THOR AND THE GIANTS Dring the wints, people in the world of Midgard huddle toured thee fires and tell each the gods and goddesses from the magica and of Asgard These superhuman beings are the bravest of wartos. ‘The engest af them alls Thor the od of thundes Hehas an enchanted hammer called Moin. When he ‘hows this, ils anything ittouches. The mighty thunder god races aes the universe na war chariot, pulled by two fete goats And Thor doesn wat fr his enemies to come to him ~ he gos out and finds them. (Once, Thor eared to travel deeo int the land ‘ofthe grants, He took his fend Loki and two servant children callé hal and Roskva, They braved many cdangesand finaly eached an enormous ll - the home ofthe king ofthe ants. Thr didnot ether te knock He used his peat sengih to push open the huge doos, and he and hs fends marched saight in The king ofthe giants and his gant cies roared ‘with laughter a these strange, who seemed so iy Look its the mighty Tha! Be careful or we might sequash him!” they teased tales oftheir eres, q 4 H 4 in|‘And he's brought some funny itl fends, they aufawed. How sweet!” “Enough! shouted Thor wainghis famous hammer Ak once. the giants fel silent ‘Whee is your respect?’ Thor thundered “you want our respect. you will have to ea the king ofthe giants growled. "Take on my giants in any challenge you like, bet you cant win even once “Thor flexed his muscles. ‘We acept he announced ‘Prepare to be beaten. ‘he giants jered and stamped thelr fect unbl the stone floor shook ‘What about an eating comoetition?” challenged Loki “Thor's frend, Loki was half-god,hal-iant, and he vas ‘tremely hungry after the long journey. ‘cellent!’ boomed the king ofthe giants He nodded ta his servants and they brought in dish after dish of delicious 4ookng food and placed them ‘na long, long table, Loki stood at one end, his mouth ‘watefng. A glant stood at the other, licking his ips “The king gave the signal and the eating contest began. Loki was a Bur of speed. He wold down all the {ood from his end ofthe table in an instant and stood back in trump wiping his mouth But when he locked up at his val, he was amazed. ‘The giant had svaliowed te plates and al the bones too! ‘We wont the giants whooped and cheered 1 show these big brutes” whispered Thor's senant “hia to his sister Roskva. He pushed his way forward "Who will race me? he ened ‘The king ofthe giants laughed so ha, he neatly fll lf his chair A young giant nner ined up vith Thal “GO! yeled Thex ‘hia shot forward lke an arow ~ only to see the giants lifting ther champion high ont their shoulders. He had already reached the finishing ine! Thor thumped Fis fst ona chair and split itn two. King of the glans, I challenge you toa drinking ‘natch! he bellowed furousy “Wonderful” grinned the king, and handed Thor huge diinking hax, ‘Glug ~ glug — gle. Thor dank unt is arms were aching, his stomach bursting, his chest gasing fora ~ ad finaly gave in. He just could not finish the drink Thor's hac bristed with anger wont embaress you more by showing you how ‘much can dink sneered the king. ‘Why don't you toy something ease, ke iting up te tle cat2S = Fuming.the thunder god trode overt the at. who lay alee bythe fieplace. But even though Thor hued and poled, gunted and groaned, he could no tone pa Fury Mashed in Thor’ eyes ike lightning ‘One more chance! he rage. Bring out whoever you ke, No matter how big they ae ll resi ther to the ground i i's the at ting! do! “What about my old nanny?’ the king sd, and a shaking, bent over woman hobbled cut ‘can fight wna old Indy” Thr gasped “Wali she's too much for you, teased the king, ‘A that Thor sled himself atthe ede woman. Tohis hos, she stood her ground ad gripped him like ste. She grapple the strug Thor to his knees without even pausing fr breath “The thunder god and his fiends had had enough Red-aced they allowed the king to lead them back to the borer of his kingdom. Before we say goodbye, said the king ofthe giants, have something to rel yu, | used magic to tick you Nothing was a it seemed, Lok ate fast buthis opponent vas realy Fire, which devours everyting ints path Your servant hil was a sft runner, but he ‘gaint Thought ~ the latest thing in the wer ced 0 ‘As foryou, Thos that hom was ile wit the ocean but yu dank so much thatyou ceated the tides. And we trembled when you ted to lift my cat frit was ally the great serpent hat cles the while universe. As for my nanny, she was acually Old Ag itself. You put up an increible ight. bur old age bests everyone in the end ‘Thor’ fae was black 2s a thundercloud. He didnt know whether ts fo foalish, angry or proud. "You have shown us what mighty things the gods can do, sid the king, ‘Now go away and lave us alone: Thor and his hers made their way back to Asgard “They had won more gory te thei names. But they never Forgot the sound of gant laughter singing in their eas.