Hrímgerðr

Hrimgerdr (Old Norse: Hrímgerðr [ˈhriːmˌɡerðz̠], "frost-Gerðr") is a gýgr (female giant) in Norse mythology.

Attestation

In Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar, Hrímgerðr announces herself as the daughter of the jötunn Hati.

"My name is Hrimgerd, my father's name Hati, whom I knew as the most mighty of giants, many a bride he had snatched from their homes, till Helgi hewed him down." — Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, 17, transl. A. Orchard, 1997.

After the hero Helgi Hundingsbane kills her father, Hrímgerðr harasses him, and Atli Idmundsson engages her in a contest of flyting until she turns into stone in the sunrise.

[Hrimgerd said:] 'You would neigh, if you weren't a gelding: Hrimgerd tosses her tail; I think your heart is in your arse, Atli, though you have a stallion's voice.' [Atli said:] 'You'd soon leam what a stallion I was in strength, if I stepped on shore: you'd take a great pasting, if I so wished, and lower your tail, Hrimgerd.' — Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, transl. A. Orchard, 1997.

Sources

• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend.

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