The Bifrost Bridge, Chapters 8 & 9

Chapter VIII

In Muspelheim, Silje sat in Lidenskap Tower, wondering how she could escape. She was deep in thought when she heard a key unlocking the door. Looking up, she saw Fafni standing in the doorway.

“I came to see how you are,” said Fafni, as he came into the room.

“How do you think I am?” asked Silje, somewhat puzzled by his kindness. “You do not seem cruel like the others. Why are you helping Loki?”

“Because I serve Surt, and Surt is Loki’s friend,” replied Fafni.

“Yes, but you shouldn’t do bad things just to be loyal to your leader,” answered Silje.

“These are difficult matters,” Fafni told her. “If I do not serve Surt, I will have to leave Muspelheim forever. This is my home and I do not want to leave it.”

“Do you think Loki will ever let me go home?” asked Silje.

“No,” Fafni answered with a shake of his large head. “Loki will never let you leave. Soon, you will be joined by your parents and the Danish royal family.”

“Why is he doing this?” Silje asked.

“Because he wants to make Odin and Thor angry,” Fafni replied after thinking about it for a moment. “Loki is mean and dangerous, and fears nothing. He has powerful friends among the giants.”

“Do you think Loki will get what he wants?” Silje inquired.

Fafni looked at her in sullen silence, then turned and walked out of the room.

Silje sat quietly, thinking. No one knew where she was. She had left the rune and whistle as a clue for how to find her, but she didn’t know whether anyone would ever find the clue or understand what it meant.

‘Did Hanne survive? Is my family safe?’ So many thoughts flashed through her mind that she didn’t notice the visitor until he spoke.

“Hey, hey! Ho, ho! There you are,” squeaked a voice.

“Ratatosk! Is that really you?” exclaimed Silje.

“Yes, yes!” the squirrel replied, holding his fluffy tail in his hands and inspecting it for a moment before waving to her. “It's I. Over here, by the window.”

“How did you get here?” asked Silje.

“I hid in one of Fafni's saddlebags,” Ratatosk answered. “C'mon. Let's escape!”

“How?” asked Silje.

“We can climb down to the balcony below us on the vines growing by the window,” he told her. “The door in the room below us is open, so we can escape that way.”

Silje ran to the window and climbed out onto the ledge. Beneath all the soot on the tower walls, vines covered the walls in all directions. She grabbed onto the vines and climbed down to the balcony below. Ratatosk stayed right behind her.

Silje looked over the balcony to the moat of fire below. That way of escape was out, so she started looking around for another means of flight. The drawbridge was close to the balcony but too far for her to try to jump. Even if she could get to the drawbridge, it was up, so that idea wouldn’t work either.

She looked longingly at the rock formation across the way. If only she could get over there, she was sure that she would find some place to hide until someone could come rescue her. She heard the cows grazing in the ring of grass on the other side of the fire moat begin to moo and to move away from the road.

She then heard the sound that had caused them to move. A supply wagon caravan approached the tower. This particular caravan was traveling with elf slaves walking with the wagons. Silje couldn’t help thinking that this was her lucky day. The guards on the upper ring wall began lowering the drawbridge.

Here was the opportunity Silje needed to escape and she was going to take it.

“Be very quiet, Ratatosk. We don’t want anyone to hear us,” Silje told the little squirrel. “The drawbridge is coming down, so we have a chance to escape. I’m going to try to get out the way that I came, but if that is not possible, we will climb on the vines to scale the wall over to the drawbridge.

“I remember seeing some tattered robes and buckets of pitch by the drawbridge that will be used to make torches. I’ll use one of the robes to disguise myself. If we get across the drawbridge safely, we’ll dart between the cows until we get to the rocks on the other side of the grass ring. If they catch me, run away as fast as you can.”

“Yes, yes. Run, run!” agreed Ratatosk.

Silje picked up the squirrel and ran through the room to the hall. Like the room above, it led out onto the staircase. She ran over to the stairs and looked down. There at the bottom of the stairs stood Sigyn.

“Stay where you are, Silje!” Sigyn shouted. “You can’t escape!”

“Watch me!” replied Silje, running back through the room to the balcony. She put Ratatosk down and said, “We can’t get out that way. We’ll have to scale the wall.” Silje grabbed onto the vines and started moving across and down them towards the drawbridge as fast as she could without losing her grip and falling into the fire moat below.

“Come back here now!” shouted an exasperated Sigyn. She knew that little Norwegian was going to be a problem. Loki’s wife planned to yell at Fafni when she saw him next for not locking the door behind him when he left Silje’s room.

Thinking that Silje was trapped in the room above, Sigyn made the mistake of walking up the stairs rather than running up them. She figured that she would trap Silje on the balcony and get her to behave by threatening to push her off the veranda into the fire moat below. What a surprise she had when she got to the room and found Silje gone!

She walked out to the balcony, puzzled at where the girl could be. That was when she saw Silje dropping off the vines onto the drawbridge.

“Guards, guards, stop that girl!” she shouted.

The guards looked up to see what was going on.

“Stop her! Stop the princess from escaping!” screamed Sigyn.

The guards looked around, but they didn’t see a princess. All they saw were dirty little elf slaves dressed in tattered robes.

“Oh!” screamed Sigyn. “Can’t you idiots do anything right?” As the princess stood among the elf slaves, one of them looked directly at her. The elf was covered with filth, but she could see strands of platinum blonde hair plastered to his forehead and emerald colored eyes looking at her with urgency. She could see that he was a captured light elf from Alfheim.

“You!” exclaimed the light elf. “You are a princess of Midgard!”

“How do you know that?” implored Silje.

“Because you are wearing the necklace my people made for the goddess Sif!” Silje could only stare back in reply.

“Get out of here now!” whispered the elf. “We will make a distraction for you”

“Thank you!” replied Silje.

“Just don’t forget that we’re trapped down here in chains!” Silje nodded in reply and then began dodging through cows while the elf slaves all started shouting and shaking their chains. Sigyn ran from the balcony to the drawbridge to see if she could catch Silje, but the princess had already raced to the rocks beyond the ring of grass.

When Silje got to the rocks, Ratatosk was there waiting for her. “I see a path through the rocks!” yelled Ratatosk.

“Quiet,” whispered Silje, “someone might hear you.”

Ratatosk showed Silje a path that led away from the tower. The path was really a deep, smooth, curvy trench. They followed the winding path until Silje thought that they were far enough away so that they couldn’t be seen from the tower. She stopped and said, “Climb out and see where we are, Ratatosk.”

Suddenly, a large mountain goat appeared on a ledge above them.

“What are you doing here?” asked the goat.

“We are trying to get out of Muspelheim,” replied Silje. “What are you doing here?”

“I have been hiding in these rocks,” the goat told her. “The giants want to eat me. I can show you how to escape Muspelheim.”

“Then why haven't you left already?” Silje asked him.

“I don’t know where to go once I leave,” the goat replied. “I’m afraid I’ll get lost and someone will find me and eat me. At least here, I can hide among the rocks so no one can find me.”

“If you get us out of Muspelheim, I'll take you to Norway.” Silje promised. “We have lots of mountains and I give you my word that no one will eat you there.”

“We have a deal. Climb up here and ride on my back,” instructed the goat. He then leaned over so Silje could grab his beard and pull herself up out of the trench. She then climbed on the goat’s back and the squirrel scampered up onto her shoulder.

“Go, go! Hurry, hurry!” cried Ratatosk.

The mountain goat started climbing the rocks with ease. Silje had to concentrate on not losing her balance, so it was hard for her to focus on where they were going.

After a short time, the goat dropped down to a trail in the rocks, which led to an open space. “I need to stop and rest,” the goat said.

“C'mon, Ratatosk.” Silje called to her little friend. “Let's go see what's ahead.”

The princess and the squirrel dismounted the goat and ran ahead. When they arrived at the clearing, they realized they were back at Lidenskap.

“No, no!” chattered Ratatosk.

Silje turned around and glared at the goat.

“You tricked us!” she yelled.

The goat's eyes glowed, and then his body changed into Loki.

“Of course, I tricked you,” replied Loki with a laugh. “I am the god of trickery!”

A large fire giant then appeared behind Silje and started laughing. “Well, Loki, I see the little Norwegian is trying to escape. She must have cold feet. I’ll pick her up and make her feel warm.”

“Leave her be, Fornjot,” Loki ordered him. “I want to keep her alive.”

The fire giant didn’t listen though, and leaned over to pick up Silje with his flaming hands. Scared, Silje grasped at her chest. There she felt the Sif necklace.

She didn’t know why, but she wrapped her hand around the rune and whispered, “Sif.”

Suddenly the necklace began glowing, and Fornjot was knocked off his feet. Silje stared at the fire giant in surprise.

“I think you should have listened to me”, laughed Loki. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” replied the angry fire giant. “The princess is protected by magic.”

“Your powers of observation are extraordinary,” replied Loki, with a roll of his eyes. “Well, Silje, where did you get that necklace?”

“My cousin, Hanne,” said Silje.

“Yes, yes, your cousin, but who gave it to her. And don’t lie to me,” Loki demanded.

Silje didn’t know what to say. She knew that it would not be safe to tell Loki the truth. She stood there trying to think of a good answer. Loki began tapping his foot impatiently.

Just as he was about to ask her the question again, he was interrupted by Sigyn, Fafni, and Surt running toward them. He knew something had gone wrong because Surt had his flaming sword drawn.

“What’s wrong, Surt?” asked Loki.

“Thor and the valkyries have entered Muspelheim!” replied Surt. “It won’t be long before they find Lidenskap Tower.”

“How did they find us?” cried Loki.

“Hanne,” whispered Silje.

“Who’s Hanne?” asked Surt.

“The Danish princess who escaped,” said Fafni.

“The Danish princess!” shouted Surt. “Loki, you told me she was no threat to us. How did she get Thor and the valkyries involved in this?”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Sigyn replied. “They have found us, and we need to escape. Come, Loki, hurry!”

“No!” shouted Loki. “We can still ransom the princess for the golden apples!”

“How will we do that? They’ll take her by magic when they see her,” replied Surt, disgusted that Loki had not told him that the Dane had contacted Asgard.

“They won’t find her because we are going to hide her. Take that necklace off the girl. I’m sure they know it belongs to her and we can use it to prove we have her. Let’s go back to Lidenskap Tower before they find us out here in the open.”

Sigyn reached for the clasp on Silje’s necklace and collapsed on the ground like Fornjot had done.

“Sigyn!” cried Loki.

“I’m all right,” replied Sigyn, dazed, as she picked herself up.

“I won’t go back into the tower!” shouted Silje. She then turned and started running away.

“Sofnar nú!” shouted Loki.

Sigyn looked on in horror as Silje collapsed onto the ground. Jumping up, Sigyn ran over to the princess.

“What did you do to Silje?” she cried.

“Don’t worry,” replied Loki. “She isn’t dead... yet.” He went and stood menacingly over Silje as she got up from the ground. “Now give me the necklace, little princess,” sneered Loki.

“No! My cousin gave me this necklace,” shouted Silje. She was not going to give Loki the necklace without a fight.

Ratatosk ran over to Loki and started chattering, “No, no! Bad, Loki!”

“Give it to me!” shouted Loki.

“No!” Silje shouted.

“You give me the necklace, or I’ll kill your little friend,” said Loki, as he leaned over and grabbed Ratatosk. “I’m sure he’ll make a tasty treat for Fornjot.”

“Stop! Don’t kill Ratatosk, please!” cried Silje. She knew that without the necklace, she had no protection at all, but she couldn’t let Loki kill the little squirrel. Perhaps she could stall for time until help arrived, or she could think of some way to save both Ratatosk and herself. “Give me Ratatosk, and I’ll give you the necklace,” said Silje.

“Give me the necklace first. Then, I give you your little friend,” replied Loki.

“Do I have a choice?” Silje asked, knowing that Loki was lying to her.

“No… you… don’t,” said Loki, emphasizing every word.

Ratatosk chattered, “Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!”

“I must, Ratatosk,” Silje told him. She touched the rune on the necklace again and whispered, “Sif.”

Watching Loki the whole time, she slowly reached behind her neck.

“Hurry up!” shouted Loki. “I don’t have all day.”

Pretending to fumble with the clasp, Silje nervously said, “I can’t get it off. The clasp seems to be stuck.”

“That’s too bad. Better say goodbye to your little friend,” sneered Loki. He held up Ratatosk, taunting Silje, ready to toss him to Fornjot if she didn’t take off the necklace immediately.

“Give him to me,” said Fornjot. He was enjoying this little game.

Tears began flowing down Silje’s face. She knew that she could not stall any longer. Touching the rune one last time, she silently said, “Sif, please save little Ratatosk.”

Suddenly a loud noise sounded in the sky. Everyone looked up to see what was happening.

“Look, Thor and the valkyries!” shouted Surt.

“They’ve found us!” cried Sigyn.

“Fire giants!” shouted Surt. “To arms! We fight!”

Thor held up his hammer and yelled, “Odin!” He then threw down his hammer at Surt. The fire giant held up his shield, but the hammer smashed the shield and knocked Surt to the ground. The hammer flew back to Thor’s metal glove.

Surt jumped up and held out his flaming sword.

“Leave Muspelheim!” he growled at Thor.

“Not without the princess!” roared Thor, as his chariot swooped down to the ground in front of Surt.

Fire giants armed with axes swarmed from among the rocks. The valkyries flew about on horseback trying to distract the fire giants so that Thor could capture Surt and end the battle. Thor was strong but not strong enough to fight all the fire giants at the same time.

“Surrender, Thor!” shouted Surt. “You’re no match for all of us. Surrender if you want the princess to live!” Surt then turned menacingly towards Silje.

Fafni ran up to Surt and grabbed the flaming sword out of his hand.

“What are you doing?” exclaimed Surt in shock.

“I’m putting an end to this madness!” yelled Fafni. “I’ve had enough of Loki’s mischief and lies!”

Before the other fire giants could overtake Fafni, Svava flew down close to the group so that Loki could see what she held in her hand. “Release the princess, Loki!” demanded Svava.

“No!” shouted Loki. “You know I’m not afraid of you.”

“Perhaps, but I have something you’ll want,” replied Svava. “Look closely, Loki. Don’t you recognize your own son?”

“Fenris?” said Loki, with a look of shock.

“Yes, Loki, it’s Fenris,” replied Svava.

“How did this happen?” replied an angry Loki.

“He had a little accident with a golden apple. Now surrender her if you want to raise your son again. We’ll give him to Odin if you don’t cooperate. You know what will happen to him then.”

“All right!” agreed Loki. “Give me my son!”

“Not until the princess is with us,” said Svava.

“Go!” shouted Loki to Silje.

“Not without Ratatosk,” said Silje. There was no way she was leaving him behind.

Loki glared at Silje and tossed her the squirrel. Ratatosk scampered up onto Silje’s shoulder and chattered at Loki, who glared back at them.

“Come here, Silje,” said Svava, as she motioned for Silje to come over to her horse. “Take Fenris and place him on the ground.”

Silje did what she had been instructed to do. When she placed Fenris on the ground, he scampered over to Loki, who picked him up and held him close in his arms.

The valkyrie smiled at Silje and said, “I’m Svava. It is good to see you still have the necklace and that you discovered one of its magical powers.”

“I discovered that quite by accident,” replied Silje.

“Sif heard your plea. It was what guided us to you once we got to Muspelheim. The necklace can only protect you while you are wearing it. The elk rune protects you from harm and the yew leaves open the world between you and Asgard so that Sif can hear you and respond.”

“I’ll remember that,” said Silje.

Surt was furious. As he looked around at what was happening, he realized that Fafni was right, battling Thor and the valkyries was not in his best interest at the moment. He would have to find a way to let Loki take all the punishment. He glanced at Fafni as he said to Loki, “The fire giants will not help you anymore. You have lied to us. Leave Muspelheim now!”

Loki glared back at Surt. He would have said something about Surt being just as guilty as he, but now was not the time, nor the place. His family needed his protection at the moment. He would have it out with Surt later. Holding Fenris, he took Sigyn by the hand and said, “Come with me.”

“Not so fast, Loki” said Thor. “You must be punished! It’s back to the island with you.”

Loki looked at Thor and laughed. “You’ll have to catch me first.” He lightly squeezed Sigyn’s hand and shouted, “Inn í myrkrið, af augum!” With those words, Loki, Sigyn, and Fenris instantly disappeared.

“They’re gone!” exclaimed Svava, looking in all directions.

“Not for long,” replied Thor.

Silje felt safer, and walked to Fafni. “Goodbye, dear Fafni. I will not forget your kindness to me.”

“You earned it.” He told her with a broad smile. “Good luck, little princess.”

Silje smiled at him. Walking over to Thor, she bowed her head toward him.

“Thank you all for rescuing us. If it pleases you, Ratatosk and I would like to go home now.”

“Nothing would please us more,” replied Thor. “Come, climb into my chariot, and we’ll fly you home.”

Chapter IX

Back in Norway, Bragi and Wiglaf waited with Princess Hanne in the gardens near Tunsberg Castle. Queen Inga had sent the twin boys to try and distract Hanne from worrying so much about Silje, but it wasn’t working.

“It’s been too long,” Hanne cried. “I need to go find Silje.”

“But how?” asked Wiglaf.

“The valkyries left behind a magic bridle,” Hanne told the boys. “We can use it to fly down to Muspelheim.”

“We’ll help you,” replied Bragi, feeling rather brave “but we’ll need to take one of the soldiers’ horses to carry all three of us.”

“That’s a good idea, but how will we find Muspelheim?” asked Wiglaf.

“There will be no dangerous adventure today for you three,” Freya remarked, as she walked into the garden, “and that bridle belongs to the valkyries.”

“We need to go find Silje!” insisted Hanne.

“She will be here sooner than you think,” replied the goddess, with a big smile.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a horn blasting across the air. A guard sent out the signal for celebration at the castle.

“What’s going on?” asked Hanne.

“Look up in the sky!” shouted Wiglaf.

They all looked up and saw Thor and the valkyries flying down inside the ring castle walls.

“C’mon!” cried Hanne. “Let’s go!”

The three children ran up the hill towards the ring castle, with Freya following behind them, while at the castle, Silje was jumping out of Thor’s chariot to greet her parents.

“We’re so happy you’re home!” Queen Lena exclaimed in tears, as she threw her arms around her daughter.

“Are you all right, Silje?” asked King Harald. “Did anyone hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Papa,” replied Silje.

“Hanne told us about her giving you the Sif necklace,” said King Harald. “Thank the Gods for her generosity!”

“Look at you!” exclaimed her mother. “You’re covered in soot and dressed in rags. Whatever did they do to you?”

“It’s all right, Mama. They didn’t do this to me. I disguised myself to get out of the tower. And it’s a good thing that I did. It helped Thor and the valkyries to rescue me. You should have seen them. They came just in time. I’m so glad to be home!”

Looking around, she stammered, “Where’s Hanne? I must see her!”

“I’m right here!” shouted Hanne, running across the castle courtyard.

Silje ran to meet her and gave Hanne a big hug. “Thank you and Solskin for helping to rescue Norway and me,” Silje cried, hugging her cousin tightly. “And the Sif necklace saved my life!”

“I am just glad that I gave it to you when I did!” replied Hanne

“Watching you escape on the rainbow was breathtaking,” exclaimed Silje. “Was Asgard amazing?

“It was breathtaking for me, too!” replied Hanne. “You won’t believe how beautiful Asgard is. We have so much to tell each other.”

“Yes, we do, but right now I want to know about Draumur. Did he make it home safe, or did Loki lie to me?”

Hanne gently squeezed Silje’s hand.

“Yes, he did. He’s in the stable with Solskin.”

“I am so relieved!” exclaimed Silje. “I can’t wait to see him, but first I need to find Freya to thank her for sending valkyries to rescue us. Where is she?”

“Right behind you, little princess,” Freya answered, holding Ratatosk as she casually stroked his fur. “I am happy to see you have returned unharmed.”

“Thank you for saving us,” said Silje.

“You are welcome,” replied Freya. She touched the necklace around Silje’s neck. “Sif says that she will be visiting you soon. She says you have proven yourself worthy, and she wants you to know all the powers of the necklace.”

“Oh boy, oh boy!” cried Ratatosk as he scurried down Freya’s arm onto Silje’s shoulder. “This is going to make for some great gossip!”

Freya patted Ratatosk’s head.

“Yes, we can count on you to tell everyone,” she said. “You were a brave little squirrel and the valkyries are very proud of you.” She then waved as Ratatosk leapt to the ground to scamper about and tell everyone about his adventure with Silje.

Thor motioned to Freya to join him.

“Thank you for keeping Hanne here and out of trouble,” he said.

“You are most welcome. What about Loki and Sigyn?” Freya asked.

“Escaped, for now,” Thor replied with a frown. “Matters are even worse. Silje told me light elves are enslaved in Muspelheim.”

“We shall speak with Odin about this soon,” said Freya with severity. She then turned to face the crowd and raised her hands high.

“Loki’s plot to overthrow the kingdoms of Norway and Denmark has failed. The royal families of Tunsberg and Ribe are safe. Accept our blessings of love and victory. Odin smiles down on all the Norse kingdoms of Midgard.”

Thor took off his helmet and shouted, “Let us celebrate!”

The crowd cheered and everyone went into the banquet hall where a feast of venison, salmon, and mead had been prepared for Thor and the valkyries. The musicians played their instruments and everyone danced until late into the evening.

Hanne and Silje were joined in the celebration, eating and dancing with Wiglaf and Bragi until they were exhausted.

In the morning, the Asgardians prepared for going home. They met with the royal families at the center of the ring castle to say goodbye.

“Harald and Eric,” Thor called to the kings, “the courage and bold actions of your daughters have reminded us of the precious bond between your kingdoms and Asgard. We shall always help Denmark and Norway.”

“Thank you, Thor,” replied King Harald. “We look forward to a long friendship with Asgard.”

Freya beckoned the princesses to come to her.

“Both of you girls showed great courage in dangerous times. In recognition of that, I have a gift for you.” Two of the valkyries then stepped forward, each holding a pair of boots. “These are magic boots that will give you the power to walk across the Bifrost Bridge to Asgard,” explained Freya.

“Thank you,” replied Silje and Hanne with a polite curtsey.

“You are most welcome,” Freya replied. “The valkyries are very proud of you girls.”

“Great Freya, it was a true honor riding with the valkyries. I will never forget it,” Hanne told her, as she handed the bridle to the goddess.

Freya took the bridle and climbed into her chariot. She held up the bridle and announced, “We’ll be watching over all of you. Come, valkyries. Let us go home to Asgard.”

The valkyries mounted their horses to follow Freya’s chariot. As they did so, Silje noticed Hermod sitting behind Svava on her magic horse. His helmet was missing, his chainmail was ripped open, and his torn clothing was covered in dirt and blood. Despite his wretched appearance, Hermod was smiling down at her, and his eyes gleamed like those of the valkyries.

“Hermod, where are you going?” asked Silje.

“Hermod defended Norway with great bravery against Fenris,” replied Svava. “It’s time for him to join us in Valhalla.”

Silje gasped in horror for a moment, but then she realized the soldier’s greatest wish had come true.

“Goodbye, Hermod!” called out Silje.

Hermod smiled at her and waved as he flew away with Svava to Asgard. The girls watched him until he disappeared from sight.

“I wonder where our next adventure will take us,” Hanne remarked as they joined arms and headed toward the castle.

“I don’t know, but I hold certain that there will be many adventures to come,” replied Silje.

The End