Alvíss

Alvíss — 'All-Wise' — is the dwarf who knew everything except when to stop. He came up out of the rocks to claim a goddess promised him in marriage, and found Thor barring his way. The thunder-god, who could not simply crush a betrothed guest, set him a trial instead: tell me, dwarf, the names this thing and that thing are called in every world — among gods, elves, giants, men, and the dead. Flattered, the all-knowing dwarf poured out his lore, naming the earth and the sea and the wind and the ale in tongue after tongue, never noticing the sky paling behind him. For Thor had timed it exactly: the sun rose, and Alvíss, a creature of under-the-rock, was caught above ground by daylight and turned to stone. The wisest of dwarves, undone by his own delight in showing it — Norse comedy's neat lesson that knowing all the words is not the same as reading the room.