hen golden hues of autumn fail,
And, from the sea, the cold wind blows,
And green transforms to tawny pale,
I ask you, hero, why it snows.

The fleecy flakes of wintertime
Once stayed in Asgard’s¹ sole domain:
Valhalla², Alfheim³, Vanaheim⁴,
The Gladsheim-hall⁵ and Ida-plain⁶.

But never did the gods allow
Their silver dust to fall below.
The earth was frozen ‘gainst the plow,
But winter brought no pillowed snow.

You don’t possess the answer yet,
That door to knowledge still is closed.
My tale of Signar will beget
Solutions to the question posed:

Back from a worldly errand rode
The thunder god⁷ upon the wind,
As Sol⁸ prepared in her abode
For Dawn to let her ride begin.

As Alsvid and good Arvak’s⁹ might,
Above horizon’s edge, propelled
The chariot of Sol’s warm light,
Thor’s eyes looked down and quick beheld

A maiden graced by Beauty’s hand
Out bathing in a sapphire pool.
In neither heaven nor on land
Was one like this transcendent jewel.

Her alabaster skin so fair
Enclosed that lithe and youthful frame.
A golden waterfall, her hair,
And shining eyes, like bluish flame.

Emotion flooded Thor’s stout heart,
Its urging he could not decline.
The god announced, “I shan’t depart,
Until I’ve made this maiden mine.”

Thus Mjollnir’s¹⁰ lord alit beside
The water-gem in which she lay
And, unrestrained, to her, he cried,
“Who bathes within this pool today?”

The birch¹¹ of milky skin recoiled
Away from Thor’s unwelcome call.
She felt as though she’d been despoiled
By he whose throne’s in Thrudheim¹² hall.

“Be not afraid, young lass,” he said.
“It’s I, the thunder god who crept
Down from the sky with silent tread.”
And then, for proof, his hammer leapt

Out from his hands. The lightning rent
The sky with conflagration dire,
For from the quick-brought clouds were sent
The flashing bolts of booming fire.

With this the maid’s reserve was thawed
And she responded daintily,
“Displays like these may leave some awed
But Grimhild, not so easily.”

“It’s Grimhild, is it?” answered Thor,
“A fitting name for Valkyrie¹³
But for a mortal, even more,
When one’s as beauteous as thee.”

So by and by the thunderer
Did woo the comely Grimhild there,
And thus became the plunderer
Of maidenhood from Grimhild fair.

The act of consummated love
Enacted on the earth below
Was not unnoticed up above
By dwellers in the realm of snow.

As Sif¹⁴ saw this she cursed and swore
And tore her dwarf-wrought golden hair¹⁵,
“As though it weren’t enough to Thor
That giantess bore all his heirs.

“But now he brings unending shame
By mating with some mortal wench.”
Jarnsaxa¹⁶, likewise, was aflame
With rage, it seemed, no draught could quench.

She railed against the lustful Thor,
“Though he would not take me to wife,
He lowers me to but a whore,
As she who gave his children life.”

Thus, giantess and goddess sought
The other for a grievous pact.
Together, both the women thought
They’d make Thor pay for such an act.

Now, strangely, it can be expected,
When hate seems like a force unswerving,
The anger, oft, is misdirected
Toward a party undeserving.

As Thor and Grimhild slept beside
The pool whereat the girl was wooed,
The two conspirators espied
Revenge’s chance. So Sif imbued,

Fertility that well ensured
A child was formed in Grimhild’s womb
So birthing pains would be endured
As Grimhild lived within her tomb.

Jarnsaxa gathered Grimhild’s form
And flew her from her native land.
Alighting after she’d been borne
To Iceland’s black, volcanic sand.

Soon Thor awoke to Grimhild gone
And saw the wrathful females there.
Ferociously, with godly brawn,
He grabbed each woman by the hair

And towed them up to Asgard’s hall
Intending Odin’s¹⁷ help and aid,
To make conspirators tell all
They’d done unto the former maid.

Now Odin heard each side harangue
The other's actions spitefully.
Resounding accusations rang
And shook Valhalla frightfully.

Then Odin shook his head and sighed,
Encumbered by his weighty crown.
Then, in his wisdom, he applied
The verdict to be handed down.

“This is a grievous case to weigh
Amid the gods assembled here.
You three who have transgressed today,
Your punishments will be severe.

“A penance shall be given each
Atoning for the evils done.
Through this I hope that I might teach
Forbearance unto everyone.

“Olympus¹⁸, as you know, is torn
By squabbles ‘mongst its denizens.
As god fights god, their battle’s borne
Down to the lands of mortal men.

“I hear e’en Ares’¹⁹ heart was quailed
On Troy's broad plain, through Pallas’²⁰ hand,
When Diomedes’²¹ spear impaled
The war-god like a common man.

“I’ll not allow this case to lie,
Our realm cannot survive such strains,
For gods in Asgard can yet die²²;
No ichor²³ flows within our veins.

“Our Thor committed grave offense
When he debased himself on earth.
The girl is stripped of innocence
And vengeance takes her youthful mirth.

“As Grimhild sleeps upon that isle
Her needs will be provided for.
She’ll doze contentedly awhile,
Protected by the mighty Thor.

“But Grimhild shan’t eye Thor again.
I heap upon him weighty shames.
For women who are left by men
Will often speak against their names.

“Now, women, do you think that I
Can’t see your plans for Grimhild’s fate?
She’d birth her child and watch it die
And, soon thereafter, pass death’s gate.

“This fair, young Grimhild shall survive,
Her child too, against your will.
In Midgard²⁴, I shall let it thrive,
Though both of you may wish it ill.

“And you Jarnsaxa, wretched cur,
Removing Grimhild from her soil.
Well, now, her exile you’ll endure,
For her you’ll spend your days in toil.

“You’ll clothe this girl and send her food,
You’ll build her home, there in the wild.
Against the cold, you’ll gather wood.
You’ll be the midwife of her child.

“Now, as for Sif, 'tis pain to say,
You stooped, by far, the lowest yet,
There's nothing that can e’er repay
What you incurred unto your debt.

“A child as punishment, indeed!
Dishonor’s what this act purveys.
Thus I withhold poetic mead²⁵
From any man who’d sing your praise.

“Posterity that you insult
Will scarce recall, within its verse,
The name of Sif, as a result
Of treating it as though a curse.

“Perhaps you three may learn contrition,
Through shackles that I have assigned.
I send you all to your perdition.
Now leave my sight, repugnant swine!