The Theft of Thor’s Hammer (Thrymskvida)

Thor woke up one morning in a fury. His mighty hammer, Mjollnir, was gone! He shook his beard, his hair bristled, and he groped all around him, but the hammer was nowhere to be found.

“Listen, Loki,” he said, “and mark my words. Nobody on earth or in heaven knows it yet: our hammer has been stolen!”

The two of them went straight to the beautiful hall of Freyja.

“Freyja,” said Thor, “will you lend me your feather cloak, so that I can go looking for my hammer?”

“I would give it to you even if it were made of silver,” said Freyja. “I would hand it over even if it were made of gold.”

So Loki flew off in the whirring feather cloak until he reached the land of the giants.

There sat Thrym, the lord of the giants, on top of a mound. He was plaiting golden leashes for his dogs and combing his horses’ manes.

“How are things with the gods?” asked Thrym. “How are things with the elves? And why have you come alone to the land of the giants?”

“Things are bad with the gods, and bad with the elves,” said Loki. “Have you hidden Thor’s hammer?”

“I have hidden Thor’s hammer,” said Thrym, “eight miles deep down under the earth. And no one will ever bring it back unless I am given Freyja to be my wife.”

Away flew Loki, feathers whirring, back to the home of the gods. Thor was waiting for him in the courtyard.

“Have you brought news as well as trouble?” Thor demanded. “Tell me while you are still in the air. A man who sits down often forgets his story, and a man who lies down tells lies.”

“I bring trouble, and news as well,” said Loki. “Thrym, the king of the giants, has your hammer. And no one will ever get it back unless he is given Freyja as his wife.”

So they went to find the lovely Freyja.

“Put on a bride’s veil, Freyja,” said Thor, “for you and I are off to the land of the giants.”

Freyja was so angry that she snorted, and the whole great hall of the gods shook. Her famous necklace, the Brisingamen, burst apart.

“Everyone would think I had lost my mind,” she cried, “if I rode off with you to marry a giant!”

Then all the gods and goddesses held a council to work out how to get Thor’s hammer back.

Then Heimdall, the brightest of the gods, who could see the future, spoke up.

“Let’s put the bride’s veil on Thor,” he said. “Let him wear Freyja’s great necklace. Hang a bunch of keys at his belt to jingle, and let a woman’s dress fall down to his knees. Pin broad jewels on his chest, and set a pretty cap on his head.”

Thor, the mighty one, was not pleased. “The gods will laugh at me forever,” he said, “if I let you dress me up as a bride.”

Then Loki spoke up, the son of Laufey. “Be quiet, Thor, and don’t talk like that. If you don’t get your hammer back, the giants will soon be living in Asgard.”

So they dressed Thor exactly as Heimdall said, with the veil, the necklace, the jingling keys, the dress, the jewels and the pretty cap.

“I will go with you as your maid,” said Loki, “and the two of us will hurry to the land of the giants.”

Thor’s goats were brought home and harnessed to his chariot. They tugged at their straps and raced away. The mountains cracked, the earth blazed with fire, and Odin’s son rode off to Jotunheim.

Then Thrym, the lord of the giants, called out loudly: “Get up, giants, and spread straw on the benches! They are bringing me Freyja to be my bride, the daughter of Njord, from Noatun by the sea. I have golden-horned cows, jet-black oxen and heaps of jewels. Freyja was all I lacked.”

When the evening feast began, Thor ate a whole ox and eight salmon, and all the treats meant for the women. Then he drank three barrels of mead.

Thrym called out loudly: “Who ever saw a bride with such an appetite? I never saw a bride take such big bites, or a maiden drink so much mead!”

The clever maid sat close by, and she had an answer ready. “Freyja hasn’t eaten a bite for eight nights,” said Loki, “because she was so eager to come to the land of the giants.”

Thrym peeped under the veil, because he wanted to kiss his bride, but he jumped back the whole length of the hall.

“Why are Freyja’s eyes so fierce?” he cried. “It looks to me as if fire is burning in them!”

The clever maid had an answer for that too. “Freyja hasn’t slept a wink for eight nights,” said Loki, “because she was so eager to come to the land of the giants.”

Then in came the giant’s grumpy old sister. She was bold enough to ask the bride for a wedding gift. “Give me the red gold rings off your fingers,” she said, “if you want me to love you and welcome you to the family.”

Then Thrym called out loudly: “Bring in the hammer to bless the bride! Lay Mjollnir in the maiden’s lap, and let the goddess of promises bless us both!”

Thor’s heart laughed in his chest when he saw his hammer. He grabbed Mjollnir. First he struck down Thrym, the king of the giants, and then he dealt with all the rest of the giants at the feast. The giant’s old sister, who had asked for a wedding gift, got a blow from the hammer instead of gold rings.

And that is how Odin’s son got his hammer back.

About this story

This myth comes from the Thrymskvida, “The Lay of Thrym,” a poem in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Norse poems written down in Iceland in the 1200s. Its date of composition is not established by the manuscript date; this page follows Bellows’s text without treating his period’s dating estimates as settled consensus. It is retold here from the English verse translation by Henry Adams Bellows, The Poetic Edda (1923).

The whole poem is told in verse, with no prose in between, and it is famous for being funny. The poet repeats lines, such as the description of Thor’s disguise and Loki’s quick answers, which makes it great for reading aloud. In the original, Freyja says that everyone would think her wild for men if she went; here she just says they would think she had lost her mind. Thor’s battle at the end is told more briefly than in the poem.

Read the original: Henry Adams Bellows, trans., The Poetic Edda (Project Gutenberg #73533)

Suggested for ages 9–12 with an adult: includes a demand for forced marriage, comic disguise, heavy drinking and the killing of the wedding guests.

Freyja refuses to be the price

Thrym treats Freyja as the one possession missing from his wealth. Her angry refusal changes the gods’ plan: Thor must take the risk himself instead of handing her over. His fear of ridicule then becomes an obstacle to solving a problem that affects everyone.

At the feast, Loki turns every warning sign into the explanation Thrym wants to hear. An enormous appetite and fiery eyes become evidence of longing because the giant is eager to believe the bride has chosen him.

Read the clues without the wish

Write the appetite and eye scenes in two columns: what Thrym observes and what Loki claims. Give each an alternative explanation based on what the reader knows. Why does Thrym accept the flattering answer?

Talk about it

• Why was Thor so unwilling to wear the bride’s veil?
• How did Loki explain the “bride’s” huge appetite and fiery eyes?
• Which part of the story did you find the funniest?

Related stories

• Freya’s Necklace: The Brisingamen — how Freyja got her famous necklace
• The Mead of Poetry — Odin uses a disguise to outwit the giants
• The Death of Baldur — a much sadder tale of Asgard