Asgard, a realm of wonders, was where 
the Norse Gods made their home.

There Odin’s great hall of Valhalla 
towered above the mountains

and Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, 
anchored itself.

But though their domain was magnificent,

it stood undefended from the giants 
and trolls of Jotunheim,

who despised the gods and 
sought to destroy them.

One day when Thor, strongest of the 
gods, was off fighting these foes,

a stranger appeared, 
riding a powerful gray horse.

The visitor made the gods 
an astonishing offer.

He would build them the greatest 
wall they’d ever seen,

higher than any giant could climb 
and stronger than any troll could break.

All he asked in return was the beautiful 
goddess Freya’s hand in marriage—

along with the sun and moon from the sky.

The gods balked at this request 
and were ready to send him away.

But the trickster Loki 
concocted a devious plan.

He told the gods they should 
accept the stranger’s offer,

but set such strict conditions that he 
would fail to complete the wall in time.

That way, they would lose nothing, while 
getting most of the wall built for free.

Freya didn’t like this idea at all,

but Odin and the other 
gods were convinced

and came to an agreement 
with the builder.

He would only have one winter 
to complete the wall.

If any part was unfinished by 
the first day of summer,

he would receive no payment.

And he could have no help 
from any other people.

The gods sealed the deal with solemn oaths

and swore the mason would come 
to no harm in Asgard.

In the morning, the stranger began to dig 
the foundations at an astonishing speed,

and at nightfall he set off towards the 
mountains to obtain the building stones.

But it was only the next morning, 
when they saw him returning,

that the gods began to worry.

As agreed, no other people 
were helping the mason.

But his horse Svadilfari was hauling 
a load of stones so massive

it left trenches in the ground 
behind them.

Winter came and went.

The stranger kept building, 
Svadilfari kept hauling,

and neither snow nor rain could 
slow their progress.

With only three days left until summer, 
the wall stood high and impenetrable,

with only the gate left to be built.

Horrified, the gods realized that not 
only would they lose

their fertility goddess forever,

but without the sun and moon the world 
would be plunged into eternal darkness.

They wondered why they’d made 
such a foolish wager—

and then remembered Loki 
and his terrible advice.

Suddenly, Loki didn’t feel so clever.

All of his fellow gods threatened him 
with an unimaginably painful death

if he didn’t find some way to prevent 
the builder from getting his payment.

So Loki promised to take care of the 
situation, and dashed away.

Outside, night had fallen,

and the builder prepared to set off 
to retrieve the final load of stones.

But just as he called Svadilfari to him, 
a mare appeared in the field.

She was so beautiful that 
Svadilfari ignored his master

and broke free of his reins.

The mason tried to catch him,

but the mare ran deep into the 
woods and Svadilfari followed.

The stranger was furious.

He knew that the gods were behind 
this and confronted them:

no longer as a mild-mannered mason,

but in his true form as a terrifying 
mountain giant.

This was a big mistake.

Thor had just returned to Asgard,

and now that the gods knew 
a giant was in their midst,

they disregarded their oaths.

The only payment the 
builder would receive—

and the last thing he would ever see—

was the swing of Thor’s 
mighty hammer Mjolnir.

As they set the final stones into the 
wall, the gods celebrated their victory.

Loki was not among them, however.

Several months would pass 
before he finally returned,

followed by a beautiful gray 
foal with eight legs.

The foal would grow into a magnificent 
steed named Sleipnir

and become Odin’s mount, a horse 
that could outrun the wind itself.

But exactly where he had come from was 
something Loki preferred not to discuss.