Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

, Grimhild or Grímhildr ("masked battle") was a beautiful but evil sorceress who was married to king

Gjúki Gibica (also ''Gebicca'', ''Gifica'', ''Gjúki'', ''Gebicar'', ''Gibicho'' or ''Gippich'') was the King of the Burgundians in the late 4th century until his death in or around 407. He was the father of Gundomar I, Giselher and Gunther. He is ...

of Burgundy in the ''

Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...

'' where she is the mother of three sons,

Gunnar Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

, Hǫgni and

Guthormr Gundomar I (also Gundimar, Godomar, or Godemar) was eldest son and successor of Gebicca, King of the Burgundians. He succeeded his father in 406 or 407 and reigned until 411. He was succeeded by his brother Giselher. In the ''Nibelungenlied'', ...

, and a daughter,

Gudrun Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two qu ...

. Other, similar characters of that name also appear in '' Illuga saga Gríðarfóstr'' and in ''

Gríms saga loðinkinna ''Gríms saga loðinkinna'', or ''The Saga of Grim Shaggy-Cheek'' is one of the legendary sagas. It is from the 14th century and takes place in eighth-century Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nord ...

''.

''Völsunga saga''

In the ''

'', Queen Grimhild gave Sigurðr a magic potion that made him forget that he ever married his wife

Brynhildr Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda o ...

, so that he would marry

, her daughter, while Brynhildr would marry her son

. However, Brynhildr refused to marry Gunnar, as she would only marry a man who could cross the ring of flames she put up around herself. So Grímhildr talked Sigurðr into helping Gunnar marry Brynhildr. Since Sigurðr was the only one who could cross the flames, he and Gunnar switched bodies, so Gunnar's body could cross the flames. Brynhildr then married Gunnar, because she made a promise. When Brynhildr learned that Sigurðr had betrayed her with Gudrun, not knowing he had been bewitched into doing so by Grímhild, she was out to get revenge. She ended up killing Sigurð and herself by the end of the saga. Grímhildr then made Gudrun marry Brynhildr's brother Atli. Gudrun did not want to marry him because she knew he would end up killing her brothers. This is the last mention of Grímhild in the ''Völsunga saga''. It is probable that, in the original myth, the ring's curse also brought misfortune and even death upon Grímhild herself.

''Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra'' and ''Gríms saga loðinkinna''

The name of Grímhild was also given to another beautiful and evil sorceress who married king Áli of Alfheim (modern

Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North ...

) in '' Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra''. She had seven daughters who too became terrible witches, while King Áli had a daughter before he married Grímhild, named Signý. Signý had a daughter with a king she had married but he died in battle, so she returned home to her father, with her daughter. Grímhild poisoned the king to have a younger man, and then had ruled the kingdom in such an evil manner that it was laid waste. She then banned Signý and Hild, her daughter, from the kingdom and put a curse on them, that Signy would turn into a

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human ...

woman named Grid and they would have to live in a cave. Every man that came would fall in love with Hild, and then Signý/Grid would have to kill them, until one man is not afraid. In turn, Hildr put a counter-curse on Grímhild, that she would stand over a fire between her legs, burning her from below while her upper parts would freeze, and into this fire Grímhild would drop once their own curse was broken. Grímhild attempted to reason with Hild, as she would rather that neither of their curses hold, but to no avail as Hildr desired revenge. Eleven years and sixteen men later, a young Dane named Illugi broke Grímhild's curse by defeating and burning all of her daughters, thus also causing her to die in the fire at last. In ''

'', Grímhild was an evil princess who became the wife of Harald, the North Norwegian lord of the Oslofjjord, and put a curse on her stepdaughter Lofthaena to turn her into an ugly troll. Lofthaena was rescued by a man who loved her, the saga's hero Grím, who than had Grímhild punished by having a sack put over head and being stoned to death.

References

Bibliography

*Byock, Jesse L. ''The Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer.'' Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1990, {{ISBN, 978-0140447385 Burgundian queens consort Nibelung tradition Legendary Norsemen Witchcraft in folklore and mythology Fictional witches Völsung cycle