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Þrymr

The giant king who steals Thor's hammer and demands Freyja as his bride, and is killed at his own wedding feast when the 'bride' turns out to be Thor.

Tor såsom Freya
Tor såsom Freya, Carl Larsson and Gunnar Forssell as described above. Photograph by User:Haukurth. (1893). Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Þrymr, "the giants' master" Þrymskviða 5, is the villain of Þrymskviða, the most comic poem in the Edda. He steals Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, and hides it "eight miles down deep in the earth". He will give it back only if he can marry Freyja Þrymskviða 7. He appears nowhere else in the sources.

The poem draws him as a rich, lonely lord. When Loki flies in, Þrymr is sitting on a mound, plaiting gold leashes for his dogs and combing his horses' manes Þrymskviða 5. As the bride approaches he boasts of his gold-horned cattle and black oxen: "Freyja alone did I lack" Þrymskviða 23.

Freyja refuses so violently that her necklace bursts Þrymskviða 12, and on Heimdall's advice Thor goes in her place, veiled, with Loki as his maid. The comedy lies in Þrymr's puzzlement. His bride eats an ox and eight salmon Þrymskviða 24, and when he lifts the veil for a kiss he leaps back from her burning eyes. Each time Loki explains: Freyja has not eaten or slept for eight nights, "so hot was her longing for Jotunheim" Þrymskviða 26 Þrymskviða 28.

Þrymr then has the hammer brought in "to hallow the bride" and laid on her knees Þrymskviða 30. Thor's heart laughs; he kills Þrymr first, then the wedding guests, then the giant's "luckless sister" who had asked the bride for gold Þrymskviða 29-32. See Thrym steals Thor's hammer for the full story.

Scholars disagree about the poem's age. Some see it as old; others as a late, knowing parody of the mythology, perhaps from the 13th century. Þrymr himself has no history outside it.

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.

Thrym sat on a mound, the giants' master, Leashes of gold he laid for his dogs
Þrymskviða 5 Loki finds Þrymr at ease on his mound, grooming his dogs and horses.
I have hidden Hlorrithi's hammer, Eight miles down deep in the earth
Þrymskviða 7 Þrymr admits the theft and names his price: Freyja as his wife.
Gold-horned cattle go to my stables, Jet-black oxen, the giant's joy
Þrymskviða 23 The giant lists his wealth: he lacks nothing but Freyja.
First Thrym, the king of the giants, he killed, Then all the folk of the giants he felled.
Þrymskviða 31 Thor, given back his hammer at the wedding, kills Þrymr and his household.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • Þrymr appears only in Þrymskviða. Snorri does not tell the story, and nothing else is known of him.
  • Þrymr's home is not named. It should not be confused with Þrymheimr, which Snorri gives as the home of the giant Þjazi.

Myths with Þrymr

Thrym steals Thor's hammer Thor wakes to find Mjölnir gone. The giant Þrymr will return it only for Freyja as his bride, so Thor goes to the wedding himself, in a veil, with Loki as his bridesmaid.

Related

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. Mjölnir Mjöllnir Thor's short-handled hammer, forged by the dwarf brothers Brokkr and Sindri: it never misses, always returns to his hand, kills giants, and hallows brides, pyres and the dead goats it brings back to life. 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. Freyja The Vanir goddess of love, wealth and the slain: daughter of Njörðr, owner of the necklace Brísingamen, who takes half of those who fall in battle to her hall Fólkvangr. Heimdall Heimdallr The watchman of the gods, born of nine mothers, who guards Bifröst from his hall Himinbjörg and will blow the Gjallarhorn when Ragnarök begins. Jötunheimr The land of the giants, at the edge of the world beyond rivers and sea, usually to the east of the gods and men. Thor goes there to fight, and gods go there to court and steal. The giants (jötnar) jötnar The giants of Norse myth: the oldest race in the world, descended from Ymir, wise and often wealthy, enemies of the gods yet their kin, their wives and their mothers.