Thor kills and eats the goats that draw his chariot, then restores them with Mjölnir after a meal at a poor farm. One goat rises lame because Þjálfi broke a leg bone for marrow, so he and Röskva enter Thor’s service.

Thor’s Goats and the Broken Bone

Thor drew his knife and killed both goats that pulled his chariot. He and Loki had reached a farm where Þjálfi and his sister Röskva lived with their parents. The family had little food after a hard winter. They offered vegetables or gruel, but no meat. Thor provided that himself. He skinned the goats and laid the skins beside the fire. He told the household to throw the bones onto the skins and warned them not to break or chew them. The goats would live again when Thor hallowed the skins with his hammer.

Loki ate quickly, while the others ate more slowly. When Thor left the table, Þjálfi took his knife and split one goat’s leg bone to reach the marrow. He placed the broken bone among the others and covered it with unbroken bones. Nobody saw what he had done. Thor and Loki slept at the farm that night.

Before daybreak, Thor covered the bones with the goatskins. He lifted Mjolnir and hallowed the skins with the hammer. The goats rose, but one limped on a hind leg. Thor saw that its thigh bone had been broken. He blamed the farmer or someone in the household for failing to treat the bones properly. He seized the handle of his hammer and threatened to destroy the farm. The farmer became terrified, and his wife began to weep.

Þjálfi confessed that he had broken the bone. He said that his parents had not known what he had done and asked Thor to punish him instead. He offered to become Thor’s bondservant. Röskva said that Þjálfi would not leave without her. Thor accepted them both. He told Röskva to remain for the time being and tend the injured goat, named Grinder in one account, until he returned. Þjálfi left in Thor’s service, and Röskva entered the same service. The goat remained lame because of the broken bone.

Thor’s Duel with Hrungnir

Odin rode Sleipnir into Jotunheim while Thor was away crushing trolls. He met the stone giant Hrungnir, who boasted that his horse Gullfaxi was better than Sleipnir. Odin rode back towards Asgard, and Hrungnir followed him in anger. The gods admitted Hrungnir to their hall and gave him drink in the bowls Thor used. Hrungnir emptied them and became drunk. He boasted that he would take Valhalla to Jotunheim, destroy Asgard, and kill the gods. He said that he would spare Freyja and Sif and take them home. When his threats became too bold, the gods called for Thor.

Thor arrived ready to crush the giant. Hrungnir said that killing an unarmed enemy would bring Thor little credit. He challenged Thor to a duel at the frontier of his territory, at Grjottungard. Thor accepted. Hrungnir returned to Jotunheim, where the giants prepared for the meeting. They built a clay champion called Mokkrkalfi, nine rasts high and three rasts broad between the shoulders. He had a mare’s heart and stood beside Hrungnir. Another account says that he was so frightened when Thor appeared that he wet himself.

Hrungnir carried a broad stone shield and held a flint stone in both hands. Þjálfi went ahead of Thor and told the giant that Thor would burrow through the earth and attack from below. Hrungnir believed him. He placed his shield under his feet and gripped the flint stone as Thor approached in flashes of lightning and loud crashes. Thor threw his hammer as Hrungnir cast the whetstone. The weapons struck each other. The whetstone shattered, and one fragment struck Thor in the temple and remained lodged in his head. The hammer struck Hrungnir between the eyes and broke his stone skull. Hrungnir fell dead. Þjálfi then dealt with the clay champion.

Thor’s Journey to Geirröðr

Loki flew in Freyja’s falcon guise and perched by a window in Geirröðr’s hall. A servant captured him after Geirröðr noticed that the bird’s eyes were not those of a true falcon. Loki secured his release by promising to bring Thor to the giant’s hall without his hammer, belt of strength, or steel gloves. He fulfilled the promise and travelled with Thor towards Geirröðr’s dwelling.

On the way, Thor visited the giantess Gríðr, the mother of Víðarr the Silent. She warned him that Geirröðr was dangerous and difficult to deal with. Gríðr lent Thor her belt of strength, her iron gloves, and her staff, called Gridarvolr. Thor then reached the Vimur, the greatest of rivers. He fastened on the belt and used the staff to steady himself against the torrent. Loki held fast to the belt as Thor waded into the stream.

The river rose until its waves reached Thor’s shoulders. He declared that it must not grow while he was crossing to the giants’ dwelling. Looking upwards, he saw Gjalp, Geirröðr’s daughter, standing in a cleft and causing the flood to rise. Thor lifted a great stone from the river and threw it at her, saying that the stream must be stopped at its source. He crossed the Vimur and defeated Geirröðr’s daughters.

Geirröðr then invited Thor into the hall for games. Fires burned along its length. Geirröðr seized a pair of tongs, took up a red-hot iron wedge, and threw it at Thor. Thor caught the wedge in Gríðr’s iron gloves and raised it into the air. Geirröðr sprang behind an iron post, but Thor hurled the wedge with such force that it passed through the post, struck Geirröðr, pierced the wall, and entered the ground.