stage, approaching the three Norns. Only SIGYN remains where she first appears, at the edge of the outer circle) WEIRD (without a pause) Sigyn. SIGYN (standing alone) I await the one. The right one. (The other gods - and the Norns - come together in mumbling, incomprehensible conversation. The atmosphere is quizzical. The buzz and ripple of conversation is also heard over the loudspeakers. Very shortly after this VILI and VE enter. The murmur continues beneath their dialogue) VILI Is everyone here? HOENIR The chief has still not arrived. VE Do you mean he isn't here either? TYR We thought he was with you… (LOKI enters. As though at the wave of a magic wand the talking stops. All watch Loki. He is elegant and charming. At this point there is no sign at all of his true nature. He seems only quick-witted and humorous) LOKI Is everybody waiting me? THOR You don't have the right to attend our meetings! LOKI No right, Thor? THOR There's a smell of giant about you! (He spits) LOKI (Looks round) Yes, my mother and father were both from the east. And yes - I am the son of Farbauti, so that means I do have giant-blood in my veins. (Looks straight at Thor) And who knows that smell better than you, Thor? I'm thinking not just of your many battles against the giants, but also of your somewhat sweeter forms of intercourse with them, mm? (Laughs teasingly) Not all the inhabitants of Jotunheim are equally repulsive now, are they? THOR I would prefer it if you would keep away from us, Loki. LOKI (Coldly) But your father - my half-brother - is of a different opinion. THOR (no longer able to meet his gaze) I'm entitled to my own opinion. (he turns and leaves the stage) LOKI (calling after him) But you are bound to obey the chief's word, just like the rest of us! (He laughs apologetically to left and right. Suddenly catches sight of SIGYN, who has been staring at him the whole time. Playfully:) Haven't we met somewhere before? (He smiles at her. She makes a half-gesture of stretching out a hand to him, though they stand far from each other…But LOKI turns away suddenly. To the others:) What are we all waiting for? Isn't this supposed to be a council meeting? HOENIR We're waiting for Odin. LOKI Odin isn't coming. FRIGG (Alarmed) He isn't coming! ? (Confused mumbling all round) LOKI Who knows where he might be? He's got a whole world to wander in. My half-brother is…more restless than any of you imagine. SIGYN (Quietly, as though in sleep) I await the one. The right one. (LOKI sends her his most brilliant smile) (Blackout. All leave. The sound of wind and storm. The light creeps back. We see ODIN in hat and cape and carrying his staff. He is travelling in the wastelands of Jotunheim. Stops in the middle of the stage to rest. Breathing heavily. Behind his back two UNDERGROUNDERS poke their heads out - HUFSI and GUFSI, more comic than threatening. They whisper loudly behind Odin's back, but he does not hear them) HUFSI What he is actually doing actually? GUFSI He's out walking, can't you see? HUFSI Yes but, Gufsi, Gufsi - what is he doing? GUFSI He's probably thinking about something or other. HUFSI But Gufsi, does he have to go out walking to do that? GUFSI Many people think it's easier to find answers to things if they - HUFSI - if they go out walking? GUFSI Precisely. HUFSI They must be quite complicated things he's thinking about, Gufsi. Because he's walked quite a long way . GUFSI Exactly. HUFSI All the way out here to Jotunheim! But Gufsi? GUFSI What is it now? HUFSI Does he really have to do that? I mean, can't he just go for a bit of stroll round his own house? I mean, if I ever suddenly began to wonder about something, I'm sure I wouldn't… GUFSI Ssssh! (ODIN walks on. The two undergrounders roll themselves up into small balls/stones. Odin leaves the stage without discovering them. Hufsi and Gufsi unfurl themselves and stand up. Now they can speak at normal volume) GUFSI I don't know anything who thinks about things as much as that bloke there. HUFSI Seems to me he's always got something on his mind. All the walking he does! GUFSI Odin isn't like everyone else. He's never content with the answers he's given. HUFSI And what sort of answers is he given? GUFSI How in the world should I know? Ssh. He's coming back again. HUFSI Do you think he's walking round in circles? GUFSI Shush. HUFSI (whispering loudly) Because I've heard that those who wonder about all sorts of things can very soon find themselves going round in circles. And if they have tails it sometimes even happens that they bite their own tails, without meaning too and without even noticing it! GUFSI (whispers)The Aesir don't have tails, stupid! HUFSI (whispers)I know that (Both squat down - dead still. ODIN enters, does not see them) ODIN It's here. I know it must be here! (to the audience)For days and nights now I have been following rumours in my search for Mimir, a giant said to be the wisest of all beings in creation. I must meet him! They say he lives alone. And that the path to his home is full of danger. (shouts) Come out! I know you're here somewhere! MIMIR (appearing from a quite different direction to that in which Odin called) Who is that shouting? Who is this waking me so early in the evening? (Mimir is, naturally, at this point a quite normal giant with arms, legs, body etc) (ODIN and MIMIR silently take the measure of each other. GUFSI and HUFSI stick their heads up and whisper loudly to each other) GUFSI I don't know which are worse - the Aesir or the Giants. HUFSI They're wickedly dangerous the pair of them. GUFSI And we undergrounders are too small. HUFSI Much too small GUFSI We're sort of stuck in the middle. HUFSI Between the bark and the wood. GUFSI Just like the humans. They're stuck inbetween too. HUFSI The bark and the wood! GUFSI But actually we belong more to the giants than to the Aesir, don't we? HUFSI All I know is that we're small. GUFSI In the same way the humans belong more to the Aesir, don't they? HUFSI All I know is that most things go over our heads. (The undergrounders sink down onto the floor again and hide) MIMIR (to the audience, with his gaze fixed on Odin) I can't remember how long the two of us stood there like that, sizing one another up. ODIN (turns his head away. Says to the audience:)He asked me for my name, but I told him a lie. Why should I tell my real name to anyone who simply happens to ask? (returns his gaze to Mimir) My name is Grim. MIMIR What do you want with me…Grim? ODIN They say you're wise. MIMIR They say all sorts of things. ODIN They say you know more than the others. MIMIR How much do the others know? ODIN (Drops Mimir's gaze. Turns again to the audience) And that's what we did. We stood there and fenced with each other. MIMIR (to the audience) I didn't know him. I didn't know who it was. Didn't he say that his name was Grim? I didn't know whether he was a god or a human. It isn't always easy for me to tell the difference. I get them mixed up. (to Odin) So you'd like to acquire knowledge? ODIN The one who has knowledge also has power. MIMIR (laughs) So it's power you're looking for? ODIN I'm looking for answers. MIMIR (laughs again. Only now do they cease their battle of stares. To the audience) I felt safe. He was smaller than me. I felt big and strong, and I wanted to taunt him. So I told him about the spring. I told him about Mimir's well. (to Odin) They say Yggdrasil has three roots, don't they? And three springs? And that one of them is right here in Jotunheim? (points) There it is. And the power in the water is such that whoever drinks it grows a little wiser with every drink he takes. ODIN I must drink from it! (He runs forward, but Mimir's stops him and holds him firmly) MIMIR You're forgetting the name of it . It's called Mimir's well. ODIN So? MIMIR The spring-water is for me alone. Not for anyone else. (brusquely shoves Odin aside) ODIN No-one else? MIMIR (shakes his head) Mm mm. ODIN I'll pay you well. MIMIR The water is not for sale. ODIN Not at any price? MIMIR Never. ODIN Never? Never is quite a word. MIMIR So is always. And the answer will always be never. ODIN Not even if I…were to give you. . everything you long for and dream for? MIMIR (shakes head) Mm-mm. ODIN Fulfil your most secret wishes? Your innermost heart's desire?(Mimir continues to shake his head)Tell me what you want. Come on. Out with it. MIMIR (to the audience) I grew tired of him and of his endless pestering. He refused to take a no for a no. ODIN (urgently) I'll give you anything you want. For just one little sip. Anything at all! MIMIR You're giving me earache. ODIN Let me drink. Then I'll leave. I'll go, straightaway. (MIMIR sighs) ODIN I mean, are you quite sure the water really does work? (Again he tries to bend to the water to drink) MIMIR It works. (Brutally shoves Odin aside. Odin falls) ODIN (Rising to his knees) The one who drinks becomes wiser, knows more, understands more? MIMIR Quite sure. ODIN (cries out) Then let me taste it! MIMIR (He laughs. Turns to the audience) How can I get it through his head that it's no use? He has nothing I want. And I share this spring with no-one. No-one. (He turns to Odin, who is still on his knees. Observes him in silence for a long moment. Odin falls silent too. Suddenly the silence is deathly) Give me…an eye. Give me one of your eyes and I'll let drink as much as you like! (Odin hunches over. Makes a claw of his hand and draws it towards his face. Then he straightens up and holds out the hand. His left eye is in it. Blood runs down his cheek. MIMIR gaps and steps back. ODIN stands with outstretched hand, and the eye in the palm) ODIN (Insanely calm) Now…may I drink? MIMIR You are not Grim. You are Odin. I have heard of you. (He falls on one knee to honour him) And I see too who and what you one day will become! (HUFSI AND GUFSI suddenly break cover. They are terrified) GUFSI (Pointing) They're completely mad! HUFSI Both of them! (The undergrounders run straight across the stage and out) (MIMIR too withdraws, taking Odin's eye with him. ODIN stands alone. He dries his face) ODIN (Storytelling) And that was how I met him for the first time. Mimir. Wisest of all the giants. Later he became one of my closest advisers and a valued friend. (slips the black patch over his eye) I was young then. And the world was young. Everything was in its infancy. It was a time for learning, for trying things out. The birds had to learn to sing, the bees to collect honey. Everything was looking for its rightful place. Who belonged in the air, who on land, and who in the water. For things had not yet set. Things could still be bent and shaped and changed. It was a time when everything was still uncertain…We learnt love and loyalty. But we learnt also hatred and betrayal. Who was friend and who foe? It was a time full of curiosity and uncertainty. (VILI AND VE enter carrying Lidskjalv - the great throne. They indicate that Odin is to take his seat) ODIN (storytelling, as he makes his way to the throne and as he sits) The Aesir and the giants fight one another. Yet we are still able to come together in friendship. Do I not myself have a giant for a half-brother? (He sits) Gods and trolls can fall in love. For even giants can be beautiful. Which of us has not had children with the giants? (laughs to Vili) How many, Vili? Are you still keeping count? (turns to Ve) And are you, my handsome little brother? Don't imagine that just because I have one eye I am blind! All of us have ridden on the daughters of giants! And yet - (turns his head away suddenly and stares up into the air) and yet still we are deadly enemies! The Aesir and the giants. The gods and the trolls! Who can make any sense of that? (THOR AND TYR have entered during this brief monologue. Together they and VILI AND VE lift the throne high in the air on its support of thick wooden runners. Slowly they carry it round the playing area. ODIN appears oblivious as he continues to address the audience) ODIN (Almost without a pause) When I sit on my throne - when I sit in Lidskjalv - I can see clear across all the worlds. I see the whole of creation. I feel proud and contented. (LOKI suddenly appears, like Jack-in-the-Box. He walks smiling beside the throne) LOKI As well you might do, half-brother of mine. ODIN (to Loki) But I also see things which worry me - things that make me wonder. LOKI As well you might, half-brother of mine. ODIN (to Loki) I see landspirits. The undergrounders - a horde of strange beings, distant relations of the giants and the dwarves. And I know that I did not create them. LOKI That sounds strange - half-brother of mine. ODIN (to Loki) Not strange at all! Why should not the powers of darkness also have the ability to create, and to give birth to children? (stares thoughtfully into the air. At the same time SIGYN appears. She pulls Loki towards her, wraps her arms and legs around him) But the other thing I simply don't understand at all (Not noticing that Loki is no longer at his side)…is that I see the elves too. And I can see that they're no relations of the giants. But I know that I did not create them. LOKI (a long way behind him. Tears his mouth away from a kiss) Sounds strange…mmmmmmmmm…half-brother of mine! ODIN It is strange. And there's more! For when I turn my gaze to the south, towards the fires of Muspellheim, I see a people living there who burn like tongues of flame. Their leader's name is Surt. He guards their territory with a fiery sword. (He looks at Vili and Ve and fixes his gaze on theirs) I didn't make them. And you didn't make them. (He spreads his arms to indicate the other Aesir who have gradually begun to assemble on the stage) We didn't make them. But they're there…(The four bearers stop. But continue to hold Odin up)Most frightening of all…(the light on the stage changes. The music grows threatening) Most frightening of all: when I sit here in Lidskjalv and look out, and see all that lives and all that has been created, I see that there are, besides ourselves, other gods in this world. They call themselves the Vanir. And their castle-home is called Vanaheim. (FOUR VANIR, wearing clothes that distinguish them sharply from the Aesir, enter bearing their CHIEFTAIN. Like Odin he sits on a throne. The two leaders eye each other. The Vanir chieftain's throne is carried around Odin…there is an air of tense expectancy) ODIN (almost without a pause - staring all the while at the Vanir chieftain) They appear to be more closely related to plants and animals than we are…they help the farmer in the work of his day…and they have good contacts among the elves. They seem peaceful. And yet I'm worried. I don't know…is there room for two races of gods in the world? Or do we have another powerful enemy on our hands? (The VANIR CHIEFTAIN is borne out. At the same time:among or behind the audience a number of giants stand up. They beat out a threatening, warning tattoo on drums. ) ODIN (Once the Vanir have gone) We would do well to make ourselves some weapons. We would do well to prepare ourselves for war! (The four bearers carry him out. At the same time all the lights go out, apart from spots on three of the giants. Drumming and humming, they moved towards the centre of the stage. We recognise TRYM , HYMIR and ANGERBODA. The other Aesir have remained on stage, stand about uneasily in the half-dark) ANGERBODA (drumming) Let them kill each other. Let all the clods in the world throttle each other to death. Then it will be our turn! TRYM (drumming) Let the Aesir and Vanir wage war. Let the war be long and hard. ANGERBODA (drumming) And let not a single one of the dolts survive! HYMIR (drumming) Let the battlefield be huge, and let it be drenched with blood. TRYM (drumming) Death to the gods! Victory to the trolls! ANGERBODA (Lifts her drumstick. All cease drumming) So to help them get started, we sent them a witch…To teach them hatred. To teach them greed. To teach them envy. We send them Gullveig. (shouting)Dance for us! (Suddenly, rotating disco-lights that make all movement seem jerky and staccato. The Aesir and the three giants do a dance that resembles Chinese shadowboxing. But attention is drawn to the figure of GULLVEIG, a beautiful young witch in a sensual costume. A bit like a belly-dancer. Gullveig lets the veils fall as she sings) GULLVEIG (singing) All this talk about love makes me ill, harmony and joy, they don't give me a thrill; and as for the love between women and men, I've heard enough about that since way back when. Now when a woman tries to tell me she's hot for a man, I tell her, honey, you just don't understan' - you don't know what lust is, or even desire, until you're lips have tasted that solid fire - I mean gold, sister, gold - so when you talk about the thrill of a hug and a kiss, there ain't a thrill in the world to compare to this. We kill our lovers and trample them down, and like sharp-eyed hawks we cruise around, looking for something, the one thing, the fun thing, you can't get enough of it, you must have a suck of it- gold, gold, gold. Gold is the key to every girl's heart, gold is the word when a girl's thighs part, it's gold, little sisters, that makes the rules, golden words for golden fools, that's all there is to it, just gold, gold gold. (During this dance the stage has become chaotic - evidently the Aesir too have learnt something about greed…But a brutal siren interrupts the scene. White light plays over the stage, frightening everyone off. In come HUGIN and MUGIN , as ever in white tie and tails, each swinging a diabolic hand-siren) HUGIN We tried to warn them. MUNIN It's sort of our job, after all. HUGIN We did what we could. MUNIN But it was too late. HUGIN The Aesir were completely taken in by her babble. MUNIN They should have laughed at her. Instead of which the greed made their eyes grow and their mouths drool. Their fingers turned into claws - gr-aaahhh-bb, gra- aaahhh-bb ca-aw ca-aw! MUNIN Odin - as per usual - understood nothing. ODIN (Visible in spot elsewhere) You shut your beak! HUGIN AND MUNIN (In unison) Caaaaaaww! ODIN (to the audience) I told you this was a time of great confusion… HUGIN (shouts to him) But you surely realise how dangerous this witch is! ODIN (defending himself) Don't imagine that I was pleased to when she came. But I'm the god of hospitality - I can't break my own laws! MUNIN (aside, to the audience) This is what we have to put up with - all the time! HUGIN (shouts to Odin) The world will be a better place without her. ODIN Who says so? MUNIN Everybody says so. HUGIN Everybody we've spoken to. ODIN And what does Mimir say? MUNIN The same as he always says: