THOR’S WEDDING

“The heart in the breast | of Hlorrithi laughed

When the hard-souled one | his hammer beheld;

First Thrym, the king | of the giants, he killed,

Then all the folk | of the giants he felled.”

-       The Lay of Thrym, Bellows Translation

The Lay of Thrym is one of the most famous stories in Norse Mythology, and one that is much loved. It starts one morning, when Thor wakes up to find his hammer, Mjolnir, missing. The most likely for such mischief, was Loki. However, this time he wasn’t responsible. Enraged, Thor threatens Loki, who agrees to help. The pair enlist the goddess Freya to borrow her falcon cloak, which Loki uses to fly to Jotunheim, the land of the giants.

Loki discovers the giant Thrym has stolen Mjolnir and buried it in secret. Thrym says he will exchange the hammer to marry the beautiful Freya. Loki returns with the information, yet Freya refuses. A meeting of the gods is called to discuss the situation. Heimdall, the warden of Asgard, invents a plan where Thor dresses up as Freya to trick the giants. Everyone agrees, though Thor is reluctant to wear women’s clothes. Loki helps by shapeshifting into a handmaiden. Thor puts on a wedding dress, complete with Veil and jewlery. The pair then head of to Thrym’s hall for the wedding!

Thrym hosts a great wedding feast. First the mead horn is passed, and the giants notice that Freya drinks a lot. Loki says “Freya is thirsty for your love.” Then food comes and Freya eats three times as any man. Loki says, “Fear not mighty Thrym, she is hungry for your touch.” This excites Thrym, who leans in to kiss Freya, and sees a pair of fiery eyes behind the veil. Cleverly Loki says “Freya is so eager for the marriage bed that she has not slept for eight nights.” Equally eager Thrym calls for Mjolnir to place in the brides lap to bless the union. Thor picks up his hammer rips off the veil and kills every giant in the hall. Bringing an end to Thrym and the story of Thor’s Wedding!

This story has it all, a wedding, deception, cross-dressing, and violence! It’s no wonder it has been such a favorite of many different folk for centuries, perhaps even longer. When creating this painting I wanted to capture the last moment of the wedding feast: “Thor stands in a ripped wedding dress holding Mjolnir with a stack of dead giants piled behind him.”

The original fantasy painting was done in oil and measures 24" x 36".