gylfaginning 43
G ullinkambi (Golden
Comb) The golden
cock, or rooster, that crowed to summon the gods
and heroes of Valhalla to the battle at Ragnarok,
the conflict that would end the world of the gods.
Gullinkambi’s counterpart, Fjalar (1), summoned the
giants to the battle. An unnamed rust-red rooster
summoned those who dwelt in Hel.
Gullinkambi is named in the Eddic poem
V oluspa .
G ulltopp (Golden Tuft, Gold Top)
One of the
10 horses the Aesir gods rode each day to Yggdrasil,
the World Tree, which grew at the center of the
universe. The gods came here on horseback each
day to sit in judgment at the spring, or well, named
Urdarbrunn. Gulltopp is the only horse to be named
in the poems that tell of this journey. According to
Snorri Sturluson, Gulltopp belongs to Heimdall,
the god of light and guardian of the gods.
G ullweig (G ullveig ; Power of Gold) The
beautiful witch who came to Asgard and was prob-
ably the cause of the Aesir/Vanir war. The Aesir
burned her three times, but she rose up each time
to cause trouble among the gods. Also called Heid
(Shining One), Gullweig is thought by most scholars
to be an aspect of the Vanir goddess Freya, who also
loved gold and had magical powers.
G ungnir
Odin’s magic spear, made by the
dwarf sons of Ivaldi. Gungnir never missed its mark.
It was a symbol of Odin as the god of war. Odin flung
his spear at the Vanir gods in the Aesir/Vanir War.
Norse warriors threw their spears at the start of a
battle to invoke Odin’s protection in war.
See “Treasures of the Dwarfs” under Loki.
G unlod (G unnlod )
Daughter of the giant
Suttung, who commanded Gunlod to guard the
mead of poetry, made from the blood of kvasir. She
became a wife of Odin when he visited the cave on
Hnitbjorg Mountain to steal the mead. She bore
Odin a child, Bragi, who went to Asgard and became
the god of poetry and the husband of Idunn.
Odin and his spear, Gungnir. Sculpture by Lee Law-
rie on the east entrance of the Library of Congress
John Adams Building, Washington, D.C. (Library of
Congress)
G ylfaginning (The Deceiving, or Beguiling, of
Gylfi) One of four main parts of the P rose E dda
written by the 13th-century Icelandic historian,
scholar, and chief Snorri Sturluson. Some scholars
argue that Gylfaginning is Snorri’s most important
work.
The main character, Gylfi, a king of Sweden,
disguises himself as an old wayfarer when he comes
across a magnificent hall. In the hall sit three beings
on high chairs. A servant invites Gylfi to stay and
talk with the three beings. He sits and begins asking
questions of the beings, who, Snorri tells the readers,
are actually gods, calling themselves High One,
Just-As-High, and Third. Snorri uses the question-
and-answer session to teach his readers about the
beginnings of all existence, the gods and goddesses,
and the end of time.
Snorri draws heavily on the works in the older
P oetic E dda , most notably the V oluspa (or The
Sibyl’s Vision, as Snorri calls it) and G rimnismal (Lay
of Grimnir), to present this account of many Norse
myths.