Þrymskviða
© 2023 Edward Pettit, CC BY-NC 4.0 https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0308.09
Þrymskviða (Þrk.) ‘The Lay of Þrymr’ survives in R (fol. 17r–18r). Its date of composition is uncertain, with opinions ranging from the ninth century to the mid-thirteenth. The frequent use of the meaningless metrical filler um might indicate an early date of composition (it appears before verbs that in Primitive Norse would have had a meaningful prefix), but this feature might instead be a deliberate archaism. Similar doubt surrounds the significance of several half-lines of fornyrðislag that appear too short unless earlier word-forms with one more syllable are substituted.
The story of the theft and recovery of Þórr’s hammer (originally thunderous or fulgural) is not mentioned in any other Eddic poem. Nor is it referenced in Snorri’s Prose Edda or in the compositions of heathen skaldic poets recorded elsewhere. Perhaps Þrk. reached Iceland comparatively late, having been composed elsewhere. John McKinnell has argued for an origin in the Anglo-Norse Danelaw and suggests that this ‘English’ poem was revised in twelfth- or thirteenth-century Iceland under the influence of ballad style.1 Other accounts of the story survive in the Icelandic rímur ‘rhyming poem’ cycle called Þrymlur, which was possibly composed between the mid-fourteenth and mid-fifteenth centuries, and in Scandinavian ballads written down in the late nineteenth century; these stand in uncertain relation to the Eddic poem.2 Related myths are part of Baltic tradition. Additionally, stories of the theft or loss of a sky-god’s weapon or potency survive in the mythological traditions of other European cultures, which suggests that the general theme has ancient roots. Instances may include the Old English poem Beowulf, in which the sword that beheads Grendel’s mother, and which the hero takes from the giants’ lair, may originally have been a solar weapon that was stolen by giants from Freyr or his circle.
Other aspects of Þrk. find parallel in Old Norse texts. As the following paragraphs show, Old Norse analogues exist for (1) the quest to the land of giants for a precious object, (2) the gods’ characterization, (3) Þrymr’s desire to marry Freyja:
(1) The gods rely on two objects to help them keep the giants at bay: Þórr’s giant-slaying hammer and the youth-giving apples of the goddess Iðunn. Like Mjǫllnir, Iðunn and her apples are stolen by a giant, but recovered with Loki’s help. The myth of Iðunn’s abduction is told in SnESkáld (I, G56, pp. 1–2) and in the skaldic poem Haust. contained therein (22, pp. 30–33). It recalls Loki’s flight and the gods’ assembly in Þrk:
The gods Óðinn, Loki and Hœnir are travelling and mysteriously unable to cook an ox. An eagle in the tree above claims responsibility and says the ox will cook if they let it eat its fill. They agree, but Loki, enraged at the eagle’s appetite, strikes it with a pole. The pole sticks to the eagle and Loki sticks to the pole. The eagle flies off with Loki dangling below and being dashed against stones and trees. Loki is freed only when he agrees to lure Iðunn outside Ásgarðr with her apples. Loki returns home and does so by urging her to compare her apples with others he has found in a forest. The giant Þjazi arrives in eagle form and abducts her. Lacking Iðunn’s apples, the gods age. They call an assembly and Loki’s involvement is revealed. Terrified, he agrees to search for Iðunn in the land of giants, if Freyja will lend him her falcon shape (valshamr). She apparently does, and Loki flies off. When he arrives at Þjazi’s, the giant is out fishing, so Loki turns Iðunn into a nut and flies off again. When Þjazi discovers this he gives chase in eagle form. But the gods kindle a huge fire once Loki arrives back. The fire destroys the eagle’s feathers and Þjazi drops down into Ásgarðr, where the gods kill him.
(2) Þrk.’s affectionate comedy relies greatly on prior knowledge of the gods’ traditional attributes and traditional gender norms. The comedy of Þórr as ‘drag queen’ is magnified by knowledge of his über-masculinity, and by the expectation that the proposed masquerade will be hard to bring off. Here is the familiar Þórr—the slow-witted scourge of giants, all bushy beard, fiery eyes and voracious appetite—temporarily emasculated. To be weaponless is a shocking experience for him. He is without his hammer once elsewhere in Norse myth, but finds other magical tools to compensate: Loki, having been caught flying in Freyja’s falcon form by the giant Geirrøðr, was released only after swearing to get Þórr to come to Geirrøðr’s courts without his hammer or girdle of might; this he does, but Þórr receives advice, a pair of iron gloves and a pole from the giantess Gríðr, Víðarr’s mother, with the help of which he kills Geirrøðr (SnESkáld, I, 18, pp. 24–30, including the skaldic Þórsdrápa ‘Þórr’s Poem’).
Loki, unlike Þórr, seems often to have taken the form of a woman—hence his aptitude for the role of bridesmaid in Þrk. Loki’s quick wits, evident in Ls., are never displayed to better effect than in Þrk. Loki’s role in Norse myth is complex. On the one hand, he gets the gods into trouble with the giants, instigates Baldr’s death, fathers Fenrir and the Miðgarðsormr, and fights Heimdallr at Ragnarok. On the other, he usually rescues the situation, as when he thwarts the giant-builder’s designs on Freyja (see below) or pacifies the vengeful giantess Skaði by making her laugh (SnESkáld, I, G56, p. 2). Despite their antagonism in Ls., Loki and Þórr are paired elsewhere in Norse literature: they are companions on a visit to the giant Útgarða-Loki (who, however, is presumably some manifestation of Loki as antagonist) as told in SnEGylf (44, pp. 37–44), and in Haust. Loki is Þórs rúni ‘Þórr’s confidant’ (SnESkáld, I, 22, p. 32).
Freyja, the beautiful and reputedly promiscuous Vanir goddess, wears the wondrous Brísingamen (‘torc [or necklace] of the Brísingar’) and drives a chariot pulled by cats. In this regard she is the opposite of the manly Þórr with his goat-drawn chariot. But she also has a sterner side: she receives half the slaughtered warriors, and Óðinn the other half (Grm. 14); Þórr, by contrast, is the god of farmers. Her power is evident in the cracking of the Brísingamen and the shaking of Ásgarðr when she rejects marriage to Þrymr.
(3) Þrymr is elsewhere just a name, but he is not the only giant to want Freyja. According to SnESkáld (I, 17, p. 20), the drunken giant Hrungnir declared that he would, among other things, take Freyja and Sif home with him. Furthermore, SnEGylf (42, pp. 34–36) tells the story, probably alluded to in Vsp. 26, of a builder contracted by the gods to single-handedly rebuild Ásgarðr’s wall in one winter in return for the sun, the moon and Freyja. The builder alarms the gods by working ahead of schedule with, thanks to Loki, the help of a marvellous stallion. Loki rescues matters by turning himself into a mare and distracting the stallion, so that the builder cannot meet his deadline. The builder flies into a giant-rage, whereupon Þórr kills him. Loki then gives birth to Óðinn’s eight-legged horse, Sleipnir.
Þrk.’s burlesque, deft characterization, artful parallelism and swift, economic style make it the height of Eddic humour and, for the modern reader, one of the best medieval comedies.
Synopsis
Þórr awakes and is angry to find his hammer missing (1). He tells Loki of the extraordinary theft (2). They go to the beautiful goddess Freyja, and Þórr asks her to lend him her feather-coat (3). She agrees willingly (4), and Loki uses it to fly to the land of giants (5). Þrymr, the lord of the giants, who is sitting on a grave-mound (6), asks why Loki has come. Loki asks Þrymr whether he has hidden Þórr’s hammer (7). Þrymr says he has and that it will not be recovered until Freyja is brought to him as his bride (8).
Loki returns to the courts of the gods (9), and is commanded by Þórr to tell his news quickly (10). Loki does so (11), and the pair return to Freyja, whom Þórr commands to come with him to the land of giants (12). She refuses, the hall shaking and the Brísingamen fracturing at her disdainful snort (13). Consequently, the gods try to think of another plan (14). The prescient god Heimdallr proposes dressing up Þórr as Freyja in bridal attire (15–16). Þórr refuses because the gods would think him effeminate (17), but Loki reminds him that the giants will occupy Ásgarðr, home of the gods, if he fails to get his hammer back (18). So Þórr is dressed up to look like Freyja as a bride (19), and Loki says he will accompany him as bridesmaid (20).
The pair set off for the land of giants, with rocks breaking and the earth burning as Þórr’s goat-chariot passes by (21). Þrymr, sensing their coming, tells his household to prepare the benches (22), and says he has everything he wants, except Freyja (23).
The bridal pair arrive and the bride (Þórr) displays a prodigious appetite, eating an ox, eight salmon and all the delicacies meant for the women (24). Þrymr is astonished (25), but the bridesmaid (Loki) explains that, in her eagerness to come, Freyja had not eaten for eight nights (26). Þrymr tries to kiss his bride, but upon bending down under her veil is shocked by her fiery eyes and springs back (27). The bridesmaid explains that Freyja had not slept for eight nights either (28). Þrymr’s sister (a giantess) enters and requests a gift from the bride in return for her affection (29). Þrymr has the hammer brought in and laid in the bride’s lap to consecrate the union (30).
At once, Þórr’s heart rejoices when he recognizes his hammer. He slays Þrymr first and then his family (31). Þrymr’s sister gets a hammer’s blow, rather than the gift she had requested. Thus Þórr recovered his hammer (32).
Further Reading
Arrhenius, B., ‘Brisingamen and the Menet Necklace’, in U. von Freeden, H. Friesinger und E. Wamers, ed., Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft: Phänomene des Religiösen im 1. Jahrtausend n. Chr. In Mittel- und Nordeuropa (Bonn: R. Habelt, 2009), pp. 219–30.
Arnold, M., Thor: Myth to Marvel (London: Continuum, 2011), https://doi.org/10.5040/978 1472599292
Bertell, M., Tor och den nordiska åskan: Föreställningar kring världsaxeln (Stockholm: Stockholm University Press, 2003) [with English summary].
Clunies Ross, M., ‘Reading Þrymskviða’, in P. Acker and C. Larrington, ed., The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology (New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 177–94.
Colwill, L. and Haukur Þorgeirsson, ed. and trans., The Bearded Bride: A Critical Edition of Þrymlur (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2020).
Daimon, R., ‘How White is Heimdallr?’, Viator 51 (2020), 121–36, https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.127040
Damico, H., ‘Þrymskviða and Beowulf’s Second Fight: The Dressing of the Hero in Parody’, SS 58 (1986), 407–28.
Davidson, H. R. E., ‘Thor’s Hammer’, Folklore 76 (1965), 1–15.
Finnur Jónsson, ed., Rímnasafn: samling af de ældste islandske rimer, 2 vols. (Copenhagen: Møller, 1905–12), I [Þrymlur]
Frankki, J., ‘Cross-Dressing in the Poetic Edda: Mic muno Æsir argan kalla’, SS 84 (2012), 425–37, https://doi.org/10.1353/scd.2012.0063
Frog, ‘Circum-Baltic Mythology? The Strange Case of the Theft of the Thunder-Instrument (ATU 1148b)’, Archaeologia Baltica 15 (2011), 78–98, https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v15i1.25
Frog, ‘Germanic Traditions of the Theft of the Thunder-Instrument (ATU 1148b): An Approach to Þrymskviða and Þórr’s Adventure with Geirrøðr in Circum-Baltic Perspective’, in E. Heide and K. Bek-Pedersen, ed., New Focus on Retrospective Methods: Resuming Methodological Discussions: Case Studies from Northern Europe (Helsinki: Suomalainen tiedeakatemia, 2014), pp. 120–62.
Hansen, W., ‘The Theft of the Thunderweapon: A Greek Myth in its International Context’, Classica et Mediaevalia 46 (1995), 5–24.
Helgason, J. K., “‘Þegi þú, Þórr!”: Gender, Class, and Discourse in Þrymskviða’, in S. M. Anderson and K. Swenson, ed., Cold Counsel. Women in Old Norse Literature and Mythology: A Collection of Essays (New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 159–66.
Kroesen, R., ‘The Great God Þórr — a War God?’, ANF 116 (2001), 97–110.
Lindow, J., ‘Þrymskviða, Myth, and Mythology’, in M. Berryman, K. G. Goblirsch and M. Taylor, ed., North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE) 31/32 Germanic Studies in Honor of Anatoly Liberman (Odense: Odense University Press, 1997), pp. 203–12.
McKinnell, J., ‘Þórr as Comic Hero’, in T. Pàroli, ed., La funzione dell’eroe germanico: storicità, metafora, paradigma (Rome: Il Calamo, 1995), pp. 141–83.
McKinnell, J., ‘Myth as Therapy: The Usefulness of Þrymskviða’, Medium Ævum 69 (2000), 1–20; also rpt. in J. McKinnell, Essays on Eddic Poetry, ed. D. Kick and J. D. Shafer (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014), pp. 200–20, https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442669260-010
McKinnell, J., ‘Eddic Poetry in Anglo-Scandinavian Northern England’, in J. Graham-Campbell, R. Hall, J. Jesch and D. N. Parsons, ed., Vikings and the Danelaw: Select Papers from the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress, Nottingham and York, 21–30 August 1997 (Oxford: Oxbow, 2001), pp. 327–44.
Mees, B., ‘Þrymskviða, Vígja, and the Canterbury Charm’, Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 9 (2013), 133–53.
Meletinsky, E. M., The Elder Edda and Early Forms of the Epic (Trieste: Ed. Parnaso, 1998).
Meulengracht Sørensen, P., The Unmanly Man: Concepts of Sexual Defamation in Early Northern Society (Odense: Odense University Press, 1983).
Motz, L., ‘The Germanic Thunderweapon’, Saga-Book 24 (1997), 329–50.
Motz, L., ‘The Hammer and the Rod: A Discussion of Þórr’s Weapons’, in M. Berryman, K. G. Goblirsch and M. Taylor, ed., North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE) 31/32 Germanic Studies in Honor of Anatoly Liberman (Odense: Odense University Press, 1997), pp. 243–52.
Nagler, M. N., ‘Beowulf in the Context of Myth’, in J. D. Niles, ed., Old English Literature in Context: Ten Essays (Cambridge, UK: D. S. Brewer, 1980), pp. 143–56.
Perkins, R., Thor the Wind-Raiser and the Eyrarland Image (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2001).
Pettit, E., The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in ‘Beowulf’ (Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2020), https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0190
Puhvel, M., ‘The Deicidal Otherworld Weapon in Celtic and Germanic Mythic Tradition’, Folklore 83 (1972), 210–19.
Sibley, J. T., The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods (La Vergne: Xlibris Corp., 2009).
Sturtevant, A. M., ‘The Contemptuous Sense of the Old Norse Adjective Hvítr ‘White, Fair’, SS 24 (1952), 119–21.
Taggart, D., How Thor Lost his Thunder: The Changing Faces of an Old Norse God (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018), https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315164465
Taylor, P. B., ‘Völundarkviða, Þrymskviða and the Function of Myth’, Neophilologus 78 (1994), 263–81.
Von See, K., B. La Farge, E. Picard, I. Priebe and K. Schulz, Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda, Bd. 2: Götterlieder (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 1997).
Þrymskviða
1. Reiðr var þá Vingþórr, er hann vaknaði
ok sins hamars um saknaði;
skegg nam at hrista, skǫr nam at dýja,
réð Jarðar burr um at þreifask.
2. Ok hann þat orða alls fyrst um kvað:
‘Heyrðu nú, Loki, hvat ek nú mæli,
er eigi veit jarðar hvergi
né upphimins — Áss er stolinn hamri!’
3. Gengu þeir fagra Freyju túna,
ok hann þat orða alls fyrst um kvað:
‘Muntu mér, Freyja, fjaðrhams ljá,
ef ek minn hamar mættak hitta?’
Freyja kvað:
4. ‘Þó mynda ek gefa þér, þótt ór gulli væri,
ok þó selja, at væri ór silfri!’
5. Fló þá Loki, fjaðrhamr dunði,
unz fyr útan kom Ása garða
6. Þrymr sat á haugi, þursa dróttinn,
greyjum sínum gullbǫnd snøri
ok mǫrum sínum mǫn jafnaði.
Þrymr kvað:
7. ‘Hvat er með Ásum? Hvat er með álfum?
Hví ertu einn kominn í Jǫtunheima?’
‘Illt er með Ásum, illt er með álfum.
Hefir þú Hlórriða hamar um fólginn?’
8. ‘Ek hefi Hlórriða hamar um fólginn
átta rǫstum fyr jǫrð neðan;
hann engi maðr aptr um heimtir,
nema fœri mér Freyju at kván!’
9. Fló þá Loki, fjaðrhamr dunði,
unz fyr útan kom jǫtna heima
ok fyr innan kom Ása garða;
mœtti hann Þór miðra garða,
ok hann þat orða alls fyrst um kvað:
10. ‘Hefir þú erindi sem erfiði?
Segðu á lopti lǫng tíðindi!
Opt sitjanda sǫgur um fallask,
11. ‘Hefi ek erfiði ok ørindi:
Þrymr hefir þinn hamar, þursa dróttinn;
hann engi maðr aptr um heimtir,
nema honum fœri Freyju at kván!’
12. Ganga þeir fagra Freyju at hitta,
ok hann þat orða alls fyrst um kvað:
‘Bittu þik, Freyja, brúðar líni!
Vit skulum aka tvau í Jǫtunheima!’
13. Reið varð þá Freyja ok fnásaði,
allr Ása salr undir bifðisk,
stǫkk þat it mikla men Brísinga:
‘Mik veiztu verða vergjarnasta,
ef ek ek með þér í Jǫtunheima!’
14. Senn váru Æsir allir á þingi,
ok Ásynjur allar á máli,
ok um þat réðu ríkir tívar,
hvé þeir Hlórriða hamar um sœtti.
15. Þá kvað þat Heimdallr, hvítastr Ása —
vissi hann vel fram, sem Vanir aðrir:
‘Bindu vér Þór þá brúðar líni,
hafi hann it mikla men Brísinga!
16. ‘Látum und honum hrynja lukla
ok kvennváðir um kné falla,
en á brjósti breiða steina,
ok hagliga um hǫfuð typpum!’
17. Þá kvað þat Þórr, þrúðugr Áss:
‘Mik munu Æsir argan kalla,
ef ek bindask læt brúðar líni!’
18. Þá kvað þat Loki, Laufeyjar sonr:
‘Þegi þú, Þórr, þeira orða!
Þegar munu jǫtnar Ásgarð búa,
nema þú þinn hamar þér um heimtir!’
19. Bundu þeir Þór þá brúðar líni
ok inu mikla meni Brísinga,
létu und honum hrynja lukla,
ok kvennváðir um kné falla,
en á brjósti breiða steina,
ok hagliga um hǫfuð typþu!
20. Þá kvað Loki, Laufeyjar sonr:
‘Mun ek ok með þér ambótt vera,
vit skulum aka tvau í Jǫtunheima!’
21. Senn váru hafrar heim um reknir,
skyndir at skǫklum, skyldu vel renna;
bjǫrg brotnuðu, brann jǫrð loga,
ók Óðins sonr í Jǫtunheima!
22. Þá kvað þat Þrymr, þursa dróttinn:
‘Standið up, jǫtnar, ok stráið bekki!
Nú fœra mér Freyju at kván,
Njarðar dóttur, ór Nóatúnum!
23. ‘Ganga hér at garði gullhyrnðar kýr,
øxn alsvartir, jǫtni at gamni;
fjǫlð á ek meiðma, fjǫlð á ek menja,
einnar mér Freyju ávant þikkir!’
24. Var þar at kveldi um komit snimma,
ok fyr jǫtna ǫl fram borit;
einn át oxa, átta laxa,
krásir allar, þær er konur skyldu;
drakk Sifjar verr sáld þrjú mjaðar!
25. Þá kvað þat Þrymr, þursa dróttinn:
‘Hvar sáttu brúðir bíta hvassara?
Sáka ek brúðir bíta breiðara,
né inn meira mjǫð mey um drekka!’
26. Sat in alsnotra ambótt fyrir,
er orð um fann við jǫtuns máli:
‘Át vætr Freyja átta nóttum,
svá var hon óðfús í Jǫtunheima!’
27. Laut und línu, lysti at kyssa,
en hann útan stǫkk endlangan sal:
‘Hví eru ǫndótt augu Freyju?
Þikki mér ór augum eldr um brenna!’
28. Sat in alsnotra ambótt fyrir,
er orð um fann við jǫtuns máli:
‘Svaf vætr Freyja átta nóttum,
svá var hon óðfús í Jǫtunheima!’
29. Inn kom in arma jǫtna systir,
hin er brúðfjár biðja þorði:
‘Láttu þér af hǫndum hringa rauða,
ef þú ǫðlask vill ástir mínar,
ástir mínar, alla hylli!’
30. Þá kvað þat Þrymr, þursa dróttinn:
‘Berið inn hamar brúði at vígja,
leggið Mjǫllni í meyjar kné,
vígið okkr saman Várar hendi!’
31. Hló Hlórriða hugr í brjósti
er harðhugaðr hamar um þekði;
Þrym drap hann fyrstan, þursa dróttin,
ok ætt jǫtuns alla lamði!
32. Drap hann ina ǫldnu jǫtna systur,
hin er brúðfjár of beðit hafði;
hon skell um hlaut fyr skillinga,
en hǫgg hamars fyr hringa fjǫlð!
Svá kom Óðins sonr endr at hamri.
The Lay of Þrymr
1. Angry3 then was Vingþórr,4 when he awoke
and missed his hammer;5
his beard shuddered,6 his hair shook,7
Jǫrð’s son8 groped around himself.
2. And he spoke these words first of all:9
‘Listen now, Loki, to what I now say,
it’s unknown anywhere on earth
or in sky above — the Áss10 has been robbed of his hammer!’
3. They went to fair Freyja’s dwellings,
and he11 spoke these words first of all:
‘Will you lend me your feather-skin,12 Freyja,
[to see] if I can find my hammer?’
4. ‘I would give it to you even if it were made of gold,
and grant it even if it were made of silver!’
5. Then Loki flew13 — the feather-skin resounded —
until he came outside the Æsir’s courts
and he came inside the giants’ lands.14
6. Þrymr sat on a grave-mound,15 the lord of giants,
he twisted gold bands16 for his bitches,
and evenly trimmed manes for his horses.
7. ‘How is it with the Æsir? How is it with the elves?17
Why have you come alone into Jǫtunheimar?’18
‘It’s ill with the Æsir, it’s ill with the elves.
Have you hidden Hlórriði’s19 hammer?’
8. ‘I’ve hidden Hlórriði’s hammer
eight leagues20 beneath the earth;
no man shall get it back,
unless he fetches me Freyja for a wife!’
9. Then Loki flew — the feather-skin resounded —
until he came outside the giants’ lands
and he came inside the Æsir’s courts;
and he21 spoke these words first of all:
10. ‘Have you a message worth the hardship?
Tell your long tidings in the air!22
Stories often slip the mind of a sitting man,
and a lying one deals in lies!’
11. ‘I have [both] hardship and a message:
Þrymr has your hammer, the lord of giants;
no man will get it back,
unless he fetches him Freyja for a wife!’
12. They went to find fair Freyja,
and he23 said these words first of all:
‘Bind24 yourself, Freyja, in a bride’s linen!
We two shall drive into Jǫtunheimar!’
13. Freyja became incensed then and snorted,
at which all the hall of the Æsir shook;
the great torc of the Brísingar25 fractured:26
‘You’d know me to be most man-eager,27
if I drive with you into Jǫtunheimar!’
14. At once the Æsir were all in assembly,
and the Ásynjur28 all in consultation,
and the powerful deities deliberated about it,29
how they might recover Hlórriði’s hammer.
15. Then Heimdallr, whitest of Æsir,30 said this —
he knew the future well, like other Vanir:31
‘Let’s bind32 Þórr, then, in a bride’s linen,
let him have the great torc of the Brísingar!
16. ‘Let’s have keys clanging33 at his belt,
and women’s skirts falling over his knees,
and on his breast broad jewels,
and top it off tidily about his head!’34
17. Then Þórr, the powerful Áss, said this:
‘The Æsir will call me perverted,35
if I let myself be bound in a bride’s linen!’
18. Then Loki, Laufey’s son, said this:
‘Be silent, Þórr, [enough] of those words!
At once will the giants occupy Ásgarðr,36
unless you bring home your hammer!’
19. Then they bound Þórr in a bride’s linen
and the great torc of the Brísingar;
they had keys clanging at his belt,
and women’s skirts falling round his knees,
and on his breast broad jewels,
and they topped it off tidily about his head!
20. Then Loki, Laufey’s son, said:
‘I shall also be with you as bridesmaid,
we two37 shall drive into Jǫtunheimar!’
21. At once the goats were driven home,
hurried to the traces, they had to run hard;38
rocks broke, earth burnt with flame,39
Óðinn’s son drove into Jǫtunheimar!
22. Then Þrymr, lord of giants, said this:
‘Stand up, giants, and strew the benches!40
Now they’re fetching me Freyja for a wife,
Njǫrðr’s daughter, from Nóatún!41
23. ‘Golden-horned cows walk here in the courtyard,
all-black oxen,42 for a giant’s amusement;
I have a host of treasures, I have a host of torcs,
it seems to me I lack only Freyja!’
24. They came there early in the evening,
and ale was brought forth for the giants;
he alone ate an ox,43 eight salmon,
all the delicacies which women should [eat];
Sif’s man44 drank three casks of mead!
25. Then Þrymr, lord of giants, said this:
‘Where have you seen brides45 bite more keenly?
I’ve not seen brides bite more broadly ,
nor a maiden drink more mead!’
26. The all-wise bridesmaid sat in front,
who found words in answer to the giant’s speech:
‘Freyja ate nothing for eight nights,
so mad keen was she [to come] into Jǫtunheimar!’
27. He46 bent down under the linen,47 desired to kiss her,
but [then] he sprang back the length of the hall:
‘Why are Freyja’s eyes frightful?
It seems to me that fire burns from her eyes!’
28. The all-wise bridesmaid sat in front,
who found words in answer to the giant’s speech:
‘Freyja didn’t sleep for eight nights,48
so mad keen was she [to come] into Jǫtunheimar!’
29. In came the wretched sister of giants,49
the one who dared to ask for a bride-fee:50
‘Let red rings51 [fall] from your arms,
if you want to win my affection,
my affection, all favour!’
30. Then Þrymr, lord of giants, said this:
‘Bring in the hammer to hallow the bride,
lay Mjǫllnir in the maiden’s lap,52
hallow53 us both together by Vár’s hand!’54
31. Hlórriði’s heart laughed in his chest
when, hard-hearted, he recognized his hammer;
he slew Þrymr first, the lord of giants,
and all the giant’s family he laid low!
32. He slew the aged sister of giants,
the one who had asked for a bride-fee;
she received a shattering blow instead of shillings,55
and a hammer’s stroke instead of a host of rings!
Thus Óðinn’s son came by his hammer again.
Textual Apparatus to Þrymskviða
Þrymskviða] The rubricated title of this poem is illegible in the photograph in the facsimile volume of R; this reading therefore relies on the transcription therein
1/1 Reiðr] The first letter is large and rubricated, but faded, in R
2/5 eigi] Late, paper manuscripts have engi
7/2 illt er með álfum] R absent
9/3 unz] R oc vnz
9/9 hann þat] R þat hann
11/1–2 erfiði ok ørindi] R ørindi. erfidi. oc with scribal indication that the first two words should be interchanged
13/2 fnásaði] R fnasasi
19] This stanza is heavily abbreviated in R
22/3 Standið] R hvar sattu standit up, with the first two words (cf. st. 25) marked for deletion
22/5 fœra] So one paper manuscript (fœra þeir); R fœrið. R’s imperative pl. form is defensible, but less natural and probably a mistaken repetition of the preceding verb termination
25/6 breiðara] R en breiðara
26/2 fyrir] R fyr
27/3 stǫkk] Preceded by co in R, but marked for deletion
27/8] eldr um] R absent; a paper manuscript has eldr of
28/1–4] Expansion of R’s abbreviation Sat in al. s. a. f. s. m.
28/6-8] Abbreviated in R
1 J. McKinnell, ‘Eddic Poetry in Anglo-Scandinavian Northern England’, in J. Graham-Campbell, R. Hall, J. Jesch and D. N. Parsons, ed., Vikings and the Danelaw: Select Papers from the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress, Nottingham and York, 21–30 August 1997 (Oxford: Oxbow, 2001), pp. 327–44.
2 See Finnur Jónsson, ed., Rímnasafn: samling af de ældste islandske rimer, 2 vols. (Copenhagen: Møller, 1905–12), I, 278–89; E. M. Meletinsky, The Elder Edda and Early Forms of the Epic (Trieste: Ed. Parnaso, 1998), pp. 94–95; L. Colwill and Haukur Þorgeirsson, ed. and trans., The Bearded Bride: A Critical Edition of Þrymlur (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2020).
3 The adjective reiðr ‘angry’ might participate in this line’s alliteration, if an East Norse or preliterary West Norse form, *vreiðr, lies behind it; but cf. reiðr in Þrk. 13, which does not alliterate.
4 Þórr. This title, which means ‘Swing(ing)-Þórr’, ‘Battle-Þórr’ or ‘Consecration-Þórr’, probably reflects the god’s close association with his hammer, Mjǫllnir.
5 Þórr was so attached to his hammer that it even returned to his hand when thrown (SnESkáld I, 35, p. 42).
6 Or ‘began to shudder’.
7 Or ‘began to shake’.
8 Þórr was the son of Jǫrð ‘Earth’, a giantess. There is irony to her mention here, given where the hammer turns out to be hidden.
9 Cf. Br. 5 [6], Od. 3.
10 Sg. of Æsir, here Þórr.
11 Þórr.
12 A garment that confers the power of flight. According to SnESkáld (G56, p. 2, 18, p. 24), Freyja had a valshamr ‘falcon-skin/form’ in which Loki flew; see also Haust. 12. A similar Old English noun, feðerhama, is used, among other things, of the devil’s wings.
13 It is Loki, not Þórr, who wears the feather-skin.
14 Literally, ‘homes’.
15 The significance of sitting on a grave-mound is uncertain, because in Old Norse literature it is associated with both the exalted and the lowly: kings did it in honour of their ancestors or wives buried therein, but so did herdsmen. We may wonder whether Þrymr is sitting on a mound that conceals Þorr’s hammer, hidden ‘eight leagues beneath the earth’ (st. 8).
16 Collars.
17 Cf. Vsp. 50.
18 ‘Giant Homes/Worlds’.
19 Þórr’s.
20 A rǫst, here translated ‘league’, was literally the distance between two ‘rests’.
21 Þórr.
22 I.e., while Loki is still in the air, before he lands; cf. Loki’s alias Loptr ‘Airy (One’).
23 Þórr.
24 I.e., dress.
25 Or perhaps ‘torc of blazes’ (ON brísingr ‘blaze’). This marvellous neck-band is owned by Freyja, but may derive ultimately from the Menet necklace of Hathor, an ancient Egyptian goddess. The Old Norse term men Brísinga ‘torc [or necklace] of the Brísingar ‘Fiery Ones/Blazers/blazes’ occurs elsewhere only in the inverted form Brísingamen in SnEGylf and SnESkáld. The torc is, however, probably mentioned, without being so named, in other Norse texts. According to the start of the fourteenth(?)-century Sǫrla þáttr ‘Tale of Sǫrli’, Freyja obtained a gullmen ‘gold torc’ by agreeing to sleep with the four dwarves (the Brísingar?) who created it; later it was stolen from her by Loki at Óðinn’s behest, although she did regain it. The same, or a closely related, story is alluded to in Haust. 9 in the ‘Loki’-kenning Brísings girðiþiófr ‘thief of the Brísingr-girdle’. A form of the same treasure, strangely described as a hafnýra ‘sea-kidney’, might also have been fought over by Loki and Heimdallr in the form of seals, to judge from the tenth-century Húsdr. (st. 2). It might additionally be referred to in Ls. 20 as a gift from Heimdallr to the goddess Gefjun. In the Old English poem Beowulf (ll. 1197–1214) it appears as the Brosinga mene, which a certain Hama (cf. Heimdallr?) took to þære byrhtan byrig ‘to the bright stronghold’, and which was subsequently worn by Hygelac, Beowulf’s uncle. Cf. the implicit torc of Menglǫð ‘Torc/Necklace Glad (One)’ in Svipdagsmál.
26 Or ‘fell down’.
27 Freyja had a reputation for promiscuity; see e.g. Ls. 30–33, Hdl. 6 and Sǫrla þáttr.
28 Goddesses.
29 Cf. BDr. 1.
30 Or ‘brightest/most radiant of Æsir’, but Heimdallr’s whiteness is confirmed by SnEGylf (27, p. 25); note also Ls. 20. The description might imply effeminacy.
31 Or perhaps, since Heimdallr is usually one of the Æsir, the sense is ‘... as the Vanir otherwise (could)’ or ‘... like those others, the Vanir’. Possibly the poet did not see a fundamental distinction between the two groups of gods, or drew on a tradition now obscured or lost. Perhaps he was aware of an ancient tradition whereby all the gods were considered to be the kin of a Vanir god called Ingvi-Freyr; see Haust. 10. Prescience is not limited to the Vanir, as Frigg is said to know all fates in Ls. 29.
32 I.e., dress.
33 Or perhaps ‘dangling’.
34 Probably by putting a head-dress on his head; cf. Þrk. 27.
35 ON argr is a strongly pejorative adjective denoting perverse deviance from one’s rightful nature. The word could be used, among other things, to brand a man as effeminate for wearing women’s clothes, as cowardly in battle and, worst of all, as willingly being the ‘female’ partner in a homosexual act. There could be no more offensive word for the ultra-manly Þórr. Cf. Hrbl. 27, Ls. 23–24, the related noun ergi ‘sexual perversion’ in FSk. 36, and HH. II 1 pr. and 2, where Helgi wears women’s clothing.
36 ‘God Yard/Enclosure’, abode of the gods.
37 Loki’s use of the neut. pl. form tvau ‘(we) two’ classifies either himself or Þórr as female. Cf. Þrk. 12, where tvau is unremarkable.
38 Þórr’s chariot is drawn by two goats. See Hym. 7.
39 Cf. Haust. 16, Hdl. 49(?).
40 Hall benches were covered with fresh straw for the arrival of guests.
41 ‘Ship Towns’, home of Njǫrðr.
42 Cf. Hym. 18.
43 Or ‘He ate one ox’. The eater is Þórr. Cf. Hym. 15.
44 Þórr.
45 The pl. is puzzling.
46 Þrymr.
47 Presumably a linen headdress, perhaps with a veil.
48 This line lacks alliteration in the Old Norse, and therefore is probably corrupt.
49 A giantess.
50 A gift from the bride to the groom’s family.
51 Probably golden arm-rings. For the likely meaning of rauðr ‘red’ here, see note to Vkv. 5.
52 Mjǫllnir ‘Miller/Crusher’, Þórr’s hammer, is an obviously phallic object. Its placement in the maiden’s lap might symbolize the marriage’s physical consummation. The Eyrarland image, a bronze figurine from medieval Iceland, possibly shows Þórr holding a phallus-like Mjǫllnir.
53 The verb vígja ‘to bless, consecrate, hallow’ is also used of Þórr’s consecration of his goats and of Baldr’s funeral pyre in SnEGylf (44, p. 37; 49, p. 46), and of his blessing of runes or runic monuments. Þrymr might also be unintentionally inviting his own doom, since vígja may also have had overtones of ‘consign to perdition’.
54 Vár ‘Vow (of peace or fidelity)’ is a goddess, details of whom survive in SnEGylf (35, p. 29): the ninth goddess, she hears people’s oaths and private agreements between men and women, and punishes those who break them.
55 Quite possibly coin- or moon-shaped metal discs decorating Freyja’s torc.