fell below the horizon behind. Expecting to see the young man shivering in the cold, Hymir was most surprised when he looked up to find his guest completely at ease, even perhaps a little bored, by the course of things. Casting his powerful nets overboard, Hymir readied himself. Not long had passed, when a sudden judder shook the small craft. Smirking broadly, the giant hauled two great whales from the depths, mightier a catch by far than any of made by men. Convinced that no other could surpass he, he who had spent many ages of the Nine Worlds aside the endless seas, Hymir eagerly bade Thor on. Taking up the oars, the Thunderer rowed hard, taking the small boat further and further from the shore.


Seeing the calmness of the surface turn to choppy waves in the distance, Hymir suddenly realised how far they had come. Turning to his guest, he warned that the open ocean was becoming dangerous. Had he but known that the Thunder god himself was with him, he would have known that the threat of violent storms was, for once, absent. But what the giant truly feared, and the Jötunn were not a race known for feeling emotion, were the horrors which lurked in the deeper places of the oceans. There were things more terrible than storms in the depths of the World Ocean, ancient terrors spoken of in the stories of the Old World, and one above all others, whose name Norse children feared to speak (about whom you can read here). But the lord of Thunder was unrelenting, replying that he desired to row much further yet. As the two drifted onward to the distant horizon, Hymir grew desperately afraid. Steeling himself, he chanced a glance over the side, and saw only the unyielding, inky blackness of the deep. Suddenly he became aware of how horribly small their boat was, and how incomprehensibly vast the ocean. A vulnerability and humility before the awesome scale of nature such as never he had felt before swept over the giant, and he felt his mouth grow dry.


After what seemed an age, when land was as a distant memory, or in another life, Thor stopped rowing. Seizing the bull's head, the Son of Odin hurled it overboard, keeping a firm grip upon the robust line he had tied to it. Giant and god waited. The calm breeze and the gentle lapping of the waves against the boat was, for what seemed forever, all that punctuated the otherwise deathly silence. Hymir's heart pounded in his ears. Soon, the giant noticed something odd. There were no fish around them anymore. All the sea birds had long fled. All around the boat, the choppy waves had fallen to serene peace. Never before had such tranquillity heralded such terror. Just then, it all happened so quickly that the giant could do nothing but look on. Suddenly, the line was wrenched from below with savage violence, as the World Ocean around them erupted into the fury of rapids. The line was yanked with such force that the Thunder god himself felt one of his feet smash through the wood below as he tried to brace, and his powerful fists slammed painfully upon the gunwales. Any other being, man, giant or god, would certainly have perished there and then, but not for nothing was Thor renowned across the Nine Worlds, and history, for his unrivalled strength and steadfast resolve. He had only a split second. With a roar that shook the cosmos to its very core, the Son of Odin heaved with all the might his divine sinews could muster. The surface of the World Ocean exploded in rage, as towering waves surged forth in all directions, as the very water was rent asunder. Hymir's cheeks turned pale at the monstrous sight now before him, as his greatest nightmare, and that of all who venture out onto the oceans, manifested before his eyes. The World Serpent, Jörmungandr himself, so vast that his body encircled the whole Earth and still able to take his own tail in his mouth, now fixed them with the glare which betrayed pure malice. It is said that none who had seen it would ever call anything else fearful again. The foul brood of Angrboða writhed against the line caught in its towering teeth, invisible to its gargantuan eyes. Venom so potent that neither mortal nor god was safe spat from Jörmungandr's cavernous mouth, as the ocean hissed wherever the droplets fell. Just then, the World Serpent lowered its evil crest, intent on dragging giant, god and boat to the very root of the ocean before devouring them. His disguise cast aside at last, Thor took up his mighty hammer Mjöllnir, drawing back for a blow that would change the course of everything:

Thor smites Jörmungandr
Painting by Johann Heinrich Füssli

" The venomous serpent, swiftly up

   to the boat did Thor, the bold one, pull;

  With his hammer, the loathly hill of the hair

  Of the brother of Fenrir, he smote from 
  above... "

          - THOR SMITES JöRMUNGANDR







Mjöllnir slammed into Jörmungandr's crown with irresistible force, as the World Serpent jerked, stunned. The hammer had conquered many fell creatures, but only a few moments now, and the Serpent would recover. Thor looked on triumphant, ready to reel in a catch beyond the wildest dreams of any being that could draw breath. But then, Hymir, his jealous, proud giant heart waxing strong at last, seeing the true nature of his companion, determined to deny him this great glory. Diving forward, the Jötunn, with one desperate swing, severed the line with his knife. Bellowing with rage, Thor hurled Mjöllnir at Jörmungandr, but too late! The instant his bonds were shattered, the World Serpent plunged to the black depths, and the hammer struck nothing but wave. His pride great, and his wound of suffering the greatest missed opportunity of his life raging in him, Thor turned and smashed his fist into Hymir's ear. Howling with laughter, pain and then fear, the giant was sent hurtling into the wine dark sea, down into the deep lair of the World Serpent.

As he soared back to Asgard, Thor cursed loudly. Never before had the Son of Odin known so great an anguish as he knew now. He had been robbed of glory by a giant once again. But, as the god rose higher into the skies, he did not see the far greater worry. For now he had made a personal enemy of the most terrible force in the cosmos, an enemy who was even now stirring at the root of the World Ocean, whose fury burned so terrible that the sea around him boiled. It is written that at Ragnarök, the end of the world, the two will face each other for the last time...

United Kingdom

The Prose Edda:
The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)
(A collection of stories of the Norse gods and beings)

The Poetic Edda:

The Poetic Edda (Oxford World's Classics)

(A collection of the poems telling the stories of Norse Mythology)

United States

The Prose Edda:

The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)

(A collection of stories of the Norse gods and beings)

The Poetic Edda:

The Poetic Edda (Oxford World's Classics)
(A collecrtion of the poems telling the stories of Norse Mythology)