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 peri ...

, Þrívaldi (anglicized as Thrívaldi or Thrivaldi), whose name means "thrice mighty", is a

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods (Æsir and Vanir ...

killed by

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...

. This fact is mentioned by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

in the ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the '' Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...

'' (4), according to which "killer of Þrívaldi" (''"vegandi Þrívalda"'') is a ''

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

'' for Thor. Snorri quotes one stanza by

Bragi Boddason Bragi Boddason, known as Bragi the Old (Old Norse: ''Bragi hinn gamli'') was a Norwegian skald active in the first half of the 9th century, the earliest known skald from whom verses have survived. Portions of his '' Ragnarsdrápa'' are preserved ...

, who calls Thor "cleaver apart of Þrívaldi's nine heads"Anthony Faulkes, translation of: Snorri Sturluson. ''Edda''. London: Everyman, 1995. . (''"sundrkljúfr níu höfða Þrívalda"''), and another stanza by Vetrliði Sumarliðason who praises Thor for having battered (''"lemja"'') Þrívaldi. Þrívaldi is also listed in the þulur.

References

Jötnar Thor {{norse-myth-stub