The star in the banner is Earendel, the most distant single star yet photographed. Its name and Aurvandil’s, as in Aurvandil’s Toe, are the same word, and the story of why comes at the end.
Thor’s mighty battle with Hrungnir had long-term effects. Almost all of Thor’s wounds healed in time. A chunk of Hrungnir’s whetstone, however, remained stuck in his head, causing him great pain. No one could remove it until the seeress Gróa arrived in Thrúðvangar.
Gróa’s Healing Songs
Gróa lived alone, mourning the disappearance of her husband, Aurvandil the Bold. She came to Thor and sang her songs of healing to him.
Thor felt the whetstone loosen. Sure that the wound was nearly healed, and grateful to Gróa, he wanted to repay her with news of her husband.
Aurvandil’s Toe
Thor had been in the north when he came to the raging river, Élivágar. There, he met Aurvandil who could not cross the river. Thor put Aurvandil into a basket and carried him southwards and across the river.
Unfortunately, one of Aurvandil’s toes hung out of the basket and became frostbitten. Thor broke the toe from Aurvandil’s foot and threw it to the heavens creating the star known as Aurvandil’s Toe. Thor assured Gróa that Aurvandil would soon be home.
Gróa was elated at the news that her husband was still alive and on his way home. Her joy overwhelmed her memory, and she forgot the healing songs she was singing. The whetstone remained lodged in Thor’s head.
We are warned not to throw a whetstone across the floor because it causes the whetstone in Thor’s head to move. None of us would wish Thor ill or want to face his anger.
The Morning Star, from Aurvandil’s Toe to Middle-earth
Snorri credits Thjodolf of Hvin’s poem Haustlöng as a source for the Hrungnir story. Aurvandil’s name has a cousin in Old English, Earendel, a word for a shining light or the morning star. J.R.R. Tolkien borrowed that word for his mariner Earendil, who sails the sky as a star. So a frostbitten toe that Thor tossed into the night sky may be an ancestor of the brightest star in Middle-earth. The whole story of Hrungnir begins with Odin and Sleipnir Flee Hrungnir and Gullfaxi.
Here is a video of Jackson Crawford on the morning star in Norse, Gothic and Tolkien.
Sources
- The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jesse L. Byock (Penguin Classics, 2005): Skáldskaparmál, the Hrungnir episode. It is also where the warning about throwing a whetstone across the floor comes from.
- The Definitive Guide to Norse Mythology: The Gods, Heroes, Monsters, and Legends of Viking Culture by Finn D. Moore (2022).
- Jackson Crawford on YouTube, The morning star in Norse, Gothic, and Tolkien
