Once upon a time, an old woman wandered through Sweden. She had grey hair and worn-out clothes and a walking stick to lean on. She walked along paths through the forest and over hills covered with heather, and at last she came to a great hall where a king lived.
The king's name was Gylfi, and he invited the old woman to sit by the fire. She told wonderful stories for him and his people. She told of dragons and elves, of forests and mountains, of stars that shone over nine worlds. Everyone in the hall sat quietly and listened.
"You tell fine stories," said King Gylfi. "I wish to give you a gift. You may have as much land as four oxen can plow in a day and a night." The old woman thanked the king and bowed deeply.
Then she went on her way. She walked far, far away, all the way to a land where everything was big. The mountains were tall as clouds. The trees were thick as towers. And there lived her four sons, who were the biggest and strongest boys you could imagine.
The old woman smiled and touched her sons with her hand. With magic, she turned them into four enormous oxen. They were as big as houses. Their hooves made the ground tremble, and their horns gleamed in the sunlight.
She led the four oxen back to King Gylfi's land and yoked them to a great plow. Then they began to plow. The plow cut deep into the earth. Deeper and deeper. The oxen pulled and pulled, and the ground cracked and opened up.
They plowed all day. They plowed all night. And when the sun rose again, something amazing had happened. A great piece of the land had come loose. It slid slowly out into the sea, like an enormous boat, and it stayed there in the water.
That piece of land became an island. It is called Zealand, and it is the largest island in Denmark. And the hole left behind where the land had been slowly filled with water and became a great, beautiful lake. That lake is called Malaren.
The old woman was not really an ordinary old woman at all. She was a goddess named Gefjon. She took her sons, who became boys again, to her new island. There they lived happily.
And King Gylfi? He stood on his hill and looked out across the new lake that glittered in the morning light. A smile spread across his face. He had given away more land than he had expected, yes. But a promise is a promise, and Gylfi knew that.