The story of Loki, Thor, and the Giant Geirrod begins with Loki’s boredom. Asgard is a beautiful, peaceful place, but for the god of mischief, it can be boring. Loki remembers a time when he became a bird and visited Jotunheim, the land of the giants. Loki decided he wanted to do that again. However, the only way he could achieve his goal was to borrow Freya’s falcon dress.
Freya had no love for Loki, so she denied his request.
Loki, whose morals are questionable in the best of times, wasn’t deterred. He waited until Freya was distracted, and he stole the falcon dress. He put on the dress, turned into a bird, and flew to Jotunheim.
The Giant Geirrod and His Daughters
Geirrod was the ugliest and wickedest of all giants. He lived in a hall with his two daughters: Gialp and Greip. Both daughters were ugly, misshaped, and lopsided. Gialp’s eyes were red. Greip’s teeth were black.
As Loki made his way to Jotunheim, Geirrod finds out Thor has killed Geirrod’s brother, Thrym. Geirrod swears vengeance against Thor, boasting what he would do if he ever caught Thor without Mjolnir, belt of power, and gauntlets of might.
Gialp and Greip encourage their father in his rage, and they both declare that they want whatever is left of Thor after Geirrod is finished with him.
Thor, for his part, is blissfully unaware of Geirrod and his daughters. He would likely never encounter or know of them on his own.
Loki’s Arrival in Jotunheim
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. He ordered a servant to capture the strange bird.
Loki’s Captivity in Jotunheim
The servant leapt at the bird, but Loki kept jumping to just avoid capture. He teased the servant, but Loki’s luck ran out. The servant made a leap that was high enough for him to reach the window sill. As the servant grabbed hold of the sill, Loki tried to leap away, but his talons were entangled in Ivy. The servant grabbed hold of the bird and brought him to Geirrod.
Geirrod asked Loki several questions, but Loki played the part of a bird. He just blinked at the giant in response. Geirrod raged against the bird and decided that hunger and thirst were the best ways to get a bird to talk. He threw Loki into a cage, where Loki stayed for three months.
Loki Makes a Deal
On the edge of death, Loki reveals who he is and tells Geirrod that he will do anything the giant wants of he is freed from his prison.
Geirrod seizes the moment to make good on his oath. He tells Loki that the only way Loki would be allowed to go free is if he agreed to convince Thor to come to Geirrod’s hall without Mjolnir, his belt of power, and his gauntlets of might.
Loki promises to do so, and Geirrod sets him free.
Loki Returns to Asgard
When Loki returned to Asgard, he told Thor about a friendly giant that he had just stayed with for three months. The friendly giant was such a great host that Loki was loathe to leave Geirrod’s hall. Still, he had to go. Geirrod entreated him to return with Thor the Thunderer.
Thor was flattered and agreed to return to Geirrod’s Hall with Loki. He left Mjolnir, his belt of power, and his gauntlets of might behind when Loki reminded Thor that such a display could send the wrong message to their gracious host.
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 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. 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.
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
Thor and Loki met each other before reaching the Vimur River. It’s waters were deep and rushed downstream. Thor donned the girdle of strength and use the pole on the downstream side. Loki held fast the girdle. By the time the got to the middle of the river, 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.
Thor looked up and saw the red-eyed Gialp straddling the river. She was causing the waters to rise. Thor grabbed a rock. As he threw it at Gialp, Thor said that the river should be dammed at its source. Thor hit his mark. Gialp ran away, screaming and howling. The waters calmed, so he could make it across where rowan (mountain ash) trees spread their limbs over the river and allowed Thor to pull himself ashore. Thus, is the saying rowan trees are Thor’s salvation. Loki, however, was washed further down the river. When he reached the shore, he ran back to Asgard.
Thor at Geirrod’s Hall
When Thor arrived at Geirrod’s Hall, Geirrod wasn’t home. A servant showed Thor to the goat shed, which was to be his lodgings. The shed contained only one chair. When Thor sat on it, the chair rose up. Thor placed Gridarvol on the rafters and pushed hard on the chair to bring it crashing down to the floor. Screams accompanied the crash as Gialp and Greip were under the chair causing it rise to kill Thor. Instead, he had broken their backs.
Geirrod arrived home and challenge Thor to games of skills. Geirrod led Thor to a hall where there were many fires burning. Thor came even with Geirrod when the giant grabbed a piece of red-hot iron from one of the fires and flung it at Thor.
Thor caught the iron with the gauntlets of might and threw it back at Geirrod. The giant tried to avoid the piece of metal, hiding behind an iron pole. The shard passed through the pole and through the giant.
Some say the giant turned to stone at the touch of the iron and the shard itself went through the hall and embedded miles deep in the ground outside. Thor placed the giant statue on top of a near mountain, reminding the rest of Jotunheim of Thor’s power. It was a long time before any giants tested Thor’s strength again.
This story of Loki, Thor, and the Giant Geirrod is adapted from the Thorsdrapa, according to Professor Jackson Crawford. It appears in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda under the Skaldskaparmal.
Sources: The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, Penguin Classics (2005).
The Definitive Guide to Norse Mythology: The Gods, Heroes, Monsters, and Legends of Viking Culture by Finn D. Moore (2022).
