Grind Your Bones
Giants aren’t the most popular
neighbors. They tend to be a little selfish, keeping golden-egg
laying geese and magic harps to themselves. In Norse mythology, a
giant called a jotun (or Jötunn) is literally made of ice or stone
(depending on the season, I guess). Frost giants are far more popular
in games and fantasy books. They got a big screen treatment in the movie, "Thor," and the uncoming sequel. We discover that Thor's brother, Loki, is half-jotun. There’s just something chilling about a
giant made of ice. Since the scene which has the jotun is spring, I
went with the stone giants. They could also use the press.
Originally, in Norse mythology, the
jotuns live in Jotunheim (well, duh!). The Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/norse/articles.html)
says:
Jotunheim is one of the nine worlds,
the homeland of the frost and rock giants. Situated in Midgard, on
the middle level of the Norse universe, Jotunheim is separated from
Asgard by the river Iving, which never freezes over. It lies in the
snowy regions on the outermost shores of the ocean. Mimir's well of
wisdom is in Jotunheim, beneath the Midgard root of the ash tree
Yggdrasil.
I’m not much more enlightened, but
who doesn’t love a big, bad giant roaring in to cause havoc? When
Kat and Rune meet up with the jotun, she finds that her ability to
communicate with animals grows stronger the further away she travels
from Galdorheim Island.
Excerpt from Bad Spelling:
The path was clearly magical. The
foliage, although wild and unkempt, glowed with greenery and flowers.
Giant mushrooms, some the size of dinner plates, sprouted under the
bushes. Birds twittered in the trees. Kat ducked as a bumblebee as
big as her fist droned past her head on its way to another blossom.
Here it was spring, just like on Galdorheim under the shield.
Kat pulled off her parka and draped it
over her knapsack. Rune soon did the same, even though his tolerance
for extreme temperatures was usually much higher than Kat’s. They
were strolling along, enjoying the warmth, the flowers, and the buzz
of the bees, when Kat looked up to see an eagle riding an updraft in
a lazy circle above them. “Look!” Kat pointed. Rune glanced up at
the bird.
“Interesting…not! C’mon, Kat,
it’s just an eagle,” he replied.
Kat looked down at her feet and
mumbled, “I thought it was interesting.”
A few moments later, Rune stopped
abruptly, holding up his hand.
“Shhh! Do you hear something?”
Kat listened but heard only chirps and
buzzing. “No, but your hearing is better than mine.”
Rune turned slowly in place, trying to
home in on the sound. Kat watched, puzzled.
The hillside by the path trembled then
heaved upward. Dirt and rocks flew through the air. The shaking earth
knocked Kat backward. She plopped onto her behind with a yelp, ducked
her head, and covered it with her arms to fend off flying gravel.
Peeking out from beneath her upraised arms, Kat's eyes widened, and
her mouth dropped open. In front of her, the shaking earth rose and
unfolded. Then a monstrous glob of rocks and dirt rose higher and
higher into the air. Two huge boulders blinked at her. Kat screamed.
A gaping mouth appeared beneath the eyes, and a monstrous nose jerked
and wriggled its way to a place between the eyes and mouth.
Rune grabbed her arm, jerking her to
her feet. “It’s a giant! Run! Run!”
Kat sprinted after Rune, who quickly
outpaced her, as the giant continued to grow and take shape from the
rocks and earth. Kat risked a quick glance over her shoulder. A
horrendous, rocky fist swung in a downward arc, its target
appallingly clear. She tried to force her flying feet to move even
faster, hoping to outrace that ponderous, clenched hand. She looked
up to see the eagle plummeting downward, its wings folded against its
sides. Kat aimed a thought at the eagle. “Help me!” The
eagle flared its wings and stopped abruptly in midair. It then turned
and flew away. She was disappointed but not surprised when the eagle
left. No use. She picked up her feet and raced after Rune.
A wild, high-pitched screech split the
air. Kat looked back again. She gasped in surprise, stumbled, and
almost fell. Flailing her arms and digging in her heels, she managed
to stop upright. She stared with unbelieving eyes as a flock of
eagles, dozens of them, circled the monstrous form. The birds dived
at the thing’s head, distracting it from its intended victims—her
and Rune.
The giant swung its huge hand, batting
at the eagles, trying to drive them away. The big raptors easily
evaded the lumbering blows. Kat watched as the eagles dove again and
again, buffeting the creature’s head with their wings, pecking at
its eyes and threatening with their outstretched talons. She wondered
how they could possibly hurt stone eyes, but the giant seemed to
think they could. It shriveled downward, shedding rocks and dirt as
it collapsed. Down and down it went, melding back into the earthen
hillside that spawned it.
The eagles flew in a wide gyre around
the hillside, preventing the giant from reforming. One of the birds
veered away from the flock and flew down to Kat. It landed gracefully
on a boulder beside the path. Folding wings and settling feathers, it
cocked its head and regarded her with a fierce, yellow gaze.
“Thank you,” Kat gasped, fighting
to catch her breath. “Thank you so much!” The great bird dipped
its head in what could only be an acknowledgment. Then it spread its
wings, uttered a soft “Kkkreeeee,” and launched itself into the
air, climbing away with long, powerful beats of its wings.
Rune shut his open mouth and then gasped, “You did it again! Do you believe me now?”
Rune shut his open mouth and then gasped, “You did it again! Do you believe me now?”
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