Sigyn gets comfortable with Narvi at her side, and takes the golden book in her hands. She is comforted to feel him snuggled up next to her, eager to get started. Having grown up in the servants' quarters, Sigyn never had the chance to explore the palace library, though she had heard that the books there were magical in many ways.
"And what is this book about, my love?"
"It's about a snake!"
"Ooo, a snake, and does it come out and...eat you?!" Sigyn tickles Narvi, laughing with him, just as she hears Vali shriek in play outside the door. It seems he found his father and will not be disturbing them after all. She purses her lips in a puffy smile, grinning through her eyes at the boy, and opens the cover.
The room is suddenly filled with the faint roar of a running waterfall. Sigyn is mesmerized by the sight of the background, a gorgeous outdoor scene, moving like a mirage, slowly spelling out words in the grass: "Worthy Penalty." She finds it a little strange for a book about nature, but turns the page for her son.
This next page is covered in old rune writing, which she has not yet taught to the boys, and so is not surprised that Narvi wouldn't try to read the story to her instead. She scans the text for an idea to paraphrase the book so that they might enjoy the moving pictures.
"Let's see... now, you must forgive me little one, for I am a little rusty with this language. But it looks like this is a story about a bad man, who tried to steal something that didn't belong to him. They call him 'Jofleik,' which means 'Thief of Games.'"
"What do you think he stole, mother?"
"I don't know, you have to let me keep reading, love!" She kisses Narvi on the head and turns the page.
This next illustration takes Sigyn aback. Standing in clear and unmistakable likeness is The Allfather. There are no runes on this page except the name, and the only movement from the figure is the wave of his hair. His eye looks menacing, but familiar and accurate. He looks slightly younger; Sigyn doesn't consider that this story might have occurred at a time that she would personally remember.
"Do you recognize him, Narvi? That's Odin, the Allfather. They spell it in the old language here, 'Woden.' You've met him a couple of times in the Judgment Hall." Narvi nods to her in affirmation. She turns the page again.
Now, this page paints a different picture of the Allfather, one who is angry and surrounded by red. He looks to be giving orders, angrily. A moving picture on the opposite page is one of people being dragged into the dungeon, with tears streaming down their faces. The guards look at him with fear. Sigyn reads the runes.
"This language is more complicated here. The story says that Odin was taken over by the thief, and made him cruel. See this picture? It shows that he is punishing the innocent. It looks like the thief tried to steal the throne so that he could be an evil ruler."
"So, the bad king hurts people who didn't do anything?"
"Yes, Narvi. We should never hurt others, and you should never hurt anyone. Not even if you think they deserve it. We should teach, not punish. Understand?"
"Yes, mother."
Sigyn keeps reading, happy that her son seems to have picked up a book with a moral. The page after shows the Allfather again, the one with a kinder eye, this time sitting on the throne. A prisoner is being presented in front of him. The man looks small, weak, and skinny. His head hangs forward, hidden from the illustration, but the picture itself shows the man being whipped. She again reads the runes.
"Now, they have found the thief, and he is being justly punished. But remember what I just told you, Narvi, we shouldn't punish those who do wrong without teaching them first. And the runes say that this man was caught stealing many times, and this was his last warning."
"And now they take him to the snake!"
"And, yes, now I'm sure they take him to the snake." Sigyn isn't aware of her own words when the turns the page, now tired of trying to translate the old language, which even she herself is not very familiar with. She absent-mindedly looks at the runes before acknowledging the small picture in the corner that leads to the next page. In the fancy script, meant to represent a song of sorts, only a few words are actually recognizable to her.
Sigyn takes her finger and places it on the page, trying to pull them out of the poem. She says them aloud.
"Jofleik... that one's Leik again. It's about the thief. This next one here rhymes, Lich, that means dead. So the song is about his death. And another line down, Lokii. Or, close to Lokke. I don't know the name as an old word, but it must be one. Maybe that's what your father was named after. I bet it means 'air,' like going to the spirit world in the sky." Sigyn tries to guess the meter of the song and has Narvi repeat the three words with her. "Leik, Lich, Lokke. Very good, Narvi. And now we go to the snake..."
Sigyn stops, having dragged her finger across the page far enough to see that the next page is beckoned with scales of a snake: a pattern that she knows too well. A pattern that she wishes she didn't.
Sigyn's heart beats loudly in her ears. The three words from the song that she knows now echo in her head. She says them in her mind again, Leik, Lich, Lokke. It isn't a word. Oh, Frigga. It's a name.
"Oh, no," she slowly says aloud, not brave enough to turn the page. Vali yells something about frost giants in the other room, startling them. Sigyn looks at Narvi sternly.
"You are not to touch this book again," and slams it closed, hurrying in to her husband.