In
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
, Þrúðgelmir (;
Old Norse "Strength Yeller") is a
frost giant
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase transition, phase change from wa ...
, the son of the primordial giant
Aurgelmir
In Norse mythology, Ymir (, ), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the ''Prose Edda'', writt ...
(who
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...
in ''
Gylfaginning'' identifies with
Ymir), and the father of
Bergelmir
Bergelmir ( ; Old Norse: ) is a jötunn in Norse mythology.
Name
The Old Norse name ''Bergelmir'' has been variously translated as 'bear-yeller', 'mountain-yeller', or 'bare-yeller'. According to linguist Jan de Vries, the name should be read ...
. Þrúðgelmir had
one brother and
one sister, who were elder than he was. Þrúðgelmir's name is sometimes anglicized as Thrudgelmir. He may have been the giant born from Ymir's legs.
Attestations
Þrúðgelmir appears in the poem ''
Vafþrúðnismál
''Vafþrúðnismál'' (Old Norse: "The Lay of Vafþrúðnir") is the third poem in the ''Poetic Edda''. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the jötunn Vafþrú ...
'' from the ''
Poetic Edda''. When
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
(speaking under the assumed name
Gagnrad) asks who was the eldest of the
Æsir or of the giants in bygone days,
Vafþrúðnir
Vafþrúðnir (Old Norse: ; "mighty weaver"Orchard (1997:170).) is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. His name comes from ''Vaf'', which means weave or entangle, and ''thrudnir'', which means strong or mighty. Some interpret it to mean "mighty in ...
answers:
:"Uncountable winters before the earth was made,
:then
Bergelmir
Bergelmir ( ; Old Norse: ) is a jötunn in Norse mythology.
Name
The Old Norse name ''Bergelmir'' has been variously translated as 'bear-yeller', 'mountain-yeller', or 'bare-yeller'. According to linguist Jan de Vries, the name should be read ...
was born,
:Thrudgelmir was his father,
:and Aurgelmir his grandfather."
:
::—''Vafþrúðnismál''
(29)[Larrington (1999).]
According to Rudolf Simek, Þrúðgelmir is identical to the six-headed son that was begotten by Aurgelmir's feet (''Vafþrúðnismál'',
33), but the fact that (apart from the ''
þulur'') he is mentioned in only one source led John Lindow to suggest that he might have been invented by the poet.
[Lindow (2002).] Additionally, the identification of one with the other cannot be established with certainty since, according to stanza 33, Aurgelmir had more than one direct male offspring:
:"They said that under the frost-giant's arms
:a
girl and
boy grew together;
:one foot with the other, of the wise giant,
:begot a six-headed son."
[
Þrúðgelmir was drowned in his father's blood.
]
Notes
References
* Larrington, Carolyne (trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. .
* Lindow, John (2002).
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
'. New York: Oxford University Press. .
* Simek, Rudolf (1996). ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. Translated by Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thrudgelmir
Jötnar