Tales of Valhalla

by Martyn Whittock

  Thor was so proud of what Magni had done that he promised him Gullfaxi, the giant’s horse. It seemed a fitting gift to give to such a strong little boy, who had freed his own father.

  But Odin intervened. He told Thor that it was wrong to give such a fine horse to the child of a giantess; for although Magni was Thor’s son, he was born to the giantess, Iarnsaxa. Better, Odin declared, would it be if Thor gave such a horse to his own father (that is to Odin). But the horse went to Magni.

  After that, Thor returned to his home at Thrudvangar but the whetstone remained lodged in his head. This remained the state of affairs until Thor received a visitor. This was a sorceress and her name was Groa, the wife of Aurvandil the Bold. When she saw the state of Thor’s head, she chanted spells over him and the whetstone started to work loose. Thor was relieved at this and was grateful that the problem seemed on the way to being solved. In his gratitude to Groa, he decided to tell her a story involving her husband, for he felt that this would make her happy. Sometime before, as Thor recounted to her, he had rescued her husband, Aurvandil, out of Giantland in a basket carried on his back. In so doing, he had waded through the ‘Ice Waves’ rivers that are known as Elivagar and which flowed out from the great void of nothingness (called Ginnungagap, the ‘great abyss’), which existed in the far north at the beginning of the world. The rivers were so cold that, as Thor carried Aurvandil south, it had this effect: Aurvandil’s toe froze as it was hanging out of the basket. Seeing this, Thor broke off the frozen toe and threw it into the sky to become a star. This is still called ‘Aurvandil’s toe’. Thor went on to say that Aurvandil would soon be home with Groa, his wife. At this, Groa was so pleased that she forgot the words of her spells. As a result, the whetstone remained in Thor’s head and did not come fully out. This is why it is still forbidden to throw a whetstone across the room of a house, for when this is done the whetstone that remains lodged in Thor’s head moves, to his discomfort.

  Loki’s capture and the victory of Thor over the giant, Geirrod, without the use of his hammer, belt of strength and iron gloves

  To return to the victory of Thor over Hrungnir . . . This was not the only triumph that Thor had over his enemies. Another such was when Thor visited the hall of Geirrod the giant. At that time, Thor was without Miollnir his hammer, his mighty belt and his iron gauntlets. This lack of his usual equipment was down to Loki and this came about in this way.

  Loki had taken on the form of a falcon that was an attribute of the goddess Frigg. In this form, Loki-falcon had flown to Giantland and landed on the window sill of Geirrod’s hall. But Geirrod spotted him and ordered one of his servants to catch the bird. It was no easy matter since the window was high up in the wall and the wall was hard to climb. This amused Loki and he resolved to let the servant climb up the entire height of the wall before flying off at the last minute to escape the servant’s grasp. But when that moment arrived, Loki found that his feet were stuck and he could not get away. As a result, he was captured and brought down to Geirrod. Geirrod looked hard at the falcon and saw that there was something in its eyes that was different to any bird. In fact, he was convinced that the ‘bird’ in front of him was really a person in disguise. He demanded that the falcon answer his question as to who he was, but Loki kept quiet. Frustrated by the bird’s silence, Geirrod locked him in a chest and there the bird was imprisoned for three months and starved. When the three months were over, Geirrod had the chest unlocked and the falcon brought to him. Once more, he demanded to know the real identity of the bird. This time, Loki answered him, for he feared that if he did not do so he would die of hunger in the locked chest. In order to gain his freedom, Loki promised the giant that he would get Thor to come to the hall – but without his mighty equipment. No hammer. No belt. No iron gloves. As a result, Loki was freed in order to go and fetch Thor and bring him into Giantland.

  Thor answered Loki’s summons and came into Giantland. There they spent the night in the hall of a giantess named Grid. She was the mother of Vidar the silent. Now, Grid advised Thor what kind of giant Geirrod was; how he was cunning and difficult to deal with. Seeing that Thor lacked his usual weapons she loaned him another belt of strength, some iron gloves and a staff. Setting out from there, Thor and Loki made to cross the wide river Vimur. Putting on the belt of strength and steadying himself with the staff, Thor waded out into the strong current and Loki clung onto his belt. As they crossed the river, the water began to rise and Thor saw that ahead was Gialp, Geirrod’s giantess-daughter. She was blocking the river and it was her who was causing the level of the great river to rise. Picking up a large stone from the riverbed, Thor flung it at Gialp and struck her. At the same time, he grasped a rowan tree growing out of the riverbank and hauled himself up and out of the swirling current. That is why it is said that ‘the rowan tree saved Thor’.

  Having crossed the river, Thor and Loki were soon at the hall of Geirrod. There, they were given lodging in a goats’ byre with only one seat to sit on within it. As Thor sat he suddenly found that the seat was rising up and threatening to crush him against the roof. Wedging the staff of Grid against the roof timbers, he forced the seat down hard. There was a scream and Thor discovered that beneath the seat were Geirrod’s two daughters, Gialp and Greip. Both now had broken backs for they had been forcing the seat upwards before Thor put a stop to that.

  Next, Geirrod called Thor into his hall. Awaiting him were games designed to test him. Geirrod picked up a molten lump of iron and threw it at Thor. Because Thor was wearing the iron gloves that the giantess Grid had given him, he was able to catch the glowing lump of metal and hurl it back at Geirrod. But Geirrod threw himself behind a pillar to protect himself. However, this did not save him, for Thor threw it with such force that it crashed through the pillar (although it too was made from iron), passed right through the body of Geirrod, then out through the wooden wall of the hall and buried itself in the ground outside.

  And so – although due to Loki’s capture and the manner of his release, Thor had been compelled to go to visit Geirrod without his hammer, belt of strength and iron gloves – through the assistance of the giantess named Grid he had succeeded in defeating Geirrod. Once more, it was Thor who had triumphed over the giants. Trolls or giants, Thor was their sworn enemy and many had cause to regret coming against him in a fight.

  11

  Stories of gold and of gods

  FOUND IN THE Prose Edda and in The Language of Poetry are stories about the origins of gold and its association with the gods and the giants, with adventures and with vengeance. These stories sometimes use tales found elsewhere in the collections of myths in order to make these points. For example, the story of the otter-pelt, Fafnir and Sigurd also appears in Chapter 19 of this book, as does that of Hrolf Kraki in Chapter 23.

  The high profile of gold in the mythology reminds us of how important it was in royal gift giving and in binding warriors to their lords in the Viking Age. As a consequence, a significant number of myths and associated poetic terms were connected to this precious metal.

  Giants and giantesses (jötnar in Old Norse) are common characters in Norse mythology. The gods are frequently in opposition to the giants who they have banished to Giantland and refused entry to Asgard, the home of the gods. The relationship between the gods and the giants is a complex one with several of the gods, including Odin and Loki, partly descended from giants. There are intermittent quarrels with the giants, which see the giants trying to seize various treasures or goddesses and the gods then raiding Giantland (Jötunheimr in Old Norse) to get them back.

  Dwarfs (Old Norse: dvergr), in contrast, are only ever portrayed as masculine. They work as smiths and produce various treasures for the gods – including some made out of gold. Their homes, in earth and rocks, also associate them with the mining of precious minerals. The Poetic Edda describes dwarfs as being the product of the primordial blood of Brimir (Ymir) and the bones of Blainn (see Chapter 17). The Prose Edda, though, has a different story and
instead refers to dwarfs as similar to maggots, which grew in the flesh of Ymir before being given reason by the gods. Some of the norns (female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men) were thought to be descended from dwarfs (see Chapter 4). Incidentally, the traditional plural of ‘dwarf’ was ‘dwarfs’, not ‘dwarves’. The latter form was popularised by J. R. R. Tolkien to describe beings of Middle Earth and has gained increased currency since then.

  * * *

  Gold is called by many names in poetry, such as ‘Aegir’s fire’, ‘Glasir’s leaves’, ‘Sif’s hair’, ‘otter-payment’, ‘Fafnir’s home’, ‘Niflungs’ treasure’, ‘Frodi’s flour’ and ‘Kraki’s seed’. Now these names are because of the stories associated with this precious metal. These are some of the stories that lie behind these names . . .

  Gold described as ‘Aegir’s fire’

  One day Aegir (the sea-giant) went as a guest to the halls of Asgard. When it was time to leave, he repaid the compliment by inviting Odin and the Æsir to come to visit him in three months’ time. When the time had elapsed, the Æsir set off to journey to his hall. The Æsir who went were Odin, accompanied by Asyniur, Bragi, Freyia, Freyr, Frigg, Gefion, Idunn, Loki, Niord, Sif, Skadi, Tyr and Vidar. Thor, though, was not in that number since he was in the eastern regions killing trolls.

  So, the Æsir reached the hall of Aegir. There they took their places for the feast and Aegir had light brought into the hall so that they could see as they ate and drank. Now, in Valhalla, where the Æsir lived, the light in the hall at feasts shone from swords but in the hall of Aegir the light shone from glowing lumps of gold. They shone so brightly that they illuminated the whole hall. It was as if fire was blazing there. As the feast got under way, Loki got into a dispute with the other gods and he also killed one of the slaves of Aegir. That slave’s name was Fimafeng. This was not the only thing that stood out during that feast. A remarkable thing was that the feast served itself. Food arrived on its own, as did the drink and the knives and all that was necessary. It simply appeared at the mead benches. This is why gold is sometimes called: ‘Aegir’s fire’. Such is the way of poets that this has given rise to other names, too, that are linked to this. It is also known as ‘fire of the sea’ (since Aegir is a sea-giant), also ‘fire of rivers and lakes’ (since, as a giant of water, Aegir has also given his name to these stretches of water in poetry). Sometimes it is called ‘fire of Ran’ because she is the wife of Aegir and has a net that can catch any who sail on the sea. In this way her name is used as a substitute for that of Aegir himself.

  Gold described as ‘Glasir’s leaves’

  Gold is also called ‘Glasir’s leaves’ because a tree by that name stands in front of the doors of the hall at Valhalla and its leaves are made from red gold. So this tree that grows before Odin’s hall has also given poets a way of describing gold.

  Gold described as ‘Sif’s hair’

  Another name for gold is ‘Sif’s hair’. The story that lies behind this name involves the goddess Sif and how she was mistreated by Loki. Now, Loki, from his nature of causing trouble, had cut off all the golden hair of Sif. When Thor heard of this he was furious and seized Loki and threatened to break every bone in his body. But Loki, in fear of Thor’s anger, swore an oath that he would employ black-elves to make Sif new hair that would be made so that it would grow as any other hair. It was to the sons of the dwarf Ivaldi that Loki finally turned and secured from them their agreement to make the golden hair for Sif. It was these skilled metalworkers who also made Odin’s spear, which is called Gungnir; and the ship Skidbladnir, which is the finest ship in the world and belongs to the god Freyr (although some say it was made by Odin).

  It was at this time that Loki had a bet with another dwarf, named Brokk, in which Loki wagered his own head against that dwarf’s brother (Eitri) being capable of making three such amazing things as Sif’s hair of gold, the spear of Odin and the ship of Freyr. Eitri pitted his skills against the task set him. First, he put a pig’s hide into his blazing forge and urged his brother, Brokk, to keeping blowing on the flames until the heat had finished working on the pig’s hide. At this point Eitri left his metalworking shop but Brokk kept on working the bellows. While Brokk did this, a fly landed on his arm and bit him; but Brokk kept on at his work and ignored the fly. When Eitri returned and pulled the pig’s hide out of the fire it had been transformed into a boar with golden bristles.

  Then Eitri put a lump of gold into the forge and again told Brokk not to rest from blowing the bellows on it. Again Eitri went out and again the fly returned; only this time it settled on Brokk’s neck and bit him, twice as hard as before. Again Brokk ignored the fly and kept at his work. When Eitri returned he pulled a gold ring from the flames and that gold ring is called Draupnir, which has the property of multiplying itself into other rings: every ninth night, eight new rings drip from Draupnir and add to the wealth of Odin, its owner.

  Finally, Eitri placed a lump of iron into the forge and again told Brokk to keep working the bellows, for the work would fail if there was even a single pause. Once more Eitri left the workshop and once more the fly returned. Only this time it settled on Brokk’s face and bit his eyelids. The blood ran into Brokk’s eyes and he could not see. Brokk was so distracted that he attempted to swat that fly, even as he was working the bellows. The fly flew off. At this point, Eitri returned because he knew that it had come close to everything in the forge being spoiled due to Brokk being distracted by the fly. Despite this, a hammer had been forged and Eitri took it and presented it to Brokk, along with the boar with its golden bristles and the magical ring.

  These three amazing things were carried to Asgard by Brokk, so that the Æsir could judge their worth. And Loki also brought the golden hair, the spear and the ship to set against what Eitri had made. Those who sat in judgement were Odin, Thor and Freyr, and their judgement was to be final, with no appeal against it. So the trial of the wondrous things began.

  Loki gave the spear to Odin, the golden hair to Thor and the ship to Freyr so that they could judge their excellence; for the spear was unstoppable, the golden hair would root itself in Sif’s head, and the ship would always find a fair wind and could be folded and carried in a pocket. To challenge this, Brokk gave the multiplying ring to Odin, the boar to Freyr and the hammer to Thor. Like Loki, he extolled their virtues: the ring multiplying every ninth night; the boar could race across the sky and the sea faster than the best horse and would shed light from its golden bristles; the hammer could strike as heavily as Thor wished, it would never miss its target, it would always return to him and it was small enough to be kept inside his shirt. Odin, Thor and Freyr conferred and were in agreement that the hammer was the greatest of all the remarkable works and that with it the frost-giants could be kept at bay. In consequence, they announced that the dwarf had won the contest and had defeated Loki. Faced with this defeat, Loki offered to pay compensation for his head in some way, but Brokk was not interested: he wanted Loki’s head.

  Loki was not going to wait for Brokk to cut off his head and so he sprang away. In his escape he was aided by the shoes that he was wearing, for they could carry him across sky and sea at great speed. But Brokk appealed to Thor for justice and Thor caught Loki. As the dwarf made to cut off Loki’s head, Loki protested that the head belonged to the dwarf – but not the neck. At this Brokk stitched up Loki’s lips – though not without difficulty and it finally required an awl to make holes in the lips – for this was the mouth that had challenged Brokk and his brother. And that is why gold is sometimes called ‘Sif’s hair’.

  Gold described as ‘otter-payment’

  Once, Odin, Loki and Haenir were out exploring and they came to a river. Following its course to a waterfall, they came upon an otter. The otter had caught a salmon and was eating it. So relaxed was the otter that it did not sense the approach of the three members of the Æsir, so that when Loki threw a stone at it, the rock caught the otter completely by surprise and it was struck on the head. At thi
s, Loki was very pleased, since in one action he had gained both an otter and a salmon. Picking up the otter and salmon, Odin, Loki and Haenir went on their way until they reached a farmhouse and went inside. This was the home of the magician, Hreidmar. The three members of the Æsir asked if they could stay the night. Furthermore, they explained that they carried their own provisions and showed Hreidmar the salmon and the otter. At this sight, Hreidmar called his two sons. They were named Fafnir and Regin. When they arrived, Hreidmar showed them the body of the otter, which he declared was their brother, and he told them that the Æsir had killed him. Incensed at the death of Otter, his two brothers seized the three Æsir and bound them tightly. Seeing the danger that they were in, the Æsir negotiated for their lives by inviting Hreidmar to name the price in treasure that should be paid by them as compensation for the life of his son. This was sealed with oaths.

  Hreidmar skinned the otter and declared that the price he demanded for the life of his son was that the skin should be filled with red gold and, indeed, covered entirely with it. Only this would satisfy him. This was a great demand and so Odin dispatched Loki into the realm of the black-elves to seek out sufficient gold. Coming to a lake, Loki saw a fish that was actually the dwarf, Andvari. Seizing him as prisoner, Loki would not release him until the dwarf gave up all the gold that he had hidden in his underground home in the rocks. This amounted to a huge amount of gold. The dwarf had no choice but to do as Loki demanded. But as he paid over the gold he tried to keep back one solitary ring. But Loki spotted this and demanded that Andvari hand that over with the rest of the gold in his hoard. At this, the dwarf pleaded to be allowed to keep the ring, since it was a magic ring and from it he could, in time, cause more gold to accrue. Loki, though, was having none of it and demanded every last piece of the dwarf’s gold. Faced with losing everything, the dwarf declared that whoever owned the ring would find it brought nothing but destruction. Loki was undaunted by the threat and said that this could indeed be so and that he, Loki, would tell whoever took the ring about its terrible power.