- Harthgrepa
Harthgrepa or Harðgreip in
Old Norse [Harðgreip is listed as a giantess in one of the "thulur" sometimes included in editions ofSnorri Sturluson 's "Skáldskaparmál ".] (« Hard-grip ») is a giantess who appears in the legend of the Norse heroHadingus , which is reported bySaxo Grammaticus in his "Gesta Danorum ".Nursemaid, lover and companion of Hadingus
After killing king Gram, the king of Norway Suibdagerus occupied Denmark and Gram's two sons, Guthormus and
Hadingus , had to flee. They were brought up by the giantsWagnhoftus and Haphlius.When Hadingus was adolescent, fighting was all he ever thought about. Harthgrepa, Wagnhoftus's daughter, tried to make him discover love and made repeated attempts to seduce him. Finally, she sang him a song ending by:
Hadingus put forward that the big size of the giantess hindered this project. Harthgrepa replied that she had the ability to change size at will: "I become huge to fright the fierce, but small to lie with men" ("ibid."). She then became Hadingus' lover.
When Hadingus decided to go back to his country, she came with him, dressed like a man. They spent one night in a house whose host had just died. Harthgrepa practised magic, making Hadingus put a wood stick carved with spells under the corpse's tongue, thus compelling him to speak. He cursed them and predicted their future, especially Harthgrepa's death.
Another night, while they were sleeping in a wood, a huge hand entered their shelter. Harthgrepa then got bigger and, holding firmly the hand, pulled it so that Hadingus could chop it off.
A short time after, she was killed, torn apart by giants.
Interpretations
Georges Dumézil's interpretation
In "The Saga of Hadingus",
Georges Dumézil tries to demonstrate that the legend of Hadingus shows many similarities with myths concerning the godNjord , and more generally that Hadingus shares many features with theVanir . Some of his arguments have to do with Hadingus' relationship with Harthgrepa.Before their integration into the
Æsir , theVanir used to have incestuous relationships (Freyr andFreyja are for instanceNjörd and his sister's children). Hadingus' relationship with Harthgrepa is a quasi-incestuous one, all the more so that Harthgrepa insists on the fact that she was like a mother to him.Dumézil also draws a parallel between Hadingus / Harthgrepa relationship and the one between
Freyr /Gunnar helming and Freyr’s priestess as related in "Ögmundar þáttr dytts ".He also reminds that the Vanir used to practise this kind of magic known as
seid . Even if Harthgrepa's magic (compelling a dead man to speak) does not come within the seid practices, both are described as shameful and liable to a punishment. In this respect, Harthgrepa's death can be compared to the Æsir's attempts to killGullveig [Saxo Grammaticus does not give the reason for Harthgrepa's death. Dumézil explanation is only one among others.Axel Olrik ("Kilderne tit Sakses Oldhistorie", 2, 1894) for instance argued that she was killed by creatures of her own race for having betrayed them, since she had sided with a human.] .Notes
ources
Primary source
*
Saxo Grammaticus . "The History of the Danes : Books I-IX". Edited by Hilda Ellis Davidson. Translated by Peter Fisher. Woodbridge : D.S. Brewer, 2006. ISBN 0-85991-502-6.econdary source
* Dumézil, Georges. "From Myth to Fiction : The Saga of Hadingus". Translated by Derek Coltman. Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 1973. ISBN 0-226-16972-3.
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