#thjalfi

One day, while borrowing Freyja’s falcon cloak Valsharmr, Loki came upon the jotunn Geirrodr’s expansive castle.  Unfortunately, Loki was spotted, and seized before he could escape.

Geirrodr demanded to know who he was, and why he was spying on him, but Loki remained silent.  Geirrodr had a famous hatred for Thor, so as Thor’s best friend, Loki was sure his true identity should remain hidden, at least if he valued his life.

When Geirrodr did not receive an answer though, he imprisoned Loki, denying him food, drink, and sunlight.  Loki endured for three months before he started to think he could take no more of the torture.  He called for Geirrodr and begged to be released, promising to do or say anything the jotunn desired.  On learning that his prisoner was Loki, Geirrodr agreed to release him, provided that Loki brought Thor to Geirrodr’s castle, without his hammer, the gloves required to carry the hammer, or the girdle Megingardr, which increased Thor’s already prominent strength.  Loki agreed, and was allowed to return to Asgard.

On returning, he set about enticing Thor to travel with him to Geirrodr’s castle.  However, Loki stipulated, Geirrodr did not want Thor dining in his hall with his hammer, gloves, and girdle of strength, since Thor could easily disrupt the party and kill him instead.  Thor was not enthusiastic at the prospect, but Loki assured him Geirrodr would feed and house them well, and that Geirrodr’s two daughters, Gjalp and Greip, were stunning to behold.  Trusting Loki’s judgement, Thor finally agreed to go.

On the way, Loki and Thor spent a night at the home of one of Odin’s past mistresses, the jotunn Gridr.  When Gridr heard that Thor was journeying to Geirrodr for a feast without his battle accessories, she assured Thor that he had been deceived.  Geirrodr was a fierce enemy of Thor, and was intent on killing him.  Thor was outmatched without his weapon, but if Thor did not go to Geirrodr, Loki would be captured, tortured, and possibly killed for failing to keep his promise.  Thor did not want such a thing, so he resolved to kill Geirrodr himself.  He asked Gridr to borrow her girdle of strength and iron gloves, and also her magic staff Gridarvolr.  Gridr agreed, and sent Thor and Loki on their way.

The two attempted to cross the river Vimur to reach their destination, but the river grew fierce, and Loki was forced to cling to Thor to keep from being washed away.  Wondering why the river was behaving thusly, Thor looked upstream, and saw that Geirrodr’s daughter Gjalp was adding liquid to the river, causing the water to rise significantly.

Thor threw a rock at the jotunn to stem the river flow.  He pulled himself and Loki out with the branch of a rowan tree, and they finished making their way to the home of Geirrodr.

Thor and Loki were led to a room with a single chair, and Thor seated himself.  Suddenly, the chair began rising toward the roof, threatening to crush Thor against it.  Thor acted quickly and used Gridr’s unbreakable staff to push himself away from the roof.  This sudden action caused the two jotnar pushing his chair to the ceiling, Gjalp and Greip, to break their backs and fall to the floor.

It was then that Geirrodr entered, and took hot iron from a fire with tongs.  He threw it directly at Thor, but Thor easily caught the projectile in the iron gloves he wore.  Realising the danger he was in, Geirrodr hid himself behind a pillar, but Thor threw the molten iron back at Geirrodr, and it crashed through the pillar to pierce and kill Geirrodr.

Some versions of the myth include Thjalfi in Loki’s place, or Thjalfi making the journey with both Thor and Loki, but his involvement is uncertain, because he does little that is noteworthy in this myth.