—Notes on the Novel—
Gifted 10th Grade World Literature
Shery Kearney
McIntosh High School
21 June 2009
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
—Introduction—
Novel=fiction
History=non fiction
A paradox: two seemingly unlike things existing simultaneously
Philosophy: the love of wisdom
Ethics: questions of how one should live (morals, rules, laws, etiquette, chivalry)
Metaphysics: questions about what sort of things exist and what their essential matters
are
Epistemology: questions about what and how we come to know things
Logic: questions about the correct principles of reasoning
Resources
Soph=wise, wisdom
root appears in Sophie, Philosophy, Sophocles (?) and Sophomore (Connections?)
Sophomore=wise fool the sophomore knows nothing o is in the middle
Sophie is a 14 year old girl turning 15, about the age of the readers.
The possessive form in the title shows ownership. It is her world.
World indicates vastness. It is not our world, however.
It is “A” novel, not “The” novel. Is this significant?
Novels are literary. They are fiction. They are not true. They are stories with characters,
settings, plots.
History. The word indicates a “story.” History is linear. It has a beginning and an end.
History is non-fiction, true. History can be subjective because it is written by the
winners.
Philosophy=the love of wisdom. Philosophy must change since it has a history. It must
start with creation because men are necessary for wisdom/reason. When does it end?
The end? When is the end? The beginning.
Subtitle: a paradox (something that appears to contradict itself on the surface but can in
fact be true).
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
—Chapter
Chapter 1—
1
“The Garden of Eden” pp. 3-11
Word
Menagerie
Flaxen
Vocabulary
Page
4
5
Cultural Literacy
Term
Page
Budgerigar
4
Sherekan
4
Claude Debussy
5
Red currant
6
Garden of Eden
8
Chapter Summary from SparkNotes
After walking home from school with her friend Joanna one day in early May, Sophie Amundsen finds a
small letter in her mailbox. It is addressed to her, without a stamp, and it contains only a question—"Who are
you?" The letter makes Sophie think. She wonders whether her name matters much, whether her physical
appearance makes her who she is. Then Sophie thinks about the fact that contemplating life leads
inexorably to thinking of death, and vice versa. She returns to the mailbox and finds another letter, with the
question "Where does the world come from?" written inside. Sophie realizes it is a legitimate question and
goes to the den, her outdoor hiding place, to ponder. She thinks about the fact that the world is part of the
universe, and that that must have come from somewhere. But that means that something must have come
from nothing, which she cannot accept. Equally poor is the possibility that the universe has always existed.
Even if God created the universe, he himself must have come from somewhere. Then, when Sophie gets
the mail, she receives a mysterious postcard. It is from Lebanon, postmarked "UN Battalion", has a
Norwegian stamp, and is addressed to Hilde Møller Knag, c/o Sophie Amundsen. The postcard is from
Hilde's father, wishing her a happy 15th birthday and telling her he had to send the card through Sophie.
Sophie, totally confused, goes through the phone book but does not find Hilde Møller Knag.
Chapter Summary from e-notes
Sophie Amundsen lives with her mother in a suburban house. Her father, an oil tanker captain, is seldom
home. Her mother works outside the home and comes home late in the afternoon. To make up for being
alone some much, she is given several animals, including a cat called Sherekan.
Coming home from school one day, she looks in the mailbox and finds a letter (without a return address or
stamp) addressed to her. Inside is a note with one question: "Who are you?" This perplexes Sophie, who
takes the letter to her secret hiding place in the hedge that she calls her "den." She ponders over the
question, coming up with several answers, none of which she thinks is satisfactory.
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Thinking that perhaps there might be another letter, Sophie checks the mailbox again, and indeed does find
another letter, this one asking "Where does the world come from?" Again, Sophie muses of the possible
answers, both scientific and religious. She realizes that the universe must have come from something, but at
what point does something come from nothing?
Checking the mailbox again, she finds a postcard, addressed in care of her to Hilde Knag Moller. It is a
birthday card from Hilde’s father, apologizing that he could not be there for her birthday, and also for sending
the card through Sophie, because it was "the easiest way."
Sophie is completely confused at this point. Where did the letters come from? What were the answers to the
questions in the letters? Who is Hilde?
Imagery
Garden=archetypal image
Beginnings (Genesis)
Temptation (Snakes/Questions)
Defying the authority/natural order
Wildness/nature
Quest motif
Garden gate=crossing a threshold
Letters=call to adventure
Spring=archetype of seasons
new life
birth
resurrection
Red-currant bushes Under which Norwegian mothers traditionally find their
babies (especially in midsummer)
Mirror
Reflection—light
Inner self (soul)
Superficial/surface
Supernatural
The Other (döppelganger)
Reversal/backward reflection/alter ego
Eternity/infinity—two mirrors reflecting
Flaws magnified in mirror=reality, then perhaps the mirror image is
flawless?
Right=left, left=right
See behind you (like seeing the past)
See a different perspective, see a different world
Trace references to mirrors throughout the novel
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
(Mimetic Theory)
mimesis [my mees is], the Greek word for imitation, a central term in aesthetic
and literary theory since Aristotle (Poetics). A literary work that is understood to
be reproducing an external reality or any aspect of it is described as mimetic,
while mimetic criticism is the kind of criticism that assumes or insists that literary
works reflect reality.
concerned with the art work itself.
It is a reflection of nature.
The work is a correct representation of reality
The Mimetic Theory is concerned with the universe (what the art work
about)
The philosophers that dealt with the idea of mimetic art were Plato, and
Aristotle.
The art movement and artists were from the Renaissance. Artists such as
Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and others of that time period.
It does not exclude other artists from other art movements.
Two questions:
Who are you?
Where does the world come from?
Allusions
What’s in a name? The allusion to Romeo and Juliet
Important Quotation
“I think I’ll go upstairs and do my biology
homework,” she said, almost apologetically.
Once she was out in the hall, she thought, “No I’d
rather go out in the garden.”
Den=Cave
Garden=Knowledge
Upstairs and do my biology homework
Upstairs—similar to Foster going
north/high=contained, confined, isolated
Go out in the garden
Go out—similar to going south (Foster
171) “run amok” raw encounters with
subconscious, wildness
Emphasis on “do,” “home,” “work” and
“ology” or “study” formal thinking
No plan here—thinking is free and
contemplative
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
bio=life, but is the formal study of “life”
apologizes to the mirror for the choice
(fatalism)
garden is full of life and the experience of
life
what Sophie would rather do (free will)
science/mathematics/logic/rhetoric
religion/myth/literature/philosophy
evolution (where does the world come
from?)
creation (where does the world come
from?)
genetics (the way she looks) who am I?
psyche (soul) who am I?
Rational/Reasoning/Questioning/Answering Snakes/Questions/Danger/Questioning
Scientists
The Garden of Eden
Supplemental Readings/Literary Links:
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Genesis
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Joseph Campbell:
The first function of a mythology is to waken and maintain in the individual a
sense of wonder and participation in the mystery of this finally inscrutable
universe...the second function is to fill every particle and quarter of the current
cosmological image with its measure of this mystical import...the third
function...is the sociological one of validating and maintaining whatever moral
system and manner of life-customs may be peculiar to the local culture...the
fourth, and final, essential function of mythology, then, is the pedagogical one
of conducting individuals in harmony through the passages of human life, from
the stages of dependency in childhood to the responsibilities of maturity, and on
to old age... The principal method of mythology is the poetic, that of analogy..
death by sleep, or vice versa; and the experiences of sleep then as the (supposed)
experiences of death; the light of the sun as of consciousness; the darkness of
caves, or of the ocean depth, as of death, or of the womb.
Literary Terms/Theory
Archetype
Duality
Döppelganger
Mimesis
Mirror
Point of View
Quest/Journey
Three
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
—Chapter
Chapter 2—
2
“The Top Hat” pp. 12-22
Word
Trivialities
Enigmas
Rapturous
Bewildering
Enigmatic
Apathetic
Myth
Vocabulary
Page
12
15
17
19
19
20
Key Terms
22
Term
Cultural Literacy
Page
Chapter Summary from Spark Notes
Sophie tells no one about the strange letters, and is uninterested in playing with her friend Joanna the next day. After
school she rushes home and finds a letter written to her. It contains three pages describing philosophy. The letter
suggests that what is most important in life is philosophizing—attempting to understand ourselves and our role in the
world. There are not many philosophical questions, but there are many ways to answer each one. Life itself is like a
magic trick, and philosophers must always observe it with wonder. After reading the letter, Sophie goes back to the
mailbox and finds another one, which stresses the fact that all that is required to be a philosopher is the capacity for
wonder. Babies have this capacity, but most people become inured to life and no longer find it wonderful.
Philosophers are different from others, and the philosopher writing the letters wants Sophie to never lose her sense of
wonder. The letters will comprise a philosophy course for her to take. Sophie tries to have a philosophical discussion
that night with her mother, but it only leads to her mother wondering if Sophie has begun taking drugs.
Chapter Summary from e-notes
Sophie is preoccupied with the questions she has received in the mail. Sophie returns home to find a large brown
envelope in the mailbox. It is addressed to her and labeled, "Course in Philosophy. Handle with care." She takes it to
her "den" and finds typewritten pages asking, "What Is Philosophy?"
The letter presents her with the idea that the only thing necessary to be a philosopher is to have a sense of wonder,
both about the world and about oneself. The writer states that most people lose this capacity as they grow older.
The philosopher compares the universe to a white rabbit pulled out of a top hat by a magician. While we as observers
are filled with wonder at the trick, more than anything we wonder, "How did he do that?" We want to know how and
why. That is the basis of all philosophy.
We as individuals are microscopic insects burrowed deep in the rabbit’s fur. A relative few crawl up the hairs. Most
are content to remain in the depths of the fur, or else, having climbed to the top, crawl back down into its safety. The
true philosopher climbs up the hair to look into the eyes of the magician.
Sophie is overwhelmed by this thought. She has never thought so hard in her life. When her mother comes home
from work, Sophie asks her if she has ever wondered where we came from and why we are here. Mrs. Amundsen is
concerned, not liking the tone Sophie has taken. She asks Sophie if she is taking drugs. Sophie just laughs.
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
“the only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder”
Symbols: Magic Wands, Top Hats, Magicians, White Rabbits, Babies
“For the first time she began to feel that at school as well as everywhere else people were only concerned with
trivialities. There were major problems to be solved.
“Did anybody have answers to these questions? Sophie felt that thinking about them was more important
than memorizing irregular verbs” (12)
Course in Philosophy. Handle with Care. WHY? Why should you handle philosophy with care?
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophers believe that once basic needs are met that everyone has a basic need to figure out who we are and
why we are here (14).
“It is easier to ask philosophical questions than to answer them” (15).
“Philosophers’ search for the truth resembles a detective story” (15). What are the similarities?
// to a magic trick >>>> We are the white rabbit being pulled out of the hat (16). White rabbit=universe? We live
down in the rabbit’s fur. The philosopher lives on the tip and stares into the magician’s eyes.
WONDER
Babies are born with wonder.
Examples: Martian/ Flying dad
Habit (the world becomes a habit to us) We learn to expect certain things, so we lose the sense of wonder.
Philosophers try to restore the sense of wonder. Something tells us life is a huge mystery (like the book). We
experienced life as a mystery when we were children, but then it became habit.
Aristotle quote about habit:
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle, (384 BC - 322 BC) Greek
Philosopher
“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion,
desire.”
As a bit of background, in Book I of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that happiness
(or well-being) is “the chief good” of human life, as it alone is “always desirable in itself and never for the sake of
something else” (1097a24-b7). Although external goods such as good birth, children, and wealth are necessary
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
“equipment” of the good life, the most basic requirement of such a life is “activity of the soul in accordance with
complete excellence” (1099a32-b8; 1102a5-6). Then in the opening lines of Book II, Aristotle intimately connects
habits to virtue in remarking that “moral excellence [i.e. virtue] comes about as a result of habit” (1103a16-17). The
precise nature of this relationship between virtue and habit is principally explicated through a partial analogy between
virtue and the arts.
Literary Links
“The Child’s Need for Magic” by Bruno Bettelheim
Alice in Wonderland (White Rabbit)
The Matrix (White Rabbit)
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began,
So is it now I am a man,
So be it when I shall grow old
Or let me die!
The child is father of the man:
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
William Wordsworth
“FADING INTO COMMON DAY" COMES FROM ANOTHER WORDSWORTH POEM. AS AN EXERCISE FIND
"ODE INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY," AND STUDY ESPECIALLY STANZA V.--HABITS ARE DANGEROUS--WHY?
Jean-Luc Picard to Wesley Crusher in “The First Duty” on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is
the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based! If you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about
what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform!
Literary Terms
Symbols—top hat and magic wand
Yonic image
Phallic image
Fertility
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
—Chapter 3—
The Myths pp. 23-29
Vocabulary
Word
Precarious
Page
23
Interminable
Millennia
Cunning
Egoish
23
24
23
28
Cultural Literacy
Term
Page
Carry coals to
24
Newcastle
Thor
24
Midgard
24
Asgard
24
Utgard
24
Freyja
25
Odin
25
The Lay of Thrym
Loki
25
Sotunheim
25
Thrym
25
Heimdall
25
Hesiod
28
Zeus
28
Apollo
28
Hera
28
Athene
28
Dionysus
28
Asclepious
28
Heracles
28
Hephaestus
28
Homer
28
Xenophanes
28
Chapter Summary from Spark Notes
A day later, after school, Sophie finds a letter from her dad, working far away, and then another on philosophy. This
letter describes the situation leading up to the beginning of western philosophy. Before the Greek philosophers,
people explained life through myths—stories about the gods. But the early Greek philosophers questioned the myths
and began looking for other explanations for why the world is the way it is. Sophie thinks about this and realizes that
making up stories to explain the workings of nature is not so far-fetched, for she would do the same if she did not
already have other explanations.
Chapter Summary from e-notes
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Sophie finds another packet from the philosopher, this time on the ancient myths. The philosopher states that, in all
cultures, people wanted explanations for why nature worked the way it did. Rather than coming up with a scientific
explanation, they developed myths, which in turn were either based on religions or gave rise to religions.
The myths first wanted to explain natural phenomena, such as why it rains. They invented stories of the gods and
goddesses and their fights against evil forces. The philosopher gives examples from Nordic mythology.
In the same way, ancient Greeks developed myths to explain the seasons, weather, and so on. Homer and Hesiod
were the first to write down the myths around 700 BC, thus enabling people to discuss them. With the coming of
slavery, citizens were freed to concentrate more on politics and culture.
Eventually, ancient Greek philosophers began to question the myths. They began to think that the gods acted too
much like human beings, thus stating that the myths were simply inventions of humans. These early philosophers
began to look for explanations not found in cultural myths or religious beliefs. They began to question politics and
culture and how man should be governed. Contemplation went from being founded on myths to being established on
reason.
Sophie is intrigued about the myth-makers. She imagines that she knows nothing about science and creates her own
mythological explanation for the changing of the seasons.
“a precarious balance between the forces of good and evil”
Duality/dualism=battle between two principal forces and the interaction or balance between the two forces
Good
White
Man
Day
Yang
Light
Hot
Dry
Active
Animus
Evil
Black
Woman
Night
Yin
Dark
Cold
Wet
Passive
Anima
Chess is often seen in
literature as a symbol
of duality.
Philosophy developed in Greece circa 600 B.C.
Before that religious explanations were found in the form of myths. “A myth is a story about the gods which sets out
to explain why life is as it is” (24).
Major Norse Gods
Name
Relations
Sphere or
Position
Emblem/Attribute
Odin
Father of the Aesir (gods)
War and death,
poetry, wisdom,
magic
Spear, mead, ring/Oneeyed
Thor
Son of Odin
Thunder, lightning,
rain; champion of
the gods
Hammer, belt
Njord
Father of Freyja & Freyr
Wind and sea,
wealth and
prosperity
—
Frigg
Wife of Odin
Marriage and
—
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Name
Sphere or
Position
Relations
Emblem/Attribute
motherhood, home
Freyja
(Freya)
Daughter of Njord
Fertility, birth,
crops
Necklace
Freyr
Son of Njord
Agriculture, sun,
rain
Magic ship, golden boar
Tyr
Son of Odin ?
Justice, war
Spear/One-handed
Heimdall
Son of nine giantesses
Watchman of the
gods; keen sight &
hearing
Horn
Balder
(Baldur)
Son of Odin
Light, purity
Loki
Son of giants; father of Hel
(goddess of death), Jormungand
Malicious trickster
(serpent encompassing the world),
Fenrir (the wolf).
—
Source: The World Almanac for Kids
Definitions of Myth
Sense of life: a pre-conceptual equivalent of metaphysics (Ayn Rand)
Result of imaginative reflection; the precursor of science, striking on natural phenomenon and religious belief. (David
Hume)
Transmission of cumulative knowledge and experience and universal truths consistent in human experience through
symbols (Carl Jung)
Stories told about man's relationship with nature, localized in time / place: Anthropomorphic. (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Imitation of actions near or at the conceivable limits of desire.
(Northrop Frye)
A body of story that matters (Thomas Foster)
The first function of a mythology is to waken and maintain in the individual a sense of wonder and participation in the
mystery of this finally inscrutable universe...the second function is to fill every particle and quarter of the current
cosmological image with its measure of this mystical import...the third function...is the sociological one of validating
and maintaining whatever moral system and manner of life- customs may be peculiar to the local culture...the fourth,
and final, essential function of mythology, then, is the pedagogical one of conducting individuals in harmony through
the passages of human life, from the stages of dependency in childhood to the responsibilities of maturity, and on to
old age... The principal method of mythology is the poetic, that of analogy.. death by sleep, or vice versa; and the
experiences of sleep then as the (supposed) experiences of death; the light of the sun as of consciousness; the
darkness of caves, or of the ocean depth, as of death, or of the womb...(Joseph Campbell)
Mythological explanation: using a story of gods and goddesses to explain natural phenomenon; rejected first by
philosophers, then by scientists
Mythological world picture: the collective cultural view developed through the stories, rites, and myths in a
geographic area
Rites: religious ceremonies; rites often lead to the first dramas in a culture
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Offering: a gift made by a mortal to a god during a religious ceremony, often a sacrifice of an animal; for Thor it was
usually a goat
Around 700 B.C. Greek mythology was written down by Homer and Hesiod.
Xenophanes (570 B.C.) said men created gods in their own image (28).
Compare the idea to the Christian idea that God created man in his own image.
Philosophers attempted to find natural rather than supernatural explanations for natural processes (28).
Definitions:
Nominalism
his is a theory of the relation between universals and particulars. In order to organize an object, we need to already
understand this kind of object. For example, if we want to consider an object as a table, then we need to already
understand what a table is. Does this table then have an existence that is independent of other tables? Nominalism
says that it does not, that it is just a name for a particular group of objects.
Realism
Realism represents the theory that particular things exist independently of our perception. This position is in direct
contrast to the theory of idealism, which holds that reality exists only in the mind. Most contemporary British and
American philosophy tends toward realism.
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Progression myth to religion to philosophy to science
Relationship between mythology and science is inverse:
Myth
Science
Myth
Science
“The Lay of Thrym”
Thor was distraught when upon awakening one morning he discovered that his mighty hammer Mjölnir was missing.
His shaggy head and his beard quivered as he, the first-born of Mother-Earth reached around for it.
His first words were: "Loki, listen to me! I have suffered a loss beyond perception. My hammer has been stolen!"
They hurried to Freyja's home, and he said: "Freyja, will you lend me your feather-robe so that I can find and retrieve
my hammer?"
Freyja said: "I would give it to you, even if it were made of gold or silver."
Loki then flew, with whirring feathers, from the home of the Æsir to the land of the giants.
Thrym, the King of the Thurse, [Note 1] was sitting on a mound, pleating golden halters for his hounds and smoothing
the manes of his mares.
Thrym said: "How are the Æsir, and how are the alfs, and what brings you to the land of the giants?"
Loki said: "It's not well with the Æsir, nor with the alfs. Are you the one who hid Thor's hammer?"
Thrym said: "Yes, I hid Thor's hammer a full eight leagues beneath the ground. And no one can get it from me unless
he brings Freyja here to be my bride."
Loki then flew, with whirring feathers, from the home of the giants to the land of the Æsir. Thor met him in the central
courtyard, and he said:
What good news do you have to report? Have your efforts been rewarded? Tell me, even before you light, what you
have learned. A sitting person is often forgetful, and a lying person lies. [Note 2]
Loki said: "My efforts have been rewarded. Thrym, the King of the Thurse, has your hammer. But no one can get it
from him unless he brings him Freyja to be his bride."
They hurried to Freyja's home, and Thor said: "Freyja, dress yourself in bridal linen! The two of us are going to the
land of the giants."
Freyja grew angry and foamed with rage. The entire hall shook with her fury. The necklace of the Brisings [Note 3]
broke apart. She said: "I would have to be the man-craziest of all to go with you to the land of the giants."
All the gods and goddesses of the Æsir hurriedly assembled at the Thing to discuss how they might retrieve Thor's
hammer.
Heimdall, the fairest of the gods and one of the prophetic Vanir, foretold the future:
"We shall dress Thor in bridal linen, and adorn him with the necklace of the Brisings. Let him wear a woman's clothes
with a bundle of housewife's keys dangling about him and with bridal jewels at his breast and on his head."
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Thor, the mighty god, said, "the Æsir will call me cowardly and womanish if I allow myself to be dressed in bridal
linen."
Then Loki, the son of Laufey, said: "Save your words, Thor. The giants will soon take over Asgard if you do not
retrieve your hammer from them."
So they dressed Thor in women's clothes and bridal linen and adorned him with the necklace of the Brisings, with a
bundle of housewife's keys dangling about him and with bridal jewels at his breast and on his head.
Then Loki, the son of Laufey, said: "I will be your servant girl, and the two of us will go to the land of the giants."
The goats were driven home and tied with ropes to run with them. The mountains burst and the earth broke into
flames as the son of Odin rode to the land of the giants.
Then Thrym, the King of the Thurse, said: "Stand up, you giants, and cover the benches! Bring me Freyja, the
daughter of Njörd from Noatun, to be my wife!"
In my yard I have cows with golden horns, pure black oxen, everything a giant could want; I have riches and
treasures; Freyja alone is all that I lack.
That evening they brought ale to the giant's table, and Sif's husband ate an entire ox, eight salmon, and all the baked
goods that they brought for the women, and then he drank three measures of mead.
Then Thrym, the King of the Thurse, said: "Have you ever seen a bride bite more sharply? I have never seen a bride
bite more broadly, nor have I ever seen a maiden drink more mead."
The maiden quickly responded to the giant's words: "Freyja was so eagerly awaiting the land of giants that she ate
nothing for eight full nights!"
He peeked beneath her veil, wanting to kiss her, but then jumped to the back of the hall with a single bound. "Why
are Freyja's eyes so terrifying? They seem to be aglow with fire!"
The maiden quickly responded to the giant's words: "Freyja was so eagerly awaiting the land of giants that she did
not sleep for eight full nights."
The giant's poor sister entered and begged for a bridal gift: "If you want my friendship and love, then please give me
those red-gold rings from your arm."
Then Thrym, the King of the Thurse, said, "Bring the hammer so that we may consecrate the bride. Lay Mjölnir in her
lap, from the hand of Vár [Note 4], and let us be consecrated as a pair.
Hlórithi's [Note 5] heart laughed within him when he saw his hammer. First he struck down Thrym, the King of the
Thurse, and then he slew all the giant's kin.
He also killed the giant's poor sister who had begged for a bridal gift. Instead of shillings she received blows and
instead of rings, a hammer hit. And thus Odin's son retrieved his hammer.
Note 1: The Thurse were a race of giants.
Note 2: The play on the two meanings of "to lie" also exists in the original.
Note 3: The necklace of the Brisings is also mentioned in Beowulf.
Note 4: Vár is a goddess who hears and enforces oaths and contracts.
Note 5: Hlórithi is another name for Thor.
Source: “Thrym’s Lay.” Poetic Edda. Online. 20 September 2008 <http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/thrym.html>
Sophie’s
WORLD
—a novel about—
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
JOSTEIN GAARDER
Thor’s Hammer/Crucifix Mold
Literary Connections
“One Story” Thomas Foster
Writing Assignment: Creation myths