giant
Gymir
A rich giant of Jötunheim, father of Gerðr, whose guarded house Skírnir rode to when he came to woo Gerðr for Freyr.
Gymir is known almost only as the father of Gerðr. Snorri says he was married to Aurboða, "of the stock of the Hill-Giants", and that their daughter was the most beautiful of women Gylfaginning 37; Hyndluljóð gives the same family Hyndluljóð 32. In Skírnismál his house lies in Jötunheim behind a fence watched by fierce dogs Skírnismál, prose 2, and Gerðr turns down Skírnir's gold because "In Gymir's home is no lack of gold" Skírnismál 22. She also expects her father to fight the intruder, and Skírnir answers that Gymir "is doomed to die" Skírnismál 24-25. The poem never says whether that happened.
The name is confusing because the sea-giant Ægir is also called Gymir: the prose of Lokasenna says so Lokasenna, prose 1, and Snorri notes that "Ægir and Gymir are both the same" Skáldskaparmál 25. Nothing in the texts links Ægir to Gerðr, so the two are usually kept apart.
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.
A certain man was called Gýmir, and his wife Aurboda: she was of the stock of the Hill-Giants; their daughter was Gerdr
In Gymir's home is no lack of gold In the wealth my father wields.
Ægir, who was also called Gymir
Where the sources disagree or fall silent
- Whether the Gymir who is Gerðr's father is the same as the sea-giant Ægir, who is also called Gymir (lokasenna p1, skaldskaparmal 25). Most readers treat them as two figures sharing a name.
