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I’ve taken the liberty to edit the ancient Lay of Thrym, a poem from the Poetic Edda. Unlike other Eddic stories that have been Christianized to some extent, this poem has retained its heathen character. Worries, guilt, and shame lead to a sense of duty, and to ultimate victory over a race of greedy trolls (the giants).
The loss of Thor’s hammer represents his masculinity, his phallus. But without masculine men, a society cannot defend itself against the trolls and giants who would immediately occupy Asgard. Thor can only regain his pride by overcoming his shame, and by defeating the trolls who stole his hammer.
The Lay of Thrym
Thor was angry when he woke up and noticed his hammer was missing. His hair upright, his beard bristling, Earth’s son felt all around himself. And the first words he found to say were these:
“Listen to what I have to say now, Loki. No one else on earth or in heaven knows it—the hammer of the Æsir has been stolen!”
Thor and Loki went to find fair Freya’s homestead and these were the first words Thor found to say,
“Freya, will you lend me your feather dress so I can find my hammer?”
Freya said,
“Yes, I would give you the dress, even though it were of gold, and I give it to you as if it were of silver.”
Then Loki flew, his feather-dress whirring, until he had left Asgard, the gardens of the gods, and arrived at Jotenheim, the home of the giants. Thrym, king of the giants, sat on a burial mound, twisting bands of gold as collars for his bitches, trimming the manes of his mares.
Thrym said,
“What’s up with the gods? What’s up with the elves? Why have you come to Jotenheim by yourself?”
Loki said:
“The gods and the elves fare ill. Have you hidden Thor’s hammer?”
Thrym said,
“I have hidden Thor’s hammer eight leagues deep down in the earth. No one gets it back unless they bring me Freya to be my wife.”
Then Loki flew, his feather-dress whirring, until he had left Jotenheim and until he was inside Asgard.
He met Thor in the middle of the gardens, and these were the first words Thor found to say:
“Do you have news, or did you work for nothing? Say your tidings now, from the sky. A messenger’s story is lost if he sits; if he lies down, he’s sure to lie.”
Loki said,
“I have toiled and I have news. Thrym, the king of the giants, has your hammer. No one shall get it back unless he wins Freya to be his wife.”
Loki and Thor went to find fair Freya, and these were the first words Thor found to say:
“Bind on the bridal linen, Freya. The two of us must haste to the home of the giants.”
Freya was angry and snorted with such rage that the hall of the Æsir shook below and broke her mighty Brising necklace,
“I would look very lustful if I went to Jotenheim with you.”
Later, all the Æsir met at a council and the goddesses all spoke, too, to discuss and decide how to get back Thor’s hammer.
Then Heimdall, the whitest of the gods who knew the future well, said,
“Bind the bridal linen on Thor, let him wear the great Brising necklace. Let keys jingle from his waist, and women’s clothes fall to his knee, and broad stones on his chest, and put something fitting on his head.”
Then the mighty god Thor answered,
“The gods would call me unmanly if I let them bind the bridal linen on me!”
Then Loki, Laufey’s son, said,
“Silence, Thor, watch your language. The giants will immediately inhabit Asgard unless you get your hammer back.”
They bound the bridal linen on Thor, and the great Brising necklace, and let keys jingle from his waist, and women’s clothes fall to his knee, and broad stones on his chest, and put something fitting on his head.
Then Laufey’s son, Loki, said,
“I will also go with you as your handmaid. The two of us must go to Jotenheim.”
Later, the goats were driven from the hall of the gods. Rushing against the wagon’s shaft, they ran so fast mountains broke and flames burnt the earth, and so Odin’s son went to Jotenheim.
Then Thrym, king of the giants, said: “
Stand up, giants, and throw straw on the benches to make them soft. Now, I will win Freya to be my wife, Earth’s daughter from Noah’s garden. Here, in my garden, I have gold-horned cows, and jet-black oxen, a delight for the giant. I own many treasures, I own a lot of jewelry, only my Freya seems to be lacking.”
Evening came quickly and beer was brought to the giants. Thor, dressed as Freya, ate one of the oxen by himself, eight salmon, and all the delicacies that were set for the women. Loki, dressed as Sif, Thor’s wife, drank three gallons of mead.
Then the lord of the giants Thrym said,
“Who ever saw a bride with such a sharp bite? I have never seen a bride with such a broad bite, nor a maid who drank any more mead.”
The all-wise handmaid who sat in front of him found an answer to the giant’s question:
“Freya hasn’t eaten for eight nights, so mad-keen she was about going to Jotenheim.”
The giant bent down under the bridal linen, desiring a kiss, but then jumped up all the way to the end of the hall:
“Why are Freya’s eyes to fierce? It appears to me as if fire is burning from her eyes.”
The all-wise handmaid who sat in front of him found an answer to the giant’s question:
“Freya hasn’t slept at all for eight nights, so mad-keen she was about going to Jotenheim.”
Then the lord of the giants Thrym said,
“Bring in the hammer to hallow the bride. Lay Mjölnir on the maiden’s knees, so we can bless Freya’s hands together.”
Thor laughed with spirits in his chest when the hard-minded one recognized his hammer. He killed Thrym first, the lord of the giants, and then he destroyed the whole race of the giants. He killed the old giant’s sister who had asked him for the bridal fee. She suffered a resounding blow for the money and for each of the rings she took.
And so, Odin’s son got his hammer back.
The Lay of Thrym [ep. #42]