THOR AND TYH. 17 



Thor was one of the greatest of the Norse gods after Odin ; 

 indeed, these with Frey formed a sort of triad. 



"Thor is the foremost of them (the gods) ; he is called Asa- 

 Thor or Oku-Thor. He is the strongest of all gods and men. 

 His realm is Thrudvangar (= plains of strength), and his hall 

 is called Bilskirnir ; in it there are 540 rooms. It is the 

 largest house built by men. (See Grimnismal.) Thor owns 

 two he-goats, which are called Tanngnjost (tooth-gnasher) and 

 Tanngiisnir (tooth-gnasher), and a chariot (reid), on which he 

 drives and the he-goats draw it. Therefore he is called Oku- 

 Thor ( = the driving Thor). He also owns three costly things. 

 One of them is the hammer Mjolnir which the Hrim Thursar 

 and Berg Kisar know when it is aloft, and that is not strange, 

 for he has broken many a head of their fathers or kinsmen. 

 The next best of his costly things is the belt of strength. 

 When he girds himself with it his Asa-strength doubles. 

 He owns a third thing, which is worth much, iron-gloves, 

 without which he cannot hold the handle of the hammer. No 

 man is so wise that he may reckon up all his great feats, but 

 I can tell thee so many tales of him that the hours will be 

 whiled away before I have told all that I know." 



" Har said : ' Furthermore there is an As called Tyr. He is 

 the boldest and most daring and has much power over victory 

 in battles. It is useful for valiant men to make vows to him. 

 It is a saying that the one surpassing others in valour and 

 fearing nothing is Ty-brave. He is so wise that the wisest 

 man is called Ty-wise. One of the proofs of his daring is this. 

 When the Asar persuaded the Fenriswolf to allow them to tie 

 it with the chain Gleipnir, it did not believe that they would 

 untie it till they laid Tyr's hand into its mouth as a pledge. 

 When they would not untie it then it bit off his hand at the 

 place now called Wolf-joint (wrist). He is therefore onehanded 

 and said not to be the reconciler of men' ' / Later Edda, 

 Gylfaginning, 



The Later Edda differs from the Grimnismal in giving the 

 number of gods or Asar which it mentions. When Gylfi asks 

 how many Asar there are he is told twelve, and the names of 

 Odin, Hod, and Baldr are omitted from the list. Only a few of 

 these gods seem to have been of sufficient prominence to have 

 had sacrifices offered to them, as is seen in the chapter on 

 Religion, and we cannot depend on the Later Edda for reliable 

 information concerning them. 



