Paul Li, Period 7, 3/13/23

 

Creativity and Fiction
        It’s not easy being the king of the giants. Constantly governing your subjects and defending your kingdom from foreign threats can be really exhausting work. It was always in my best interest to keep my realm, Jotunheim, to itself and away from any conflicts with the Aesir and Vanir gods. I was reminded of how important this policy is during that fateful encounter two weeks ago when I first met Thor, his bondservant, and my distant relative Loki. The sheer power they displayed during their stay has confirmed that they, and by extension, the aesir gods, are a threat to my fortress Utgard and my home of Jotunheim. Of course, I couldn’t let that get to their heads to fuel their egos that match the size of my giants. So, I’ve decided to play a wonderful trick on my guests, but I’m getting ahead of myself now. I should tell this story from the beginning, when I was camping on the edges of Jotunheim.
        As I’ve said before, the responsibilities of being king mentally wore me down, and I decided to recover from my burnout. It was a difficult decision to temporarily leave my position. My subjects looked up to me, Utgardloki, for leadership, and I had constantly worried for the safety of my realm from the Aesir gods. I hoped that all would go well during my absence in my  stronghold of Utgard. Disguising myself as an ordinary giant, I traveled to the edges of my kingdom and planned to spend a couple of days relaxing and viewing the icy landscape of my realm.
        On the third day, I encountered a group of travelers after taking a full night’s rest. Weary of their presence but still wanting to be friendly, I introduced myself using a fake name, Skrymir, and luckily, the travelers accepted this without asking any more questions. They had claimed that they wanted to travel to Utgard, my stronghold. Already suspicious of their intentions as Jotenheim rarely received visitors, I had decided to keep an eye on them. As a result, I had offered to travel with them back to Utgard. On top of that, I was carrying their belongings in a bag sealed in enchanted lace that could only be untied using magic. At the end of the day, when the strangers tried to reach for their supplies, the ropes sealing the bag would not budge. This was of course just a test to see just how strong these strangers are and, by extension, if they are a threat to Utgard.
        After a long day of traveling, I had picked out a valley to camp in for the day alongside the two strangers. The third one arrived just a moment later and appeared exhausted. After placing the bag on top of a tall tree, I told the travelers that I wanted to sleep right away. I remained conscious throughout that night. The three travelers immediately made attempts to reach the bag. The small one climbed to the top of the tree and tried to untie the lace, but with no success. Then the biggest member made another attempt and ended up shaking the entire tree, much to my surprise. Hearing his sigh in frustration, I felt him walk his way to my forehead. Immediately sensing danger, I used magic to have a mountain act as a buffer between him and my head. The strike was tremendous; my surroundings shook as the shockwaves from his blow traveled across the valley we were sleeping on. My heart raced; that blow could have easily ended me if it wasn’t for my magic. This is no ordinary man; there are no beings other than giants that can wield this much power, aside from the gods themselves. A sense of dread crept up my spine as I realized that what was on my head must be Thor, the strongest of the gods.
        The next morning, my head was still aching from Thor’s blows. I concluded that the other travelers besides Thor must either be gods themselves or that they indeed are a threat to Utgard. Ah, gods! These arrogant beings are constantly fighting with my civilians. It is my desire to have nothing to do with Asgard. My patience, however, is being tested, and if Odin and Thor continue to fight with my people, then the invasion of Asgard would prove to be a necessary action. So far, besides Thor, the other two travelers have not shown noticeable signs of hostility, so this uneasy truce would remain. However, an idea formed: I would use their visit to teach them a lesson about humility and how the Aesir and Vanir gods are not at the top of the world as they believed. That title would rightfully belong to us the giants. Soon enough, the sight of Utgard came into sight, and I had said my goodbyes to the travelers and specifically to Thor. After I had departed in another direction, I removed myillusionary disguise and was welcomed back with open arms by my subjects. Soon enough, the travelers arrived. I had greeted the first two as Thor and Loki, whose appearance initially didn’t strike me due to the cloak he was wearing. However, seeing his slender body and mischievous face as soon as he removed the cloak confirmed that he was indeed Loki. The third traveler, the small boy, introduced himself as Thialfi.
        Against my wishes, it is still common etiquette for the giants to show hospitality to visitors. I greeted them with open arms and introduced myself this time as Utgardloki, the king of the giants. I prepared a feast for my guests, who are soon to be victims of my trickery. I had told these visitors that they must perform a feat they take pride in in order to fully participate in the feast. Loki, my distant relative, volunteered first and boasted of how fast he eats. Well, then I matched him against Logi, the incarnation of fire, in an eating contest. Although Loki was a fast eater and both contestants finished at the same time, Logi ate the tray alongside the food and was given the win. Next, the young boy, Thialfi, claimed he was a fast runner. As such, I paired him with Hugi, the incarnation of thought disguised as a young giant for a race. Hugo naturally won and proceeded to win several other reruns as well. Thialfi’s efforts were clearly visible in his face, a pity to behold.
        Finally, the main event, and my biggest target, Thor, volunteered himself as a good drinker. Wanting to see this for myself, I grabbed the drinking horn that was magically connected to the bottom of the ocean and lied that each giant could drink from the mead in one to two sessions. I watched as Thor prepared himself, took the first gulp, and... failed to finish the horn. Smiling, I taunted him, commenting that he would surely finish in the second attempt. After he failed at that, taunting Thor again felt even more entertaining; however, after the third failed attempt, he gave up. When I saw through the windows of my stronghold, Utgard, I was shocked to see that the entire sea level had dropped to a considerable degree. I was grateful that he stopped after the third attempt. Wanting to further humiliate him, I had him try to lift up Jormungand (the serpent that encircles the entire world, biting its tail), who was portrayed as an illusion of a cat. My eyes widened as Thor lifted the cat, even if it was only a small height off the ground. Powers like that needed to be kept away from Jotunheim. To rub salt in the wound, I further teased Thor about his strength. Thor, enraged, challenged the giants around the meadhall to a wrestle, but I refused. Setting himself up for the third and final trick, I had him wrestle Eilli, the representation of old age. With her old and frail appearance, losing to her in a wrestle would surely be a humiliating experience. Thor tried and grunted, but he wasn’t able to bring Elli down, and at last he was brought down on his knee. An impressive feat for only being down on one knee, I commented to myself. The gods, feeling down after their defeat, left early in the morning the next day.
        It was at this time that I had caught up to them and explained my trick to each of the travelers. Watching their faces turn from a slight annoyance to surprise and, with Thor specifically, anger Before Thor was able to reach for Mjolnir (his hammer), I had teleported myself out as well as the rest of my stronghold. That encounter would forever serve as a reminder to me that the gods' powers are not to be trusted and best kept out of Jotunheim.