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Odin01
on
11th Jun 1999 I'm 17 years old, from Florida, USA.
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The way to the North - Norway - has always been regarded as a route that is hard to find, difficult to tread and fraught with unspeakable dangers. To the writers of ancient Greece and Rome Norway was a mythical world - Ultima Thule, peopled by wild barbarians and full of strange and fantastic creatures.
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Odin was the greatest of the gods. A sage and magician, he ruled over all the gods. Wednesday is his day (Odin's day), while Friday is named after his wife Frigg (Frigg's day). Odin's horse Sleipner had eight legs. Odin also had two ravens (Hugin and Munin), who flew out over the world every morning to watch and listen, returning home in the evening to report to Odin all they had seen. His spear Gungnir never failed to hit its mark. From his ring Draupne, eight rings of equal magnificence dripped every ninth night. Odin had only one eye; as a young man, he pawned the other to the giant Mime for the right to drink from the marvellous fountain of wisdom guarded by the giant. (Mime was later beheaded, but Odin found the giant's bloody skull and anointed it with healing herbs. The eyes in the head immediately opened and the mouth was again able to form words. After that, Mime's head remained one of Odin's most cherished advisers.)
Odin's son Thor was the second mightiest god. Thursday (Thor's day) is his day. Strong and quick-tempered, Thor was always ready to do battle with giants and trolls. Although Tyr (Tuesday - Tyr's dag) might have been a little braver, no one in the whole world was as strong as Thor. And his hammer Miolnir was the most dangerous weapon, both in heaven and on earth. Thor could make it as small or as large as he wanted. When he threw it, it always struck its target and then returned to his hand. Whenever he travelled, his chariot was drawn by goats instead of horses. His goats, Cracktooth and Gaptooth, could be slaughtered in the evening and yet be full of life again the next morning, if care was taken not to break a single bone when eating the goatmeat, and if all the bones were collected and placed in the goatskins at the end of the meal. Thunder was the sound made by Thor's chariot rolling across the sky.
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