Sökkmímir

Sökkmímir or Søkkmímir was a jotun who appears in two sources from Norse mythology, suggesting that he was once a well-known giant in Scandinavia.

In Grímnismál, stanza 50, it appears that Odin killed the giant:

Sviðurr ok Sviðrir
er ek hét at Søkkmímis,
ok dulða ek þann inn alda iötun,
þá er ek Miðviðnis vark
ins mæra burar
orðinn einbani.[1]
So. I deceived the giant
Sokkmimir old
As Svithur and Svithrir of yore;
Of Mithvitnir's son
the slayer I was
When the famed one found his doom.[2]
Svidur and Svidrir
I was at Sökkmimir's called,
and beguiled that ancient Jötun,
when of Midvitnir's
renowned son
I was the sole destroyer.[3]

He notably appears in Ynglingatal, where subterranean abodes of giants are called Sökkmímir's halls:

En dagskjarr
Dúrnis niðja
salvörðuðr
Sveigði vétti,
þá er í stein
enn stórgeði
Dusla konr
ept dvergi hljóp,
ok salr bjartr
þeira Sökmímis
jötunbyggðr
við jöfri gein.[4][5]
By Diurnir's elfin race,
Who haunt the cliffs and shun day's face,
The valiant Swegde was deceived,
The elf's false words the king believed.
The dauntless hero rushing on,
Passed through the yawning mouth of stone:
It yawned – it shut – the hero fell,
In Saekmime's hall, where giants dwell.[6][7]

Notes
  1. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
  2. Bellow's translation
  3. Benjamin Thorpe's translation
  4. Ynglinga saga at Norrøne Tekster og Kvad Archived 2005-12-31 at Bibliotheca Alexandrina
  5. A second online presentation of Ynglingatal
  6. Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text Archive
  7. Laing's translation at Northvegr Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
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