Seiðr Loom

place

Hliðskjálf

Odin's high seat, from which he can see over all the worlds; Frigg shares it with him, and Freyr's one forbidden turn in it costs him his sword.

Hliðskjálf is Odin's seat of vision. When Allfather sits in it, Snorri says, "he looked out over the whole world and saw every man's acts, and knew all things which he saw" Gylfaginning 9. It is the place from which the gods notice things, and several stories begin there.

Who sits there

The prose frames of two Eddic poems open in Hliðskjálf. In Grímnismál, "Othin and Frigg sat in Hlithskjolf and looked over all the worlds", and from there they watch their two foster-sons and make the wager that sends Odin to King Geirröðr Grímnismál, prose 2. In Skírnismál, Freyr sits there one day, looks into Jötunheim, and sees Gerðr Skírnismál, prose 1. The poem passes no judgment. Snorri does: Freyr was punished for "having presumed to sit in that holy seat" by falling helplessly in love Gylfaginning 37. He bargains away his sword to win her (see Freyr and Gerðr).

Odin uses the seat in Snorri's account of Loki's capture: Loki hid in a mountain house with four doors, but "Odin had seen from Hlidskjálf where he was" Gylfaginning 50. A skaldic verse calls Odin "The Mighty One of Hlidskjálf" Skáldskaparmál 2.

Seat or hall?

Snorri is not consistent. In one chapter Hliðskjálf is "one abode" in Ásgard Gylfaginning 9; in another it is "the high-seat so called" inside Odin's hall Valaskjálf Gylfaginning 17. The Eddic prose says only that gods "sat in" it. Whether Frigg's and Freyr's use of it was normal or a liberty depends on which source one follows.

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.

There is one abode called Hlidskjálf, and when Allfather sat in the high-seat there, he looked out over the whole world and saw every man's acts, and knew all things which he saw.
Gylfaginning 9 Snorri's description of the seat's power.
Othin and Frigg sat in Hlithskjolf and looked over all the worlds.
Grímnismál, prose 2 Odin and Frigg watch their foster-sons from the seat.
Freyr, the son of Njorth, had sat one day in Hlithskjolf, and looked over all the worlds.
Skírnismál, prose 1 Freyr sees Gerðr from the seat.
Thus his overweening pride, in having presumed to sit in that holy seat, was avenged upon him, that he went away full of sorrow.
Gylfaginning 37 Snorri treats Freyr's use of the seat as presumption.
and Odin had seen from Hlidskjálf where he was.
Gylfaginning 50 Odin finds the hiding Loki from the seat.

Myths with Hliðskjálf

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. 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 binding of Loki After Baldr's death Loki hides as a salmon in a waterfall. The gods catch him in a net, bind him on three stones with his own son's entrails, and hang a serpent over his face. Sigyn catches the venom in a bowl until Ragnarök.

Related

Odin Óðinn Chief of the Æsir: a one-eyed god of wisdom, poetry, magic, war and the dead, who gave an eye and hanged himself on a tree for knowledge, and who dies at Ragnarök. Frigg Odin's wife and the foremost of the goddesses: she knows the fates of all but never speaks them, and her failed attempt to protect her son Baldr is the hinge of Norse myth. 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. Valaskjálf A silver-thatched hall built by a god for himself in ancient days; Snorri makes it Odin's hall and places the high seat Hliðskjálf inside it. 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. Asgard Ásgarðr The stronghold of the Æsir, walled against the giants, full of halls such as Valhall and Bilskirnir; Snorri also identifies it, confusingly, with Troy.