Welcome to CHAPTER 64 of the Kinsmen Die podcast, home of fantasy fiction based on Norse mythology that’s written and read by me, Matt Bishop.

In this podcast I read my first novel, Kinsmen Die, one chapter at a time. And, with each episode, when it makes sense, I provide some commentary about the source materials I’ve referenced in the text.

This week, we’re back with Odin. Having cut out his eye, Odin has now received expert medical care from his son, Baldr, and a new golden eye from Baldr’s wife, Nanna. 

Over the course of the last few chapters, Odin has come to realize that his mind has been tampered with and the culprit is either Loki or maybe the spirit beneath the well. He intends to find out who did it.

Let’s rejoin Odin now.

Chapter Sixty-Four
Odin
Odin felt the drumbeat of every one of his many winters in every limb, despite having eaten the fruit Idunn had brought to Ithavoll. The drum pounded strongest in his eye socket—and the weight of the golden orb Baldr had placed there was a nuisance.
He slipped slowly from his bed to avoid angering the drummer, and his wife. His bare feet whispered across the smooth wooden floor, half the room unseen. When he bumped into the chest where he’d thrown his clothes, he sat and began to dress.
“Odin?” Frigg asked, voice drowsy. “You’re leaving now?”
“I’m just dressing. I wasn’t going to leave without waking you first.”
He unwound the bandage and compress from around his head, sighed with relief as that additional weight lifted, and set them both on the chest beside the leather patch Frigg had given him.
“Your son said to change that, not remove it,” she said, sleepy amusement in her voice.
“I can hardly ride through Gladsheim or go where I’m about to with that thing wrapped around my head.” He tugged on a pair of thick wool socks. “Bad enough I’ll have to wear that patch.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have cut your eye out.” She lit a witchlamp and sat sideways on the bed. “You know, since you’ve been back, I think most of our conversations happen in the dark while you’re getting ready to leave.”
He threw his best scowl at her, but she slapped it away like a wobbly arrow. He pulled on his breeches and sat. “It’s a long ride, even for me. And I have to stop along the way.”
“Why not just wait until after Midwinter? It’s six nights away.”
“We need answers. If Loki is behind all of this or even some of it, and if Angrboda’s set something in motion—”
“All the more reason to leave after Midwinter. A baresark goes everywhere with Baldr now, but he needs the most protection on that first night when he’s out among the folk. If something’s going to happen, you ought to—”
“If I leave this morning, I’ll be back just before Midwinter begins.” He tugged on his shirt. “I’d rather be here with answers than without them and wondering what’s actually going on.”
“I’d ask for your promise, but you’ve no problems breaking your word when it suits you.”
He stopped dressing and stared at her. Was she referring to Loki? She stared right back, unflinching. He broke the tension with a sharp nod. “I suppose that’s true enough. But never deliberately. With you.”
She snorted. He couldn’t tell what it meant, so he stood and pulled on his overtunic, then stepped to the pegs in a post and took down his belt.
“Why not send for Loki?” she said. “Order him to come here.”
“That would be a mistake.”
“She was his wife. He might be able to help, assuming you don’t reveal your suspicions. Assuming the memory you had was genuine.”
He buckled his belt and started tying on the various pouches. “His absence now has nothing to do with whether or not he suspects that I suspect him. You sent a bird to Sigyn when I got back, right?”
She nodded. “She sent a reply saying that Loki wasn’t at Franangr but she’d let him know when he returned. Was she lying?”
He shook his head. “This close to Midwinter, he’s probably visiting his children.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I showed him how to reach his children.”
Her eyes widened and she leaned back, the obvious question forming on her lips.
“He visits them all, often, I think. This close to Midwinter, I’m sure he’s either with one of them right now or on his way back to Sigyn and his boys.”
“You never told me that,” she said. “Shouldn’t they all be—”
“Dead?” He shrugged again. “They should be. I don’t understand why they aren’t. They don’t eat Yggdrasil’s fruit—not that I’m aware of, at least. Idunn keeps careful eye on the fruits, as do I, so we know they’re not being stolen. Jorm’s asleep most of the time but grows bigger with every passing winter. Fenrir’s growth stopped, but how he continues to live, I don’t know. There’s nothing to eat on that island. And how Hel’s lived this long—how any of them have—I don’t know.”
He sighed and only just stopped himself from rubbing his face. “I’ve made so many mistakes.”
“I’d no idea.” She blew out a long breath and sat beside him, putting her arm around his shoulders.
“Why would you? I tried to keep it secret, though I suspect a few know. Heimdall obviously does.”
“Odin, I’m starting to believe those memories of yours were genuine. Whatever rage Loki felt at the time has probably grown like a wildfire over the winters.”
He met her eyes. “It does appear to be the best explanation.”
“But you’re having a hard time accepting it.”
He nodded. “Loki and I were very close once—obviously, given the oath we took. But if our positions had been reversed, I never would have accepted the exile of Baldr, Hodr, and Hermod.”
“Nor would I,” she said.
Oddly, he didn’t feel as angry as he expected. Just confused, as if he’d hit his head. “So all the mischief he’s been up to these past hundred winters takes on quite a different light, eh? Crippling Heimdall makes a great deal of sense if you’re up to no good.”
“So he stole the Brisingamen, knowing Freyja would ask Heimdall to help her find it. And then he lost that fight to Heimdall so he’d have a plausible reason for a particularly nasty revenge?”
“Yes.” All of Loki’s mischief had been simple, brilliant, and completely deniable. Whenever it got out of hand, as it often did, he’d always been able to claim it had been accidental or that he’d been forced into it.
Frigg pursed her lips in a silent whistle of amazement. “But why delay? He’s probably had a dozen chances to plant a knife in your back.”
“I’m not that easy to kill. He’d want to make sure his first strike would be fatal. That’s what I would do. Or maybe he’s going after our children, since I went after his.” He tugged on his boots and stomped his feet deeper into them.
“Which is why you want to summon Angrboda sooner rather than later.”
He nodded and stood.
She rose with him, embraced him, kissed him, and stepped back. “Ride swiftly, my husband. Safe may you travel, and safely return. And quickly.”

OUTRO
Well, folks, that was CHAPTER 64 of Kinsmen Die. I hope you enjoyed it.

So that was a quick chapter — perhaps a nice break from the previous ones. Odin’s setting off on his journey to speak with Loki’s dead wife Angrboda.

Frigg would rather he stay until after the Midwinter festival — we’ve been building toward this celebration since the book began — but Odin wants answers now and he says he’ll be back in plenty of time.

He’s also come to believe that Loki is most likely the one responsible for his tampered memories…and that he intends revenge. Which is why he wants answers sooner rather than later. He also doesn’t want to alert Loki that he’s on to him.

The chapter ends with a blessing that Frigg bestows on Odin. It is taken directly from Verse 4 of the Vafthruthnismol — the poem about Odin’s duel of wits with Vafthrudnir.

Here is the Bellows translation:

Frigg spake:
4. "Safe mayst thou go, safe come again,
And safe be the way thou wendest!
Father of men, let thy mind be keen
When speech with the giant thou seekest."

And here is Larrington’s translation:

Verse 4
‘Journey safely! Come back safely! Be safe on the way!
May your mind be sufficient when, Father of Men, you speak with the giant.’

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather my mind be keen versus merely sufficient when dealing with a dangerous foe.

And remember that the word Giant refers to the Jotunn and that a better translation of that word is “those who devour.”

I just really liked Frigg’s blessing and it’s one of the few examples of her directly speaking in the source materials so I included it. Also, Angrboda is a Jotunn so the verse still fits.

Next week, we’re back with Vidar who is still in the tunnels beneath Halsberg on the threshold of the magic, impossible doorway into Utgard.

Until then, if you have the time and inclination, please rate and/or review the podcast — that helps boost the show’s visibility. As does sharing it.
  
As always, I’m going to read from both the Bellows and Larrington translations of the Havamal, the sayings of the High One, Odin himself.

Bellows, Verse 64

The man who is prudent a measured use
Of the might he has will make;
He finds when among the brave he fares
That the boldest he may not be.

Larrington, Verse 64
Every man wise in counsel
should use his power in moderation;
for when he mingles with the brave he finds that no one is boldest of all.

Thanks for listening.