The Giant Hrungnir

Bragi told Ægir, ‘Once, when Thor had gone into the east to fight trolls, Odin rode Sleipnir into Giant Land and came to the giant called Hrungnir. Hrungnir asked who it was that wore a golden helmet and rode through the sky and over the sea on such a fine horse. Odin said he would wager his head that no horse in Giant Land was its equal. Hrungnir answered that Sleipnir was a good horse but let on that he himself had a horse that took far bigger strides, and “this horse is named Gullfaxi [Golden Mane]”.

‘Losing his temper, Hrungnir jumped on to his horse and raced after Odin, hoping to repay him for his bragging. Odin galloped so fast that he stayed ahead of the giant, always just over a hill. But Hrungnir was in such a giant fury that he had passed through the gate of Asgard before he realized it.

‘When he arrived at the hall doors, the Æsir invited him to drink. Walking into the hall, he demanded the drink. Then Thor’s usual drinking bowls were brought out, and Hrungnir drained them all. When he became drunk, there was no end to his boasting.¹ He said he would lift up Valhalla and take it to Giant Land, bury Asgard, and kill all the gods except Freyja and Sif, whom he wanted to take home with him. When Freyja went to serve him, he vowed that he would drink all of the Æsir’s ale.

Thor Duels with Hrungnir

‘When the Æsir grew tired of Hrungnir’s boasting they called on Thor, who quickly entered the hall, his hammer raised in the air. Enraged, he asked who had allowed the cunning giant to drink there. Who had granted Hrungnir permission to be at Valhalla, and why should Freyja be serving him as though he were feasting among the Æsir? Then Hrungnir answered, his eyes showing no friendship for Thor. He said that Odin had invited him to drink and that he was there on Odin’s safe conduct. Thor said Hrungnir would regret that invitation before he left. Hrungnir replied to Thor of the Æsir that there was little renown in killing him weaponless, but Thor would find it a greater test of courage if he dared to fight him on the border at Grjotunagardar [Courtyards of Rocky Fields].

‘“It was very foolish of me,” said Hrungnir, “that I left my shield and whetstone at home. If I had my weapons here, we would now be testing each other in a duel; as matters stand, however, I lay on you a charge of cowardly betrayal if you choose to kill me when I am weaponless.” Thor wanted on no account to miss the opportunity to take part in a duel, because no one had ever challenged him before.

‘Hrungnir now went back the way he had come, galloping as fast as he could until he reached Giant Land. There among the giants his trip became famous, not least because a contest had been arranged between him and Thor. The giants felt that there was much at stake in who would gain the victory, for it seemed to them that they would have little hope against Thor if Hrungnir was killed, since he was their strongest.

‘The giants then fashioned a man from clay at Grjotunagardar. He was nine leagues high and three leagues wide under the arms. They could not find a heart that was suitably large for him until they took one from a mare, but this heart became unsteady as soon as Thor arrived. Hrungnir had a heart that was famous. It was made of hard stone with three sharp-pointed corners just like the carved symbol called Hrungnishjarta [Hrungnir’s Heart]. His head was also made of stone, as was his shield, which was wide and thick. Holding his shield in front of him, he stood waiting at Grjotunagardar for Thor. He had a whetstone for a weapon, and it rested ready on his shoulder. He was not a welcoming sight. Standing terrified at Hrungnir’s side was the clay giant, called Mokkurkalfi. It is said that, on seeing Thor, he wet himself.²

‘Thor, accompanied by Thjalfi, went to the duelling ground. Thjalfi ran ahead to where Hrungnir stood and said to him: “You stand unprepared, giant, holding your shield in front of you. Thor has seen you. He is travelling underneath in the earth and will come at you from below.”

‘Hrungnir then shoved his shield under his feet and stood on top of it, grasping the whetstone with both hands. He saw flashes of lightning and heard enormous claps of thunder. Then he saw Thor in his divine rage. Thor was rushing towards him, but when still at a long distance away, he raised his hammer and threw it at Hrungnir. The giant, using both hands, lifted his whetstone and threw it towards Thor. The whetstone struck the hammer in mid flight and broke into two. One part fell to the earth, and from it come all whetstones. The other part pierced Thor’s head so that he fell to the earth. But the hammer Mjollnir landed right in the middle of Hrungnir’s head. It smashed his skull into small pieces, and he fell forward, landing on top of Thor with his leg lying across Thor’s neck. Meanwhile Thjalfi attacked Mokkurkalfi, who fell in such a way that it is hardly worth a story.

‘Thjalfi then went to Thor, intending to lift Hrungnir’s leg off him, but he could not move it. When they learned that Thor had fallen, all the Æsir came and tried to lift the leg, but they could not budge it. Then Magni, the son of Thor and Jarnsaxa, arrived; he was three years old³ at the time. He flung Hrungnir’s leg off Thor and said, “It is a great shame, Father, that I came so late. I imagine that with my fist I would have killed this giant, had I met him.”

‘Thor stood up and, greeting his son warmly, declared that he would become powerful. “And,” he said, “I want to give you the horse Gullfaxi”, which Hrungnir had owned.

‘Then Odin spoke. He said that Thor was wrong to give so fine a horse to the son of a giantess, instead of to Thor’s own father.

‘Thor returned home to Thrudvangar, and the whetstone remained stuck in his head. Then the seeress called Groa arrived, the wife of Aurvandil the Bold. She sang her spells over Thor until the whetstone began to loosen. When Thor felt that, he expected the whetstone would soon be removed. Wanting to please and reward Groa for her healing, he told the story of his return from the north, and how he had waded across the river Elivagar, carrying Aurvandil southwards from Giant Land on his back in a basket. He recounted that one of Aurvandil’s toes had stuck out from the basket and had frozen. Thor broke it off and threw it up into the heavens as a token, making from it the star called Aurvandil’s Toe.⁴ Thor added that it would not be long before Aurvandil returned home. Then Groa became so happy that she couldn’t remember any of her magic, and the whetstone got no looser but remained lodged in Thor’s head. And it is offered as a warning that one should not throw a whetstone across a floor, because then the whetstone in Thor’s head moves. Thjodolf of Hvin tells this story in his poem Haustlong.’