Description: Þökk is the giantess,
mentioned only in Gylfaginning, who
refused to weep for Baldr
and thus prevented him from returning from the realm of the
dead. According to Snorri, Þökk was actually Loki in disguise.
Source: AM 738 4to
Folio or Page: 40v.
Medium: ink drawing on paper with coloured ink wash
Date: 1680
Dimensions (mm): 80 x 80
Provenance:
Árni Magnússon received the manuscript from Magnús Jónsson in Leirá,
and he received it from Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir in Bæ. It was
previously owned by Sigurður Gíslason in Bæ.
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi received the manuscript on
September 30, 1991.
Rights:
Images from ÁM 738 4to are displayed
with permission from the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í
íslenskum fræðum in Iceland. Link to
E-manuscript. This image was cropped from f. 40v.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources
Reykjavik: Stofnun
Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum. AM 738
4to. 1680. Hand
copied paper manuscript.
Secondary Sources
Cleasby, Richard
and
Vigfússon
Guðbrandur
. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1957.
Loki is counted among the gods but is a giant by birth.
Artist Not Known
Artist Not
Known
Artist not known for this illustration in the AM738 manuscript.
Giants and Giantesses
Þökk (non.)
Thokk (en.)
A giantess in Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda who refused to weep for Baldr thereby
preventing his release from Hel. According to Snorri, Þökk is Loki in
disguise.
Gods and Goddesses
Baldr (non.)
Balder (en.)
The god who was killed by his brother Höðr.
Myths
Death of Baldr Myth
A myth concerning an accidental fratricide. It sometimes includes Loki
as an instigator who dupes Baldr's brother, Höðr, into the act and
actually guides his hand. In the Prose Edda,
Snorri says that Höðr was blind.
Source Materials:
AM 738 4to (is.)
Edda Oblongata (la.)
This manuscript is known by its shelf mark AM738. However, it is also known as the Edda Oblongata
because its height is unusually tall compared to its width. It was
created circa 1680 by an unknown scribe.
Prose Edda (is.)
Snorri Sturluson's thirteenth-century prose work concerning Old Norse
mythology and poetics.
