And simply replies—Fuck off!”
Laughter fills the room. Ari’s repetition adds impetus to the joke. The ladies love hearing Freya telling men to fuck off. Quite brilliant.
“There sat Thor and Loki, and they had no plan,
But approaching came Heimdall,
who saw all the lands,
Heimdall suggested, Thor should offer his hand,
For Thrym was too blind to tell he was a man.”
Ari stands, waving his arms over his head. His muscles flex in all their glory. His chest gleams in the candlelight. I’m sure the ladies are seeing the same as me.
“Thor did not want to, but had little choice,
So he practiced to master, a feminine voice,
They groomed him and oiled him,
his hair was a mess,
From Freya they borrowed, the most elegant dress”
Now Ari skips in front of the hearth, batting his eyelashes as he pretends to be the shyest bride. The crowd laughs at his movements. A rare sight to see a man be so comfortable in his masculinity that he can act like a woman. Many a hardened warrior would see it as a disgrace, even if done for play. Ari makes his voice light, like Thor trying to sound like a maiden—like Freya.
“Loki had laughed, saying Thor needed bathing,
So Thor made him also dress up like a maiden.
Thrym, says Loki, here comes your bride,
But don’t lift her veil, she’s so shy she must hide.”
Ari sits on the floor, among the ladies. Those in the back stretch their necks to see him. Some stand for a better view.
“They bring in the food, and Thor likes his eating,
So much salmon and oxen,
you’d think he was cheating.
When Thrym saw his bride eat this way,
he was frightened,
She’s not eaten for days, lied Loki,
because she’s excited.”
The skald stands again, his loose shirt barely hanging on.
“They fooled Thrym and played him,
for several hours,
til the giant believed that Thor was his flower,
