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GIANTS. 533
Hrungnir had a three-cornered stone heart, his head and shield
were of stone, Sn. 109. Another giant was named VagnJiofffi
a
Sn. 211 , in Saxo Gram. 9. 10. Dame Hutt is a
(waggon-head),
petrified queen of giants, Deut. sag. no. 233.
Out of this connexion with mountains arises another set of
names: bergrisi, Sn. 18. 26. 30. 45-7. 66. Grofctas. 10. 24.
Egilss. 22; x
Sasm. 57 b 145 a
;
bergbui, Fornald. sog. 1, 412; hraunbui (saxicola),
sog. 2, 29 ; bergdanir (gigantes),
hraunhvalr (-whale) 57 b
; pussin of biargi, Fornald.
Seem. 54b
; bergrisa brudr (bride),
racer bergrisa, Grottas. 10. 24, conf. the Gr. opeids: on this side
the notion of giantess can easily pass into that of elfin. Thrymheirnr
lies up in the mountains, Sn. 27. It is not to be over
looked, that in our own Heldenbuch Dietrich reviles the giants
as mountain- cattle and forest-boors, conf. bercrinder, Laurin 2625,
and waltyeburen 534. 2624. Sigenot 97. walthunde, Sigenot 13.
114. waldes diebe (thieves), 120. waldes tore (fool), waldes
affe (ape), Wolfd. 467. 991 (see p. 481-2 and SuppL).
Proper names of giants point to stones and metals, as larnsaxa
(ironstony), Tarnhaus (ironskull) ; possibly our still surviving
compound steinalt, old as stone (Gramm. 2, 555), is to be ex
plained by the great age of giants, approaching that of rocks and
hills ; gifur rata (gigantes pedes illidunt saxis) is what they say
in the North.
Stones and rocks are weapons of the giant race ; they use only
stone clubs and stone shields, no swords. Hrungni s weapon is
called hei)i (hone) ; when it was flung in mid air and came in
collision with Thor s hammer, it broke, and a part
fell on the
ground ; hence come all the heinberg/ whinstone rocks, Sn.
108-9. Later legends add to their armament stahelstangen (steel
bars) 24 yards long, Eoth. 687. 1662. Hiirn. Sifr. 62, 2. 68, 2.
Sigenot (Lassb.) 14, (Hag.) 69. 75. Iwein 5022 (-mote, rod
5058. -kolbe, club 6682. 6726). Trist. 15980. 16146 ; foenstange,
Nib. 460, 1. Veldek invests his Pandurus and Bitias (taken from
Aen. 9, 672) with giant s nature and iserne kolven, En. 7089 ;
king Gorhand s giant host carry kolben stahelin, Wh. 35, 21.
395, 24. 396, 13; and giant Langben a staalstang (Danske
viser 1, 29). We are expressly told in Er. 5384, wafens waren
1 In the case of mixed descent : lialfbergrisi, hdlfrisi, hulftroll, Egilss. p. 22.
Nialss. p. 164 ; see Gramm. 2, 633.