Geirröðr

Did You Know?

• According to scholar John Lindow, the myth of Geirröðr shows characteristics of Thor stories including the dangerous journey to the otherworld and special enmity of female giantesses.
• Lindow also notes that the myth introduces notions of smithing that sometimes seem to lurk behind Thor.

Attestations

In Skáldskaparmál, Loki is captured by Geirröðr after flying to Geirrödargardar in Frigg's hawk coat and is locked in a chest for three months. To redeem his life, Loki agrees to bring Thor to Geirröðr's place without his belt of strength and hammer. On the way, Thor and Loki stop at the home of the giantess Gríðr, who warns Thor and equips him with a new belt of strength, iron gloves, and a staff named Grídarvöl. At Geirrödargardar, Geirröðr challenges Thor to a game and throws a piece of red-hot iron at him; Thor catches it with the iron gloves and throws it through a pillar, killing the giant. The story is also mentioned in Þórsdrápa. In Gesta Danorum, Thorkillus and his companions see the pierced body of an old man and three dead women with broken backs in the hall of Geruthus; Thorkillus explains that Thor drove a hot ingot through Geruthus and killed his daughters with thunderbolts. In Thorsteins þáttr baejarmagns, Thor's deeds are reworked onto a hero named Thorstein, who participates in a sporting event at the hall of the giant-king Geirröd where a heavy red-hot seal's head is thrown between contestants.