Myths :: The Theft of Brísingamen
The sunlight began to seep through the curtains in the palace of Freyja, always a signal that it was time to awaken. Freyja got up slowly, her golden hair falling delicately around her body as she stood from her enormous bed.
Freyja was the most beautiful of all the Gods, with the fairest of skin, impossibly golden hair, and eyes of the clearest blue. She calmly walked over to her mirror where she began to get dressed. Almost instantly, she looked down and noticed something was missing- her necklace, Brisingamen! It was gone!
Freyja quickly threw on some clothing and ran out of the palace. She charged into Odin’s palace and yelled to him “Odin! My- my necklace has been stolen! Someone broke into my castle and took it.”
Odin gazed upon Freyja curiously. “Well, what do you want me to do about it? If I don’t know who did it, I can’t punish them, can I?”
Freyja, furious at her humiliation, marched away from Odin without another word.
“How dare he humiliate me like that! I will find out who did this, I will not rest until my necklace is found!”
Walking quickly, she noticed Heimdall standing near the bridge that led to Thor’s palace. Freyja quickly sized him up: Heimdall was a big man. With his horn in hand, he looked quite formidable. Freyja smiled at her own ingenuity and walked towards him quickly.Heimdall smiled. “I heard about Brisingamen.”
“What? How?”
“Odin told everyone. He wants you to find it.”
Freyja breathed a sigh of relief. So the old man wasn’t working against her, wonderful.
“Heimdall, I need you to come with me. I want to find Brisingamen, and you’re the only one who can help.”
Heimdall nodded. “I will, Freyja. Tell me what you need, and I will do it.”
The two set off down to Bifrost, the bridge that led to the Earth, intent of finding the necklace.
…
In his forest cave Loki giggled to himself. He eyed the necklace greedily, smiling and laughing.
“Another delicious prank, executed wonderfully.”
Loki had, of course, been the one to steal Brisingamen. It was a beautiful necklace, a magnificent silver pendant that shone even in the dim light of the forest.
Loki was placing the pendant on a tree branch for later transport when he felt a sudden force. He turned, but it was too late: Freyja and Heimdall were standing there, looking triumphant.
“You thought you could escape with my necklace, Loki?”
Loki smiled again, “Dearest Freyja, of course not. I was just keeping it safe- I heard rumors that the wondrous Brisingamen was going to be stolen, and I… beat them to it, I guess.”
Freyja glared at Loki, “You lie. I would have heard the rumors, or at the very least, Heimdall would have.”
Loki smiled ever wider, "Okay, you are correct. I stole it. So?”
Freyja instantly lost her composure, “Give it to me, Loki!”
Loki laughed and ran deeper into the woods, leaving Freyja and Heimdall looking dumbfounded.
“What do you want me to do?”
“GO after him!”
Heimdall nodded and began his pursuit of the Trickster God, his mortal enemy. He hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone, but after discovering that it had been Loki to steal the necklace, he had to get it back.
After running for about five minutes, Heimdall stopped. They had come to Singasteinn- a small, rocky reef a few miles out in the ocean. Heimdall growled when he saw a seal swimming incredibly fast towards the reef.
Immediately, he jumped into the water, at the same time, he began to feel the effects of his magic- he was turning into a seal as well. If Loki thought he would escape, he had another thing coming.
Loki climbed onto the reef and looked back. Even as a seal, his smirk was evident as he began to clap with his flippers.
Heimdall climbed onto the rock, giving Loki a death stare. Or as close to one as he could, while they were seals.
Heimdall immediately attacked Loki, throwing his entire weight onto Loki. Loki bared his teeth and began to bite: the fight was on.
The two seals rolled around on the rocky reef, clawing, biting and throwing themselves around until they were both bruised and battered.
“Give up, Loki! I will return Brisingamen to Freyja!”
“Never! It’s mine now!”
Heimdall once again began to claw at Loki. Loki was caught off guard, and almost could not fight back: Heimdall continued to claw and bite, until Loki was thrown off the edge of the reef.
Heimdall instantly regained human form and picked up the necklace. He smiled to himself, and began the walk back to Bifrost.
At Freyja’s palace, Freyja was pouting on a chair in her bedroom. It had been almost 14 hours since Heimdall and Loki began fighting for the necklace, and she was dreadfully hoping that Heimdall had been successful.
Finally, Heimdall walked into the bedroom, bruised and battered- but with Brisingamen in hand. Freyja squealed happily.
“You did it! You got it back!”
Heimdall nodded. “As I was told to.” He handed the necklace to her with a proud smile.
Freyja looked at him once more, “Well, thank you, Heimdall. You really have been invaluable.”
Heimdall nodded and quietly left the palace.
Freya put on her necklace, and once again knowing she was the most beautiful in all the land, threw herself onto the bed and wondered what she was gong to do next.
by Joshua Grullon
This is a retelling of the myth of Phaeton and is based on a variety of sources. Artistic license has been taken.
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