The Legend of Sam and Tor

Описание: GODS OF THE PRAIRIE
August 17th and 18th -- 7:00 PM
Lincoln, Nebraska -- corner of 9th and D Streets


Once upon a time, this land -- our land -- was ruled by the gods.

They were gods of Fire, of Earth, of Rivers, Wind and Thunder. Their king was Odin, Allfather, wise and mighty, who divided the land amongst his children. North. South. East. West. The Mid-West he bestowed on his youngest son, Tor.

Tor looked upon his land and saw only a great American desert. Odin, sensing his son's disappointment, offered to Tor an additional gift -- a magical elixir, in it the gift of life. But petulant Tor was still not content.

Now Sam was a mortal man and a cunning devil, and he perceived Tor's self-serving nature. He whispered to the young god, "With the right man serving as your steward, this forsaken land would grow green with wealth. Let me use the elixir for just one day, and I will make your kingdom a thing of dreams, the envy of all other realms." To his ruin, Tor trusted Sam. For once Sam grasped the magical vial, he intended never to return it. So Sam grew strong like the gods. He built roads and factories, gathered slaves and soldiers. He conjured up trains, harrowed the prairie, and drove out the buffalo.

Odin rallied the strength of his children. In a thunderous battle, they wrested the vial away from Sam, depleting his power. Though mortal again, Sam retained great wealth and influence, and he set himself to slowly building back his industries, ever plotting revenge. Tor was forbidden from returning to Valhalla, the realm of the gods. Ashamed, he hid from his father -- and from Sam. Living as a man, reduced to a shadow of his former glory, Tor grew bitter and weak.

The gods, thinking man to be both ambitious and wicked, retreated to their own realm and blocked off the highways to Valhalla. Odin, in his wisdom, hid the elixir away in a mighty tower, knowing such power was too great for men or gods to wield -- too powerful for even Odin himself. Without the elixir's sustaining power, the bounty of the land began to wither and fade. Yet Odin foresaw that a hero might someday arise who would use the elixir rightly.

To this day hidden portals between the realms still exist -- those who are wise remember the paths. So too they may remember Odin's warning to all who dare seek the elixir:

The one who would die nobly will be given the gift of life. But destruction awaits the man who lives only for himself.

And so the prairie lands await the day their hero will arrive.