Mýsingr- Norse FigureMortal"Sea-King"

The End of Fróði's Peace

King Fróði possessed the mill Grotti, which could grind out whatever was asked of it. He set two enslaved giantesses, Fenja and Menja, to work the mill, grinding gold and peace for his kingdom. The era that followed, Fróða friðr, was a golden age when no man harmed another and stolen goods lay unclaimed. But Fróði was cruel to the giantesses, granting them rest only for the span of a cuckoo's silence. Eventually they turned the mill against him.

Fenja and Menja ground out a hostile army. That very night, Mýsingr arrived with his fleet of warships. He raided Fróði's hall, killed the king, and took great plunder. Among his spoils he seized Grotti itself and the two giantesses.

The Salt-Grinding

Mýsingr set Fenja and Menja to work aboard his ships, commanding them to grind salt. The giantesses asked whether he had had enough, but Mýsingr demanded they continue. They obeyed with such furious strength that the mill ground beyond all measure. The weight of salt grew so great that Mýsingr's ships broke apart and sank beneath the waves.

Snorri records in the Skáldskaparmál that where the sea poured into the hole left by the mill's axle, a great whirlpool formed. Later tradition identified it with the Maelstrom off the Norwegian coast. The ocean, the story says, has been salt ever since.