According to the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Thor, Þjálfi and Loki, during their travel to Útgarðr, unwittingly settle for the night and sleep in the glove of a giant named Skrýmir ("Big-looking"), an incident for which Thor is ridiculed in several poems of the Poetic Edda. The giant accompanies them on their travel and tricks their food from them. Starved and in rage, Thor tries to kill Skrýmir while the giant sleeps, but fails because the giant magically shields himself behind a mountain.
Once Thor and his fellows arrive at the castle of Útgarða-Loki, so tall that they must bend back their necks to see its roof, Útgarða-Loki challenges them with several contests, all based on magical delusions. Loki participates in an eating contest against fire personified. Þjálfi competes in running against the mind of Útgarða-Loki. Thor first tries to empty a drinking horn connected to the sea, then tries to lift Jörmungandr in the appearance of a cat, and finally, in rage, wrestles with Elli, Old Age personified.
Despite their failures in the contests, Útgarða-Loki now treats them respectfully. As they leave the castle the next morning, Útgarða-Loki says:
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nú skal segja þér hit sanna, er þú ert út kominn or borginni, at ef ek lifi ok megak ráða, þá skaltu aldri optarr í hana koma; ok þát veit trúa mín, at aldri hefðir þú í hana komit, ef ek hefða vitat áðr, at þú hefðir svá mikinn krapt með þér, ok þú hafðir svá nær haft oss mikilli ófœru. Enn sjónhverfingar hefi ek gert þér, svá at fyrsta sinn, er ek fann þik á skóginum, kom ek til fundar við yðr; ok þá er þú skyldir leysa nestbaggann, þá hafðak bundit med gresjárni, enn þú fannt eigi, hvar upp skyldi lúka. Enn er þú drakkt af horninu, ok þótti þér seint liða; en þát veit trúa min, at þá varð þat unðr, er ek munda eigi trúa at vera mætti; annarr endir hornsins var út i hafi, enn þat sáttú eigi; enn nú, er þú kemr til sjávarins, þá muntú sjá mega, hvern þurð þú hefir drukkit á sænum; þat eru nú fjörur kallaðar. |
"I shall tell you the truth, now you are out of my castle, and if I live and have a say, you shall never enter it again, and I would indeed never have let you in if I had known your strength beforehand, and you were very close to bringing us a great disaster. You see, I cast delusions on you, so that it was I who met you at first in the forest; and when you tried to untie the food bag, I had tied it with a magic wire, and you did not find out how to untie it. And when you drank from the horn and thought it slow to sink, I dare say that was a miracle I had not expected to be possible; the far end of the horn was submerged in the sea, but you did not see that. Now, when you come to the shore, you will see what kind of sip you drank from the sea; there is now a sandy beach where there used to be water." |
On hearing this, Thor grabs his hammer and prepares to strike, when Útgarða-Loki and his castle magically disappear, leaving only a beautiful prairie.
Read more about this topic: Utgard Loki