Description: John Everett
Millais's illustration for the poem The Hunt for the Hammer in the Victorian era poetry
periodical Once
a Week. The poem is G.W.D.'s translation of the
Eddic poem Þrymskviða.
Millais depicts Loki
confronting the giant Þrymr in Jötunheimr in order to discover the whereabouts
of Þórr´s missing hammer. Loki's wings represent Freyja's feather
cloak. Read the poem and see the original
illustration here.
Source: Once a Week
Folio or Page: 126
Medium: Not known
Date: 1861
Dimensions (mm): 125 x 176
Provenance:
This illustration is from Once
a Week.
Rights:
This illustration from Once a Week is
in the public domain.
Bibliography:
Primary Source:
Millais, John
Everett, Alison Chapman (ed.) and the DVPP team.
Thorr’s Hunt for his Hammer. Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry Project, Edition
0.98.8beta, University of Victoria,
Accessed 30th June 2023.
https://dvpp.uvic.ca/onceaweek/1861/pom_543_thorrs_hunt_for_his_hammer.html.
Loki is counted among the gods but is a giant by birth.
Artifacts
fjaðrhamr (non.)
feather
cloak (en.)
Freyja lends her feather cloak to Loki on several occassions to enable
him to fly.
Giants and Giantesses
Þjazi (non.)
Thjazi (en.)
The giant who persuaded Loki to abduct the goddess Íðunn.
Þrymr (non.)
Thrymir (en.)
The giant who stole Þórr´s hammer and said that he would only return
it in exchange for marrying Freyja.
Gods and Goddesses
Freyja (non.)
A fertility goddess and one of the Vanir. She is the daughter of
Njörðr and the twin sister of Freyr.
Myths
Theft of Þórr's
Hammer
This myth concerns the theft of Þórr´s hammer, Mjöllnir, by the giant
Þrymir. The gods send Loki to talk to Þrymir and giant says that he will
only return the hammer in exchange for marrying Freyja. Heimdallr
suggests that Þórr should impersonate Freyja, and the gods persuade Þórr
to go to Þrymir dressed as a bride. Þórr seizes Mjöllnir when it is
brought to the wedding feast to consecrate the marriage and then kills
Þrymir along with the rest of the giants.
Victorian (en.)The
Victorian era began with the reign of Queen Victoria and ended with her
death (June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901).
Source Materials:
Digital Victorian Periodical PoetryDVPP
Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry explores the poetry most read in
the long Victorian period: poems published in periodicals, magazines,
and newspapers dating from 1817 to 1901.
Once a Week (en.)
Launched by Bradbury and Evans, the publisher of Household Words,
after their split with Dickens, Once a
Week (1859-1880) was a weekly middle-class family magazine
that prominently featured illustrations.(Digital Victorian Periodical
Poetry website)
Þrymskviða (is.)
Lay of Thrymr (en.)
One of the mythological poems preserved in the Poetic Edda that
relates the story of the theft of Þórr´s hammer by the giant Þrymr. The
giant says that he will only return it if he is permitted to marry
Freyja. Þórr is persuaded by the gods to dress in Freyja´s clothes and
to travel to Þrymr´s court for the wedding.
Source Persons
Millais, John
Everett (en.)
b. June 8, 1829
d. August 13, 1896
Nationality: English
Occupation: Illustrator