Gjalp- Norse GiantGiant
Also known as: Gjálp
Description
She straddled the river Vímur to drown Thor in its rising torrent, then hid beneath his chair in her father's hall to crush him against the rafters. Each time, the thunder god turned her own ambush against her.
Mythology & Lore
Thor at the Vímur
Gjálp appears in the myth of Thor's journey to her father Geiröðr's hall, told in the Skáldskaparmál and Eilífr Goðrúnarson's Þórsdrápa. Thor had been tricked by Loki into traveling without Mjölnir, armed only with the staff, belt, and iron gloves lent to him by the giantess Gríðr.
At the river Vímur, the water rose around Thor as he waded across, threatening to sweep him under. He looked upstream and saw Gjálp straddling the river, her body swelling the torrent. Thor hurled a boulder at her and said a river must be dammed at its source. She fell back, and he hauled himself onto the far bank by gripping a rowan bush.
Inside Geiröðr's hall, Thor sat in a chair that lurched upward. Gjálp and her sister Greip crouched beneath it, lifting it toward the rafters to crush him against the ceiling. Thor braced Gríðr's staff against the roof beam and pushed down. Their backs broke under the weight.