by Graeme Davis
GIANTS AND TROLLS
Today, thanks largely to the influence of Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy games, giants and trolls are regarded as very different creatures. In Norse myth, however, the words “giant” and “troll” seem to have been synonymous – indeed there are instances where both words are used to describe the same creature.
In post-Viking folklore, trolls can be almost any size and their appearance and other characteristics are extremely various. In modern Danish the word trolddom means magic in general, and the phrase “svaerd og trolddom” has the same meaning as the English “sword and sorcery.”
AEGIR’S FEAST
Aegir (not to be confused with the Aesir, the divine tribe of which Thor is a member) is a slightly enigmatic figure in Norse mythology. Some scholars regard him as a god of the ocean, while others see him as a powerful giant who lived beneath the sea.
This legend is found partly in Lokasenna and partly in Hymiskvida. Another version, told in Gylfaginning, covers only the fishing expedition and states that Thor visits Hymir in the guise of a mortal youth, disguising his strength and divine power.
A part of the Gosforth Cross, showing Thor fishing for the Midgard Serpent. (PD-US)
The story of Thor’s catching the Midgard Serpent is represented in several sources that are older than the Eddas. The 9th-century Ragnarsdrapa includes a version of the tale, as do the 10th-century Husdrapa and fragments of two other 10th-century poems. In the first two cases, the poets describe not the event itself, but representations of it on a shield (which, since it is also said to bear images from three other legends, must be nothing more than a narrative device) and in the carvings of a hall owned by a wealthy Icelandic merchant.
Images of Thor hooking Jormungand can be found on several carved stones from the Viking Age, including a 10th-century cross in St Mary’s churchyard at Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria.
Thor Hooks the Midgard Serpent
The Aesir visited Aegir and he prepared a feast for them. Aegir was famed for the number and size of his cauldrons, and when they saw them the Aesir decided that Aegir should host all their gatherings in future.
Aegir could not refuse them without being a bad host, but he set one condition that the Aesir should provide him with a cauldron large enough to warm mead for all of them at once. Even among such a collection of cauldrons as he possessed, there was no vessel large enough to do so. Tyr, the god of the law, remembered that his father Hymir owned a vessel that was no less than a rast (about 7 miles) deep, which would answer Aegir’s need perfectly. Tyr and Thor set out to bring this huge cauldron back to Aegir’s hall.
Hymir cuts Thor’s fishing line in this 1901 illustration by Arthur Rackham. (PD-US)
When the two gods arrived at Hymir’s steading, they were confronted at first by Tyr’s grandmother, an ugly giantess with nine hundred heads. Then Tyr’s mother came out, “all-golden” and “fair-browed,” and offered a cup of ale to her son. She warned the two gods to hide under Hymir’s cauldrons, saying that he was often ill-disposed to receiving guests.
When Hymir returned from hunting, they found that Tyr’s mother had been right. His beard was crusted with ice, and the icebergs cracked under his fierce gaze. When Tyr’s mother told him that he had visitors, Hymir’s glance shattered one of the hall’s pillars, sending cauldrons crashing to the floor and breaking all but one.
Thor battles the world-encircling Midgard Serpent Jormungand.
Thor struggles with the Midgard Serpent while Hymir prepares to cut the line. W. G. Collingwood, 1908. (PD-US)
Although Hymir was not pleased to see that one of his visitors was the renowned giant-slayer Thor, he grudgingly offered the two his hospitality. He ordered three oxen to be slaughtered for a feast. Thor ate two of them by himself. It was agreed that on the next day, they would be forced to eat whatever they could catch. Sent to find bait, Thor cut off the head of Hymir’s best ox and carried it to Hymir’s boat.
The three rowed out to Hymir’s favorite fishing spot, but Thor insisted on heading into deeper waters in search of a better catch. Hymir caught two whales, but then Thor fastened the ox-head to a line and threw it overboard. Almost immediately, he hooked the largest creature in the sea: Jormungand, the world-encircling Midgard Serpent.
Jormungand fought with all its immense strength, but Thor would not let go of his line, even when the Midgard Serpent pulled him through the bottom of the boat. Bracing his feet against the ocean floor, Thor hauled Jormungand up to the side of the boat.
As the Midgard Serpent towered above their vessel, venom spewing from its jaws, Thor prepared to strike out at it with his hammer. Before he could do so, however, a panicked Hymir cut the line and released the mighty beast. In a rage, Thor threw his hammer at the Serpent, striking it in the head but apparently not killing it. Then, he turned his frustration on Hymir and struck him on the side of the head with his hand. The force of the blow flung the giant from the boat, and Thor waded back to shore.
Once the whales had been brought in and they were eating, Hymir insulted Thor’s strength, saying that the Thunder God could not even break Hymir’s wine-cup. Thor dashed the cup against a stone. The stone split in two, but the cup remained intact. Thor was baffled until Tyr’s mother advised him to break the cup against Hymir’s head. He did so, and the cup shattered.
After this, Hymir agreed to let the Aesir have the cauldron they asked for, if they could take it out of his hall. Tyr tried twice, but could not even lift it. Thor grasped the vessel by the rim and tried to lift it up, but its weight forced him through the floor. Finally he managed to raise the cauldron onto his head, and they set off for Aegir’s hall.
Hymir was not willing to let the Aesir go so easily. He pursued them with “a troop of many-headed monsters,” but Thor set down the cauldron and threw his hammer Mjolnir at their pursuers, killing all of them including Hymir. Then the two gods returned in triumph to Aegir’s hall, bearing the gigantic cauldron.
Loki’s Insult
This tale, recounted in Lokasenna, continues the previous story.
When Thor and Tyr returned with Hymir’s cauldron, Aegir brewed enough ale for all the Aesir. Thor was absent, but the other gods all assembled for the feast. Among them was the troublemaking Loki, who was in a foul mood because the Aesir had recently bound Loki’s offspring Fenrir (also known as Fenris), a gigantic wolf who according to prophecy would kill Odin at Ragnarok.
Aegir’s servants Fimafeng and Eldir welcomed the Aesir to the hall. The gods were impressed by how well these two attended to their duties, and Loki grew so tired of hearing their praise that he killed Fimafeng. As a result, he was banished from the feast. Encountering Eldir a little while later, Loki asked what the Aesir were talking about. Eldir answered that the gods were discussing their might at arms, and added that no one had a kind word for Loki.
Enraged, Loki went back into Aegir’s hall, demanding hospitality according to custom. Bragi, the god of poetry, told Loki once more that he was unwelcome. After Loki reminded Odin of an oath that he and Loki would drink together, Odin reluctantly told his son Vidar to give up his place to the trickster god. Vidar did so, and even poured a drink for Loki.
Taking the drink, Loki offered a toast to all the assembled gods, pointedly excluding Bragi. Bragi responded by offering Loki a horse, a ring and a sword to mend things between them, but Loki rejected the gifts, accusing Bragi of cowardice for offering them. Bragi responded to Loki’s insult by saying that he would have taken Loki’s head if it were not for the fact that they were under the peace of Aegir’s hall. Loki insulted Bragi’s courage again, saying that he was brave enough while he stayed in his seat.
When the goddess Idun tried to intercede, Loki accused her of having loose morals. He went on to insult all the gods in turn, pouring his malice upon everyone who spoke to him. He accused the goddess Gefion of immorality as well, and when Odin protested he claimed that he gave victory to cowards and criticized him for traveling among mo
rtals in disguise rather than admitting his identity.
Odin’s wife Frigga tried to quell the argument, but Loki dismissed her as having always been too fond of men. Wounded, Frigga replied that she would not have to suffer such insults if her son Balder were still alive, prompting Loki to gloat about his part in Balder’s death.
Freyja, the goddess of love and fertility, now tried to calm Loki, but he shot back that there was no man in Aegir’s hall who had not been her lover. When she protested at his insults, Loki went further. She was a witch, he said, and had even slept with her own brother Frey.
Freyja and Frey’s father, the Vanir god Njord, now objected. Loki reminded him that he had come to Asgard as a hostage to secure peace after a long-ago Aesir-Vanir war, and accused him of improper relations with giantesses. When Njord told Loki that he was glad he had a son whom no one hated (unlike Loki, who had fathered Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent), Loki retorted that Njord had got his son and his daughter through incest with his own sister.
Tyr came to Frey’s defense, but Loki cut him down by saying that the law-god was impotent to settle any quarrel. He also reminded him of his missing hand, which Fenrir had torn from him when the Aesir tricked him. Tyr replied that he would rather be missing his hand than his reputation, and noted that Fenrir was bound up until Ragnarok. Loki responded to this by pointing out that he had other sons – including, he claimed, one by Tyr’s wife.
Frey stepped in at this point, threatening Loki that he would be bound up like Fenrir if he did not be quiet. Loki noted that Frey would have no sword at Ragnarok, and claimed that he had traded it to the giant Gymir to buy his daughter Gerd for a wife.
Byggvir now addressed Loki. He is an obscure deity, not known outside this one story: his name may be related to the Old Norse word for barley. He said that if he were of Frey’s race he would crush Loki, but Loki dismissed him, accusing him of cowardice: “lying in thy truckle bed, thou wast not to be found while men were fighting.”
When Heimdall accused Loki of being drunk, Loki responded that he was of no account since he was just a watchman. When the goddess Skadi objected, Loki claimed she had once taken him to her bed.
Thor’s wife Sif offered Loki a drink to restore the peace, begging him not to tarnish her reputation. Loki called her an adulteress, claiming that she once betrayed her husband with Loki himself.
Vidar kills Fenrir, avenging his father Odin at the final battle of Ragnarok. W. G. Collingwood, 1908. (PD-US)
At this point Thor returned from whatever journey had kept him from arriving with the rest of the Aesir. He threatened to knock Loki’s head off with his hammer, but Loki was unimpressed, pointing out that Thor will be unable to save his father Odin from the jaws of Fenrir at Ragnarok.
Thor threatened Loki again, promising to knock him “into the east region” (possibly meaning all the way to Jotunheim), where no one would ever see him again. Loki laughed, reminding Thor how he had once cowered in the thumb of Utgardaloki’s glove.
Thor threatened Loki a third time, saying that Mjolnir would break every bone in his body. Loki reminded him of another of his misadventures with Utgardaloki, when he was too weak to open the food-sack belonging to the giant Skrymir.
Finally, Thor threatened to hit Loki so hard that he would be cast down to Hel. At this Loki finally agreed to leave, but not without a parting shot. Aegir, he prophesied, would never host another gathering: fire would take his hall and all his possessions.
Thor disguises himself as a bride to get his hammer back from the giant Thrym.
THOR AND THE GIANTS
Utgardaloki was not the only giant who crossed Thor’s path, though he seems to have been the only one to get the better of the Thunder God. According to the Eddas, fighting giants was Thor’s favorite pastime. Their enormous size and strength seems to have made them the only foes he considered worthy. His exploits against the giants were so well known that “giant-slayer” was a commonly-used kenning referring to him.
This chapter relates a few of his better-known exploits against the giants.
Thor’s Duel with Hrungnir
This tale from the Skaldskaparmal is typical of Thor’s exploits against the giants. It stresses both their great size and their ill manners, while emphasizing Thor’s strength and prowess in battle. The oldest known version of the tale is in a 10th-century poem called Haustlong, which describes an image from the story painted onto a shield.
The story begins when Odin is riding through Jotunheim, one of the giant realms, on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir. He met with a giant named Hrungnir (“the Brawler”), who admired Sleipnir but boasted that his own horse, Goldfax (“Gold-mane”) had a longer stride.
Odin wagered his head that no horse in Jotunheim could match Sleipnir, and Hrungnir leaped onto Goldfax and chased after him. The race ended at the gates of Asgard with Odin still in the lead. When they arrived, Odin invited Hrungnir into his hall of Valhalla.
THE GIANTS
Jotunheim lies to the east of Asgard, and its inhabitants, beside being immense of stature, are usually crude, violent, and envious of all that the Aesir possess. Their names bear out their character: Hrungnir (“Brawler”), Thrym (“Uproar”), Thrivaldi (“Thrice Mighty”), Angrboda (“Grief-bringer”), and so on.
Most Jotuns are human-looking, but a few are not. Thrivaldi had nine heads (all of which, according to a passing mention in the Skaldskaparmal, Thor clove apart), while Thjazi scarcely ever appears in humanoid form, preferring that of a giant eagle.
Thor’s fondness for slaying giants is more than a love of battle and a search for worthy opponents, although these are certainly powerful motives. By killing giants on their own territory, he is discouraging them from coming to Asgard and causing trouble, thus protecting not only Asgard itself but the mortal realm of Midgard beyond it.
Thor’s hammer Mjolnir breaks Hrungnir’s stone club and strikes the giant’s head. (Ivy Close Images / Alamy)
Freyja and the other goddesses served Hrungnir with mead. He drank bowl after bowl, and as he became drunk his boasting increased. Admiring Odin’s hall, Hrungnir said that he would move it to Jotunheim and live in it himself. First he would have to kill all the Aesir, except for Freyja and Sif, Thor’s wife, whom he would take with him.
Eventually the Aesir tired of their ill-mannered guest, and called Thor. He scowled to see a giant slumped half-drunk in Odin’s hall and demanded to know what right Hrungnir had to be there. Hrungnir replied that he was Odin’s guest and under his protection. He taunted Thor further, pointing out that the Thunder God could not honorably attack him because he had left his own weapons at home in Jotunheim. However, he said, if Thor would go to Jotunheim he would consent to fight a duel. Thor readily agreed.
Hrungnir returned to Jotunheim, and word quickly spread that he was going to fight a duel with Thor. Hrungnir was by far the strongest of the giants, but Thor was one of the strongest of the Aesir, and easily the most dangerous. The giants worried about what to do.
Eventually they decided to create a second for Hrungnir: an immense clay man they called Mokkerkalfe (Mist-calf). He was nine rasts tall and three rasts broad across the chest. He had a horse’s heart, which was the largest the giants could find, but even this trembled and fluttered when Thor approached, accompanied by his servant Thjalfi. Hrungnir’s heart was made of stone like the rest of him, and he stood his ground. Mokkerkalfe, on the other hand, wet himself at the sight of Thor.
Thjalfi ran ahead to where Hrungnir stood, armed with a stone shield and an immense club of flint. He told the giant that it was foolish to hold his stone shield in front of him, because Thor intended to sink into the ground and attack him from below.
Hearing this, Hrungnir put his shield on the ground and stood on top of it, taking his stone club in both hands. A flash of lightning blinded Hrungnir temporarily, and when he regained his sight he could see Thor charging toward him.
The Thunder God threw his great hammer Mjolnir, and the giant threw his own
club to intercept the hammer in midair. The collision broke Hrungnir’s club in two; one part fell to the ground and the other struck Thor in the head, knocking him down. Having broken Hrungnir’s club, Mjolnir struck the giant’s head, killing him instantly.
RASTS
A rast (“rest”) was the distance one could walk between rest stops. It has been estimated as a little over 7 miles (11.3km). This makes the clay man Mokkerkalfe over 63 miles tall and 21 miles wide. Exaggeration was a common feature of Viking tales, and we can assume that the size of the clay giant has grown in the telling.
The giant toppled over like an immense felled tree. One of his feet came to rest across Thor’s body, and even with his divine strength the Thunder God was unable to move the foot off him. Meanwhile Thjalfi attacked Mokkerkalfe, who fell with little honor.
Thor was still trapped under Hrungnir’s foot. Thjalfi tried to help lift it off him, but it was too heavy. The other Aesir also tried, but no one was able to lift the giant’s foot and free Thor. At last, Thor’s three-day-old son Magni (“Strong”) arrived. His mother was the giantess Jarnsaxa (“Iron-knife”) and only he had the strength to lift Hrungnir’s foot and free his father.
The flint from Hrungnir’s weapon was still stuck in Thor’s head. He consulted a wise-woman named Groa to remove it, but while she was singing her magic songs Thor started telling her the stories of his adventures (see The Stone in Thor’s Head). She forgot her singing, and the stone remained lodged in Thor’s head forever after.