Gríðr (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ; or Gríd) is a

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods ( Æsir and Vani ...

in Norse mythology. She is the mother of

Víðarr In Norse mythology, Víðarr (Old Norse: , possibly "wide ruler",Orchard (1997:174—175). sometimes anglicized as Vidar , Vithar, Vidarr, and Vitharr) is a god among the Æsir associated with vengeance. Víðarr is described as the son of Odin ...

the silent and the consort of Odin. Saturn's moon Gridr was named after her.

Name

The poetic

name ''Gríðr'' has been translated as "vehemence, violence, or impetuosity". Its etymology is unclear.

Attestations

Prose Edda

In ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...

'' (The Language of Poetry), Gríðr is portrayed as equipping the thunder god

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

with her belt of strength, her iron glove, and her staff ''Gríðarvöl'' (Gríðr's-staff) on Thor's journey to the abode of Geirröðr. Gríðr is also mentioned in a list of troll-wives ("I shall list the names of troll-wives. Grid and Gnissa, Gryla...").

Skaldic poetry

''Gríðarvöl'' (Gríðr's staff) is also mentioned in the poem '' Þórsdrápa'' by the late-10th-century skald Eilífr Goðrúnarson. Gríðr appears in 10th-century

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

s for 'wolf' (the steed of troll-wife) and for 'axe' (that which is dangerous to the life-protector, i.e. shield or helmet).

Other texts

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

refers to her as ''Grytha'', the wife of the legendary king

Dan I of Denmark Dan I was the progenitor of the Danish royal house according to Saxo Grammaticus's ''Gesta Danorum''. He supposedly held the lordship of Denmark along with his brother Angul, the father of the Angles in Angeln, which later formed the Anglo-Saxons ...

, "a lady whom the Teutons accorded the highest honour". A witch of the same name appears in ''

Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra is a ''fornaldarsaga'' about a young Dane named Illugi who delivers a female troll and her daughter from a curse. The earliest manuscript (of 36 which are known to exist) dates from the first half of the 16th century (AM ...

''.

Theory

Her role as the donor of information and necessary items to the hero has been analyzed by

folklorists Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

Name

Attestations

Prose Edda

Skaldic poetry

Other texts

Theory

Notes

References

Bibliography