ABSTRACT
The plot of Þrymskviða is simple and the poem well-structured; artful repetitions build to two climaxes, one comic and one violent. Þόrr awakens one morning to find that his hammer, Mjǫllnir, is missing. Loki determines that it has been stolen by the giant Þrymr and will not be returned unless Þrymr is given Freyja as a bride. Although Freyja has a reputation for promiscuity, she will not lower her standards so far as to marry a giant, and so the gods dress Þόrr as a woman and send him/her to Þrymr accompanied by Loki who is also in drag, posing as Þόrr’s serving-maid. The hammer is brought out to sanctify the marriage in giantland and thus Þόrr is able to seize it and destroy the giant threat.
