"Edmond Hamilton - The Monsters of Juntonheim" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

Bring me not home,


Lest Ragnarok come.


A chill rippled through me, as though even the translation of those ancient runes could terrify me.
Impatiently I shook off the feeling.


What does all that stuff about the Aesir and Loki mean? I asked.


The Aesir were the ancient Norse gods, eternally youthful and powerful. Ruled by Odin, they lived in
the fabled city of Asgard. Loki turned against them. With his two familiars, the monstrous wolf Fenris
and the great Midgard serpent, Loki joined the Jotuns, the giant enemies of the gods. The gods finally
managed to chain Loki, his wolf and his serpent. But it was predicted that if Loki ever broke his bonds,
that would bring about Ragnarok the doom of the Aesir.


Bring me not home, lest Ragnarok come, he quoted. This key claims to be the one with which Loki
and his pets were locked up. Probably some ancient Norse priest made it to 'prove' the old myths, was
shipwrecked and lost it in the sea.

I don't get it, Bray complained. What made you tell me to let down my trawl in just that spot, Keith?

When I picked up the gold cylinder, a current of queer power ran up my arm. Somehow it seemed to
warn me to drop it back into the sea. But I didn't obey, for something alien commanded me to keep the
rune key.


Can I study this for a few days? I asked abruptly. I'll take good care of it.

I didn't know you had archaeological tastes, Masters, Dubman said, astonished. But you were
responsible for finding it, so you can keep it awhile. Don't lose it, though, or I'll skin you.

Through the little ring on one end of the cylinder, I passed a cord and hung it around my neck. It was
cold against my skin cold and menacing, persistently warning...


Naturally I tried to convince myself that I just wasn't the superstitious type. Besides my thirty years of
disciplining myself to examine even obvious truths, and my towering height of lean muscle, I have
inherited the canny skepticism of my Scottish ancestors. Anyhow, a scientist couldn't admit the existence
of the supernatural. Like most other physicists, I claimed there were still a lot of forces which science
hasn't had time to investigate yet. When it does, there will be no room for superstition, for belief in the
supernatural is merely ignorance of natural laws.