Spark [Kathleen_N._Daly]_Norse_Mythology_A_to_Z,_3rd_Edi | Page 76

L 8 L aeding   (L Æ ding )  and heroes, and the stag Eikthyrnir nibbled at its branches. The first of three chains with which the gods tried to muzzle and secure the dangerous wolf Fenrir. Laeding and the second chain, Dromi, were made of ordinary metal, and Fenrir broke them easily. Only the magical third chain, Gleipner, was strong enough to hold the wolf. Fenrir remained chained until the time of Ragnarok, the battle that brought an end to the world of the gods. The story is preserved by Snorri Sturluson in G ylfaginning . landvaettir   (L andv Æ ttir ;   Land Wights)  Spirits that protected the land (that is, the soil or ground). According to stories, huge crowds of Landvaettir might inhabit a place. They were invis- ible to people unless someone looked very closely in the right light at the right time. A law in Iceland prohibited ships with dragonhead carvings on their bows from coming toward shore in case the huge monsters frightened away the Landvaettir. These wights (creatures that are neither mortals nor gods) are similar to land elves, though more connected to the soil than to an area. L aerad   (L Æ rad )  The great tree around which odin’s hall, Valhalla, was built. The goat Heidrun, who produced an endless supply of mead for the gods L andvidi   (V idi ;   Wide Land)  The land in which the silent god Vidar made his home. Accord- ing to the poem G rminismal , the land was filled with growing trees, branches, and tall grasses. Some scholars suggest that it was a clearing in a forest and that Vidar himself was a forest deity who lived in the silence of the deep forest. L aufey   (Tree Island)  A giantess and mother of Loki, whose father, Farbauti, was also a giant. Some stories say Laufey gave birth to Loki when a lightning bolt thrown by Farbauti struck her. Laufey apparently did not raise Loki, since Icelandic author Snorri Stu