A Night Inside a Glove

What was the hall where Thor spent the night?

Thor and his companions walked through a great forest. After dark, they found a hall where they could spend the night. Its entrance was as wide as the building itself. At midnight, the ground shook, and the hall trembled. They fled into a small side room, while Thor stood in the doorway gripping his hammer.

In the morning, they found an enormous man sleeping nearby. Thor realized that the loud noise in the night had been his snoring. The man introduced himself as Skrymir and picked up his glove. The hall was the glove, and the little room was its thumb.

They agreed to travel together, and Skrymir put everyone’s food into a single bag. That evening, Thor could not undo its knots. In anger, he struck the sleeping giant’s head with his hammer. The giant asked whether a leaf had fallen on him.

At midnight, Thor struck his head again. The giant wondered whether an acorn had fallen. Before dawn, Thor struck his temple with all his might. The hammer sank in as far as its handle. Even then, the giant sat up and asked whether bits of twig had fallen on his head.

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