Hrungnir's Heart and the Valknutby Lyfing

The Valknut has often been associated with Hrungnir’s Heart which is described as..

“Hrungner had, as is well known, a heart of stone, sharp and three-sided; just as the rune has sincebeen risted that is called Hrungner's heart.”Skáldskaparmál

This is an interesting association. One must wonder if the Valknut is what most take it to be as a“knot of death” then what just does Hrungnir have to do with it..??

Many of the the Valknuts appearing in the iconography are under the hooves of horses..

The Tängelgårda Stone

The Tjängvide Stone

Hrungnir’s story begins with..

"Odin rode on his horse Sleipner to Jotunheim, and came to the giant whose name is Hrungner.Then asked Hrungner what man that was who with a golden helmet rode both through the air andover the sea, and added that he had a remarkably good horse. Odin said that he would wager hishead that so good a horse could not be found in Jotunheim. Hrungner admitted that it was indeedan excellent horse, but he had one, called Goldfax, that could take much longer paces; and in hiswrath he immediately sprang upon his horse and galloped after Odin, intending to pay him for hisinsolence. Odin rode so fast that he was a good distance ahead, but Hrungner had worked himselfinto such a giant rage that, before he was aware of it, he had come within the gates of Asgard."Skáldskaparmál

Here begs the question of what import Sleipnir is..??

If Hrungnir’s Heart is a Valknut and he was killed by Thor then what of Hyrrokkin whose hair istied in a Valknut and who is likewise killed by Thor..??

The Hunnestad Monument

Hyrrokkin

Thor’s duel with Hrungnir can mean many things I suppose. Interesting it is that Mokkerkalfe theman of clay came about by way of..

"the proposed meeting with Thor was much talked of. They regarded it very important who shouldgain the victory, and they feared the worst from Thor if Hrungner should be defeated, for he was thestrongest among them. Thereupon the giants made at Grjottungard a man of clay."Skáldskaparmál

..who..

“was nine rasts tall and three rasts broad under the arms”Skáldskaparmál

..but didn’t have Hrungnir’s Heart, his being..

“the heart from a mare, but even this fluttered and trembled when Thor came”Skáldskaparmál

Thor to Hrungnir meant his death..!!

Likewise to Hyrrokkin Thor meant her death..!!

But, here we are dealing with the death of Baldur..??

"The Æsir then took the dead body and bore it to the seashore, where stood Baldur's shipHringhorn, which passed for the largest in the world. But when they wanted to launch it in order tomake Baldur's funeral pile on it, they were unable to make it stir. In this conjuncture they sent toJotunheim for a certain giantess named Hyrrokin, who came mounted on a wolf, having twistedserpents for a bridle. As soon as she alighted, Odin ordered four Berserkir to hold her steed fast,who were, however, obliged to throw the animal on the ground ere they could effect their purpose.Hyrrokin then went to the ship, and with a single push set it afloat, but the motion was so violentthat the fire sparkled from the rollers, and the earth shook all around. Thor, enraged at the sight,grasped his mallet, and but for the interference of the Æsir would have broken the woman's skull."Gylfaginning

On Sleipnir Hermod rode to Hel..

"Now when the gods had come to themselves, Frigg spake, and asked who there might be amongthe Æsir who would fain have for his own all her love and favor: let him ride the road to Hel, andseek if he may find Baldr, and offer Hel a ransom if she will let Baldr come home to Ásgard. And heis named Hermódr the Bold, Odin's son, who undertook that embassy. Then Sleipnir was taken,Odin's steed, and led forward; and Hermódr mounted on that horse and galloped off.Gylfaginning

Is Draupnir a Valknut..??

"Odin laid on the pyre that gold ring which is called Draupnir; this quality attended it, that everyninth night there dropped from it eight gold rings of equal weight."Gylfaginning

How long did Hermod ride..??

"he rode nine nights through dark dales and deep"

GylfaginningAnd, what did he bring back to Odin..??

"Then Hermódr arose; but Baldr led him out of the hall, and took the ring Draupnir and sent it toOdin for a remembrance."Gylfaginning

Notice the rings they tote..??

The Tängelgårda Stone

Who was Hyrrokkin then..??

Rydberg, even though his ideas are largely discredited these days pointed out quite tacitly that..

”In allusion to the cremation of Gullveig-Heid fire is called in Þórsdrápa Hrímnis drósar lyftisylgr,"the lifting drink of Hrímnir's daughter," the drink which Heid lifted up on spears had to drink.”

..and..

“The result of the investigation is that Gullveig-Heiðr, Aurboða, and Angurboða are different namesfor the different hypostases of the thrice-born and thrice-burnt one, and that Hyrrokin, "the firesmoked,"is an epithet common to all these hypostases. “

What again was the name of Hrungnir’s horse..??

Gullfaxi..??

"Gullfaxi is a strange name for a jotunn’s horse, since the æsir control gold and theprefix gull[in]- ordinarily attaches to animals in their domain: Gulltoppr (Heimdallr’shorse), Gullinborsti (Freyr’s boar), Gullintanni (one of Heimdallr’s names).Indeed, as Hrungnir notices, Odin has arrived in Jotunheimar wearing a gold helmet.We should probably assume that one of the legitimate functions of the entireHrungnir narrative in Skáldskaparmál is to move this horse from the jotnar to

the æsir, where indeed the so-called Þorgrímsþula places it: “Gollfaxi ok Jór meðgoðum” (Jónsson 1912–15, B1:656). The mechanism for this movement appears tobe Hrungnir’s forfeiture of his property as the loser of the duel with Thor, whichpermits Thor to award it to Magni as a reward for lifting the giant’s leg off him.Odin’s strange admonition to Thor, that he did wrong to give the good horse toone born of a giantess rather than to his own father, returns Odin to the story andreturns the story to the subject of Odin’s original verbal encounter (duel?) withHrungnir: was Gullfaxi the equal of Sleipnir? "Thor’s duel with Hrungnir, by John Lindow

Is there some connection between Gullveig who is Hyrrokkin with Gullfaxi and the golden ringDraupnir..??

I ween the first war in the world was this,When the gods Gullveig gashed with their spears,And in the hall of Har burned herThree times burned they the thrice reborn,

Ever and anon: even now she liveth.Heith she was hight where to houses she came,The wise seeress, and witchcraft pliedCast spells where she could, cast spells on the mind:To wicked women she was welcome ever.

Then gathered together the gods for counsel,The hoy hosts, and held converse:Should the Aesir a truce with tribute buy,Or should all gods share the feast.

His spear Othin sped o’er the host:The first of feuds was thus fought in the world;Was broken in battle the breastwork of Asgarth,Fighting Vanir trod the field of battle.

Then gathered together the gods for counsel,The holy hosts, and held converse:Who had filled the air with fould treason,And to uncouth etisn Oth’s wife given.

Thewy Thor then overthrew the foeHe seldom sits when of such he hears:Were sworn oaths are broken, and solemn vows,Gods’ plighted troth, the pledges given.Voluspa 21-26 Hollander trans.

The giants bring the death of the gods at Ragnorok, and like Magni gets Gullfaxi..

"Then came Magne, the son of Thor and Jarnsaxa. He was only three nights of age. He threwHrungner's foot off Thor, and said: It was a great mishap, father, that I came so late. I think I could

have slain this giant with my fist, had I met him. Then Thor arose, greeted his son lovingly, sayingthat he would become great and powerful; and, added he, I will give you the horse Goldfax, thatbelonged to Hrungner. "Gylfaginning

So he and his brother inherit Mjolnir..

"Hárr answered: "In that time the earth shall emerge out of the sea, and shall then be green andfair; then shall the fruits of it be brought forth unsown. Vídarr and Váli shall be living, inasmuch asneither sea nor the fire of Surtr shall have harmed them; and they shall dwell at Ida-Plain, whereÁsgard was before. And then the sons of Thor, Módi and Magni, shall come there, and they shallhave Mjöllnir there. After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit downtogether and hold speech. with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak ofthose happenings which have been before: of the Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf. Then theyshall find in the grass those golden chess-pieces which the Æsir had had; thus is it said:

In the deities' shrines | shall dwell Vídarr and Váli,When the Fire of Surtr is slackened;Módi and Magni | shall have MjöllnirAt the ceasing of Thor's strife."Gylfaginning