Norse Myths · Part 4 · Thor · B1–B2
Thor in the Land of Giants
Part 4 of the Norse Myths: Thor travels to the castle of the giant king Útgarda-Loki and fails every contest: he cannot empty a drinking horn, lift a cat, or win a wrestling match against an old woman. Only when he leaves does he learn the truth. Modal verbs of deduction in the past (must have, can’t have, might have), and the language of illusion and appearance (seem, appear, look as if), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
Last time Thor was a bride. Tonight he is a guest in the castle of the giants, and nothing there is what it seems. He fails at everything: drinking, lifting, wrestling. The strongest god in the world is humiliated.
Neither did Thor, Marcos. But in the morning, the giant king tells him what really happened, and Thor realises that he must have done the most amazing things of his life. Tonight’s grammar is detective grammar: what must have happened, and what can’t have happened.
A story about illusions. The most dangerous enemy is the one that deceives the eye.
This story is told only in Snorri’s Prose Edda. Thor sets out for the land of the giants with Loki and two human servants, the fast runner Thjálfi and his sister Röskva. On the way they sleep in what they think is a huge hall with a side room, but in the morning they discover it is the glove of a sleeping giant called Skrýmir, and the side room is its thumb.
Or try our free games and lessons.