Title: Þrymskviða

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Description:

Þrymskviða ("The Lay of Þrymr") is a poem in the Poetic or Elder Edda. It is a short, burlesque comedy in which Þórr's hammer, Mjöllnir, is stolen and he has to cross-dress in order to retrieve it from the jötunn who took it. It is often treated as a gendered parody, where the most powerful and masculine of the gods, Þórr, is deprived of his 'tool' and has to wear the dressings of a blushing bride to imitate the goddess Freyja, who is repeatedly the object of desire by jötnar in the myths. Loki plays the part of bridemaid, seeming to shift gender entirely rather than only acting, as he does when he gives birth to the Óðinn's horse, Sleipnir, in the form of a mare (this story is recounted in Gylfaginning).

​​Synopsis​

Þórr awakens one day to find his hammer, Mjöllnir, missing, and he begins to panic and search frantically for it. He reports the missing hammer to Loki, who in this story takes on the role of occasional ally and traveling companion of Þórr instead of his usual antagonistic or chaotic stance. The two go to find Freyja and ask her for her feather-cloak (LINK), an attribute that sometimes belongs to Freyja and sometimes to Frigg that allows them to change shape into a bird. Freyja loans Loki the feather-cloak, and he swiftly flies out of Ásgarðr (LINK) to Jötunheimar (LINK), to the lands of giants. There he sees Þrymr, lord of the þursar (another word for jötnar, sometimes translated as ogre or troll to differentiate it, but neither is exactly correct), and asks him if he is the one who took Þórr's hammer. Þrymr confirms that he is, and says they will never get it back unless they bring Freyja to be his bride. Loki returns to Ásgarðr and relates this to Þórr, and the two gods return to Freyja. Freyja is, understandably, not too keen on marrying a jötunn, angrily snorting and shaking the hall of the gods, making her famous necklace Brísingamen (LINK) fall off her neck. She exclaims that she'll be thought of as "the most man-crazy" if she goes to Jötunheimar as a bride. 

All the Æsir and Ásynjur (goddesses) (LINK) come together to think of a plan, as Ásgarðr is essentially undefended if Þórr does not have his hammer. Heimdallr (LINK), the watchman of the gods, who is said to know the future in this stanza, comes up with the plan to dress Þórr in a bridal outfit and place Brísingamen around his neck to impersonate Freyja. Þórr, like Freyja earlier, is not very happy with the idea, and worries the gods will call his "perverted" if he lets them dress him as a bride. Loki reminds him of the urgency of their situation, however, and persuades him. Þórr is dressed as a bridal Freyja, and Loki offers to accompany him as his maid, and the two head off to Jötunheimar in Þórr's goat-drawn chariot (LINK).

Þrymr takes the bait and gets everything ready for his wedding, with many guests attending, and have a feast. Þórr eats an entire ox and eight salmons himself, and drinks three casks of mead. Þrymr thinks this is a huge appetite for a woman, and Loki the maid answers quickly that "Freyja" ate nothing for eight nights because she was so eager to come to Jötunheimar. Þrymr then peaks under "Freyja's" headdress to kiss her, but recoils upon seeing her terrifying eyes (the hallmark of an angry Þórr). Loki the maiden quickly answers again, saying that she did not sleep for eight nights because she was so eager to come to Jötunheimar. Then Þrymr's sister enters the feast, asking for a gift from the bride, one of her arm-rings. Þrymr orders that Mjöllnir be brought out and laid on the bride's lap to consecrate the wedding (Þórr and his hammer are indeed connected with hallowing or consecrating things, but the reasons for this are only up to our speculation). When this is done, of course Þórr seizes the hammer and instantly begins swinging, killing Þrymr, his sister, and all the jötnar in attendance. The poem ends here with a lone line of verse that says, "So Óðinn's son got the hammer back."