The tale begins in the halls of Asgard, where the thunder god Thor, known for his immense strength and his short temper, grew restless. Accompanied by the trickster Loki and two human servants, Þjálfi and Röskva, Thor decided to journey into Jötunheimr, the land of the giants, to seek adventure and test his might. The journey was long and arduous, leading them through vast, desolate forests and across frozen tundras that seemed to stretch into eternity. The air grew thinner and colder as they approached the borders of the giant-realm, a place where the laws of nature behaved differently than in the lands of men or gods.
As night fell upon the group, they sought shelter in what appeared to be a massive, strangely shaped house. It had a wide opening that took up one entire side of the structure. Inside, there were several smaller chambers. During the night, the earth began to shake with a thunderous rhythm, and the air was filled with a sound like a great gale. Fearful of an earthquake or a collapsing cave, the group retreated into one of the smaller side-rooms. Thor stood guard at the entrance, his hand gripped tightly around the handle of Mjölnir, his divine hammer, ready to strike down whatever beast was causing the disturbance. When dawn broke, they stepped outside and realized they had not been staying in a house at all. They had been sleeping in the thumb-compartment of a gargantuan glove belonging to a giant named Skrymir, who was currently sleeping nearby. Skrymir’s snoring had been the 'earthquake' they heard.
Skrymir offered to guide them to the castle of Utgard. Along the way, Thor’s frustration grew. Each time the giant fell asleep, Thor attempted to kill him with Mjölnir. He struck the giant three times: once on the forehead, once on the crown of the head, and once on the side. Each time, Skrymir would wake up and calmly ask if a leaf, an acorn, or a bit of dust had fallen on him. Thor, usually the most powerful being in the Nine Realms, felt a creeping sense of doubt. His hammer, which could shatter mountains, seemed to have no effect on this wandering giant. They eventually reached the gates of Utgard, a castle so tall that one had to bend their neck completely back just to see the tops of the towers.
Inside the Great Hall, they met Útgarða-Loki, the ruler of the castle. He was a giant of immense stature and sharp wit. He greeted the travelers with mock politeness, stating that no one was permitted to stay in his hall unless they were masters of a craft or a skill. Loki, the first to step forward, claimed he could eat faster than anyone. Útgarða-Loki called upon a servant named Logi to compete against him. A long trough filled with meat was placed between them. Loki ate with incredible speed, reaching the center of the trough in seconds, but Logi had not only eaten all the meat but also the bones and the trough itself. Loki was declared the loser. Next, Þjálfi offered to run a race. He was the fastest of humans, but he was pitted against a small figure named Hugi. In three successive races, Hugi beat Þjálfi so thoroughly that the boy had barely reached the midpoint when Hugi was already turning back from the finish line.
Finally, it was Thor’s turn. He chose a drinking contest, a task he felt certain to win. Útgarða-Loki brought out a long, narrow horn and explained that a truly great drinker could finish it in one draft, though some needed two, and only a weakling would need three. Thor took a massive breath and drank until he thought his lungs would burst, yet when he looked into the horn, the level of the liquid had barely moved. He tried a second time, drinking even more deeply, but the result was the same. A third attempt also failed to empty the vessel. Shamed, Thor agreed to try a simpler task: lifting the giant’s pet cat from the floor. A large grey cat prowled into the center of the hall. Thor reached down, put his back into it, and heaved with all his godly might. Despite his straining muscles, the cat only arched its back, and Thor managed to lift only one of its paws off the floor.
Seeing Thor’s growing rage and humiliation, Útgarða-Loki chuckled and suggested that perhaps Thor was simply too small for their standards. He proposed one final challenge: a wrestling match. Thor, now desperate to prove his worth, demanded an opponent. Útgarða-Loki claimed his warriors would find it insulting to wrestle someone as weak as Thor, so he called for his old foster-mother, an elderly woman named Elli. Thor was insulted, but when the match began, he found to his horror that he could not move the old woman. The harder he pushed, the firmer she stood. Eventually, Elli took the offensive, and no matter how Thor braced himself, he could not resist her. He fell down onto one knee, and the match was called to a halt. Thor was utterly defeated, his pride shattered.
The group stayed the night, treated with hospitality, and prepared to leave the next morning. As they reached the outskirts of the castle, Útgarða-Loki walked with them. Once they were safely outside the gates, the giant’s demeanor changed. He revealed that he had used illusions (sjónhverfingar) to protect his people, for he had been terrified by Thor’s strength. He confessed that he was actually the giant Skrymir from the woods. The three hammer blows Thor had struck had not hit him; instead, Útgarða-Loki had magically placed a mountain range between himself and the hammer. Thor had actually carved three massive, square valleys into the mountainside with those strikes.