"In the spring they were told that Woden made the leaves come and the
flowers open. No one knew the true God then. Everyone said that Woden
lived in a beautiful city in the sky, north of our own Northland. All
the houses there were gold and silver, and the most splendid one was
Woden's royal palace. This was called Valhalla. To reach it one had to
ride or walk the whole length of the rainbow, as it arched from land to
land. But there was a sharp-eyed watchman at the gate who stopped anyone
who had no right to cross that seven-hued bridge.

"In Valhalla, Woden's people were always happy. They were never sick;
they never died. There were no little girls and no little boys in this
golden palace, only soldiers; and some of these were women! Woden
often sent his shield-maidens, as they were called, to battlefields to
carry to Valhalla the souls of brave men. When the choosers of the
slain rode through the air, their glittering, shining robes and
spears, and their swift horses made a strange, bright light in the
North. People called it Northern Lights, but Woden knew it was his
Valkyrias. Did you ever see them?

"In another palace of gold in this beautiful city of the northern sky
were Woden's wife and family. This palace was called Fensalir. Woden's
wife was Frigga and his eldest son was Thor. I must tell you about this
son. Thor owned three precious things. Can you guess what they were?

"One was a red-hot iron hammer. When he threw it at a mountain the rocks
split open wide and all the Frost Giants who lived within the rocks and
upon the mountain were killed.

"The second thing was a wonderful belt. When he put it on he was twice