The eddic poems are, as is well known, only preserved in written form and can therefore only be studied via the written records. As Fidjestøl put it: “All poetry which is orally transmitted from the past can be known only in its written form after the process of oral transmission has ceased”1—even though oral transmission may continue again on the basis of written sources. Scholars have argued that it is possible to draw a distinction between the linguistic body of a poem/text and the literary or narrative content, since, of course, a young poem or saga can tell an older story, as Erik Noreen remarked in 1926.2 This article discusses the transmission of the myth of Þórr's recovery of his hammer, a story most famously known from Þrymskviða. The story matter of Þrymskviða has a rich transmission. It is possible to follow it from the thirteenth century in Codex Regius, Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, GKS 2365 4to, until Early Modern times. The only medieval copy of the poem is preserved in Codex Regius, and the poem does not seem to have been known by Snorri—even though it has been argued that Snorri may have composed the poem.3 From a later period, we have a cycle of rímur, Þrymlur, which are preserved in Staðarhólsbók (Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 604 g 4to), a collection of rímur dated to around the middle of the sixteenth century.4 We also have a Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ballad with the same mythic story matter.5 Instead of regarding the different versions as examples of oral transmission, the article suggests that they may be viewed as an Early Modern and perhaps learned reception of eddic poetry, prior to the rediscovery of Codex Regius.Only two medieval manuscripts containing collections of eddic poems have been preserved: the aforementioned Codex Regius, which was written around 1270, and its sister manuscript, the fragment Copenhagen, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 748 I a 4to, which was written around 1300. Neither of these collections of eddic poems is believed to be original. It has been argued by Gustaf Lindblad on paleographic and orthographic grounds that the poems of Codex Regius go back to smaller written collections of eddic poems, and that the written transmission of heroic poetry is longer than that of mythic poetry.6 When Snorri wrote his Edda around 1220, he probably had access to such booklets.7 Around 1300, single eddic poems were added to manuscripts containing Snorri's Edda: around 1300, Grottasöngr in Codex Regius of Snorri's Edda (Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, GKS 2367 4to), and around 1350, Rígsþula in Codex Wormianus (Copenhagen, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 242 fol). The scribe of Codex Wormianus also copied out Vǫluspá, which was, at an unknown point of time, incorporated into Hauksbók (Copenhagen, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 544 4to). Later, at the end of the fourteenth century, Hyndluljóð was incorporated in the Flateyjarbók compilation (Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, GKS 1005 fol.). In the medieval versions of Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda, more or less complete eddic poems were also sometimes included (Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka, Gautreks saga, Ǫrvar-Odds saga, etc.).The majority of eddic poems exist in only one medieval redaction. In some cases when two or more versions of a poem are available, as is the case with Vǫluspá, some scholars have argued that the different versions go back to the same written original, and do not represent varying oral traditions, even though this remains a matter of speculation.8 Accordingly, the differences between the preserved versions of Vǫluspá perhaps only inform us about different textual uses and may not provide any insight into an oral transmission of the poem. Apart from Vǫluspá, only a handful of mythic eddic poems exist in two medieval copies.9 But in these cases we only find minor differences between the copies, which do not reveal anything about oral transmission of the story matter, only about the work of scribes and writers.However, some material from eddic poems and/or Snorri's Edda was used and circulated in at least four rímur from the latter part of the Middle Ages. One of these is the aforementioned Þrymlur, which is based on Þrymskviða. It has recently been suggested that the rímur were composed some time between 1350 and 1450.10Þrymlur is preserved in one of the oldest manuscripts containing rímur, the Staðarhólsbók rímna (AM 604 g 4to), dated to around the middle of the sixteenth century. This is the only manuscript in which Þrymlur are preserved. Until some time after 1728, Þrymlur was also preserved in another manuscript, a fragment which was kept with AM 604 g 4to, but this manuscript may have been lost during the English bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807 and does not survive in any copies.11Despite many attempts, a precise dating of eddic poetry is virtually impossible given the fact that they were composed by anonymous poets. We know for certain that the eddic art predates the written sources and to some extent was transmitted orally before, along, and beside the manuscript transmission. The oldest datable evidence of an Icelandic poem in eddic meter dates to the second part of the twelfth century. This is the poem Merlínusspá by the monk Gunnlaugr Leifsson of Þingeyrar Abbey. The poem, which is preserved in Hauksbók (Copenhagen, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 544 4to), is a translation from Latin of a text by the English cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth, Prophetiae Merlini or Merlin's prophecies, also from the twelfth century. We also know that the eddic art and knowledge of it was not limited to Iceland: at Bryggen in Bergen, alliterative runic inscriptions of eddic types have been found.12 In Saxo's Gesta Danorum (ca. 1200) Latin stanzas are quoted which are believed to be based upon eddic poems even though Saxo transformed the eddic meter into classical meters, such as hexameter and Sapphic stanzas. In Sweden we also have the famous Rök-stone, dated to the ninth century, on which a stanza in fornyrðislag is preserved.13It has recently been suggested by Joseph Harris14 that Þrymskviða with its related ballad- and rímur-versions may form a gateway to the study of the oral transmission of mythic story matter. According to Harris, the differences between the Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish ballads about Þórr's recovery of his hammer display “genau solche Unterschiede, wie sie nach einer erheblichen oralen Transmission in einer Balladentradition zu erwarten sind” (exactly such differences which should be expected after a substantial oral transmission in a ballad tradition).15Before discussing the transmission and provenance of Þrymskviða, Þrymlur, and the ballads, we shall take a short look at their contents.Þrymskviða, which is only preserved in Codex Regius, GKS 2365 4to, f. 17r–18r,16 begins with Þórr awakening in anger because his hammer is stolen (1). He calls on Loki to inform him (2). They visit the beautiful Freyja to ask her to lend her feather garment (3). She agrees (4). Loki flies with feathers thundering to the land of giants (5). Here, the giant leader Þrymr sits on a mound, braiding a golden collar for his dogs and currying his horses (6). Þrymr asks how things are with Æsir and elves and why Loki has come; Loki asks him if he has hidden Þórr's hammer (7). He admits to having buried the hammer eight miles (“átta rǫstum”) under the face of the earth so that no one can retrieve it unless Þrymr gets Freyja in exchange as his bride (8). Loki flies to Ásgarðr and meets Þórr, who greets him (9–10). Loki tells him the news (11). They go to Freyja to ask her to go the giants’ land (12). She refuses (13). The gods assemble (14). Heimdallr suggests that they dress up Þórr as the marriageable Freyja (15–16). Þórr becomes angry and protests (17). Loki warns him that giants will soon inhabit Ásgarðr if he does not go along with the plan (18). They dress Þórr as a bride, and Loki is willing to follow him as his maid (19–20). Mountains break and the earth burns while they travel (21). Þrymr has prepared for Freyja's arrival (22–23). The bride eats an ox, eight salmon, and all the delicacies for the women, and drinks three barrels of mead (24). Þrymr is startled by her appetite (25). Loki says that Freyja has not eaten for eight nights because she has longed to go to the giants’ land (26). Þrymr lifts her veil to kiss her, but is scared and jumps back because her eyes are burning (27). Loki says that the burning gaze is due to eight sleepless nights caused by Freyja's great longing to come to the giants’ land (28). Þrymr's sister asks for a present (29). Þórr asks for his hammer in order to hallow the marriage (30). Þórr kills Þrymr first and then his entire family (31). The old sister gets a beating instead of being presented with rings. Thus Þórr got his hammer back.The rímur Þrymlur, sometimes called Óðins rímur, are, as mentioned, preserved in Staðarhólsbók rímna, f. 14r–15v. In 2020, Þrymlur appeared in a critical edition and translation by Lee Colwill and Haukur Þorgeirsson.17Þrymlur consist of three fitts of a total of 79 stanzas; the beginning is defective since a leaf of the manuscript is lost.18 The manuscript, which is now bound in eight volumes, a–h, was according to Björn Karel Þórólfsson originally one book and written in one hand,19 probably by Tómas Arason (born ca. 1530).20 According to Colwill and Haukur Þorgeirsson, the sources of the manuscript are unknown, but it may have been copied out from smaller collections of rímur.21 The vast majority of rímur are based on existing sagas or other narratives. It was not until some time after the year 1600 that we find stories in rímur which are invented by the rímur-poets themselves.22Þrymlur are considered mainly to be based on Þrymskviða, since there are direct verbal parallels between the two poems, but the poet also made use of Snorri's Edda. Þrymlur appear to have functioned as pure entertainment. Compared to Þrymskviða the descriptions of the characters are prolonged and at times more humorous. The rímur-poet downplays gender concerns in comparison to Þrymskviða, and tones up violence.23 According to Sverrir Tómasson and Vésteinn Ólason, in the rímur the narrative has been transformed from an eddic to a fornaldarsaga style.24 The following is a short description of the contents of Þrymlur: The first ríma of Þrymlur forms an introduction in which different gods and creatures (Heimdallr, Loki, the Fenris-wolf, Gleipnir, Sleipnir, Óðinn, Hel, Þórr and Mjöllnir, etc.) and their characteristics and attributes are presented in accordance with information given in Snorri's Edda. In the twelfth stanza, Þrymr is introduced stealing Mjöllnir (I: 12–13). As soon as the exposition of the story is accomplished, the narrative follows Þrymskviða rather closely.25 There are, however, also some differences: we are told at the beginning that Þrymr steals the hammer while Þórr is asleep (I: 13), information which is not given in Þrymskviða, even though the hammer is missing when Þórr wakes up. When Freyja is asked for her feather garment and hears about the hammer, she begins to weep (I: 16). Þórr tells Freyja that Loki will fly like a swan (I: 18) to the home of giants. At his arrival, Þrymr is situated on a mound (I: 21) and from here Þrymr claims that he has buried the hammer “nyv feta nidur j jord” (nine feet below the face of the earth) (I: 26) and that Þórr will not get it back until Þrymr has received Freyja as his bride (I: 25), as in Þrymskviða. When back among the gods, Loki passes on this information to Þórr. In the second ríma, Þórr asks Freyja if she will marry Þrymr (II: 2–3). Her refusal (II: 4) keeps Þórr awake during the night (II: 5), and, contrary to Þrymskviða, already at this point he is so angry that “elldar þottu ur augum brena” (II: 6) (fire seemed to burn from the eyes). As in Þrymskviða, Heimdallr (in the rímur called “Heimdæll”) suggests at an assembly that Þórr be dressed up as the marriageable Freyja (II: 8–9) and decorated with jewelry (II: 9, “breida steina”). Loki is also dressed up in female garments (II: 10). On Þórr's and Loki's way to Þrymr, they are followed by a multitude of animals, not to mention “troll ok alfar / tofra menn og uolwor sialfar” (II: 14–15) (trolls and elves / magicians and prophetesses themselves). At their arrival in Jötunheimar, the giants ask why Þórr has not joined them (II: 17). The second ríma ends with the giants pondering why Freyja appears so fierce (II: 22). In the third ríma, Loki (Loftur) explains that Freyja has not slept for eighteen days (III: 1–2), “so uar hon hingad freyia fus” (III: 2) (so eager was Freyja to come here). She is bigger than most women, rather fat and hairy (III: 3). When tables have been set, the group of ugly giants is identified by names otherwise known from þulur (III: 6–7). When food is on the table they fight “med bysnnum” (III: 9) (excessively)—blood being spilt, bones thrown and fists raised (III: 9). The bride eats an ox and twelve salmon without ever leaving the bones on the floor (i.e., he eats them as well) (III: 10). The giants wonder how this can be, and Loki answers that she has neither eaten nor drunk for fourteen nights (III: 13). A three-headed giant now enters with a huge drinking horn, but the bride empties it in one gulp (III: 15–16). Þrymr's old mother Syrpa enters: “knytt er hon ok bomlud oll. / hafdi hon uetur um hundrat þren. / hverge uar hun þo bognud enn” (III: 19) (she is all gnarled and knotted / she was 301 years old / but she was not bent over yet). She fetches the hammer in the lowest part of the earth (III: 20). A hundred men cannot carry the hammer, but old Syrpa is able to carry it alone (III: 21). Þórr is happy when the hammer arrives (III: 22), and he smashes the tables with the result that bread and wine is scattered all over, and the giants are scared (III: 23). He kills twelve trolls and a giantess, Besla, and teeth are thrown across the floor (III: 24). Thus, the rímur say, Þrymr was tricked, and his head chopped off (III: 26).According to Björn Karel Þórólfsson, rímur is a literate genre. They have been written for as long as we have any knowledge of them, which is one of the reasons that they are so well preserved.26 When rímur exist in more than one copy, they often share innovations, demonstrating that the manuscripts derive from the same book which was not the original (“frumrit”).27 Because of the use of both Þrymskviða and Snorri's Edda and the direct verbal parallels, Þrymlur may appear originally to have been a product of writing, a written composition (e.g. “þvi eru endott augu freyiu,” II: 22, compared to “Hví ero öndótt augu Freyio,” Þrk 27 [why are Freyja's eyes fiery]; “so uar hon hingad freyia fus,” III: 2, compared to “svá var hon óðfús í iötunheima,” Þrk 28 [she was that madly eager to go to the realm of giants]).28 According to Colwill and Haukur Þorgeirsson, the poet of Þrymlur with its careful presentation of mythological material “seems to target an audience on the edge of forgetting”; that is, an audience that was “probably not completely familiar with the mythological material.”29 The original rímna-poet appears to have had access to Þrymskviða in written form, directly or indirectly. Due to his mining of Snorri's Edda for information, it is more difficult to imagine a less literate poet who knew Þrymskviða by heart. But in the preserved text of Þrymlur there are so many mistakes and inconsistencies that this copy cannot, according to Jón Helgason, go back to the manuscript of the poet himself (“digterens manuskript”); the existing copy must instead have been written on the basis of an oral transmission.30 Jón Helgason did not suggest that the composition of the poem on the basis of Snorri's Edda and Þrymskviða was originally oral—only its existing transmission. Colwill and Haukur Þorgeirsson also note that the “preserved text of Þrymlur has characteristics indicative of oral transmission.”31 But the scribe of Staðarhólsbók probably did not “write down Þrymlur directly from oral recitation or his own memory, as the text has many errors characteristic of scribal transmission.”32Þrymlur, as they are preserved in Staðarhólsbók, are thus an example of the coexistence of oral and written culture.Staðarhólsbók was probably written in the Westfjords,33 as was probably also the lost manuscript of Þrymlur.34 At some point in time, Staðarhólsbók came to Staðarhóll (hence the name) in Dalasýsla in western Iceland, where Árni Magnússon acquired it in 1707.35 Codex Regius, the only known medieval manuscript containing Þrymskviða, is believed to be written at Þingeyrar abbey in northern Iceland, where it is also believed to have been stored until some time before it came into the hands of Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson in 1643.36 From Þrymlur, it seems evident that there was an interest in eddic matter in the northwestern part of Iceland at the end of the Middle Ages, around the middle of the sixteenth century, when the poem was written in Staðarhólsbók. If the dating of the poem is correct, this interest was already evident in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, indicating that the creative reception of the mythological material in Snorri's Edda and the eddic poems was an incessant process. Þrymlur may be taken as indirect evidence that Codex Regius, or a manuscript related to it, was known at that time, even though we have no direct record of the surviving codex until it resurfaces in Skálholt almost a century later, at the time of Brynjólfur Sveinsson in 1643.Ballads of Þórr's recovery of his hammer are preserved completely in twenty-three stanzas in Danish from the sixteenth century (Tord af Havsgaard), in Faroese in a small fragment consisting of two stanzas from the nineteenth century, in Norwegian in a fragment consisting of the first seventeen stanzas from around 1750 (Thorekal), and complete in Swedish through sixteen stanzas from the seventeenth century (Torckar).37The Danish ballad was printed in the first edition of Danish ballads, in Anders Sørensen Vedel's Hundredevisebog in 1591.38 It is preserved in two manuscripts from the latter part of the sixteenth century, Svaning's manuscript I (Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, NKS 815 b 4to) and Rentzell's manuscript (Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 2397 4to); Vedel based his edition on both. A younger version of the ballad was recorded in Ringkøbing in Jutland in the latter part of the nineteenth century, which despite differences appears to be related to the oldest version. Svaning's and Rentzell's manuscripts both preserve the same version of the ballad; the differences between the two texts of the manuscripts are found mainly in the rendering of the names. The contents of the Danish ballad may be described as follows, according to Svaning's manuscript. Tord af Haffsgaard loses his gold hammer while out riding (1). His brother Locke39 flies in a feather garment to Nørre-field40 (2–3), where he meets the “thosse-greffue” (i.e., “the count of the trolls”) (4), who asks how things are in Haffsgaard (5). Things are well, Locke replies, apart from the fact that Tord has lost his hammer (6). He will not get it back, the thosse-greffue replies, because it is fifteen fathoms and forty under the face of the earth (7), unless he receives Frederichs borgh41 as a bride (8). Locke flies back (9), stops at the middle of the farm (10), and tells Tord what the thosse-greffue has said (11). The proud virgin declares that she wishes to marry a Christian rather than a foul troll (12). They reply that instead of her, they will take their old father, brush his hair, and send him off to Nørrefjeld (13). They follow the bride to the farm (14), where she is placed on the bridal bench (15). When the thosse-greffue serves her food and drink, the bride eats one ox, thirty pieces of pig, and seven loaves of bread and drinks twelve barrels of beer (16–18). The thosse-greffue wonders who the bride is since she is capable of eating so much (18), but Locke replies that it is because she has yearned greatly for seven42 days (19). Then eight giants carry the hammer into the hall and place it in the lap of the bride (20), who takes it (21) and kills the thosse-greffue and the other small trolls (22). The father is now a widow, so they return home again (23).The plot of Tord af Havsgaard is the same as in Þrymskviða, although details in the eddic version are absent and numbers are exaggerated, a tendency which can also be observed in Þrymlur. Due to the different languages it is difficult to search for verbal parallels; nevertheless, we do at times encounter parallels (DgF 1, 4: “Midt udi den gaard” [in the middle of that yard]; Þrk 9: “miðra garða” [in the middle of the yard]), while there are also some substantial differences: Þórr does not wake up to find his hammer stolen, instead he loses it while out riding. He and Loki are said to be brothers, but most significanly they decide to dress up their old father for him to marry the thosse-greffue. The refrain in Svaning‘s manuscript, “Saa vinder hand Suerrigh” (thus he wins Sweden), does not conform well with the content of the ballad, while the refrain in Rentzell‘s manuscript, “saa vinder mand suerchen” (thus the woman is won), appears to be an ironic comment on the thosse-greffue's failed attempt to win Freyja.It has been argued that sverke in Svaning's manuscript is a loan from Norwegian which has led to the assumption that the Danish ballad is based upon a Norwegian source. But it may just as well be a loan from Icelandic; in Old Icelandic, svarkr denounces a proud and haughty woman. This would be consonant with other elements in the ballad which point to a possible Icelandic source underlying the ballad, a point to which I shall return below.The Norwegian ballad Torekall exists in three versions. In Peder Syv's (1631–1702) 200 Viser om Konger, Kemper oc Andre which appeared in 1695, the first stanza of a “Tore Kals Vise” is quoted, presented as a “Nordsk Vise bestaaende af 20 Sangvers tilsammen” (Norwegian ballad consisting of a total of twenty stanzas) and considered to be very similar to the Danish ballad.43 Unfortunately, Peder Syv only quoted the first stanza. Fifteen stanzas of probably another version have been preserved in a transcription dated to around 1750, termed the A-version in the edition Norsk folkedigtning (1967).44 The B-version, twenty-one stanzas, was transcribed in Telemark in the 1840s. The youngest version, the C-version, consists of twenty-two stanzas, which were transcribed in 1913; the stanza in Peder Syv's Viser om Konger, Kemper oc Andre belongs to the C-version.The A- version is preserved in a small manuscript (NFS M. Moe 65 nr. 1, 1–3) which in the nineteenth century was given to the folklorist Moltke Moe (1859–1913) while he was a student.45 Bugge and Moe dated the transcription to ca. 1750 perhaps in Hallingdal, but the place is uncertain. The ballad is incomplete and relates that an unknown thief has stolen Thorekal's hammer when he comes home from the forest (1). Laakien puts his wings on and flies to Gremmeli-gaal, where Gremmil stands by the fire (2). He asks how things are in Aasgaalen (3). There is only bad news, Laakien replies, since Thorekal has lost his hammer and does not know who is responsible (4). The giant Grimme (a variant form of Gremmil) answers that he has taken the hammer and hidden it (5); in return for it he wants Thorekal's youngest sister (6). Laakien puts his wings back on and flies back (7) and tells Thorekal that Grimmen (another variant form of Gremmil) has buried his hammer “Otte Alen og Nide Favne” (eight alns and nine fathoms) in the ground (8). His sister Vellebore becomes extremely angry at hearing the news (9), so instead they take her brother Thorekal, brush his hair, and dress him as a bride (10). In Gremmeli-gaal, “Valborrig” (i.e., Thorekal) eats an ox, two pounds of meat soup, all the loaves of bread, five salmons, and some smaller fishes (12–13), before asking for a drinking horn (14). The ballad ends abruptly with the giant Grimme wondering about the enormous appetite of the bride (15).We notice in this version that the names appear in a radically different form (Gremmil/Grimme, Vellebore/Valborrig), both when compared to Tord af Havsgaard and Þrymskviða. Laakien and Thorekal for Loki and Þórr, that is, “Þórr karl,” are, however, still immediately recognizable. There are parallels shared by the Danish and the Norwegian versions which are not found in Þrymskviða: bread is served at the wedding table in both versions and the troll wishes to marry Þórr's sister. Between both ballad versions and Þrymskviða, there are parallels: Loki wears a feather garment and flies to the troll, who asks how things are in Ásgarðr; the woman refuses to marry the giant and the bride has an unexpectedly huge appetite. Finally, there are parallels between Þrymskviða and Torekall which are not found in the Danish ballad: The hammer is buried eight miles or cubits below the face of the earth (Torekall adds nine fathoms afterwards, which is also the number given in Þrymlur); the anger of the woman is described; in the Danish version she only replies that she prefers to marry a Christian. Finally Þórr/Torekall, not his father as in the Danish version, is dressed up as the bride.The Swedish ballad Torckar was collected in Västergötland and is preserved in a manuscript from around 1670 (KB Vs 20).46 The contents of that ballad may be described as follows: The troll, Trolletram, has stolen the hammer from Tårckar (1). Tårckar tells Locke Loye to fly off to search for it (2). Locke has gold wings made for him and flies to Trolletram's farm; when he arrives, Trolletram is forging (3). Locke asks whether he has taken Tårckar's hammer (4). Trolletram replies that he has hidden the hammer fifteen fathoms and forty under the face of the earth (5), and that he wants the virgin Floyenborg in exchange for the hammer (6). Trolletram's demand is repeated by Locke (7). Floyenborg gets so upset at hearing this that blood sprinkles from her fingers to the ground (8). Torckar offers his sister to dress up as a bride instead of her (9). Dressed as a bride, he leaves for Trolletram's farm (10). The bride asks for a huge drinking horn instead of the small ones (11), which makes Trolltram wonder (12). Locke Loye replies that she has not eaten anything for fourteen days due to her longing to go there (13). Trolletram is relieved, and the hammer is fetched (14). Fifteen small trolls carry in the hammer, but the bride takes it with just one hand (15), and as soon as he has the hammer within his reach, he stands up and kills fifteen trolls and forty (i.e., 55) (16).According to Bugge and Moe,47 the Swedish version is a contaminated version of two versions: a ballad which arrived from Denmark to Sweden and a ballad which came from Norway to Sweden. The Swedish and the Danish ballads appear more related to each other than to the Norwegian ballad: There is a direct verbal parallel in the “femton famnar och fyratio” (fifteen fathoms and forty), the names of Loki and Freyja are almost identical (Fredensborg and Floyenborg are both clearly derived from the name Freyja). Loki is called Locke in the Danish version, while Locke Loye in the Swedish. His patronym in the Swedish version is reminiscent of his matronym “Laufeyjarson,” which is preserved in Snorri's Edda. But there are also parallels between the Swedish and the Norwegian ballad which are not found in the Danish: that is, the anger of Floyenborg. Freyja's fasting for fourteen nights is a parallel to Þrymlur (“Fastad hefur hon fiortan nætur,” III: 13). Finally, it must be noted that there seem to be missing stanzas in the Swedish ballad, as is obvious when Locke replies to a question about the thirst of Floyenborg that she has not eaten for many days.48 Of the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish versions, the Danish preserves the most complete narrative.Between the ballads and Þrymlur there are certain parallels which have been identified by Bugge and Moe.49 In the present context, it must suffice to give a few of their examples. In Þrymlur, bread was introduced at the wedding table (which is also found in the Norwegian and the Danish ballad). In Þrymlur, the bride is said to have fasted for fourteen days, which is also the number given in the Swedish version (but not in the Danish). In Þrymlur, it is said that Loki flies away (I: 17), as in the Danish and Swedish version (st. 2). In Þrymlur, Loki is sent out to search for the hammer (I: 16), as in the Swedish (st. 2).50 The troll's welcoming of Loki in Þrymlur is reminiscent of the Danish version: “lodur kom þu hingat heill” (Lodur, welcome here) (I: 22) / “Du ver velkommen, lidell Locke” (Be welcome here, little Locke) (5), and the placing of the bride on the bench in the Danish ballad: “Saa toge di den unge brud, satte hinde i brude-benck” (Then they took the young bride, placed her on a bride's bench) (15) / “Sidan settizt brudr áá beck” (Then the bride sat down on a bench) (III: 3). Bugge and Moe further argue that the “thosse-greffue” (the count of the trolls) in the Danish ballad is a parallel to “þussa gramrinn” (the count of the trolls) in Þrymlur (II: 19). At one point, where the Swedish version is closer to Þrymlur (“Hoon haar ey ätet i fiortan dagar”; she has not eaten for fourteen days), the Danish version in Rentzell's manuscript is closer to Þrymskviða (“ÿ VIII dage haffuer hund iche edit” [for eight days she has eaten nothing], 19; “át vætr Freyja / átta nóttum,” [for eight days, Freyja ate nothing], Þrymskviða 26).51 Furthermore, the hammer is placed in the bride's lap in both the Danish ballad and Þrymskviða (“lagde hannem offuer brudens been,” [placed him over the legs of the bride], 20; “leg