Gjálp and Greip

Overview

Gjálp appears first when Thor crosses the swelling river Vimur. He sees her astride the stream's upper course and understands that she is causing its rise. A thrown stone interrupts the threat, and he reaches the bank using Gríðr's borrowed staff and a shrub. Greip is not given the same river action, so the two sisters should not be assigned identical feats.

At Geirröðr's lodging, Thor sits on the only available seat and finds himself being raised toward the roof. He braces the borrowed staff against the rafters and forces himself downward. A crash and screams reveal the two giantesses beneath the seat, whose backs he breaks. The paired plot gives them dangerous agency within the household's ambush, while the surviving prose supplies little independent appearance or personal history for either sister.

Brodeur’s 1916 translation places the story in Skáldskaparmál XVIII, where Bragi answers Ægir’s question about Thor’s further exploits. Its prose locates Gjálp with one leg in each of two ravines across the river; Thor’s successful stone throw interrupts the spate, and his grasp of a rowan-clump produces a saying about the tree as his deliverance. The lodging is specifically a goat-fold in Brodeur’s preferred reading. His footnote records a manuscript alternative, guest-house, preferred by Anderson and other translators. This difference concerns the setting of the ambush, not a separate adventure.

The following translated Þórsdrápa is attributed to Eilífr Guðrúnarson and is printed in brackets, with Brodeur’s editorial note distinguishing such material. It gives Thjálfi a place in the difficult crossing, whereas the preceding prose has Loki holding Thor’s belt. Its account of the hall attack describes the backs and breast-bones of both women being broken under force against the roof. These verse particulars supplement the prose without making Greip the separately named river attacker or supplying either sister with an independent appearance, childhood or later return.

Origins & earliest records

The selected prose appears in Snorri's early-thirteenth-century Edda, together with quoted verse connected to the journey. Anderson's 1901 edition of his 1879 translation is the inspected English witness. Treating the sisters as a paired entry avoids inventing two full biographies from their short shared episode, while preserving Gjálp's separately attributed role at the river.

Records & interpretation

The named river threat and the concealed lifting of the seat are literary evidence for the giantesses' part in the ambush. The source gives actions and kinship rather than a detailed physical portrait. It does not substantiate real manipulation of a river, and absent features such as wings or additional heads should not be supplied as anatomy.

In the literature

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Younger Edda

   Snorri Sturluson; Rasmus B. Anderson, translator · 1901 selected edition; translation first published 1879

   Poetical Diction: Thor's Journey to Geirrod's, pp. 178–183. Selected inspected witness; bibliography is not exhaustive.

2. 02

   The Prose Edda: Skáldskaparmál XVIII, pp. 121–129

   Snorri Sturluson; Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, translator · 1916

   Complete prose and accompanying translated Þórsdrápa; goat-fold/guest-house manuscript alternatives distinguished in the p. 123 footnote. Editorial brackets retained as a qualification.

3. 03

   The Younger Edda — Poetical Diction, Thor’s Journey to Geirrod’s

   Snorri Sturluson (traditional attribution) · 1901

   Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1901 selected edition; translation copyright 1879 and preface September 1879 appear in the inspected text. Rasmus B. Anderson’s English translation of the medieval Prose Edda, traditionally associated with Snorri Sturluson. The edition preserves different spelling conventions and has its own chapter and numbered-section sequence.

Family, evolution & connections

Geirrodr’s daughters in Snorri

Thor’s Journey to Geirrod’s, Anderson translation, pp. 178–179.

Both women are explicitly identified as Geirrod’s daughters in the prose. The collective profile links from both named daughters; it is not a third child. No mother or additional descendants are supplied. Textual parentage only.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textAnderson's Younger Edda: Poetical Diction: Thor's Journey to Geirrod's, pp. 178–183Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary text in historical English translationBrodeur 1916: Geirröðr journey and ÞórsdrápaResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.