Hyndla- Norse GiantGiant
Description
A giantess seeress who rides a wolf from her cave. Freyja drags her into reciting the genealogies of gods and heroes, and Hyndla obliges, then curses the goddess for her deception.
Mythology & Lore
The Ride to Valhalla
Hyndla appears in the Eddic poem Hyndluljóð. Freyja arrives at the giantess's cave riding her boar Hildisvíni and asks Hyndla to ride with her to Valhalla. The reason: Freyja's protégé Óttar has wagered his inheritance against a rival named Angantýr and must prove his noble lineage to win.
Hyndla is hostile. She does not want to go. Freyja flatters her, then threatens her, until the giantess mounts her wolf and rides out.
The Reckoning
Once moving, Hyndla recites Óttar's ancestry: the Ynglings and the Völsungs, divine lineages and the births of monsters. Embedded in her recitation is the Völuspá in skamma, a short prophecy of the twilight of the gods.
But Hyndla is no willing servant. She sees through the shape of Hildisvíni and recognizes Óttar hiding beneath the boar's form. She accuses Freyja of bringing her lover on false pretenses and mocks the goddess, calling her a she-goat among the gods.
When the recitation ends, Hyndla curses Óttar. Freyja counters the curse and demands a minnisöl, a memory-beer, so that Óttar will remember every word of his lineage for the dispute. Hyndla gives it, still hurling insults.
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