The greatest man who ever lived looked up into the sky one fine day and exclaimed, "Odin! Come down here! I am the greatest man who ever lived, and I have a request of you."
Odin appeared before him presently. "So, you are the greatest man who ever lived? What makes you so?"
The man beamed with pride. "Do you not see this visage? Is this not the greatest visage you have ever laid your eyes upon?"
"Yes, it is a fine visage indeed."
"And this body, is this body of mine not the greatest body of them all, muscular and smooth and perfectly sculpted?"
"Yes, I see it is true that you are the greatest man that has ever lived. What then can I do for you? What have you called me here for?"
"I ask only for what I deserve," the man said. "There are those who do not accept me as the greatest who has ever been, and in a fortnight I shall fight them and kill those who will not see my greatness. And though I am great, I am not immortal. But I know that seeing me, you would see the value in making me so, and I would like you to ask Hel to make me immortal."
Odin smiled knowingly. "I am a God among many Gods, and I have foreseen this request, and so I have asked Hel already, and she has agreed to do so."
The man was happy, and Odin returned to the skies.
A week passed, and once again the greatest man called up to Odin. "Great Odin, come down to me, I beseech you once again! Show yourself before me!"
Odin appeared before him again, ever patient. "Yes, what can I do for you this time?"
The man thought for his words. "As you know, in one week, I shall fight my enemies, those who do not see my greatness. And now, thanks to Hel, I shall live through all travails. But I would ask a further favor: I want you to talk to Thor and the Valkyries and all the Gods and Goddesses in Valhalla and find a sword that will kill all that it touches."
Odin smiled knowingly. "As I have said, I am a God among Gods, and I have presaged your desire." He pulled from his cloths a shiny sword, long and powerful. "This is such a sword. It has killed tens of thousands. It has killed every man it has touched, and it has given every man who holds it all that he deserves."
The man took the sword, and Odin once again departed.
A week had nearly passed when the man’s voice could once again be heard shouting up to the sky. "Odin, come down to me yet once more, I have another thing that I have need of."
Before the man had finished speaking, Odin was standing before him. "Yes, what is it that you want now?" Odin asked pleasantly enough.
"I have gotten immortality, I have gotten the power to destroy what should be destroyed. But know I would like to talk to those among my enemies, to convince possibly some that their lives might be spared. And for this I need your wisdom, that wisdom esteemed above all else, so that I may chose my words wisely."
Odin smiled again. "Once again, I have used my Godly powers to presage what you would want. And so have I prepared it for you." He pulled from his cloths a mirror, and gave it to the man.
The man was outraged. "What mockery is this? A mirror? What sort of wisdom is this?" With this, he threw the mirror down at Odin’s feet, where it shattered. "I shall kill them all, if this is the wisdom you offer, and I shall have no regrets in doing so."
The man turned and stormed from the glade.
The next morning, the man walked into the city square and raised his sword high. "Everyone, listen to me! Before I have said that I am the greatest man that has ever lived, and before you have ignored me. No more! Today you shall accept me as I am or you shall die!"
The people who had heard him speak so laughed and pointed. Enraged, he swung the sword at the first bystander. But the sword was too heavy, and it caught him off guard. He fell to the ground, and the sword fell on top of him, killing him instantly.
He awoke in Niflheim, quite surprised, not only that he was dead, but that he was in Niflheim, and not in Valhalla, with the other great warriors.
Once again, he called upwards: "Great Odin, All-father, I demand to see you one last time, to explain my predicament."
And Odin came striding into the place where the man was. "What is it that you need explained now?"
"How comes it that I am in this place?" asked the man. "I had been given immortality."
"And you have it. Those in you village will laugh of your foolishness forever. Even now their Bards are exaggerating upon the tale."
"And the sword? The sword did not kill anyone."
"Ah, but it did, it killed the only man it touched. For his arrogance, the man who held it got what he deserved."
The man flared. "The mirror, that was the worst of all," the man complained. "What sort of God are you, Great Odin, to treat me so?"
Odin took the mirror out, and it was intact. "This was what you asked for, was it not? Wisdom. Look in it now."
The man did so, and rather than seeing the beautiful face and broad shoulders and perfect chest that he knew he had, he saw a plain face and a plain body to go with it. "I do not understand."
"This mirror shows things as they really are. You relied on the superficial for your greatness, but had developed none within yourself."
"This is too much! And thus has Odin destined me to my fate!"
With this the God shook his head. "Look at me now within the mirror, for you seek wisdom."
The man did so, and in the mirror, it was not Odin standing before him.
It was Loki.
And before the man had a chance to look again, Loki was gone.