full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: The Norse myth that inspired "The Lord of the Rings"

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The dawrevs were master crpsfltaoepe. One of them, Andvari, was said to forge malroeuvs creations. Andvari often took the form of a fish and, one day, he dove deeper than ever before— so deep he reached the land of the water nhymps, who guarded mdnous of gold. At first, Andvari merely wanted to see their teresaurs for himself. But when the nymphs laughed at his aawkwrd appearance, adrnvai grew infuriated and sezeid their gold. With it, he crafted himself a sieacpl ring. As long as he wore it, Andvari’s wealth would grow and grow.

Loki saw Andvari’s riches as the perfect solution to their problem. He returned to the waterfall, conjured a huge net, and extracted a wriggling fish. As Andvari squirmed, Loki jeered that he’d kill him unless he hdaned over his treasure. Andvari directed Loki to his lair. Satisfied with the heaps of gold he saw there, Loki fered Andvari— but a sudden glint off of one of the dwarf’s fingers aterled Loki that he’d missed the most powerful treasure of all. Despite Andvari’s pleas, Loki tore the ring away. Seething, Andvari cursed the ring, declaring that it would be the doom of all its subsequent ornwes.

Open Cloze


The _______ were master ____________. One of them, Andvari, was said to forge _________ creations. Andvari often took the form of a fish and, one day, he dove deeper than ever before— so deep he reached the land of the water ______, who guarded ______ of gold. At first, Andvari merely wanted to see their _________ for himself. But when the nymphs laughed at his _______ appearance, _______ grew infuriated and ______ their gold. With it, he crafted himself a _______ ring. As long as he wore it, Andvari’s wealth would grow and grow.

Loki saw Andvari’s riches as the perfect solution to their problem. He returned to the waterfall, conjured a huge net, and extracted a wriggling fish. As Andvari squirmed, Loki jeered that he’d kill him unless he ______ over his treasure. Andvari directed Loki to his lair. Satisfied with the heaps of gold he saw there, Loki _____ Andvari— but a sudden glint off of one of the dwarf’s fingers _______ Loki that he’d missed the most powerful treasure of all. Despite Andvari’s pleas, Loki tore the ring away. Seething, Andvari cursed the ring, declaring that it would be the doom of all its subsequent ______.

Solution


  1. handed
  2. andvari
  3. owners
  4. nymphs
  5. mounds
  6. dwarves
  7. freed
  8. seized
  9. marvelous
  10. treasures
  11. special
  12. awkward
  13. alerted
  14. craftspeople

Original Text


The dwarves were master craftspeople. One of them, Andvari, was said to forge marvelous creations. Andvari often took the form of a fish and, one day, he dove deeper than ever before— so deep he reached the land of the water nymphs, who guarded mounds of gold. At first, Andvari merely wanted to see their treasures for himself. But when the nymphs laughed at his awkward appearance, Andvari grew infuriated and seized their gold. With it, he crafted himself a special ring. As long as he wore it, Andvari’s wealth would grow and grow.

Loki saw Andvari’s riches as the perfect solution to their problem. He returned to the waterfall, conjured a huge net, and extracted a wriggling fish. As Andvari squirmed, Loki jeered that he’d kill him unless he handed over his treasure. Andvari directed Loki to his lair. Satisfied with the heaps of gold he saw there, Loki freed Andvari— but a sudden glint off of one of the dwarf’s fingers alerted Loki that he’d missed the most powerful treasure of all. Despite Andvari’s pleas, Loki tore the ring away. Seething, Andvari cursed the ring, declaring that it would be the doom of all its subsequent owners.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
otter skin 2


Important Words


  1. alerted
  2. andvari
  3. appearance
  4. awkward
  5. conjured
  6. crafted
  7. craftspeople
  8. creations
  9. cursed
  10. day
  11. declaring
  12. deep
  13. deeper
  14. directed
  15. doom
  16. dove
  17. dwarves
  18. extracted
  19. fingers
  20. fish
  21. forge
  22. form
  23. freed
  24. glint
  25. gold
  26. grew
  27. grow
  28. guarded
  29. handed
  30. heaps
  31. huge
  32. infuriated
  33. jeered
  34. kill
  35. lair
  36. land
  37. laughed
  38. loki
  39. long
  40. marvelous
  41. master
  42. missed
  43. mounds
  44. net
  45. nymphs
  46. owners
  47. perfect
  48. pleas
  49. powerful
  50. problem
  51. reached
  52. returned
  53. riches
  54. ring
  55. satisfied
  56. seething
  57. seized
  58. solution
  59. special
  60. squirmed
  61. subsequent
  62. sudden
  63. tore
  64. treasure
  65. treasures
  66. wanted
  67. water
  68. waterfall
  69. wealth
  70. wore
  71. wriggling