Thokk
Thökk ( Old Norse Þǫkk "thanks, reward, joy") is a giantess (gýgr) in Norse mythology who prevents the god Balder from returning from the Hel's realm of the dead .
It is only mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda . It says that the late Balder von Hel will be given permission to return to the world of the living in case all living beings mourn his death. But Thökk, sitting in a cave, refuses to cry because she has no use from either the living or the dead Balder. So Balder has to stay in the underworld. The gods believe that the giantess was none other than Loki in any other form and are so angry with him that they decide to punish him harshly, which ultimately ushers in the Ragnarök .
Rudolf Simek explains why the giantess called herself “joy” because she had nothing to cry about.
literature
- Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X .
Individual evidence
- ^ Gerhard Köbler: Old Norse Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2003, p. 507. Online on June 10, 2012 (PDF; 133 kB)
- ^ Snorri Sturluson: Prose-Edda, Gylfaginning. Chapter 49 (citation of the prose Edda after Arnulf Krause: Die Edda des Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-15-000782-2 )
- ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 414.