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When they arrived at Geirrod’s hall, Thor was
shown into a small room. He sat down wearily in
the only chair and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt
himself rising toward the roof. Quickly he rammed
Grid’s staff against the roof beam and pushed. Then
down he came, right on top of Gialp and Greip, who
had been trying to raise the chair and crush Thor
against the roof. The two ugly, evil creatures were
themselves crushed to death by Thor’s weight.
Thor went straight to Geirrod, who raised his
hand in mock greeting and threw a red-hot lump of
iron at Thor.
Thor caught it in Grid’s iron gloves and threw it
back at Geirrod, who leaped behind a pillar. The hot
ball went right through the pillar, through Geirrod’s
head, and through the wall into the yard, where it
bored deep into the earth.
Thor’s Journey to Utgard This story is one of
the best known of the Norse myths. It is also one of
the longest and most richly told myths written by
Snorri in the Prose Edda, its only source.
One day Thor decided to go to Utgard, strong-
hold of the largest giants in Jotunheim. Because its
chief, Utgard-Loki, was known to be a master of
trickery, Thor brought along Asgard’s own trickster
god, Loki.
As it grew dark Thor’s chariot, drawn by two billy
goats, stopped at a small farmhouse. The farmer and
his wife were very poor and had little to eat. With
a wave of his magic hammer, Mjollnir, Thor killed
Tanngniost and Tanngrisnir, his goats, and put them
on the fire to cook.
Thor told the peasants to eat their fill when the
meat was ready but to be sure not to break any of the
bones. They should be placed carefully onto the goat-
skins that Thor had stretched on the floor. Thjalfi,
the farmer’s son, disobeyed Thor and cracked a leg
bone to suck out the delicious marrow.
Next morning, when Thor was ready to leave, he
waved Mjollnir over the piles of bone and skin and
up sprang the goats, as lively as ever, but one of them
had a limp. Thor yelled in fury, for he knew that
someone had disobeyed him. However, he accepted
the terrified farmer’s offer and took Thjalfi and his
sister, Roskva, to be his servants. He left the goats for
the farmer to take care of until his return.
Thor and Loki and the two youngsters journeyed
all day. That night they came to a forest in Jotunheim
where the trees were so tall that their tops were lost
in the clouds. They saw a strangely shaped cabin that
seemed to have no door. They crept inside to shelter
from the cold and were soon asleep.
In the middle of the night they sprang awake as
the Earth shook, and there was a frightful crashing
sound, followed by a steady rumble and a whistling
wind. Even Thor was frightened. He, Loki, and the
youngsters crept into a narrow side room in the cav-
ernous hall, Thor clutching his hammer to his chest.
At first light, Thor went outside and saw the cause
of all the noise. At the foot of a tree lay the biggest
giant Thor had ever seen. He was fast asleep and
snoring mightily.
Thor put on the magic belt given to him by the
giantess Grid to double his strength. He held his
hammer even more firmly, though the giant was so
big that Thor decided not to throw it hastily.
Soon the giant woke up. He picked up what the
travelers had mistaken for a large cabin or cave. It was
a giant glove. The side room was the thumb.
When the giant stood up, Thor and his compan-
ions had to crane their heads back to look at him.
The giant introduced himself as Skrymir, sometimes
called Big Fellow or Vasty.
After they had eaten breakfast—a poor one for
Thor and his friends, a huge one for Skrymir—they
set off again, this time with the giant crashing
through the trees ahead to show them the way to
Utgard. By nightfall they were exhausted and hungry.
The giant flung down his huge food bag, telling the
other travelers to help themselves.
Try as they might, Thor, Loki and the farmer’s son
and daughter could not untie the knots that secured
the bag, so they lay down, hungry, and tried to shut
out the sound of Skrymir’s thunderous snores.
At last Thor could not stand it any longer. He
hit Skrymir on the head with his hammer. Skrymir
opened one eye and complained that a leaf had fallen
on his head, then fell back to sleep.
Furious, Thor hit him again. Skrymir mumbled
something about an acorn.
Beside himself, Thor took a running jump and
hurled the hammer with all his might onto the giant’s
head. Skrymir finally sat up and rubbed his head. He
decided that there must be some birds above his head.
Skrymir got up and picked up his bag. He told the
travelers to watch their step in Utgard, for the giants
there were really big.
The four travelers breathed a sigh of relief as
Skrymir lumbered off through the trees.
When they reached Utgard, the hall of the giant
Utgard-Loki, who was their host, they found that