The Hørdum stone is a

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

picture stone discovered in Hørdum, Thisted Municipality, North Denmark Region,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, that depicts a legend from

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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

involving the god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, 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 g ...

and

Jörmungandr In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (, see Etymology), also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent (, "worm of Midgard"), is an unfathomably large and monstrous sea serpent or worm who dwells in the world sea, encircling the Earth ( Midga ...

, the Midgard serpent.

Description

The Hørdum stone was discovered in 1954 during trench work adjacent to the church in Hørdum. Before the historical significance of

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

s and picture stones was understood, they were often reused as materials in the construction of roads, bridges, walls, and buildings. The image on the stone illustrates a legend recorded in the ''

Hymiskviða ''Hymiskviða'' (Old Norse: 'The lay of Hymir'; anglicized as ''Hymiskvitha'', ''Hymiskvidha'' or ''Hymiskvida'') is a poem collected in the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem was first written down in the late 13th century.''Norse Mythology A-Z'' Summar ...

'' of the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

'', in which the Norse god Thor fishes for Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent. Thor goes fishing with the

jötunn A (also jotun; plural ; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; or, in Old English, , plural ) is a type of being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, are often contrasted with gods (the Æsir and Vanir) and with other no ...

Hymir Hymir (Old Norse: ) is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the owner of a brewing- cauldron fetched by the thunder god Thor for Ægir, who wants to hold a feast for the Æsir (gods). In ''Hymiskviða'', Hymir is portrayed as the father of Týr, ...

using an ox head for bait, and catches Jörmungandr, who then either breaks loose or, as told in the ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first main part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'', after the initial Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' takes the form of ...

'' of the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...

'', the line is cut loose by Hymir. The ''Prose Edda'' provides the additional detail that while Thor was pulling on the line with Jörmungandr on the hook, his feet went through the bottom of the boat. The image on the Hørdum stone shows Hymir, Thor, his fishing line and a portion of the serpent. Thor's foot has been pushed through the hull of the boat. The ox head bait is not shown, but may have been on a section of the image that has been worn away. p. 122-123, 127-128. Hymir is depicted holding a tool, apparently in preparation to cut the fishing line, consistent with the version of the myth told in the ''Gylfaginning''. It has also been suggested that an image of the head of the serpent can be seen in the natural fracture edges of the stone under the boat. This encounter between Thor and Jörmungandr seems to have been one of the most popular motifs in Norse art. Three other picture stones that have been linked with the myth are the Ardre VIII image stone, the Altuna Runestone, and the Gosforth Cross. A stone slab that may be a portion of a second cross at Gosforth also shows a fishing scene using an ox head for bait. Several other

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n runic inscriptions from the Viking Age depict ships but not this myth, including DR 77 in Hjermind, DR 119 in Spentrup, DR 220 in Sønder Kirkeby, DR 258 in Bösarp, DR 271 in Tullstorp, DR 328 in Holmby, DR EM85;523 in Farsø, Ög 181 in Ledberg, Ög 224 in Stratomta, Ög MÖLM1960;230 in Törnevalla, Sö 122 in Skresta, Sö 154 in Skarpåker, Sö 158 in Österberga, Sö 164 in Spånga, Sö 351 in Överjärna, Sö 352 in Linga, Vg 51 in Husaby, U 370 in Herresta, U 979 in Gamla Uppsala, U 1052 in Axlunda, and Vs 17 in Råby. Two other stones, the Långtora kyrka stone and U 1001 in Rasbo, depict ships but currently do not have any runes on them and may never have had any. The Hørdum stone is currently on display in the church in Hørdum.

References

External links

Photograph of Hørdum stone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hordum Stone Picture stones Thor in art