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Hrimthur was a Jötunn and the son of Thamur.

Norse Mythology[]

In the mythology, Hrimthur was the unnamed builder who offered to build a fortification for the Æsir gods that would keep out invaders in exchange for Freyja, the sun, and the moon. After some debate, the gods agreed to this but placed a number of restrictions on the builder, including that he complete the work within one season. The builder made a single request: that he could have help from his stallion Svaðilfari, and under Loki's influence, this was allowed. The stallion Svaðilfari performed twice the builder's deeds of strength and hauled enormous rocks, to the surprise of the gods. The builder, with Svaðilfari, made fast progress on the wall, and three days before the deadline of summer, the builder was nearly at the entrance to the fortification. The gods convene and unanimously agreed that, along with most trouble, Loki was to blame.

The gods declared that Loki would face severe repercussions if he did not come up with a scheme that would cause the builder to forfeit his payment. Loki, afraid, swore that he would devise a scheme to force the builder into a corner, whatever it would cost himself. That night, the builder drove out to fetch stones with Svaðilfari, and out from the woods, into the clearing, ran a beautiful mare who was, in fact, Loki in disguise. The mare approached and neighed at Svaðilfari; the stallion “realises what kind of horse it was” and became frantic, neighed, tore apart his tack, and ran towards the mare. The mare suddenly turned and ran into the woods in a fast gallop, away from the stallion. Svaðilfari began to follow, and the builder chased after. The two horses ran around all night, causing the building work to be held up for the night. Seeing that the wall would not be finished in time, the builder went into a rage (Old Norse: jötunmóð), revealing he was a bergrisi.

When the Æsir realized that the builder was a jötunn, they disregarded their previous oaths with the builder and called for Thor who quickly arrived and killed the builder with Mjöllnir. Due to his night with Svaðilfari, Loki became pregnant and later gave birth to a grey foal with eight legs - the famed horse Sleipnir.

Biography[]

Hrimthur possessed excellent masonry skills courtesy of his father, Thamur, who was renowned as the greatest stonemason in the world. To his father's dismay, Hrimthur had the heart of a warrior and refused to assist his father in building the walls around Jötunheim. A quarrel between father and son spiraled out of control and Thamur struck his son, causing Hrimthur to run away.

Thamur was killed by Thor while attempting to locate his son. After his father's death, Hrimthur returned to Jötunheim to work on the Great Walls of Jötunheim.

Hrimthur ultimately completed his father's work, the Great Walls of Jötunheim. He then desired vengeance against the Aesir for their crimes against the Giants. He initially wanted to fight Thor but the tragedy that befell his father taught him otherwise. Hrimthur observed that Asgard's walls were "half-built and shoddy" and so he adopted the guise of an ordinary mortal and made the Aesir an offer: he would build them majestic new walls, and if he couldn't build them within two years, they would owe him nothing. But if he succeeded, he asked only for an audience with the goddess Freya.

Odin agreed, believing the task to be impossible and out of curiosity towards the stranger. With the lessons taught by his father and the help of a magical stallion that he used fetching stones, Hrimthur completed the task, much to Odin's frustration. Odin seemingly agreed to uphold his end of the bargain and sent Freya to speak with Hrimthur. Hrimthur whispered something into the goddess's ear and headed for the entrance to Asgard, where Thor waited for him.

It was then that Hrimthur realized he had been double-crossed, as Odin realized who he really was and would be slain by Thor like his father and most of his kind had. But he did not care, for his plan was complete. Mimir suspects that Hrimthur had embedded some weakness into the Aesir's walls and passed this knowledge onto Freya, who had little affection for the Aesir, in preparation for their downfall at Ragnarök for Surtr to arrive and burn Asgard to ash.

During a boat ride in Svartalfheim with Kratos, Mimir, and Freya, Mimir finally asks Freya what Hrimthur told her all those years before. Freya begins recounting the story, confirming that he embedded a structural flaw behind the Asgard Realm Tower. Mimir is elated to realize his suspicions were correct, however his hopes are dashed when Freya said they could not make use of it. Hrimthur told her that Surtr would know what to do; Kratos and Freya conclude that he simply made it easier for Surtr to enter Asgard in Ragnarök, with Mimir mourning the possibility of trying to find another way to infiltrate the realm without using Ragnarök.

During Ragnarök, however, the dwarf Sindri uses a special contraption to blast open the flaw in Asgard's walls, allowing the armies of Kratos to enter and to attack Asgard, and finally completing Hrimthur's plan.

Shrine Story[]

Atreus: Mimir, you never told me what happened to the stonemason's son.

Mimir: Hrimthur, son of Thamur? After completing his father's masterwork, the Great Wall of Jötunheim, he thought of nothing but making the Aesir pay for their crimes against the Giants. Once he longed to fight Thor, but tragedy had brought wisdom to Hrimthur -- and cunning. He observed that Asgard's walls were half-built and shoddy, for no Aesir god could be bothered with such tiresome labor. So Hrimthur adopted the guise of an ordinary man, and made the Aesir an offer -- he would build them majestic new walls, and if he couldn't build them within two turns of the season, they would owe him nothing for his labors. And if he succeeded, he asked only for an audience with the goddess Freya. Odin agreed, knowing the task was impossible, but intrigued by the stranger. Hrimthur made short work of it, of course -- he had the benefit of his father's training, and the aid of a magical stallion for fetching stones. Odin was not happy to find himself on the losing end of the wager, but he seemed to uphold his end of the bargain. Freya was sent to meet the mason, and to her surprise he wanted only to whisper something in her ear. That being done, he made his way out of Asgard... and when he found Thor waiting at the gates of Midgard, he knew he had been double-crossed. But he didn't care, because his plan was complete.

Atreus: It was? What did he say to Freya?

Mimir: Only she can say for certain, but I have had many moons to work it out. Hrimthur knew that Freya loathed the Aesir, despite her marriage to Odin, and I believe he gave her the secret to Asgard's defences. Some weakness he may have built in, structural or magical, which I expect will be exploited come Ragnarök when Surtur arrives to burn Asgard to ash. If not sooner.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Hrimthur was based on an unnamed Jötunn who built Asgard's wall in the mythology, the Jötunn also the owner of the horse Svaðilfari who is the father of Sleipnir the eight legged horse (one of Loki's children).
    • Hrimthur’s name means “rime-giant” and comes from the word “Hrímþursar”, which is what the Scandinavians called Frost Giants in Old Norse.
    • Due to Hrimthur's death happened before Loki's birth and the fact he managed to finish the wall before the deadline it's likely that Sleipnir has no relationship to Loki whatsoever in the game, specially with the fact that Sleipnir existed even before Hrimthur build the walls.
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