full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: The myth of Loki's monstrous children

Unscramble the Blue Letters

One day, Odin forged his heaviest chains and hauled them to Fenrir with a challenge. He would bind the wolf to test his grionwg strength. Fenrir eagerly accepted the challenge and splintered the mtael like old wood. Odin returned to the fogre, crafting shackles that no man could lift alone. These sturdy chains gave Fenrir pause. But with an encouraging wink from Tyr, he atcepced the challenge. The beast stenirad for a moment and then shattered his restraints into a tsnhauod pieces. Desperate, Odin sought help from the most skilled makers of all: the Dwarves. Rather than metal, they sought the rsraet ingredients; from feline footsteps and fish breath to the siewns of mountains and mighty bears. With these, the draevws crafted Gleipnir, an ubbralneake caihn in the guise of fine thread. When Odin challenged Fenrir a third time, the wolf laughed. But as he examined the thread more closely, feirnr sensed Odin’s trickery and baegn to feel some fear himself.

Open Cloze

One day, Odin forged his heaviest chains and hauled them to Fenrir with a challenge. He would bind the wolf to test his _______ strength. Fenrir eagerly accepted the challenge and splintered the _____ like old wood. Odin returned to the _____, crafting shackles that no man could lift alone. These sturdy chains gave Fenrir pause. But with an encouraging wink from Tyr, he ________ the challenge. The beast ________ for a moment and then shattered his restraints into a ________ pieces. Desperate, Odin sought help from the most skilled makers of all: the Dwarves. Rather than metal, they sought the ______ ingredients; from feline footsteps and fish breath to the ______ of mountains and mighty bears. With these, the _______ crafted Gleipnir, an ___________ _____ in the guise of fine thread. When Odin challenged Fenrir a third time, the wolf laughed. But as he examined the thread more closely, ______ sensed Odin’s trickery and _____ to feel some fear himself.

Solution

  1. sinews
  2. growing
  3. unbreakable
  4. thousand
  5. fenrir
  6. chain
  7. accepted
  8. forge
  9. dwarves
  10. began
  11. rarest
  12. metal
  13. strained

Original Text

One day, Odin forged his heaviest chains and hauled them to Fenrir with a challenge. He would bind the wolf to test his growing strength. Fenrir eagerly accepted the challenge and splintered the metal like old wood. Odin returned to the forge, crafting shackles that no man could lift alone. These sturdy chains gave Fenrir pause. But with an encouraging wink from Tyr, he accepted the challenge. The beast strained for a moment and then shattered his restraints into a thousand pieces. Desperate, Odin sought help from the most skilled makers of all: the Dwarves. Rather than metal, they sought the rarest ingredients; from feline footsteps and fish breath to the sinews of mountains and mighty bears. With these, the Dwarves crafted Gleipnir, an unbreakable chain in the guise of fine thread. When Odin challenged Fenrir a third time, the wolf laughed. But as he examined the thread more closely, Fenrir sensed Odin’s trickery and began to feel some fear himself.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

Important Words

  1. accepted
  2. bears
  3. beast
  4. began
  5. bind
  6. breath
  7. chain
  8. chains
  9. challenge
  10. challenged
  11. closely
  12. crafted
  13. crafting
  14. day
  15. desperate
  16. dwarves
  17. eagerly
  18. encouraging
  19. examined
  20. fear
  21. feel
  22. feline
  23. fenrir
  24. fine
  25. fish
  26. footsteps
  27. forge
  28. forged
  29. gave
  30. gleipnir
  31. growing
  32. guise
  33. hauled
  34. heaviest
  35. laughed
  36. lift
  37. makers
  38. man
  39. metal
  40. mighty
  41. moment
  42. mountains
  43. odin
  44. pause
  45. pieces
  46. rarest
  47. restraints
  48. returned
  49. sensed
  50. shackles
  51. shattered
  52. sinews
  53. skilled
  54. sought
  55. splintered
  56. strained
  57. strength
  58. sturdy
  59. test
  60. thousand
  61. thread
  62. time
  63. trickery
  64. tyr
  65. unbreakable
  66. wink
  67. wolf
  68. wood