“‘The second son of Odin,’ replied Har, ’is Baldur, and it may be truly said of him that he is the best, and that all mankind are loud in his praise.  So fair and dazzling is he in form and features, that rays of light seem to issue from him; and thou mayst have some idea of the beauty of his hair when I tell thee that the whitest of all plants is called Baldur’s brow.  Baldur is the mildest, the wisest, and the most eloquent of all the AEsir, yet such is his nature that the judgment he has pronounced can never be altered.  He dwells in the heavenly mansion called Breidablik, in which nothing unclean can enter.  As it is said,—­

        “’T is Breidablik called,
        “Where Baldur the Fair
        Hath built him a bower,
        In that land where I know
        The least loathliness lieth."’

   “OF NJOeRD.

“‘The third god,’ continued Har, ’is Njoerd, who dwells in the heavenly region called Noatun.  He rules over the winds, and checks the fury of the sea and of fire, and is therefore invoked by seafarers and fishermen.  He is so wealthy that he can give possessions and treasures to those who call on him for them.  Yet Njoerd is not of the lineage of the AEsir, for he was born and bred in Vanaheim.  But the Vanir gave him as hostage to the AEsir, receiving from them in his stead Hoenir.  By this means was peace re-established between the AEsir and Vanir.  Njoerd took to wife Skadi, the daughter of the giant Thjassi.  She preferred dwelling in the abode formerly belonging to her father, which is situated among rocky mountains, in the region called Thrymheim, but Njoerd loved to reside near the sea.  They at last agreed that they should pass together nine nights in Thrymheim, and then three in Noatun.  One day, when Njoerd came back from the mountains to Noatun, he thus sang:—­

        “Of mountains I’m weary,
        Not long was I there,
        Not more than nine nights;
        But the howl of the wolf
        Methought sounded ill
        To the song of the swan-bird.”

   ’"To which Skadi sang in reply:—­

        “Ne’er can I sleep
        In my couch on the strand,
        For the screams of the sea-fowl. 
        The mew as he comes
        Every morn from the main
        Is sure to awake me.”

“’Skadi then returned to the rocky mountains, and abode in Thrymheim.  There, fastening on her snow-skates and taking her bow, she passes her time in the chase of savage beasts, and is called the Ondur goddess, or Ondurdis.....’

   “OF THE GOD FREY, AND THE GODDESS FREYJA.