Thor Journeys To Geirrod’s Courts

Then Ægir said, ‘To me Hrungnir seems to have been extremely powerful. Did Thor work any other great feats in his dealings with the trolls?’

Bragi replied, ‘The story of Thor’s journey to Geirrod’s courts is well worth the telling. Loki was with him on the journey and, because of Loki, Thor did not have the hammer Mjollnir, his belt of strength or his iron gloves. This was because of what had happened to Loki earlier when, in order to amuse himself, he put on Frigg’s falcon shape, and then, driven by curiosity, he flew into Geirrod’s courts. Seeing there a great hall, he landed and looked in through a window. But Geirrod looked in his direction, and then commanded that the bird be seized and brought to him. The henchman charged with doing so, however, had trouble climbing up the wall of the hall because it was so high. Loki was amused to see so much effort expended in getting to him, so he delayed flying away until the man had almost finished the difficult climb.

‘Just as the man rushed at him, Loki finally started to fly. He beat his wings but discovered that his feet were stuck fast. So Loki was seized and brought to the giant Geirrod. When Geirrod looked into the bird’s eyes he suspected that it was a person, and he demanded that it answer him. But Loki remained silent. Then Geirrod locked Loki in a chest, starving him there for three months. This time, when Geirrod lifted him out and asked him to speak, Loki told him who he was. As ransom for his life he swore to Geirrod an oath that he would devise a way to bring Thor to Geirrod’s courts and that Thor would have neither his hammer nor his belt of strength.

‘Thor came to stay with the giantess named Grid as a guest for the night; she was the mother of Vidar the Silent. She told Thor the truth about Geirrod: that he was a cunning giant and that there was much danger in dealing with him. She lent Thor a belt of strength and iron gloves which she owned. She also lent him her staff, Gridarvol [Grid’s Staff].

‘Thor then travelled to the river Vimur; a great waterway. He buckled on the belt of strength and supported himself against the current by placing Grid’s pole on the downstream side while Loki held on to the belt of power. But when Thor got to the middle of the river, the water had risen so high that it reached to his shoulders. Then Thor spoke this verse:

“Rise not, Vimur, as I want to wade you, crossing to the giant’s courts. Beware. If you grow, divine might will grow in me as high as heaven!”

‘Thor looked up and saw in a certain cleft Gjalp, the daughter of Geirrod, straddling the river with one leg on either side, and it was she who was causing the river to rise. Thor took a large stone from the river and threw it at her, saying: “At the source will a river be stemmed!” He did not miss his target.

‘Just then he was swept towards the shore, where he was able to grab hold of some rowan branches,¹ and so was able to climb up from the river. This event is the origin of the expression that rowan trees are Thor’s salvation.

‘When Thor arrived at Geirrod’s, he and his companions were first directed to a goat shed as their lodgings. There was only one chair, and Thor sat on it. But he soon noticed that the chair under him was rising towards the roof. He stuck Grid’s pole up into the rafters and pushed down hard on the chair. Then came the sound of a loud crack, followed by a loud scream. Geirrod’s daughters, Gjalp and Greip, had been under the chair, and he had broken both their backs.

‘Then Geirrod had Thor called into the hall for contests. Large fires were burning down the length of the hall, and Thor approached until he stood opposite Geirrod. With his tongs, Geirrod grabbed a glowing piece of iron and threw it at Thor. Thor caught the red-hot piece in the iron gloves and, lifting it into the air, he threw it back at Geirrod, who ran behind an iron pillar to save himself. But the lump of glowing metal was thrown in such a way that it pierced the pillar and then Geirrod himself, before crashing through the wall and landing on the ground outside.’