Seiðr Loom

object

Freyr's sword

sverð Freys

The sword that 'fights of itself', which Freyr gave to his servant Skírnir as the price of winning Gerðr. Without it he will fall to Surtr at Ragnarök.

Freyr's sword is a weapon "that will fight of itself If a worthy hero wields it" Skírnismál 9. It has no name in the sources, and its fame rests entirely on Freyr giving it away.

In Skírnismál, lovesick for the giantess Gerðr, Freyr sends his servant Skírnir to woo her. Skírnir asks for two things: the horse that can cross the "magic flickering flames" around her home, and the sword Skírnismál 8. Freyr gives both Skírnismál 9. In the poem Skírnir puts the sword to use at once, threatening to cut off Gerðr's head and saying that "the old giant", her father Gymir, will fall before its blade Skírnismál 23 Skírnismál 25. Snorri's version mentions only the sword, "so good that it fights of itself" Gylfaginning 37.

The bargain has a long shadow. Snorri says Freyr later had to fight the giant Beli without it and killed him with a hart's antler, and adds that Freyr will regret the gift far more "when he misses his sword on that day that the Sons of Múspell go a-harrying" Gylfaginning 37. At Ragnarök he meets Surtr, and "it is to be his death that he lacks that good sword of his, which he gave to Skírnir" Gylfaginning 51. Loki makes the same point in Lokasenna: Freyr bought Gymir's daughter with gold "And sold thy sword to boot", and will wait "weaponless" when Muspell's sons ride Lokasenna 42.

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.

The horse will I give thee that goes through the dark And magic flickering flames, And the sword as well that will fight of itself If a worthy hero wields it.
Skírnismál 9 Freyr hands over his horse and sword.
Freyr should give him his own sword—which is so good that it fights of itself;—and Freyr did not refuse, but gave him the sword.
Gylfaginning 37 Snorri's version of the bargain.
Freyr shall contend with Surtr, and a hard encounter shall there be between them before Freyr falls: it is to be his death that he lacks that good sword of his, which he gave to Skírnir.
Gylfaginning 51 The sword's absence decides Freyr's last fight.
But when Muspell's sons through Myrkwood ride, Thou shalt weaponless wait, poor wretch.
Lokasenna 42 Loki taunts Freyr with the coming loss.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • What became of the sword after Skírnir got it. Some modern readers suggest it passed to the giants and is the sword Surtr wields at Ragnarök, or the Lævateinn of Svipdagsmál; no medieval source says either.

Myths with Freyr's sword

Freyr and Gerðr Freyr sits in Odin's high seat, glimpses the giant's daughter Gerðr and is sick with love. His servant Skírnir rides through fire to woo her, and when gifts fail he wins her with threats and a curse. The price is Freyr's sword. Ragnarök: the doom of the gods The end of the Norse world as told in Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál and Snorri's Gylfaginning: winter and war, the wolf and the serpent loose, the gods killed one by one, and Surtr's fire over the earth.

Related

Freyr The Vanir god of rain, sunshine, harvest and peace, son of Njörðr. He gave away his sword to win the giantess Gerðr, and will fall unarmed against Surtr at Ragnarök. Gerðr A giant's daughter so beautiful that light shone from her arms, whom Freyr's servant Skírnir won for him by bribes, threats and a runic curse. Surtr The fire-giant who guards Múspell with a flaming sword; at Ragnarök he rides out from the south, kills Freyr and burns the whole world. Ragnarök The foretold end of the gods' world: wolves swallow sun and moon, Loki and the monsters break loose, the gods fall in battle, Surtr burns the earth, and a new world rises. Lævateinn A weapon named once, in a late Eddic-style poem: made by Loki 'by the doors of death', locked in a chest with nine locks, and the only thing that can kill the cock Víðofnir. Gymir A rich giant of Jötunheim, father of Gerðr, whose guarded house Skírnir rode to when he came to woo Gerðr for Freyr.