Finally the gods could bear the loss of power and joy no longer. They
made rigorous inquiry. They tracked Loki on that fair morning when he
led Idun beyond the gates; they seized him and brought him into solemn
council, and when he read in their haggard faces the deadly hate which
flamed in all their hearts against his treachery, his courage failed,
and he promised to bring Idun back to Asgard if the goddess Freyja would
lend him her falcon guise. No sooner said than done; and with eager gaze
the gods watched him as he flew away, becoming at last only a dark
moving speck against the sky.
After long and weary flight Loki came to Thrymheim, and was glad enough
to find Thjasse gone to sea and Idun alone in his dreary house. He
changed her instantly into a nut, and taking her thus disguised in his
talons, flew away as fast as his falcon wings could carry him. And he
had need of all his speed, for Thjasse, coming suddenly home and finding
Idun and her precious fruit gone, guessed what had happened, and,
putting on his eagle plumage, flew forth in a mighty rage, with
vengeance in his heart. Like the rushing wings of a tempest, his mighty
pinions beat the air and bore him swiftly onward. From mountain peak to
mountain peak he measured his wide course, almost grazing at times the
murmuring pine forests, and then sweeping high in mid-air with nothing
above but the arching sky, and nothing beneath but the tossing sea.
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