god or goddess
Þrúðr
Daughter of Thor and Sif, known only from kennings. Poets called the giant Hrungnir 'Þrúðr's thief', hinting at a lost story of her abduction.
Þrúðr is Thor's daughter, and she survives only in the poets' periphrases. Snorri lists "Father of Magni and Módi and Thrúdr" among the ways to name Thor Skáldskaparmál 4, and "Mother of Thrúdr" among the ways to name Sif Skáldskaparmál 20. Skaldic verses quoted in the same work call Thor "Thrúdr's Father" and "the grim Sire of Thrúdr" Skáldskaparmál 4 Skáldskaparmál 18.
One kenning suggests a story now lost. The ninth-century poet Bragi, describing a painted shield, calls the shield the "Sole-Blade of Thrúdr's thief" Skáldskaparmál 48. Snorri explains that a shield can be named after Hrungnir's feet, because the giant stood on his shield in his duel with Thor Skáldskaparmál 48. "Thrúdr's thief" must therefore be Hrungnir, which implies that he once carried her off. No surviving source tells that story; Snorri's account of the duel gives a different cause for it Skáldskaparmál 17.
The dwarf Alvíss in Alvíssmál comes to claim a bride who turns out to be Thor's daughter; Thor keeps him talking until sunrise, and the marriage never happens Alvíssmál 4 Alvíssmál 35. The poem does not name her. Identifying her with Þrúðr is natural but not stated.
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.
Father of Magni and Módi and Thrúdr, Husband of Sif
Co-Wife of Járnsaxa, Mother of Thrúdr.
How I shall praise the Sole-Blade Of Thrúdr's thief
Where the sources disagree or fall silent
- The 'snow-white maid' whom the dwarf Alvíss comes to claim in Alvíssmál is Thor's daughter, but the poem never names her (Alvíssmál 7). Many readers assume she is Þrúðr.
- A valkyrie named Þrúðr (Bellows: Thruth) appears in Grímnismál's list (Grímnismál 36); whether she is meant to be the same figure is unknown.
