“Well,” said Utgardaloki, “we have all seen that you are not as strong as we thought you were. Youngsters here in Utgard practice their strength bypicking up my housecat. Now, I should warn you, you are smaller than anyof us here, and my cat is a giant’s cat, so I will understand if you cannotpick her up.”“I will pick up your cat,” said Thor.“She is probably sleeping by the fire,” said Utgardaloki. “Let us go toher.”The cat was sleeping, but she roused when they entered and sprang intothe middle of the room. She was gray, and she was as big as a man, butThor was mightier than any man, and he reached around the cat’s belly andlifted her with both hands, intending to raise her high over his head. The catseemed unimpressed: she arched her back, raising herself, forcing Thor tostretch up as far as he could.Thor was not going to be defeated in a simple game of lifting a cat. He pushed and he strove, and eventually one of the cat’s feet was lifted above the ground.From far away, Thor and Thialfi and Loki heard a noise, as if of huge rocks grinding together: the rumbling noise of mountains in pain.“Enough,” said Utgardaloki. “It’s not your fault that you cannot pick upmy housecat, Thor. It is a large cat, and you are a scrawny little fellow at best, compared to any of our giants.

Thor’s Journey to the Land of the Giants