Erik and the Gods

Chapter 3 – Bifrost

CHAPTER 3 – BIFROST“There is something rotten in the state of Asgard,” Thor said a little later. They were both sitting down now, leaning against the side of the chariot, and Thor had calmed down a little.

There is probably something just as rotten down on Earth, Erik thought to himself. “Oh,” he murmured.

“Soon everything will be as rotten as Ymir’s flesh.”

“He was that big, milk drinking giant who had children coming out of his arms and legs?” Erik laughed.

Thor didn’t laugh. “Yes, him, exactly,” he said. “When we were finished building Asgard and settled into each of our estates, we realised that we had left Ymir’s flesh lying on the ground, thinking that it would turn into soil. But we saw that his flesh had become a writhing mass of maggots and worms. It was foul and it stank of decay.

But then we came up with a way to deal with all of the maggots. We gave them shape so that they looked like people and we gave them brains so that they could think for themselves, but they didn’t grow very big. They are the dwarves who now live underground and in the caves and cliffs, and we have occasionally benefitted from their craftsmanship. They made this, for example,” Thor said and patted his great hammer. “But now the entire system is in chaos. And Old One-Eyed is to blame. That doddering old fool.”

“Who?” Erik asked.

“Odin.”

“But isn’t he the father of the gods?”

“So it is said to be, and so it has been for a long time, but unfortunately he does not act like it any more. He was once so wise that there was nobody in the entire world who was a match for him. He could see the entire world from his throne. He could write poetry and sing beautiful songs, and with his two great wolves and his two ravens, his enemies could not lay a hand on him.

But now there is only gibberish and drunkenness. Just wait and see! Yelling and screaming, brawling and fisticuffs, on and on. Decay and rot, that is Valhalla now, and most of Asgard too.”

Erik was curious to know why Odin was behaving like that, but he didn’t ask. Thor was frowning again and he’d stood up in the chariot. He had put on his gloves again, and his face was grey and determined. His wrinkles were so deep that his eyebrows almost covered his eyes.

He was quiet for a long time. “Listen!” he said suddenly and cupped his hand to his ear.

Erik stood up and listened, and he could hear long, grating tones that sounded like an alarm of some sort.

“That is Heimdal,” Thor exclaimed. “It can only be him – something horrible must have happened.”

“Who’s Heimdal?” Erik asked.

“He was once one of the greatest Gods but now he guards Bifrost, The Rainbow Bridge, which leads straight into Asgard. He lives in a great fortress, a place we call Himinbjorg, or Heaven’s Mountain. He lives there all alone with his horse, Gulltopp, a beautiful golden horse. Heimdal has nine mothers.”

“Nine?” Erik exclaimed.

“Yes. You cannot expect things in Asgard to be exactly like in your world. And the nine women were his sisters too! Don’t ask me how they gave birth to him, but they did.”

Thor ignored Erik’s scepticism and continued:

“Heimdal is incredibly bright, practically gleaming, making him perfectly suited for his current task. Most of the giants and dwarves from Jotunheim and the Underworld hate light, and so Heimdal stands guard to ensure that no uninvited guests enter Asgard. His eyesight is so keen that he can see every hair on a man’s head from several bowshots away. At night he can see just as well as if it were day. And his hearing is so good that he can hear wool growing on sheep. He almost never rests and when he finally does, he sleeps like a bird so that no one, I tell you, no one can slip past him unseen!”

Impossible! Erik thought.

“As soon as Heimdal sees a giant headed for Asgard, he immediately blows his great horn. It might be a sign that the end is near, Ragnarok, as we call it. That way all of the Gods and Einherjar are warned.”

“Einherjar?”

“Former Vikings who now live in Valhalla,” Thor snapped. “Heimdal is a great and good man, someone you can always depend on, as I’m sure you will discover,” Thor continued. “But something must be wrong, something must be horribly wrong, since he keeps blowing his horn.” Thor looked very worried.

As they grew closer, Erik could see a great fortress at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge, built of heavy wooden beams. That had to be Heimdal’s castle, Erik thought. Outside stood a tall old man, who was glowing brightly with his long, white hair blowing in the wind. He had one arm wrapped around a beautiful woman and with his other arm, he held a large horn that curved around his neck and pointed high in the air, like a rattlesnake ready to strike.

Heimdal removed the horn from his lips as they approached and shouted:

“Who goes there? I, Guardian of Asgard, command you to stop. Hic!”

The goats took no notice of him. Clearly they only took orders from Thor, as they continued at full flight.

Heimdal quickly let go of the girl, threw down the horn and grabbed the goats’ harness. The chariot stopped so suddenly that both Erik and Thor were hurled through the air right over the chariot and the goats, landing in a heap in the middle of the Rainbow Bridge. Heimdal doubled up in laughter. His gold teeth glittered in the sun.

“It’s me, you i***t!” Thor roared furiously as he got up and brushed off his clothes. His helmet was still rolling away and Thor ran to grab it. Then he tightened his belt of power, doubling his strength, grabbed the shaft of his hammer so that his iron gloves turned red-hot and turned around looking fearsome.

“Easy now, easy now,” Heimdal laughed so hard that tears were pouring down his face. His breath stank of sweet ale.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Thor spluttered with rage, practically frothing at the mouth. He clearly hated being made to look a fool.

“I’m just playing a little tune for my little sweetheart here,” Heimdal said and gave her a squeeze. “I heard that Utgard-Loki is coming soon, along with all the other giants in Jotunheim.”

“Has anyone made it past you since I have been gone?” Thor asked. “Is that why you are blowing the horn?”

“Oh yeah, lots of them. One after the other,” Heimdal sniggered. “One of them even left this little sweetie pie behind, tee-hee.” Heimdal poked the girl in the stomach and she giggled and slung her arms around his neck.

Thor gave the girl an angry look, but as he didn’t want to fall out with Heimdal, the hammer remained in his hand. “Aren’t you getting too old for that?” he growled.

“Oh no,” Heimdal answered and gave a little toot on his horn.

“Stop that, Heimdal! Pull yourself together, otherwise it’s going to end in disaster for all of us. This is serious! You know very well that you should only blow that horn when there are giants on the way!”

“But that’s why I’m blowing the horn, don’t you understand? Hic. There are giants everywhere. Just look at them swarming in the mountains behind us, some of them have probably made it all the way to the walls of Asgard. Hic.”

“Then where are the Gods? Why haven’t they answered your call and sent the Jotuns packing? Why haven’t they come when you blew the horn?”

“They’re probably lying drunk at the bottom of Suttung’s barrel of mead in Valhalla. I think they took advantage of the fact that you were away and decided to wet their whistle. But in any case, they are probably so old now that they’re not much good at hunting giants.”

“To Hell with them,” Thor mumbled, his eyes flashing. “Get back inside your castle and do your job. And stop blowing the horn when there is no danger!”

“What do you say, honey, why don’t we go inside and get a little more comfortable?” Heimdal sniggered. The gate slammed shut behind them and everything was quiet again.

A large Jotun cautiously poked its head above the crest of a nearby hill. But when it caught sight of Thor, it vanished. Erik saw a strange shadow dart off but Thor didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he grabbed the reins, climbed into the chariot and signalled for the goats to move on.

“Now do you see what I mean?” Thor said shortly after. His face was grey and looked like thunder. “Now even Heimdal has turned into a babbling old wreck, just like the rest of them. Deep down, I was afraid that might happen. As soon as I am gone, they go off the rails. But I had hoped that Heimdal of all people would have behaved himself. Now you can see how awful things really are in Asgard.”

Erik was slowly getting an idea of what Thor meant, but he still wasn’t prepared for the events to come. The only thing he had seen so far was Heimdal being the worse for drink, as drunk as his own father had once been when he had come home from a Christmas party.

“I can read those lines on your forehead,” Thor said, misinterpreting Erik’s thoughts. “Things are always a little complicated up here but lately everything has been topsyturvy. That’s why I have brought you here. I believe you are the only one who can save us from Ragnarok. I too am worried, and I believe we are going to have to act quickly!”

Now Erik was really worried.