Thundering Silence

The black clouds gather suddenly, sending their ominous message to those below.  Stillness envelops the earth's surface, a precursor of what is to come.  One drop and then two, turns into a heavy drizzle.  The winds pick up, and thunder rolls just over the next hill.  Now the rain falls, like it is coming from billions of buckets.  The wind speed increases, and whips the rain so it flows sideways.  That thunder is no longer over the next hill, but is here, making itself known.  It's explosive crack sounds like artillery fire and it shakes the ground.  Lightning now accompanies the thunder and illuminates not just the sky above but the ground below, leaving some with the feeling that they are living in a black and white horror movie.  The fierce wind, thunder, and lightning make a few folk think that Wodan is off on his Wild Hunt and Thor is slaying giants.  Young children cling to their mother's breast while the family hound refuses to go outside to relieve himself; it is enough to make the "great Charlemagne" tremble with fear.  It seems like it will never end but it is over as quickly as it began. And then, there is nothing but the stillness of silence.   

This is a Gulf Coast Texas spring storm.  Fortunate are those who can appreciate this Thundering Silence, what it brings, what it means, and what it can become.    

                                                   copyright @2015 Terry Unger     

Stories I Tell My Grandchildren - #2...... Thor and His Goats

Stories I Tell My Grandchildren - #2

Thor and His Goats

An Adaptation of Northern Lore For The Young

“Pop,” Mason asked, “Will you tell me another story about Thor?”  It was a rainy Sunday in Texas, and Northern Winds put a chill into the air. 

 

“Sure,” I said with a bit of caution.  The new Thor movie had just been released amid much fanfare and I was positive that the little guy had some questions.  I attempted to head off the questions with what I knew. 

“First things should always be first, Mason.  The real Thor has red hair and a bushy red beard, not blonde.  He is ruggedly handsome; Thor does not look like a clean-shaven, male fashion model.  Daddy Odin never kicked him out of Asgard and Sif is his loving wife, not a movie character who looks like a cross between Wonder Woman and Zina, Warrior Princess.  Plus, Sif is blonde!” 

“But Pop,” Mason strained, with a question stuck in this throat, “Why is the movie wrong?”   

“Well Mason, it’s not as much as the movie being wrong as it is about money.  The people who made the movie know what sells at the box-office.  They know that a blonde, clean-shaven guy appeals to more people than a big, red headed dude with a beard.  So, they put on the movie screen what people want to see.” 

“And they make more money?” 

“Yes Mason, a lot of money.”  

“So they make a lot of money by telling the wrong story?” 

“Well, they really make a lot of money by showing people what they want to see – the truth doesn’t matter.”    

The little guy had a puzzled look on his face; he’s only five years old.  When I told him that he would understand better when he was older, his puzzled look changed to a blank stare.  That did not last long. 

He laughed with delight as he said, “Thor really flies good with his hammer!” 

Again, I had to burst a movie-made bubble.  “Mason, Thor does not use his hammer to fly.  He uses his hammer to smash trolls and giants.  When he throws his hammer so it can do its’ work, it always comes back to him.” 

“But Pop, how does Thor fly?  Does he use an airplane?”  You just have to love five year olds. 

When I stopped smiling, I casually said, “When our friend Thor needs to fly, he uses his cart, pulled by his two goats.” 

“A cart and two goats?  Like the goats we saw at the neighbor’s farm?” 

“Thor’s goats are very special, Mason.  They are much bigger and stronger than what we saw the other day at the farm.  Well, they have to be if they lug Thor around the Multiverse in his cart!  And, they look more like mountain rams, with big, curled horns.” 

“Do Thor’s goats have names?”  

“Yes they do!  Thor calls them Toothnasher and Toothgrinder.  And, he is very protective of his magical goats.” 

“The goats are magical Pop?” 

“Absolutely Mason!  As I said before, they have to be magically strong so they can pull Thor around in his cart and take him where he needs to go.  And when he gets hungry, his goats help him.” 

“The goats go to Kroger and get stuff for Thor to eat?” 

“No Mason, but that would be a neat trick!  Let me tell you a story and you will understand.  Long ago, Thor was out and about within the Multiverse on Asgard business.  And of course, Toothgrinder and Toothnasher were with him, pulling his cart.  He stopped in Midgard for the night and was very hungry.  So, he ate one of his goats, and carefully laid out the bones, so he could bring it back to life in the morning; this was another way his goats help him.  Thor did this many times and always was successful bringing the goat back to life; they were perfect.  He just put his hammer over the bones, said a word or two, and there was his goat, healthy and sturdy as before.  But on that particular morning, things did not happen in the usual way.”  I paused to take a sip of my adult beverage. 

“What happened Pop?” 

When I put down my glass, I continued.  “As soon as his goat came back to life, Thor noticed that the goat was lame; the poor guy could hardly walk and running was out of the question.  Our big red-bearded guy was very angry; he knew that somebody messed around with the bones when he was sleeping.  Soon, Thor discovered that a little boy and girl had played with the bones – they were about your age!  So, he ate the goat again, laid out the bones in the proper manner, and brought the goat back to life.  His goat was perfect, as it was supposed to be.  Then, he scooped up the boy and girl, put them into his cart, and went to his home in Asgard.”  Again, another pause for a sip of my beverage; I knew what was coming. 

“Pop,” Mason asked, “Did Thor hurt the little boy and girl?” 

“No, but he wanted to teach them a lesson.  Thankfully for those two kids, Thor talked over his plan with his wife, Sif.  Sif thought that Thor’s plan was too harsh and convinced him to let her deal with the kids.  She put the boy and girl to work, doing some minor chores around their home in Asgard.  So tell me Mason, did you learn anything from this story?” 

“Ah…….not to play with stuff that’s not yours ‘cause you will get into trouble?”   

“Yes, that’s it.” 

“Pop, can you tell me a story about Sif, Thor’s wife?” 

“I have the perfect story for you but that will have to wait for another time.  Now, it’s nap time.”

 

“Awh Pop!”

Copyright @2013 Terry Unger

                     

       

Stories I Tell My Grandchildren #1

Stories I Tell My Grandchildren    #1

Thor and the Walls of Asgard

An Adaptation for the Young from the Northern Lore

Thor is a great guy and not a comic book character!  He has red, shaggy hair and beard and is one of our oldest ancestors.  That makes him a member of our family.  He has a mighty hammer and a belt of power that he wears around his waist.  Thor lives in a place called Asgard with his father Odin and more of our older ancestors or, relatives.  Just think of them as older brothers and sisters, or aunts and uncles!  Asgard is a large and very bright city surrounded by high walls.  These walls protect Asgard from its enemies, the mountain and frost giants.  And, Thor’s main job is to protect Asgard and our home Earth or, Midgard from these nasty giant’s violent forces. 

Unfortunately, like all families, a quarrel between our older family members happened very long ago.  Some of our older family members who lived in Asgard and some other family members, who lived just a little ways from Asgard in Vanaheim, quarreled, argued, and got into a big fight.  It was nasty.  Finally, father Odin realized that it was dumb for the family to fight and they all made up, and promised to never fight among themselves again!  But, there was much damage to Asgard. 

Most of Asgard’s walls were knocked down; that left Asgard almost unguarded from the giants.  As our relatives were discussing how to repair the walls, a stone mason, his cart, and his big black stallion arrived.  The mason offered to repair the walls in a short time but the price for his work was expensive.  If he finished on or before the agreed time, he would have beautiful Freya as his wife, and the Sun and Moon as his possessions!  If he did not complete the job, he received no pay!  Our family huddled together and thought that the mason’s offer was silly; no way could he finish the job.  One man, they thought, could not do all that work!  So, they took the mason up on his offer; Freya, the Sun, and the Moon were safe.  Or so they thought.  You see, the mason was a crafty mountain giant in disguise and he had a magical plan.  Thor was not at home.  He was off somewhere bashing ugly trolls.  The disguised giant began his work the very next morning. 

This giant was very tricky.  His big, black stallion was magical, and carried and pulled many more large stones than a normal horse; together, the giant and the horse moved and put into place the large stones with ease.  Soon, it was obvious to our relatives that the mason had tricked them and he would finish long before the deadline.  What should we do, they said to themselves?  Freya is lost to marriage and we really need our Sun and Moon!  But our relatives were not without their own magic! 

Loki, a tricky magician and a sometimes friend of our relatives, just happened to be visiting Asgard that day and had a plan.  He changed himself into a beautiful mare, a female horse, and ran out to play with the stallion.  The two horses ran and played together for days.  This prevented the giant mason from finishing his task on time.  The giant then knew that he had been tricked and became very angry.  In his anger, he changed into his true self – a mountain giant!  When our old relatives saw that the stone mason was really a mountain giant, they shouted out to Thor to come home. 

When Thor heard his family calling out to him, he stopped bashing trolls and quickly returned to Asgard.  Then Thor saw that the giant was about to fight with his family.  He threw his mighty hammer at the giant; it found its mark and returned to his hand.  The giant broke into smaller pieces of rock; that giant never bothered our relatives again!  Thanks to Thor, Freya, the Sun, and the Moon were saved! 

The next time that you see a pile of rocks in the forest, fields, or by the roadside, maybe that’s where Thor bashed a giant! 

                                     

                                           Copyright @2013 Terry Unger