behalf. But some occasions for these names arose in his wanderings; and that matter is recorded in tales. Nor canst thou ever be called a wise man if thou shalt not be able to tell of those great events."
XXI. Then said Gangleri: "What are the names of the other Æsir, or what is their office, or what deeds of renown have they done?" Hárr answered: "Thor is the foremost of them, he that is called Thor of the Æsir, or Öku-Thor; he is strongest of all the gods and men. He has his realm in the place called Thrúdvangar,[1] and his hall is called Bilskirnir;[2] in that hall are five hundred rooms and forty. That is the greatest house that men know of; it is thus said in Grímnismál:
- Five hundred floors
- and more than forty,
- So reckon I Bilskirnir with bending ways;
- Of those houses
- that I know of hall-roofed,
- My son's I know the most.
Thor has two he-goats, that are called Tooth-Gnasher and Tooth-Gritter, and a chariot wherein he drives, and the he-goats draw the chariot; therefore is he called Öku-Thor.[3] He has also three things of great price: one is the hammer Mjöllnir, which the Rime-Giants and the Hill-Giants know, when it is raised on high; and that is no wonder, it has bruised many a skull among their fathers or their kinsmen. He has a second costly thing, best of all: the
- ↑ Plains of strength.
- ↑ From the flashing of light (Cl.-Vig.).
- ↑ According to Cleasby-Vigfússon, a popular etymology. "Öku is not to be derived from áka (to drive), but is rather of Finnish origin, Ukko being the Thunder-god of the Chudic tribes." Jónsson, however, allows Snorri's etymology to stand.
