LEGEND: THOR RECOVERS HIS HAMMER

The Þrymskvða, one of the most beloved poems of the Poetic Edda, tells how Thor lost his hammer Mjölnir and had to dress as a bride to get it back.

The giant Thrym stole the hammer while Thor slept and hid it eight leagues underground. Its ransom had a price: the hand of the goddess Freyja. The desperate gods hatched another plan: Thor would go to the land of the giants disguised as Freyja, with Loki as his maid, to attend the wedding and recover the weapon.

At the feast, the "bride" devoured a whole ox and drank three casks of mead, which unsettled Thrym; Loki calmed him saying Freyja had not eaten in eight days from pure wedding anxiety. When at last they placed Mjölnir on the bride's lap to consecrate the marriage, Thor seized his hammer and slew Thrym and every giant present. Not even the gods are safe from ridicule when the fate of the world is at stake.