At the time Thor was traveling with Loki to Jotunheim on his chariot. This happened soon after some unfortunate events led to the crippling of one of the goats that pulled Thor’s chariot, leading the God of thunder to find his new servants, the brother and sister Thialfi (Þjálfi) and Roskva (Röskva) (read more here).
After stabling Thor’s goats with the father of Thialfi and Roskva, promissing to collect them on his way back, the group continued their journey to Jotunheim on foot.
For a long time they walked across gently falling land until at last they came to the great body of water separating Midgard from Jotunheim. They decided to camp for the night, filling their bellies with the supplies from their haversacks. The next morning they found an old boat, beached and disused, and decided to put it to use to reach Jotunheim. By midday they reached the shore of Utgard, a broad strip of land that lay between the water and the mountains.
Finding no sign of life, they headed inland. After a long and tiring journey, the group came to a huge hall, just as night was falling. They found no one inside, and decided to spend the night there, quickly falling asleep.
They were soon violently awakened by earthquakes and massive growls that kept shaking the building throughout the night frightening Loki, Thialfi and Roskva. The group searched the hall and found a smaller, more defensible chamber, in which they could fight, should the need arise. Thor was, as always, unshaken, and stood guard at the entrance of the chamber, holding his mighty Mjollnir ready and vowing to protect the group.
Came morning and Thor found the cause of the quakes and growling: a massive giant sleeping and loudly snoring just outside the place where the companions took shelter. Thor looked at the giant grimly and buckled on the belt given to him by the giantess Grid, preparing for a possible battle. He felt his strength grow, and surge like a springtide within him. At this moment the giant woke and, seeing Thor standing almost over him, sprang to his feet. He was as tall as the pine trees around them, and Thor was so taken aback at his height that he did not hurl Mjollnir at him, specially since the giant made no threatening gestures.
The giant introduced himself as Skrymir (Old Norse Skrýmir, “Boaster”), but said that he already knew full well to whom he was introducing himself.
Skrymir bent down and picked it up the hall in which Thor and the others spent the night: it was in fact the giant’s glove, and Thor realized that what they had taken for the main hall was the cavity for Skryrmir’s hand and four fingers, and that the side-room where he had stood guard was the opening for his thumb.
After donning his glove, Skrymir invited the group to travel together with him, as they were going in the same direction. Thor agreed and the giant invited them to break their fast before journeying. They all pooled their provisions and, after eating their fill, the giant stored stored all of the haversacks of the group inside his own massive bag, volunteering to carry everything for the group, an offer quickly accepted.
So Skrymir simply dropped their knapsack into his own larger bag, tied it up and slung it over his back. Then he set off through the forest, taking huge strides, so that Thor, Loki and Roskva were soon left behind. Even Thialfi, as fleet of foot as any was in Midgard, was hard put to keep up with him. The travelers, however, could always tell which way to go by stopping to listen to the sound of Skrymir crashing through the forest ahead of them. In the evening, they caught up with the giant at the very edge of the forest. He was sitting under a luge oak.
As the group caught on with the giant, Skrymir claimed to be very tired after the journey and that he only wanted to sleep. He offered his bag with the provisions for the group and quickly dozed off.
Loki, Thialfi and Roskva began to make a fire, while Thor was in charge of opening the giant’s massive haversack and get the supplies. But that is just what he could not do. The straps keeping the giant’s bag closed were as adamant as Gleipnir itself, the rope that bound the wolf Fenrir, and the group was unable to get any food.
For hours Thor fidgeted with the ropes, growing more and more frustrated. His beard bristled as he began to suspect that that Skrymir had not meant them to be able to open the bag. His patience gone, the God of Thunder gripped Mjollnir with both hands and unleashed a mighty blow straight onto the giant’s forehead.
Skrymir sat up. Asking if a leaf fell over his head, the giant barely spared a glance around him, before falling asleep again.
At midnight Skrymir was snoring again. The trees near by shuddered, and the ground shook under their bodies. Thor decided he had heard enough. Without a word he got up and made his way over to Skrymir. Once again he raised Mjollnir quickly and fiercely, and slammed it down on the middle of the giant’s crown. He could feel that the head of the hammer had sunk well into Skrymir’s brains.
The mighty blow could have crushed mountains, yet Skrymir merely sat up. He asked if an acorn have fallen on his head, and again fell asleep before Thor could even ask for his belongings.
Hungry and unable to sleep for the second night in a row due to the giant, Thor vented his frustration again just before dawn, with a third strike to the giant’s head. But the giant merely awakened, asking if some birds had roosted above him.
Skrymir then announced that they were very close to the castle of Utgard, telling Thor to keep his pride in check, as Utgard-Loki’s men would not stand bragging from someone as small as him. Skrymir quickly resumed walking, leaving the four companions dumbstruck by the events of the night and the sheer audacity of the giant.
Thor's blood boiled at such an insult, but there was nothing he could do about it but follow the giant, which was already striding far away.
Join us next week, as Thor, Loki, Thialfi and Roskva finally arrive at Utgard Castle, where new and insurmountable challenges await them!
Sources:
Lee M. Hollander (1962) The Poetic Edda. 15th. edition. Texas, USA: University Research Institute of the University of Texas. ISBN 978-0-292-76499-6
Simek, Rudolf. 2008. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. BOYE6. ISBN-13 978-0859915137
Jesse Byock. 2005. Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda. 1st. edition. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN-13 978-0-140-44755-2
Anthony Faulkes. 1995. Snorri Sturluson, Edda. 3rd. edition. London, England: Everyman J. M. Dent. ISBN-13 978-0-4608-7616-2
