Hrímnir

Hrímnir is a jǫtunn in Norse mythology. He is the father of Hljód.[1]

Name

The Old Norse name Hrímnir has been translated as 'frosty',[1] 'the one covered with hoarfrost', or 'the sooty one.' It is not clear whether the name is intended to evoke the frost giants or hrímþursar (jǫtunn).[2][3]

Attestations

In the Völsunga saga, Hrímnir is mentioned as the father of Hljóð, who is sent by Frigg as a "wish-maid" to Rerir with the apple of fertility that will provide his wife offspring.[4] Hrímnir himself sends his daughter Hljóð to be the wife of one of the children, Völsung.[3]

Hrímnir is listed among the jǫtnar in the þulur section of the Prose Edda.[5][6]

In Hyndluljóð (32), Hrímnir is the father of Heiðr and Hrossþjófr,[5] but that may be just for the purpose of alliteration.[2] He is also mentioned in Skírnismál (28),[2] probably as a typical jötunn.[7]

In Gríms saga loðinkinna, Hrímnir is the father of the giantesses Feima and Kleima; his wife's name is Hyrja.[8]

Theories

Scholars have argued that the story of Hrímnir in the Völsunga saga resembles that of Peredur in the Matter of Britain, and the modern folktale "The Sea-Maiden."[9]

References
  1. Orchard 1997, p. 90.
  2. Simek 1996, p. 159.
  3. Quinn, p. 134.
  4. Quinn, p. 131.
  5. Siân Duke, "Kristni saga and its Sources: Some Revaluations," Saga-Book 25 (2001) 345–450, p. 396 (pdf).
  6. Giants I, verse 6: online parallel edition at voluspa.org; and also among the names for a hog, verse 97, parallel edition.
  7. Judy Quinn, "The Realisation of Mythological Design: The Early Generations of the Völsung Dynasty," in Ney, Agneta; Jakobsson, Ármann; Lassen, Annette (2009). Fornaldarsagaerne. Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 134, note 11. ISBN 978-87-635-2579-4.
  8. Heusler, Andreas; Ranisch, Wilhelm (1903). Eddica minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und nderen Prosawerken (in German). W. Ruhfus. pp. lxxv. interprets this episode as an imitation of one in the Örvar-Oddr saga.
  9. Paton, Lucy Allen (1903). Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance. Ginn. pp. 174–75, note 2.

Bibliography
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