United States or Slovakia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
When Odin came back to Asgard, Hermod took the bridle from his father's hand and told him that the rest of the Aesir were gone to the Peacestead a broad, green plain which lay just outside the city. This was the playground of the Aesir, where they practiced trials of skill one with another, and held tournaments and sham fights.
"And why is Baldur to be so honored," said he "that even steel and stone shall not hurt him?" Then Loki changed himself into a little, dark, bent old woman, with a stick, and hobbled away from the Peacestead to Frigga's crystal saloon. At the door he knocked with the stick. "Come in!" said the kind voice of Frigga, and Loki lifted the latch.
"That I have, indeed," answered Loki in a tremulous, squeaking voice. "And did you happen to see anything of the gods," asked Frigga, "as you came?" "Just now I passed by the Peacestead and saw them at play." "What were they doing?" "Shooting at Baldur." Then Frigga bent over her work with a pleased smile on her face. "And nothing hurt him?" "Nothing," answered Loki, looking keenly at her.
I have my suspicion that one reason why the husbands cling so fondly to its beloved precincts is because it corresponds in some respects to the wonderful 'Peacestead' of the Æsir, whose strongest law was that 'no angry blow should be struck, and no spiteful word spoken within its limits. Hence it is a tempting retreat from the cyclones and typhoons that sometimes sing among a man's Lares and Penates.
No account of a cricket match or a football triumph could present a finer appeal to boys and girls than the description of the Peacestead in the "Heroes of Asgaard": "This was the playground of the Aesir, where they practiced trials of skill one with another and held tournaments and sham fights.
Odin was too tired from his journey to go to the Peacestead that afternoon; so he turned away and shut himself up in his palace of Gladsheim. But when he was gone, Loki came into the city by another way, and hearing from Hermod where the gods were, set off to join them.
When he got to the Peacestead, Loki found that the Aesir were standing round in a circle shooting at something, and he peeped between the shoulders of two of them to find out what it was. To his surprise he saw Baldur standing in the midst, erect and calm, whilst his friends and brothers were aiming their weapons at him.
These last were always conducted in the gentlest and most honorable manner; for the strongest law of the Peacestead was that no angry blow should be struck or spiteful word spoken upon the sacred field." For my part, I would unhesitatingly give to boys and girls an element of strong romance in the stories which are told them even before they are twelve.
When Loki had left the presence of Frigga, he changed himself back to his proper shape and went straight to the west side of Valhalla, where the mistletoe grew. Then he opened his knife and cut off a large bunch, saying these words, "Too young for Frigga's oaths, but not too weak for Loki's work." After which he set off for the Peacestead once more, the mistletoe in his hand.
Word Of The Day