Just a short time after leaving Skrymir, around midday, Thor, Loki, Thialfe, and Roskva came upon a fortress surrounded by walls and a gate. It was Utgard, home of the giants. The fortress was so tall that when they tried to look over it, the backs of their heads touched their necks. When they came to the gate, Thor could not open it. However, the gate was so huge that the travelers were able to squeeze between its bars. Inside the gate was a huge hall with its doors open. Huge men and women sat on two benches inside the hall.
Meeting Utgard-Loki
The travelers went to the king, Utgard-Loki and presented themselves. The king took his time in noticing them and noted that while news traveled slowly to his kingdom, he could not be mistaken in knowing Thor the Charioteer. “I thought you’d be bigger,” Utgard Loki said. “At any rate, no one can feast here who does not show himself to be the best at something. What skills or knowledge do you have that is greater than that of all other men?”
Loki’s Challenge
Loki, no relation to the king, was hungry. “I can eat faster than anyone,” the god said.
Utgard-Loki called for a trough to be setup, and then he called for his giant, Logi. Loki and Logi sat at either end of the trough, which was filled with meat, and began eating. The two contestants met in the middle of the trough. Loki had eaten all the meat in his side of the trough. Logi the giant at the meat, bones, and trough. It was clear that the god Loki had lost.
Thialfe’s Challenge
Utgard-Loki asked Thialfe what he did best of all. Thialfe said he could outrun anyone there. Utgard-Loki took the group out to the race course and called on the smaller giant Hugi to compete against Thialfe.
The first time around the course, Hugi was far enough in the lead to turn around and face Thialfe while Hugi crossed the finish line. Utgard-Loki recognized that Thialfe was probably the fastest person who had ever arrived in Utgard but told Thialfe he would have to exert himself more if he were going to win. At the end of the second heat, Thialfe was a long bow shot behind Hugi, and at the end of the third, Hugi had crossed the finished line before Thialfe had made it halfway around the course. Thialfe had lost.
Thor’s First Challenge
Utgard-Loki looks at Thor and asks what Thor would like to prove himself with. Thor, confident in his drinking ability, says he would pit himself against anyone in a drinking contest. Utgard-Loki calls for his cupbearer to bring in the feasting horn he usually uses with his men.
When the horn arrives, Utgard-Loki tells Thor that thirsty men will drain the horn in one drink, almost everyone else may take two. However, it would be a weak drinker indeed who could not drain the horn in three drinks.
Thor accepts the challenge. He lifts the horn to his lips and takes a long pull. He keeps drinking without removing the horn from his mouth. Finally, he grows tired of it and believes he must be close to the end. When he lowers the cup and looks in, he sees the liquid hasn’t gone down more than a couple of inches. Thor’s second attempt fares no better, and by the third attempt, Thor realizes he cannot empty the drinking horn.
Utgard-Loki told Thor that his drinking wasn’t that good, and he would never be known as a great man I the halls of Utgard unless he did better in other contests than he did in drinking.
Thor’s Second Challenge
Thor, having been beaten in the drinking contest, asked Utgard-Loki what game he recommended Thor compete in.
Utgard-Loki smiled and said he wouldn’t have thought of suggesting it before, but now that he knew Thor wasn’t as strong as the stories made it out to be, he could recommend Thor try lifting the stronghold cat the way the little boys of Utgard did.
A gray cat appeared in the hall and Thor tried to lift it by its belly. Thor stretched as high as he could, but he only succeeded in lifting one paw off the ground.
Utgard-Loki said the contest went as expected. After all, Thor was shorter than smaller than the other men of Utgard.
Thor’s Third Challenge
Thor proclaimed he was mad, and he issued a challenge to wrestle anyone there.
Utgard-Loki looked at his men and said they were all to large to wrestle with Thor. He would have to seek one of the women. He called on his nurse, Elli, who has had experience wrestling those just as strong as Thor.
The old woman came in, and Thor wrestled with her. However, Thor couldn’t move her. As the match went on, Thor began to lose his footing and was sent to one knee. Utgard-Loki stopped the match, showed the companions to their seats at the bench, and they were treated well for the rest of the night.
How Thor Lost
The next morning, Thor and his companions were given a good breakfast, and Utgard-Loki escorted them out of the fortress. Once they were outside the gate, Utgard-Loki wanted to know if Thor had met anyone more powerful. Thor admitted his own dishonor and was chagrined that Utgard’s men would think so little of Thor.
Utgard-Loki said that now that Thor was outside the gates, he could tell him the truth. “If I had known how powerful you are, I would’ve never have allowed you into Utgard. In fact, as long as I am alive, you will never be allowed back. You nearly brought disaster upon all of us.”
Utgard-Loki admitted that he was Skrymir. He had tied the bag with a magical iron wire, so Thor couldn’t open it. When Thor tried to smite him with Mjolnir, Utgard-Loki had moved a mountain in the way of Thor’s hammer. Utgard-Loki pointed out a flat-topped mountain with three square valleys as evidence of Thor’s might blows.
The giant who competed against Loki was wildfire. Nothing consumes faster than wildfire. Thialfe ran against thought. What is faster than thought? The drinking horn, which Thor couldn’t see the end of was the ocean. Thor had drunk so much that he created the tides on Midgard.
Utgard-Loki continued to explain the feats to Thor. The cat was no cat. It was the Midgard Serpent, Jörmungandr. Thor had lifted the serpent so high that its body had touched the sky. After all of this, Thor wrestled against Old Age. The fact that he fell to only one knee was amazing because no one can defeat Old Age.
Utgard-Loki said that it would be better if they never met. If they do, Utgard-Loki would defend his fortress with the same trickery.
Thor raised Mjolnir in anger, preparing to strike, but Utgard-Loki and the fortress had disappeared. Thor and his companions went home.
Sources: The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (Penguin Classics, 2005).
The Definitive Guide to Norse Mythology: The Gods, Heroes, Monsters, and Legends of Viking Culture by Finn D. Moore (2022).
