''Þrymlur'' is an Icelandic

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

rímur In Icelandic literature, a ''ríma'' (, literally "a rhyme", pl. ''rímur'', ) is an epic poem written in any of the so-called ''rímnahættir'' (, "rímur meters"). They are rhymed, they alliterate and consist of two to four lines per stanza. T ...

'' cycle dated to the 15th century. Þrymlur narrates

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

's reclaiming of his hammer Mjöllnir from the giant

Þrymr In Norse mythology, Þrymr (''Thrymr'', ''Thrym''; "uproar") was king of the jǫtnar. In one legend, he stole Mjǫlnir, Thor's hammer, to extort the gods into giving him Freyja as his wife. His kingdom was called Jötunheimr, but according to ...

, a myth also preserved in the

Eddic poem The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

Þrymskviða ''Þrymskviða'' (Þrym's Poem; the name can be Old Norse orthography, anglicised as ''Thrymskviða'', ''Thrymskvitha'', ''Thrymskvidha'' or ''Thrymskvida'') is one of the best known poems from the ''Poetic Edda''. The Norse mythology, Norse myt ...

''. The version in ''Þrymlur'' is believed to be based on that of ''Þrymskviða'', but is in some respects more detailed and has some independent elements. The cycle consists of three ''rímur'', each in a different verse form. The first is in ''

ferskeytt ''Ferskeytt'' (literally 'four-cornered') is an Icelandic stanzaic poetic form. It is a kind of quatrain, and probably first attested in fourteenth-century ''rímur'' such as '' Ólafs ríma Haraldssonar''. It remains one of the dominant metrical ...

'', the second in '' braghent'' and the third in '' stafhent''. The ''rímur'' are only preserved in one medieval manuscript, '' Staðarhólsbók''. The beginning of the first ''ríma'' is lost.

Sophus Bugge Elseus Sophus Bugge (5 January 1833 – 8 July 1907) was a Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scholarly work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic ...

argued that the Scandinavian ballad '' Torsvisen'' was originally based on ''Þrymlur'', pointing out some parallels.

Finnur Jónsson Finnur Jónsson (May 29, 1858 – March 30, 1934) was an Icelandic-Danish philologist and Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Copenhagen. He made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature. Finnur Jónsson was b ...

and Björn Karel Þórólfsson regarded this as highly improbable.Björn Karel Þórólfsson (1934:313-14).

Editions

* ''Early Icelandic rímur''. (Corpus codicum Islandicorum medii aevi 11). 1938. Ed. Craigie, William A. Copenhagen. ''Facsimile edition''. * ''Fernir forníslenskir rímnaflokkar''. 1896. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen. ''Edition with normalized spelling''. * ''Rímnasafn: Samling af de ældste islandske rimer''. I–II. 1905–1922. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen. ''Diplomatic edition''. * ''The Bearded Bride: a critical edition of Þrymlur''. 2020. Ed. and trans. Lee Colwill and Haukur Þorgeirsson. London. ''Critical edition with English translation''.

Secondary sources

* Björn Karel Þórólfsson. 1934. Rímur fyrir 1600. (Safn Fræðafjelagsins um Ísland og Íslendinga IX). Kaupmannahöfn. * Bugge, Sophus and Moltke Moe. "Torsvisen i sin norske Form". * Finnur Jónsson. 1924. Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie III. København. * Jón Þorkelsson. 1888. København: A. F. Høst. * Sverrir Tómasson. 1996. "Nýsköpun eða endurtekning? Íslensk skáldmennt og Snorra Edda fram til 1609." ''Guðamjöður og arnarleir: Safn ritgerða um eddulist''. Ed. Sverrir Tómasson. Reykjavík:1–64. * Vésteinn Ólason. 1999. "Rímur og miðaldarómantík". ''Heiðin minni''. Eds. Haraldur Bessason and Baldur Hafstað. Reykjavík:221–239.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thrymlur Rímur Sources of Norse mythology