52 hrungnir
The Gokstad ship, a Norse burial ship from the late ninth century (Photo by Holt/Used under a Creative Com-
mons license)
H rungnir
Strongest of the giants; described
as large and stone-headed. Hrungnir bet his horse
Gullfaxi (Golden Mane) in a race with Odin’s eight-
legged steed Sleipnir. He lost the race, then engaged
in a duel with Thor, in which he was killed. Snorri
Sturluson draws upon H austlong , a shield poem,
or form of Skaldic poetry, for this tale.
H rym
A giant. Hrym is the leader of the rime-
giants as they take to the battlefields at Ragnarok,
the conflict that ends the world of the gods. With his
shield held high in front of him, Hrym stands at the
helm of the great ship Naglfar and steers it into the
final conflict.
Hrym is named in V oluspa , the first poem in the
C odex R egius of the P oetic E dda , as the pilot of
Naglfar. Snorri Sturluson adds further details to
the story in G ylfaginning when he explains that the
ship was made from the nails shorn from dead men.
H ugi (Thought)
The young giant who outran
fleet-footed Thjalfi, servant of the god Thor, at the
court of the giant Utgard-Loki.
To entertain his visitors when Thor and his
servants arrived at his hall, Utgard-Loki asked about
Thjalfi’s accomplishments. When Thjalfi said he was
a very fast runner, Utgard-Loki called upon the youth
Hugi to test him in a foot race. So fast was Hugi that
he turned around to watch Thjalfi finish the race. It
turned out that Hugi was the embodiment of Utgard-
Loki’s thoughts and, since no one can move faster
than a thought, Thjalfi was bound to lose the race.
Sn