This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
| “ | Thor's their dad. Different moms-sordid story, that one. Baldur's their uncle, Odin, dear ol' Grandpa. | ” |
Járnsaxa (/jɑːrnˈsæksə/; Old Norse: [ˈjɑːrnˌsɑksɑ], "iron dagger") is a Jötunn in Norse mythology. In Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, she is portrayed as Thor's lover and as the mother of Magni, a three-year-old boy with prodigious force.
Norse Mythology[]
Járnsaxa is one of the lesser-known characters in Norse mythology, Járnsaxa is Thor's lover and the biological mother to his eldest son Magni.
In Skáldskaparmál, Thor's wife the goddess Sif is either herself called "Járnsaxa" or called by a kenning meaning "the rival of Járnsaxa", throwing confusion on whether Sif is or is not distinct from Járnsaxa the mother of Magni. At the end of the story, Odin argues that Thor did wrong to offer the splendid horse Gullfaxi to Magni, the son of a giantess, rather than to himself, the father of Thor. In all of the surviving Norse sagas, Járnsaxa takes on only one partner: Thor. She gave birth to his eldest son Magni who is destined to survive the destruction at Ragnarök and go on to forge the new world. In the Skáldskaparmál (Prose Edda), Odin hints that he isn't a big fan of the Jötunn goddess or her child.
When Thor becomes trapped under the leg of the ice giant Hrungnir, no Æsir gods have the strength to lift the leg off of the Thunder god. When his son, Magni, arrives and frees his father, Thor is so thankful to his son that he offers Magni Hrungnir’s horse, Gullfaxi. However, Odin becomes angered by Thor’s gesture. He states that Magni is half Jötunn (since his mother is Járnsaxa), an enemy of the Æsir gods, and doesn’t deserve such a magnificent horse. And Odin takes the horse for himself.
It’s also important to note that within that same poem (the Skáldskaparmál), Sif refers to herself as Járnsaxa, some believe this passage can be translated as the “rival of Járnsaxa,” which makes sense since Járnsaxa is referenced as Thor’s lover.
In the God of War Series[]
Járnsaxa is a jötunn, the situational lover of Thor and mother to Thor's eldest son Magni. Not much is known about her as she is only indirectly mentioned once in God of War (2018) by Sindri. We can however be left to assume she's long since past after Thor went around ruthlessly killing the giants in cold-blood. Thor hated all of the giants despite having slept with one. He could have quite possibly just been intoxicated as it is mentioned numerous times throughout the games, he is and was always completely drunk, hardly remembering encounters with people (one example being when he fought Laufey but couldn't remember the fight due to his intoxication levels.)
God of War (2018)[]
When Kratos questions Sindri on the sons of Thor he ends up mentioning Járnsaxa. He calls her relationship with Thor "a sordid story". This is the only time Járnsaxa is mentioned.[1]
Trivia[]
- According to Norse sources, Järnsaxa is a Jötunn, daughter of Ægir and Rán, this would make her one of the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán, personifications of ocean waves. She is also known to have been the consort of Thor with whom she had Magni. However, she is also likely to be one of the nine sisters to have had an affair with Odin. That affair later resulted in the birth of the Aesir god Heimdall. Some scholars also believed Järnsaxa, was just another name for Thor's wife, Sif. This causes a lot of confusion concerning who she actually is.
- Nonetheless, for the adaptation in God of War, they used her as a separate character, the biological mother to Magni, and the situational lover of Thor.
- Sindri is the only character to mention her during a scene in God of War (2018).
References[]
- ↑ God of War (2018), Main Quest: "The Journey" - Goal: The Magic Chisel
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