Mischief on Midgard

An old fable

Once, some several hundred years ago, when both Thor and Loki were very young, they had gone to Midgard. They were for all intents and purposes, stupid teenagers that wanted to prove their 'manhood.'

One visit turned to multiple outings as they went to... well, to hang out with the locals, have fun and be general trouble makers. Neither of them put much thought into their actions, nor what their efforts might result in. To them, both of them, it was all good for a laugh.

At one point, Thor had seen a big, beautiful stag and summarily declared that said stag was going to be his dinner. That it would make a grand meal for a God such as he. He quickly crushed its skull with his hammer and then slung the felled beast over his shoulder. He and Loki then walked to a nearby house where a Midgardian and his family lived.

Thor had laughed and presented them with his big kill, telling them to roast the deer so they could all feast together that night in celebration of a good hunt.

And yet the people who lived in that house had been horrified!

It was a father, living in peace with his son and daughter. His wife, the kids' mother, had passed away not long ago. And, as it turned out, that stag had been special to them. When the stag had been a foal, their late mother had found it with a broken leg and taken care of it, raised it as a faithful pet. Now that she had passed away, they considered the stag a living memory of her love.

When the stag had become an adult, it had come and gone as near-wild creatures often did. It was part of their family regardless. It had, at one point, even saved the father from wild wolves. They owed their father's life to their mother's stag.

They were furious with Thor.

The family demanded compensation. Nothing less than gold would be enough to make up for Thor's 'crime.' Gold enough to cover the entire stag like a burial cairn! Thor and Loki had looked at each other for a long moment before Thor agreed with their demand. His brother opted to stay behind, and he asked Loki to fetch the gold. Loki was not about to ask their father for such a stupid amount of gold, however, nor did Loki wish to give away their misdeed. So instead, he went to the home of one of the Kings living on Midgard.

And then promptly stole a large sack filled with the man's hoarded gold.

It didn't take long for him to return and easily covered the entire stag with the gold.

The family's eyes, which beforehand had been stricken with grief, were now lightning up in pure astonishment, followed by simple greed. So great was this greed, that there was no room whatsoever for their prior sorrow, and they let Thor and Loki go on their way.

"Oh, by the way!" Loki had said as he walked out the door. "You might not want to keep that gold. It's cursed. Whoever owns it will face great misfortune. And I do not just mean the three of you, but your descendants or whoever might be foolish enough to steal it. Anyone who has it will suffer a rather horrible death."

Thor gave Loki an odd look, but Loki just smirked at his brother. The family was too shocked to stop them, and the two were on their way. A little under a hundred years later, Loki and Thor had all but forgotten about said incident. That is until they suddenly stumbled upon the self-same pile of gold that Loki had initially handed over, piled outside the unmoved remains of a now ruined house. A man was standing above it, a mad look in his eyes.

"No, NO!" the man was shaking his head and muttering to himself. "This treasure must be destroyed! It is cursed and cannot be kept! It has brought nothing but death and ruin to my family! Yes, that should work. I shall throw it into the river and return it to the Gods!"