Loki's Protection of the Farmer's Son
A farmer entered into a game of chess with the Jotunn Skrymsli, and if the Jotunn won, the farmer had promised his only son as payment. Skrymsli ultimately did win, and announced he would come the next day to collect his prize. If the boy was hidden so cleverly that Skrymsli could not find him, then he would allow the farmer to keep his son. Not wishing to lose their son, the farmer and his wife appealed to Odin, Hoenir, and Loki for help.
Odin caused a great cornfield to grow up overnight, and he hid the farmer's son in a single kernel of one ear of corn in the middle of the vast field. When Skrymsli arrived, he ploughed through the field, harvesting every single ear of corn in his search. He finally grabbed the ear in which Rogner dwelt, and Rogner cried out in fear, alerting the Jotunn to his presence. Odin snatched Rogner from harm’s way, and Skrymsli resolved to return the next day for his payment.
Hoenir was next to attempt to hide the farmer's son. He changed the boy to a feather, and hid him on the breast of a swan. Skrymsli came again the next day, searching diligently, and, on noticing a feather out of place on a swan, once again located his prize. Before the boy could be seized though, Hoenir caused a gust of wind to carry the feather away to safety. Skrymsli went home without his prize a second time.
Finally, it was Loki’s turn to hide the boy. He stole away with the boy during the night, taking him out onto the ocean in a small boat. Loki pulled several fish from the ocean and tossed them back until he found a female flounder. He then proceeded to hide the farmer's son as a tiny egg in the roe of the flounder, and he tossed the fish back into the ocean. Unfortunately, when Skrymsli came the next day, he discovered Loki returning to the shore, so he set on the sea with his own boat. Loki insisted on accompanying Skrymsli, since he wanted to be nearby if the farmer's son was in need of further protection. Skrymsli pulled up several fish, and eventually pulled up the very fish on which Loki's charge was hidden. Loki feigned hunger at that point, and asked Skrymsli if he could eat of his catch. It did not need to be a great amount of food – even the tiniest fish (on which the farmer's son was hidden) would do.
Skrymsli ignored Loki and continued searching among the fish in his catch. Finally, he located the boy, but before Skrymsli could claim the child for his own, Loki snatched the boy away and flew him to the mainland. Loki had also failed in hiding the boy from Skrymsli, but he was not willing to be defeated. He instructed the boy to run away, and to be sure to run through the boathouse on his way home. Skrymsli returned to land quickly and gave chase, following the boy across the land and through the boathouse. In the boathouse, however, Loki had set a sharp spike in such a position that it would pierce Skrymsli’s skull as he ran through. Loki’s trap succeeded, and Skrymsli fell to the ground defeated, but not killed.
Loki then cut off Skrymsli’s legs, but the legs reattached to the body afterward through magic. Loki cut the legs off once more, and this time branded the severed areas with hot metal to cauterise and seal the wound. With the wounds sealed, they could no longer reattach themselves. Skrymsli eventually succumbed to his wounds and died. The boy returned to his parents, finally safe from the Jotunn Skrymsli, and the family was so grateful that they thereafter honoured Loki above the other gods.
