Loki, Thor, and the Giant Geirrod

The story of Thor and the giant Geirrod begins with Loki out for a joyride. Snorri tells us Loki borrowed Frigg’s falcon cloak and flew, just for fun, into Jötunheim, the land of the giants. Still, it was a bad idea.

The Giant Geirrod and His Daughters

Geirrod was the ugliest and wickedest of all giants. He lived in a hall with his two daughters, Gjalp and Greip. Both daughters were ugly, misshaped, and lopsided. Gjalp’s eyes were red, and Greip’s teeth were black.

Gjalp and Greip egged their father on in his rage. In fact, both said they wanted whatever was left of Thor after Geirrod was finished with him.

Thor, for his part, is blissfully unaware of Geirrod and his daughters. So he would likely never encounter or know of them on his own.

Loki’s Arrival in Jötunheim

On arriving in the land of giants, Loki found himself hovering over the Giant Geirrod’s hall. He flew to a window, where he could see the three giants, Geirrod and his two daughters, sitting at a table and eating.

The three giants ate like they were in a contest to see who could consume the most the fastest. They scarfed down chunks of hot, charred meat, almost choking on them.

Loki in his bird form chuckled. His wings stretched out and blocked the light from the window.

Geirrod noticed the change in light and looked up. Then he ordered a servant to capture the strange bird.

Loki’s Captivity in Geirrod’s Hall

The servant struggled to reach the high window, and Loki enjoyed watching him try. He waited until the last moment to fly off. But when he tried, his feet stuck fast. The servant grabbed him and carried him to Geirrod.

Geirrod looked into the bird’s eyes and suspected it was no bird. He demanded that it speak, but Loki kept silent. So Geirrod locked him in a chest and starved him for three months.

Loki Makes a Deal with Geirrod

At last, starving, Loki revealed who he was and begged for his life.

Geirrod named his price. Loki would go free only if he brought Thor to Geirrod’s hall without his hammer and without his belt of strength.

So Loki promised to do so, and Geirrod set him free.

Loki Returns to Asgard

Back in Asgard, Loki told Thor about a wonderful giant he’d been staying with, such a generous host that Loki had been loath to leave. Geirrod, he said, was so eager to meet Thor the Thunderer.

Thor was flattered and agreed to return to Geirrod’s Hall with Loki. Loki reminded him that such a display could send the wrong message to their gracious host, so Thor left Mjölnir, his belt of power, and his gauntlets of might behind.

Thor and the Giantess Grid

On their way to Geirrod’s Hall, the two gods pass by the house of the Giantess Grid, Thor’s friend. She’s sitting in her door, and when she recognizes Thor, she beckons to him. Loki continues while Thor goes to visit his friend.

Grid asks where Thor is going, and he explains that he is going to Geirrod’s hall.

Grid then asks Thor why he would go there and why he has no weapons. Geirrod is the strongest and wickedest of all giants, she explains.

Thor realizes that Loki tricked him. But he must continue his journey. After all, if he were to go back to Asgard to get his gear, he would be labeled a coward. Thor, and the Asgardians who rely upon him for Asgard’s safety, can’t have that.

So Grid gives Thor her own girdle of strength, staff of power named Gridarvol, and gauntlets of might. She asks that he not reveal where they came from. Thor agrees.

Thor, Loki, and the River to Geirrod

Later, Thor and Loki reached the Vimur, greatest of rivers, running deep and fast. Thor buckled on Grid’s belt of strength and planted her staff against the current. Loki held on to the belt. By midstream the water was at Thor’s shoulders.

Scolding the river in verse, Thor warned that if the river continued to rise divine might would also rise within Thor.

Then Thor saw Geirrod’s daughter Gjalp standing astride the river upstream. In fact, she was the one making it rise. Thor grabbed a stone and threw it, saying, “A river must be stopped at its source!” He didn’t miss. The water fell, and as Thor reached the far bank he grabbed a rowan tree and hauled himself out. That’s why people say “the rowan is Thor’s rescue.”

Thor at Geirrod’s Hall

At Geirrod’s hall, Thor and his companion were shown to a goat shed with a single chair. Thor sat, and the chair shot up toward the roof. He jammed Grid’s staff against the rafters and pushed down with all his strength. There was a crack and a scream. Gjalp and Greip had been under the chair, trying to crush him against the ceiling. Thor had broken both their backs.

Then Geirrod summoned Thor to the hall for games. Great fires burned along its length. As Thor came in, Geirrod snatched a glowing lump of iron from the fire with tongs and hurled it at him.

Thor caught it in Grid’s iron gloves and threw it back. Geirrod ducked behind an iron pillar. But it didn’t help. The iron went through the pillar, through Geirrod, through the wall, and into the ground outside.

That was the end of Geirrod.

Read next: what this story has to say about grudges, in Thor and the Giant Geirrod: A Lesson on Grudges.

Where the Geirrod Story Comes From

Our main source is Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (Skaldskaparmal), which also quotes the older skaldic poem Thorsdrapa by Eilifr Godrunarson. In Thorsdrapa, however, Thor’s companion is Thialfi, not Loki.