The Allfather leaves Asgard

TWO ravens had Wotan All-Father; Hugin and Munin were their names; they flew through all the worlds every day, and coming back to Asgard they would light on Wotan's shoulders and tell him of all the things they had seen and heard. And once a day passed without the ravens coming back. Then Wotan, standing on the Watch-Tower Hlidskjalf, said to himself:

I fear me for Hugin,
Lest he come not back,
but I watch more for Munin.

A day passed and the ravens flew back. They sat, one on each of his shoulders. Then did the All-Father go into the Council Hall that was beside Glasir, the wood that had leaves of gold, and harken to what Hugin and Munin had to tell him.
They told him only of shadows and forebodings. Wotan All-Father did not speak to the Dwellers in Asgard of the things they told him. But Frigga, his Queen, saw in his eyes the shadows and forebodings of things to come. And when he spoke to her about these things she said, "Do not strive against what must take place. Let us go to the holy Norns who sit by Urd's Well and see if the shadows and the forebodings will remain when you have looked into their eyes."
And so it came that Wotan and the Gods left Asgard and came to Urd's Well, where, under the great root of Ygdrassil, the three Norns sat, with the two fair swans below them. Wotan went, and Tyr, the great swordsman, and Baldur, the most beautiful and the Best-Beloved of the Gods, and Thor, with his Hammer.
A Rainbow Bridge went from Asgard, the City of the Gods, to Midgard, the World of Men. But another Rainbow Bridge, more beautiful and more tremulous still, went from Asgard to that root of Ygdrassil under which was Urd's Well. This Rainbow Bridge was seldom seen by men. And where the ends of the two rainbows came together Heimdall stood, Heimdall with the Golden Teeth, the Watcher for the Gods, and the Keeper of the Way to Urd's Well.
"Open the gate, Heimdall," said the All-Father, "open the gate, for today the Gods would visit the holy Norns."
Without a word Heimdall opened wide the gate that led to that bridge more colored and more tremulous than any rainbow seen from earth. Then did Wotan and Tyr and Baldur step out on the bridge. Thor followed, but before his foot was placed on the bridge, Hemidall laid his hand upon him.
"The others may go, but you may not go that way, Thor," said Hemidall.
"What? Would you, Hemidall, hold me back?" said Thor.
"Yes, for I am Keeper of the Way to the Norns," said Heimdall. "You with the mighty hammer you carry are too heavy for this way. The bridge I guard would break under you, Thor with the hammer."
"Nevertheless I will go visit the Norns with Wotan and my comrades," said Thor.
"But not this way, Thor," said Heimdall. "I will not let the bridge be broken under the weight of you and your hammer. Leave your hammer here with me if you would go this way."
"No, no," said Thor. "I will not leave in any one's charge the hammer that defends Asgard. And I may not be turned back from going with Wotan and my comrades."
"There is another way to Urd's Well," said Heimdall. "Behold these two great Cloud Rivers, Körmt and Ermt. Canst thou wade through them? They are cold and suffocating, but they will bring thee to Urd's Well, where sit the three holy Norns."
Thor looked out on the two great rolling rivers of Cloud. It was a bad way for one to go, cold and suffocating. Yet if he went that way he could keep on his shoulder the hammer which he would not leave in another's charge. He stepped out into the Cloud River that flowed by the Rainbow Bridge, and with his hammer upon his shoulder he went struggling on to the other river.
Wotan, Tyr, and Baldur were beside Urd's Well when Thor came struggling out of the Cloud River, wet and choking, but with his hammer still upon his shoulder. There stood Tyr, upright and handsome, leaning on his sword that was inscribed all over with magic runes; there stood Baldur, smiling, with his head bent as he listened to the murmur of the two fair swans; and there stood Wotan All-Father, clad in his blue cloak fringed with golden stars, without the eagle-helmet upon his head, and with no spear in his hands.
The three Norns, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, sat beside the well that was in the hollow of the great root of Ygdrassil. Urd was ancient and with white hair, and Verdandi was beautiful, while Skuld could hardly be seen, for she sat far back, and her hair fell over her face and eyes. Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld; they knew the whole of the Past, the whole of the Present, and the whole of the Future. Wotan, looking on them, saw into the eyes of Skuld even. Long, long he stood looking on the Norns with the eyes of a God, while the others listened to the murmur of the swans and the falling of the leaves of Ygdrassil into Urd's Well.
Looking into their eyes, Wotan saw the shadows and forebodings that Hugin and Munin told him of take shape and substance. And now others came across the Rainbow Bridge. They were Frigga and Sif and Nanna, the wives of Wotan and Thor and Baldur. Frigga looked upon--the Norns. As she did, she turned a glance of love and sadness upon Baldur, her son, and then she drew back and placed her hand upon Nanna's head.
Wotan turned from gazing on the Norns, and looked upon Frigga, his queenly wife. "I would leave Asgard for a while, wife of Wotan," he said.
"Yea," said Frigga. "Much has to be done in Midgard, the World of Men."
"I would change what knowledge I have into wisdom," said Wotan, "so that the things that are to happen will be changed into the best that may be."
"You would go to Mimir's Well," said Frigga.
"I would go to Mimir's Well," said Wotan.
"My husband, go," said Frigga.
Then they went back over that Rainbow Bridge that is more beautiful and more tremulous than the one that men see from the earth; they went back over the Rainbow Bridge, the Æsir and the Asyniur, Wotan and Frigga, Baldur and Nanna, Tyr, with his sword, and Sif beside Tyr. As for Thor, he went struggling through the Cloud Rivers Körmt and Emit, his hammer Miölnir upon his shoulder.
Little Hnossa, the youngest of the Dwellers in Asgard, was there, standing beside Heimdall, the Watcher for the Gods and the Keeper of the Bridge to Urd's Well, when Wotan All-Father and Frigga, his Queen, went through the great gate with heads bent. "Tomorrow," Hnossa heard Wotan say, "Tomorrow I shall be Vegtam the Wanderer upon the ways of Midgard and Jötunheim."

Gerda, I will curse thee;
Yes, with this magic
Blade I shall touch thee;
Such is its power
That, like a thistle,
Withered 'twill leave thee,
Like a thistle the wind
Strips from the roof.

Hearing these terrible words and the strange hissings of the magic sword, Gerda threw herself on the ground, crying out for pity. But Skirnir stood above her, and the magic sword flashed and hissed over her. Skirnir sang:

More ugly I'll leave thee
Than maid ever was;
Thou wilt be mocked at
By men and by Giants;
A Dwarf only will wed thee;
Now on this instant
With this blade I shall touch thee,
And leave thee bespelled.

She lifted herself on her knees and cried out to Skirnir to spare her from the spell of the magic sword.
"Only if thou wilt give thy love to Freyr," said Skirnir.
"I will give my love to him," said Gerda. "Now put up thy magic sword and drink a cup of mead and depart from Gymer's dwelling."
"I will not drink a cup of your mead nor shall I depart from Gymer's dwelling until you yourself say that you will meet and speak with Freyr."
"I will meet and speak with him," said Gerda.
"When will you meet and speak with him?" asked Skirnir.
"In the wood of Barri nine nights from this. Let him come and meet me there."
Then Skirnir put up his magic sword and drank the cup of mead that Gerda gave him. He rode from Gymer's house, laughing aloud at having won Gerda for Freyr, and so making the magic sword his own for ever.
Skirnir the Venturesome, the heedless of his Words, riding across Bifröst on his mighty horse, found Freyr standing waiting for him beside Heimdall, the Warder of the Bridge to Asgard.
"What news dost thou bring me?" cried Freyr. "Speak, Skirnir, before thou dost dismount from thine horse."
"In nine nights from this thou mayst meet Gerda in Barri Wood," said Skirnir. He looked at him, laughing out of his wide mouth and his blue eyes. But Freyr turned away, saying to himself:

Long is one day;
Long, long two.
Can I live through
Nine long days?

Long indeed were these days for Freyr. But the ninth day came, and in the evening Freyr went to Barri Wood. And there he met Gerda, the Giant maid. She was as fair as when he had seen her before the door of Gymer's house. And when she saw Freyr, so tall and noble looking, the Giant's daughter was glad that Skirnir the Venturesome had made her promise to come to Barri Wood. They gave each other rings of gold. It was settled that the Giant maid should come as a bride to Asgard.
Gerda came, but another Giant maid came also. This is how that came to be:
All the Dwellers in Asgard were standing before the great gate, waiting to welcome the bride of Freyr. There appeared a Giant maid who was not Gerda; all in armor was she.
"I am Skadhi," she said, "the daughter of Thiassi. My father met his death at the hands of the Dwellers in Asgard. I claim a recompense."
"What recompense would you have, maiden?" asked Wotan, smiling to see a Giant maid standing so boldly in Asgard.
"A husband from amongst you, even as Gerda. And I myself must be let choose him."
All laughed aloud at the words of Skadhi. Then said Wotan, laughing, "We will let you choose a husband from amongst us, but you must choose him by his feet."
"I will choose him whatever way you will," said Skadhi, fixing her eyes on Baldur, the most beautiful of all the Dwellers in Asgard.
They put a bandage round her eyes, and the Æsir and the Vanir seat in a half circle around, As she went by she stooped over each and laid hands upon their feet. At last she came to one whose feet were so finely formed that she felt sure it was Baldur. She stood up and said:
"This is the one that Skadhi chooses for her husband."
Then the Æsir and the Vanir laughed more and more. They took the bandage off her eyes and she saw, not Baldur the Beautiful, but Niörd, the father of Freyr. But as Skadhi looked more and more on Niörd she became more and more contented with her choice; for Niörd was strong, and he was noble looking.
These two, Niörd and Skadhi, went first to live in Niörd's palace by the sea; but the coming of the sea mew would waken Skadhi too early in the morning, and she drew her husband to the mountaintop where she was more at home. He would not live long away from the sound of the sea. Back and forward, between the mountain and the sea, Skadhi and Niörd went. But Gerda stayed in Asgard with Freyr, her husband, and the Æsir and the Vanir came to love greatly Gerda, the Giant maid.