Thor could be tricked by magic. After a long day's travel with Loki and two peasants in the land of the Giants, Thor came to an odd house in which the front door was as wide as the dwelling itself. During the night earthquakes and rumblings forced them from the house into an adjacent shed. When morning came Thor found a sleeping Giant nearby whose snorings and heavings shook the ground. The Giant awoke, told Thor his name was Skrymir, revealed their shelter had been his glove, and offered to accompany the group. Skrymir carried the sack of provisions, and that night when the group sat down to eat the sack could not be opened. Skrymir lay asleep, and in a fury Thor hurled his hammer at the Giant, who awoke and said he felt a leaf had fallen on him. Thor flung his hammer even harder, and this time Skrymir thought he had been hit by an acorn. Utterly enraged, Thor flung the hammer with all his might, only to find that Skrymir thought he had been awakened by bird droppings. Skrymir took his leave of Thor and his comrades the next morning after pointing out their destination, Utgard, and telling them there were tougher fellows than he at Utgard.
Thor, Loki, and the two peasants came to a fortress and had to squeeze through the grilled doorway to enter. There they encountered King Utgardaloki surrounded by Giants. Utgardaloki addressed them scornfully and challenged them to prove their skill in a contest with the Giants present. Loki boasted that he could eat great quantities of food quickly, but in an eating competition with Logi, Loki only devoured a platterful of meat while Logi ate the meat, bones, and plate. Thor's companion, a peasant, said he was swift as lightning and proved it in a race, but his competitor Hugi still outdistanced him. Thor claimed he could drink more than any being alive, but after taking enormous quaffs from a drinking horn the level of liquid was only a small degree lower. Then Utgardaloki tested Thor's strength by having him lift a cat from the floor, but Thor could do no more than lift a paw or two. Finally Thor agreed to wrestle an old woman, and the old woman brought him to one knee. Utgardaloki then gave an account of every humiliating thing that had happened to Thor and his friends, saying that their strength was truly frightening. He himself had been Skrymir, and if he had not protected his head with mountains Thor's hammer would have killed him. Instead, those mountains now had deep ridges. Loki had eaten in a contest with Logi — fire — which devours everything. The peasant had raced with Hugi — thought — the swiftest medium. Thor had drunk from the sea and lowered it a few inches, had tried to lift the Midgard Serpent, and had wrestled with old age. Infuriated at having played the fool, Thor lifted his hammer to slay the enchanter, but Utgardaloki and his castle vanished, leaving Thor and his comrades alone on the plain.
