Hyrrokkin (Old Norse:[ˈhyrˌrokːenː]) is a femalejötunn inNorse mythology. According to 13th-century poetSnorri Sturluson, she launched the largest of all ships atBaldr's funeral after theÆsir gods were unable to budge the vessel.[2][3]
Hyrrokkin was a relatively important figure in the last decades ofpaganism in Iceland.[4] She appears to be depicted on one of the DR 284 stones from theHunnestad Monument near Marsvinsholm,Sweden.[1][5]
The Old Norse name Hyrrokkin has been translated as 'fire-withered' or 'fire-steamer'.[6][7] According to linguistJan de Vries, it is acompound formed with the roothyr- ('fire') attached tohrokkinn ('curly; wrinkle').[8] ScholarJohn Lindow has proposed the translation 'fire-smoked', perhaps referring to a dark, shrivelled appearance.[9]
It is told inSnorri Sturluson'sGylfaginning that atBaldr's funeral his wifeNanna died of grief and was placed alongside him on hispyre, thus joining her husband inHel.Hringhorni, Baldr's ship, was the largest of all such vessels and was to serve as the god's funeral ship. No one, however, could seem to launch the boat out to sea.
Thegods then enlisted the help of Hyrrokkin, who came fromJötunheimr, arriving on a giant wolf with vipers as reins. When she dismounted,Odin summoned fourberserkers to look after the animal but they were unable to control it without first rendering it unconscious. With her seismic strength, the giantess rolled the boat into the water. This caused the earth to quake and the rollers to set on fire, which angeredThor. He was about to kill Hyrrokkin with his hammerMjöllnir, but the other gods insisted that he spare her.
| Guðni Jónsson's edition[10] | Blackwell's translation[11] |
|---|---|
En æsirnir tóku lík Baldrs ok fluttu til sævar. Hringhorni hét skip Baldrs. Hann var allra skipa mestr. Hann vildu goðin fram setja ok gera þar á bálför Baldrs, en skipit gekk hvergi fram. Þá var sent í Jötunheima eftir gýgi þeiri, er Hyrrokkin hét. En er hon kom ok reið vargi ok hafði höggorm at taumum, þá hljóp hon af hestinum, en Óðinn kallaði til berserki fjóra at gæta hestsins, ok fengu þeir eigi haldit, nema þeir felldi hann. Þá gekk Hyrrokkin á framstafn nökkvans ok hratt fram í fyrsta viðbragði, svá at eldr hraut ór hlunnunum ok lönd öll skulfu. Þá varð Þórr reiðr ok greip hamarinn ok myndi þá brjóta höfuð hennar, áðr en goðin öll báðu henni friðar. | The Æsir then took the dead body and bore it to the seashore, where stood Baldur's ship Hringhorn, which passed for the largest in the world. But when they wanted to launch it in order to make Baldur's funeral pile on it, they were unable to make it stir. In this conjuncture they sent to Jotunheim for a certain giantess named Hyrrokin, who came mounted on a wolf, having twisted serpents for a bridle. As soon as she alighted, Odin ordered four Berserkir to hold her steed fast, who were, however, obliged to throw the animal on the ground ere they could effect their purpose. Hyrrokin then went to the ship, and with a single push set it afloat, but the motion was so violent that the fire sparkled from the rollers, and the earth shook all around. Thor, enraged at the sight, grasped his mallet, and but for the interference of the Æsir would have broken the woman's skull. |
She is also mentioned in alist of troll women by an anonymousskald:[12]
Gjölp, Hyrrokkin,
Hengikepta,
Gneip ok Gnepja,
Geysa, Hála,
Hörn ok Hrúga,
Harðgreip, Forað,
Hryðja, Hveðra
ok Hölgabrúðr.
The late 10th-century skaldÞorbjörn dísarskáld, in two preserved fragments of theSkáldskaparmál (4) addressed directly toThor, mentions Hyrrokkin among thejötnar killed by the thunder-god at Baldur's funeral:[3]
Ball í Keilu kolli, Guðni Jónsson's edition[10] | Thou didst smite the head of Keila, Brodeur's translation (1923)[13] | [Mjöllnir] struck on Keila's skull, Andy Orchard's translation (1997)[14] |
The poemHúsdrápa ('House-Lay'), composed byÚlfr Uggason around 985 AD in westernIceland and partially preserved in theProse Edda, also appears to refer to Hyrrokkin at Baldr's funeral: "The very powerful Hild of the mountains [giantess][a] caused the sea-Sleipnir [ship] to lumber forward, but the wielders of the helmet flames [warriors] of Hropt [Odin] felled her mount."[4]
Hyrokkin is featured in the 2020 video game,Assassin's Creed Valhalla, during the missions taking place in Jötunheimr. The missions being merely vision interpretations of the fictional precursor race, the Isu's history, an equivalence is made toJuno, who was mentioned inAssassin's Creed II but made her first appearance inAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
