36 geirrod
The Gefjon Fountain by Anders Bundgaard (1864–1937), in Langelinie, Copenhagen (Photo by Hans Ander-
sen/Used under a Creative Commons license)
able to kill Geirrod and his two ogress daughters,
Gialp and Greip.
G eirrod (2)
Son of King Hrauding and brother
of Agnar. Geirrod betrayed his brother and took his
throne. Later he killed himself by falling upon his
own sword, as Odin, his benefactor, had prophesied
in G rimnismal (Lay of Grimnir).
Geirrod and Agnar The two brothers, Geirrod
and Agnar were the sons of King Hrauding of the
Goths. When the children were eight and 10 years
old, respectively, their little fishing boat was wrecked
in a storm. The boys landed on an island and were
taken care of by an old couple who were Odin and
Frigg in disguise. Frigg took special care of Agnar
and Odin took care of Geirrod, giving them many
words of advice before sending them back to their
own land. As their boat approached shore, Geirrod
leaped out, taking the oars with him, and shoved the
boat back out to sea. Geirrod was welcomed home,
and because his father had died, he became king in
place of Agnar, who was presumed dead.
Many years went by before Odin and Frigg
thought about the two boys they had rescued from
the sea. Then Odin boasted that his foster son, Geir-
rod, was king of a great country, while Frigg’s Agnar
was a nobody who lived in a cave. Frigg retorted
that Geirrod was mean and treacherous. When Odin
decided to go to Midgard to test Geirrod, Frigg
sent her maidservant, Fulla, to warn Geirrod that he
was not to trust the visitor who was coming to him,
wearing a sky-blue cape.
Geirrod heeded the warning. Odin arrived wearing
a sky-blue cape. He called himself Grimnir, but more
than that he would not say. In a fit of rage at what
he considered insolence, Geirrod had Grimnir slung
between two fires. There he stayed for eight days and
nights, without food or drink. Then Agnar, the son
of Geirrod, named after his lost uncle, took pity on
Odin-Grimnir and quenched his thirst with ale.