06-19-2008, 07:57 AM
[html]
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk42 ... bottom.jpg) no-repeat bottom; width: 450px; border: #666666 1px solid;">
Hooray for references to obscure Norse gods!
The Prince of Fear and the Monster of Niflheim stood face to face. In their Prose Edda, Asgard considered Hel to be the one who guarded Niflheim, the entrance to the underworld. In her monstrous form, she accepted only those who had died deaths unworthy of Valhalla, Odin's hall. She took in the suicides and the aborted children, the men and women who died of old age and disease, who did not defend their lands for the glory of the gods in Asgard, who did not give themselves as sacrifices to Odin, the Allfather. She was half human and half monster, but the black pup who bore her name was beautiful, thick coat dark as the depths of Niflheim and eyes blue as the deep rivers of the Norse lands. In her litter, she was far more beautiful than her brothers, she was the apple of her father's eye.
This puppy wasn't a wolf. She had been mistaken. He was small, scrawny to her eyes and her mind could not tell her what he was. He did it for her. Coyote. The name meant nothing, except that he was no wolf. Then to her he was just like the omegas of her pack, the ranks of Dvergar, those who were used for menial chores and could not rise above their ranks. And to think he was better? She felt like laughing. Better than she who dealt death upon mortals, who guarded the entrance to the land of mists? Oh, such a fool he was.
His pounce caught her off guard and she landed on the damp earth, the little coyote on top of her. Hel's eyes blazed. Not only had she been foolish enough to let him get close, she had let him pin her down. Her. The goddess. The creature all mortals feared. The beautiful one who dealt death on every turn. She snarled, baring her teeth. She would show him. He would beg her to stop, beg her to let him go. And one day, when he would be sick and dying, she would come for him, she the princess, the giver of death and eternal unglory.
Hooray for references to obscure Norse gods!
The Prince of Fear and the Monster of Niflheim stood face to face. In their Prose Edda, Asgard considered Hel to be the one who guarded Niflheim, the entrance to the underworld. In her monstrous form, she accepted only those who had died deaths unworthy of Valhalla, Odin's hall. She took in the suicides and the aborted children, the men and women who died of old age and disease, who did not defend their lands for the glory of the gods in Asgard, who did not give themselves as sacrifices to Odin, the Allfather. She was half human and half monster, but the black pup who bore her name was beautiful, thick coat dark as the depths of Niflheim and eyes blue as the deep rivers of the Norse lands. In her litter, she was far more beautiful than her brothers, she was the apple of her father's eye.
This puppy wasn't a wolf. She had been mistaken. He was small, scrawny to her eyes and her mind could not tell her what he was. He did it for her. Coyote. The name meant nothing, except that he was no wolf. Then to her he was just like the omegas of her pack, the ranks of Dvergar, those who were used for menial chores and could not rise above their ranks. And to think he was better? She felt like laughing. Better than she who dealt death upon mortals, who guarded the entrance to the land of mists? Oh, such a fool he was.
Better? Than she who rules Niflheim? I think not.Gone was the childish lilt to her voice. No, the Monster of Niflheim wasn't kidding around.
His pounce caught her off guard and she landed on the damp earth, the little coyote on top of her. Hel's eyes blazed. Not only had she been foolish enough to let him get close, she had let him pin her down. Her. The goddess. The creature all mortals feared. The beautiful one who dealt death on every turn. She snarled, baring her teeth. She would show him. He would beg her to stop, beg her to let him go. And one day, when he would be sick and dying, she would come for him, she the princess, the giver of death and eternal unglory.