Auden’s Blessing
he said, “a little girl like you doesn’t have much ability anyway. Don’t come back here.”
That was how dwarves were—rough, crude, almost savage. Yet they were also unparalleled craftsmen, possessed of formidable intellect. They forged countless treasures and sold them to both the competing Aesir and Vanir gods. Because they preferred darkness, many of them chose to live among the Aesir even when they left their own world.
In the Vanir lands, I had never met people like this. I had never been treated this way.
Gritting my teeth, I left the mine. When I realized I could not even afford medical treatment, I finally broke down and cried.