Þrúðr (Old Norse: "strength"),[1] sometimes anglicized asThrud, is a daughter of thegodThor and the goddessSif inNorse mythology. Þrúðr is also the name of one of thevalkyries who serve ale to theeinherjar inValhalla (Grímnismál, stanza 36). The two may or may not be the same figure.[2]
Þrúðr is attested in the following sources:
ThePoetic Edda poemAlvíssmál, in which adwarf,Alvíss, claims to be engaged to Thor's daughter, may be about Þrúðr, but the daughter is not named.
In the poemGrímnismál,Odin (disguised asGrímnir), tortured, starved and thirsty, tells the youngAgnar that he wishes that thevalkyriesHrist ("shaker") andMist ("cloud") would "bear him a [drinking]horn", then provides a list of 11 more valkyries who he says "bearale to theeinherjar";Skeggjöld ("axe-age"),Skögul,Hildr, Þrúðr ("power"),Hlökk ("noise", or "battle"),Herfjötur ("host-fetter"),Göll ("tumult"),Geirahöð ("spear-fight"),Randgríð ("shield-truce"),Ráðgríð ("council-truce") andReginleif ("power-truce").[3]
TheProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál(4) tells that Thor can be referred to by thekenning "father of Þrúðr" (faðir Þrúðar).Eysteinn Valdason uses it in his poem about Thor(2). TheSkáldskaparmál(21) adds that her mother isSif.
InBragi Boddason'sRagnarsdrápa, thejötunnHrungnir is called "thief of Þrúðr" (Þrúðar þjófr). But there is no direct reference to this myth in any other source.Skáldskaparmál(17), in which Snorri relates the fight between Thor and Hrungnir, mentions a very different cause, andÞjóðólfr of Hvinir'sHaustlöng only describes the fight without giving the reason for it. This poem depicts two mythological scenes painted on a shield, the first beingIðunn's abduction by the giantÞjazi.Margaret Clunies Ross suggested that the two episodes might be complementary, both dealing with the abduction of a goddess by a giant, its failure and the death of the abductor.[4] Another kenning may allude to this myth: inEilífr Goðrúnarson'sÞórsdrápa(18), Thor is called "he who longs fiercely for Þrúðr" (þrámóðnir Þrúðar).[4]
Þrúðr is mentioned on the 10th-century Karlevi runestone on the island ofÖland,Sweden, where a chieftain is referred to as the "tree of Þrúðr".[5]
The name Þrúðr could be used inkennings for chieftains, as exemplified on the Karlevi Runestone. The name is also used in kennings for women. For instance,Ormr Steinþórsson in his poem about a woman(4) uses the kenninghrosta lúðrs gæi-Þrúðr, which, according to Anthony Faulkes, can be rendered "keeper of the malt-box (mash-tub) or ale-vessel".[6]
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| Poems about valkyries | ||
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