Thor asked Loki if he would like to go to Utgard, the giant’s stronghold. Thor wanted to defeat Asgard’s fiercest foes, and he knew he could find them there. Loki agreed to accompany Thor, and the two set out in Thor’s chariot drawn by Thor’s two goats, Tanngrisnir (Teeth-barer) and Tanngnjóstr (Teeth-grinder).
As evening approached, the two gods stopped at a peasant’s hut and asked for shelter. The man was happy to allow the gods to stay, but he couldn’t offer them any food to eat. The family had none.
Thor said he would provide the food. He went back to the chariot and butchered his goats. He cooked them, and when the meal was ready brought it the family of four, the mother, father, a son, Thialfe, and a daughter, Roskva. They could eat as much as they wanted, but Thor had two conditions:
- Do not break the bones.
- Throw the bones on the goatskin that he had laid on the floor.
The boy, Thialfe, questioned Thor’s instructions. He thought there couldn’t be any harm in sucking the marrow from the bone. Thialfe broke a leg bone to get at the marrow. Then, he threw the bone pieces onto the goatskins.
The next morning, Thor held Mjolnir over the goatskins and bones. Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr returned to life as they were before, except one had a limp.
Thor became angry, and when the farmer and his family saw Thor’s face, they wailed. The father offered Thor everything to avert his anger. When Thor saw their fear, his anger subsided. However, he took Thialfe and Roskva as recompense for the damage, and the became his bond servants, who followed him from that time on.
The travelers left Tanngrisnir, Tanngnjóstr, and the chariot with the parents. They would walk to Utgard.
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).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanngrisnir_and_Tanngnj%C3%B3str
