Whetstone in Head

Hrungnir had a heart that is
renowned, made of solid stone and spiky with three points just
like the symbol for carving called Hrungnir’s heart has ever since
been made. His head was also of stone. His shield was also stone,
broad and thick, and he held the shield before him as he stood at
Griotunagardar waiting for Thor, and he had a whetstone as
weapon and rested it on his shoulder and he did not look at all
pleasant. On one side of him stood the clay giant, whose name
was Mokkurkalfi, and he was quite terrified. They say he wet
himself when he saw Thor. Thor went to keep his appointment for
the duel, and with him Thialfi. Then Thialfi ran on ahead to where
Hrungnir was standing and said to him:

‘You are standing unguardedly, giant, you’ve got your shield in
front of you, but Thor has seen you and he is travelling by the
lower route underground, and he is going to come at you from
below.’

Then Hrungnir shoved the shield beneath his feet and stood on
it, and held the whetstone with both hands. Next he saw lightnings
and heard great thunders. Then he saw Thor in an As-rage, he was
travelling at an enormous rate and swung his hammer and threw
it from a great distance at Hrungnir. Hrungnir raised the whet-
stone with both hands, threw it in return. It met the hammer in
flight, the whetstone, and the whetstone broke in two. One piece
fell to the ground, and from it have come all whetstone rocks. The
other piece crashed into Thor’s head so that he fell forwards to the
ground, but the hammer Miollnir hit the middle of Hrungnir’s
head and shattered his skull into small fragments, and he fell
forwards over Thor so that his leg lay across Thor’s neck. Thialfi
attacked Mokkurkalfi, and he fell with little glory. Then Thialfi
went up to Thor and went to remove Hrungnir’s leg from him and
was unable to manage it. Then all the Æsir came up when they
found out that Thor had fallen, and went to remove the leg from
him and could not move it at all. Then Magni, son of Thor and
Iarnsaxa, arrived. He was then three years old. He threw Hrung-
nir’s leg off Thor and said:

‘Isn’t it a terrible shame, father, that I arrived so late. I think I
would have knocked this giant into Hel with my fist if I had come
across him.’

Then Thor stood up and welcomed his son warmly and said he
would grow up to be a powerful person.

‘And I have decided,’ he said, ‘to give you the horse Gullfaxi,
which used to be Hrungnir’s.’

Then spoke Odin and said it was wrong of Thor to give that fine
horse to the son of a giantess and not to his own father.

Thor returned home to Thrudvangar and the whetstone re-
mained in his head. Then there arrived a sorceress called Groa,
wife of Aurvandil the Bold. She chanted her spells over Thor until
the whetstone began to come loose. When Thor felt this and it
seemed likely that the whetstone was going to be got out, he
wanted to repay Groa for her treatment and give her pleasure. He
told her these tidings that he had waded south across Elivagar
carrying Aurvandil in a basket on his back south from Giantland,
and there was this proof, that one of his toes had been sticking out
of the basket and had got frozen, so Thor broke it off and threw it
up in the sky and made out of it the star called Aurvandil’s toe.
Thor said it would not be long before Aurvandil was home, and
Groa was so pleased that she could remember none of her spells,
and the whetstone got no looser and is still stuck in Thor’s head.
And this is something that is taboo, throwing whetstones across a
room, for then the whetstone in Thor’s head stirs. Thiodolf of
Hvinir has composed a passage based on this story in Haustlong.
It says there:

Also can be seen on the circle [of the shield], O cave-fire-
[gold-]tree [man], how the terror of giants [Thor] made a
visit to the mound of Griotun. The son of lord drove to the
game of iron [battle] and the moon’s way [sky] thundered
beneath him. Wrath swelled in Meili’s brother [Thor].

All the hawks’ sanctuaries [skies] found themselves burning
because of Ull’s stepfather, and the ground all low was
battered with hail, when the goats drew the temple-power
[Thor] of the easy-chariot forward to the encounter with
Hrungnir. Svolnir’s widow [lord, earth] practically split
apart.

Baldr’s brother [Thor] did not spare there the greedy enemy
of men [Hrungnir], Mountains shook and rocks smashed;
heaven above burned. I have heard that the watcher
[Hrungnir] of the dark bone [rock] of the land [sea] of
Haki’s carriages [ships] moved violently in opposition when
he saw his warlike slayer.

Swiftly flew the pale ring-ice [shield] beneath the soles of the
rock-guarder [giant]. The bonds [gods] caused this, the
ladies of the fray [valkyries] wished it. The rock-gentleman
[giant] did not have to wait long after that for a swift blow
from the tough multitude-smashing friend [Thor] of
hammer-face-troll [Miollnir],

The life-spoiler of Beli’s bale-troops [giants] made the bear
[giant] of the noisy storms’ secret refuge [mountain fastnes-
ses] fall on the shield-islet. There sank down the gully-land
[mountain] prince [giant] before the tough hammer and the
rock-Dane-breaker [Thor] forced back the mighty defiant
one.

And the hard fragment of the whetstone of the visitor
[giant] of the woman of Vingnir’s people [the race of giants]
whizzed at ground’s [earth, lord’s] son into his brain-ridge,
so that the steel-pumice [whetstone] still stuck in Odin’s
boy’s skull, stood there spattered with Eindridi’s [Thor’s]
blood.

Until ale-Gefiun [Groa] began to enchant the red boaster of
being rust’s bale [whetstone] from the inclined slopes of the
wound-giving god’s hair. Clearly I see these deeds on
Geitir’s fence [the shield], I received the border’s moving
cliff [shield] decorated with horrors from Thorleif.

Then Ægir said: ‘Hrungnir seems to me to have been very
mighty. Did Thor achieve any greater exploit in his dealings with
trolls?’


- Prose Edda, Skaldskaparmal