Dream of Me/Believe in Me

joined him with his men onthe training field. The harvest began and almost all the residents of Hawkforte, even those who had other occupations, were busy in the fields. Their lord gave it to be understood that the celebration of his and the Lady Krysta's nuptials would await the completion of the harvest. As this was the custom, his people accepted it readily enough.
    Only the warriors continued their usual routine. By night, everyone who could gathered to hear the stories Dragon spun. Wonderful, incredible, exhilarating stories that held his listeners spellbound. Even the tellers of tales among the Saxons themselves were content to sit back and listen to the man they recognized as a master. Fate had called him to be a warrior but he was a skald to the bone.
    He told of the creation of Asgard, the abode of the gods, linked with earth by the bridge Bifröst, which appeared to men as a rainbow. “After the gods defeated their enemy, the giants,” Dragon explained, “the great god Odin and his companions, Hoenir and Lodur, decided to make mortals from the trunks of trees. They called the first man Ash that he would be strong and mighty, and named his wife Vine, that she should cling to him, being loyal and faithful. It was fitting that they named the man Ash for the great ash tree Yggdrasil stands at the center of the earth. Its roots reach down into the netherworld and its branches ascend to the heavens. Odin's favorite steed, Sleipnir, browses in its leaves. Beneath Yggdrasil there is a holy place where the gods meet each day to mete out justice. You may hear their mediations in the rumble of distant thunder that sometimes disturbs the sky.”
    All this was known to Krysta for she had been reared on such tales despite her otherwise Christian upbringing. Yet she enjoyed hearing Dragon tell the familiar legends, for his accountings were clearer and more vivid than any she had heard before. Too vivid for Father Elbert and Daria, who spent the evenings scowling and putting theirheads together to mutter of “heathen doings.” They were ignored by all, the Norse giving them no heed and the Saxons so inured to their sourness as to pay them no mind.
    The weather being warm, they dined outside, the long tables and benches surrounded by high torches that gave light and kept the insects away from the revelers. The nights were clear and star-filled. On the last night of Dragon's visit, the moon was full, prompting him to tell this story:
    After the gods had dwelt in Asgard for a time, it came to them that there was no wall around their home to protect them. Despite their might, the gods remembered the fierceness of their enemies, the glants, and they wondered if they could truly be safe from them without a wall. As they were debating this, a stranger appeared in Asgard. He offered to build a mighty wall around the entire realm and promised he would have it done to their satisfaction within a single year. The gods were tempted to agree but first Odin, wisest among them, asked his price. The stranger faced great Odin boldly and said, “When I have built your wall, give me Frigg, fairest of all the goddesses. Oh, and I also want the sun and the moon.” Odin was outraged for not only would he never consider giving any goddess to a stranger but most especially he would not give his own wife. Truth be told, there were many times when Odin and Frigg argued, yet was she his and did he mean to keep her. Great Odin was about to dismiss the stranger from Asgard, when Loki, the trickster god, spoke up. He said they should agree to the stranger's terms but on condition that he build the wall in only half a year. Surely he would not be able to dothis, so he would be paid nothing and at the least, the gods would have half a wall for free. Reluctantly, Odin and the others agreed, although Frigg still was not happy and wept tears of gold. Almost half a year passed and to the shock of the gods, the wall was almost complete. The stranger was about to win his bet and take fair Frigg from them, not to mention the sun and the moon. Fortunately, Loki had an idea. “The stranger needs his powerful black horse to haul the stone to the wall,” Loki said. “I will lure the horse away and the wall will not be completed.” Loki changed his shape into that of a lovely white mare and as expected, the stranger's black stallion followed her into the woods. Realizing his horse was gone and he could not complete the job, the stranger was enraged. So