Seiðr Loom

giant

Ægir

The sea in person and the gods' brewer: his hall is where they feast, his wife is Rán and his nine daughters are the waves. Snorri also makes him the listener to whom Bragi tells the myths in Skáldskaparmál.

Ægir is the sea, in person. In the myths he is also the gods' host, and his hall is where they go to drink. Snorri explains that gold is called "Ægir's fire" because at his feast bright gold lit the hall instead of fire Skáldskaparmál 33, and skalds call the sea "Ægir's wide jaws" Skáldskaparmál 25. His wife is Rán and they have nine daughters Skáldskaparmál 33, whose names are words for waves Skáldskaparmál 25. A Helgi poem has "Ægir's daughters" trying to sink the hero's ships Helgakviða Hundingsbana I 30.

The brewer

Hymiskviða opens with the gods arriving at Ægir's hall for a feast. Thor, "the son of Ygg", stares the host down and orders him to brew Hymiskviða 2. Ægir resents it and asks for a kettle big enough, which sends Thor to the giant Hymir. The poem ends with the kettle brought home so that the gods can drink "in Ægir's hall at the autumn-time" Hymiskviða 40.

Lokasenna is set at that feast. Ægir's hall is lit by gold, the ale serves itself, and it is a place of peace, until Loki kills one of Ægir's servants and comes back to insult every god present Lokasenna, prose 2. His last words are a curse on the host: "Such feasts shalt thou make no more", and fire will play over everything Ægir owns Lokasenna 65. In Grímnismál, Odin calls the gods "all … that sit in Ægir's seats" Grímnismál 45.

Snorri's listener

Snorri gives Ægir a second role. In Skáldskaparmál he is "a certain man … named Ægir, or Hlér", who lives on Hlér's Isle, knows magic, and visits Ásgard. There Bragi sits beside him and answers his questions about the myths and the language of poetry Skáldskaparmál 1. Most of Skáldskaparmál's stories, including the mead of poetry, Hrungnir and Geirröðr, are told to Ægir. Hlér's Isle is usually identified with Læsø in the Kattegat, but that is a scholarly identification.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

Of old the gods made feast together, And drink they sought ere sated they were; Twigs they shook, and blood they tried: Rich fare in Ægir's hall they found.
Hymiskviða 1 The gods choose Ægir's hall for their feast and demand that he brew for them.
Glittering gold they had in place of firelight; the ale came in of itself; and great was the peace.
Lokasenna, prose 2 The feast in Ægir's hall where Loki insults the gods.
Ale hast thou brewed, but, Ægir, now Such feasts shalt thou make no more
Lokasenna 65 Loki's parting curse on the host.
A certain man was named Ægir, or Hlér. He dwelt on the island which is now called Hlér's Isle, and was deeply versed in black magic.
Skáldskaparmál 1 Snorri makes Ægir a visitor to Ásgard who hears the myths from Bragi.
Rán is the name of Ægir's wife, and their daughters are nine
Skáldskaparmál 33 Snorri explains why gold is called 'Ægir's fire'.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • The sources do not agree on what Ægir is. Hymiskviða calls him a 'mountain-dweller' (Hymiskviða 2), a word for a giant; Snorri calls him 'a certain man … deeply versed in black magic' (Skáldskaparmál 1); in skaldic poetry his name simply means the sea.
  • Lokasenna (prose) and a skaldic verse quoted by Snorri say Ægir was also called Gymir (lokasenna p1, skaldskaparmal 25). Elsewhere Gymir is Gerðr's father, a giant in Jötunheimr (Gylfaginning 37). Whether these are one figure is unclear.
  • Snorri lists the nine daughters twice, with one name different (Bára in skaldskaparmal 25, Dröfn in skaldskaparmal 60).

Myths with Ægir

Loki's flyting at Ægir's feast Thrown out of the sea-giant Ægir's feast for killing a servant, Loki walks back in and insults every god and goddess in turn, until Thor comes home and threatens him with the hammer. Odin as Grímnir between the fires To win a wager with Frigg, Odin visits his foster-son King Geirröðr in disguise and is tortured between two fires for eight nights. Given a drink by the king's young son, he pours out a vision of the gods' halls and the world-tree, then reveals himself, and the king falls on his own sword. The mead of poetry From the spittle of the gods' peace comes Kvasir, wisest of beings; from his blood two dwarfs brew a mead that makes poets. It passes to the giant Suttungr, and Odin wins it by labour, seduction and theft, flying home as an eagle. The theft of Iðunn and her apples Caught by a giant in eagle's shape, Loki buys his freedom by luring Iðunn and her apples out of Asgard. The gods grow old, and Loki must steal her back as a falcon, with Þjazi beating after him. Thor fishes for the World Serpent Sent to fetch a giant's brewing kettle, Thor goes fishing with the giant Hymir, baits his hook with an ox-head and hauls the Midgard Serpent up to the gunwale. The poem Hymiskvíða and Snorri tell it differently, and disagree on how it ended.

Related

Rán Ægir's wife, the sea as a taker of lives: she owns a net in which she catches everyone who goes to sea, and the drowned are said to go to her. Hymir The sea-giant who takes Thor fishing for the Midgard Serpent and owns the great kettle the gods need to brew ale; Hymiskviða makes him Týr's father. Thor Þórr The thunder god, strongest of the Æsir: son of Odin and Earth, husband of Sif, and with his hammer Mjöllnir the gods' defender against the giants, until he dies killing the World Serpent. Loki The giant-born trickster counted among the Æsir: father of Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent and Hel, contriver of Baldr's death, bound until Ragnarök. Bragi The god of poetry and eloquence, husband of Iðunn. In Snorri's Skáldskaparmál he is the storyteller who explains the art of poetry to the sea-giant Ægir. Gymir A rich giant of Jötunheim, father of Gerðr, whose guarded house Skírnir rode to when he came to woo Gerðr for Freyr. Kennings kenningar The compressed poetic riddles of skaldic verse, such as 'Ymir's skull' for the sky or 'Kvasir's blood' for poetry, which only make sense if you know the myths; Snorri wrote Skáldskaparmál to explain them.