The saga begins in the shimmering halls of Asgard, where the Aesir, the primary gods of the Norse pantheon, found themselves in a rare state of collective hunger and thirst. They had approached Ægir, the powerful jötunn who commanded the depths of the sea, requesting that he host a magnificent banquet for them. Ægir was a being of ancient power, and while he was generally friendly toward the gods, he was also a creature of immense pride. He looked upon the assembled deities—Odin, Frigg, Thor, and the rest—and struck a bargain that he believed would be impossible to fulfill. He agreed to host the feast, but only if the gods could provide a cauldron large enough to brew ale for the entire company at once. Given the insatiable appetites of the gods, such a vessel would need to be of cosmic proportions.
The gods were initially stumped, for no such vessel existed in the armories of Asgard or the workshops of the dwarves. It was then that Tyr, the god of single-combat and justice, stepped forward with a suggestion. He recalled that his stepfather, a giant named Hymir who lived at the very edge of the world where the sky meets the sea, possessed a cauldron of legendary size—one that was a full mile deep. However, Tyr warned that Hymir was a fickle and dangerous giant, not prone to giving away his possessions, especially to the enemies of his kind. Undeterred, the mighty Thor, the protector of Midgard and the strongest of the gods, declared that they would journey to the giant’s hall and take the cauldron, whether by silver-tongued negotiation or by the weight of his hammer, Mjölnir.
Thor and Tyr set out across the rugged landscapes of the north, leaving the golden gates of Asgard behind. They traveled in Thor’s famous chariot, pulled by his two resilient goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. The journey took them through the misty realms of the giants, over mountains that pierced the clouds and across rivers of ice that groaned under the weight of the winter. Eventually, they reached the desolate shore of the great ocean, where the air was thick with salt and the spray of the freezing waves. There stood the hall of Hymir, a structure of stone and whalebone that seemed to grow out of the very cliffs. As they entered the hall, they were met by Tyr’s mother, a beautiful woman adorned with gold, and his grandmother, a monstrous creature with nine hundred heads who represented the chaotic and terrifying nature of the elder giants.
Tyr’s mother, concerned for the safety of her son and his companion, advised them to hide behind a series of large pillars at the end of the hall, beneath a row of heavy kettles suspended from a massive beam. She knew that when Hymir returned from his hunt, his mood would be as cold and destructive as a winter gale. When the giant finally arrived, his footsteps shook the foundations of the hall. His beard was a thicket of frost, and his eyes burned with a malevolent light. Upon being told by his wife that guests had arrived, Hymir cast a glance toward the back of the hall. His gaze was so powerful that the stone pillar against which the gods hid cracked in two, and the beam holding the kettles shattered, sending seven of the vessels crashing to the floor in shards. Only one kettle, the strongest of them all, remained intact.
Reluctantly, Hymir offered the travelers hospitality, though he watched Thor with deep suspicion. The giant’s reputation for hostility was well-matched by Thor’s legendary appetite. For the evening meal, Hymir ordered three oxen to be prepared. To the giant's utter shock and growing irritation, Thor consumed two of the oxen himself in a single sitting. Realizing that his food stores would not last another night with such a guest, Hymir announced that they would have to go fishing the following morning to provide for the next meal. Thor, never one to shy away from a task, agreed but insisted on having proper bait. When the giant gruffly told him to find his own bait from the herd, Thor marched out to Hymir’s finest cattle, seized the largest bull named Himinhrjod, and with a single wrenching motion, tore the animal’s head from its shoulders.
The next morning, the giant and the god pushed a heavy boat into the churning gray waters. Hymir rowed with the strength of ten men, but Thor demanded they go further out to sea than the giant’s usual fishing grounds. Hymir grew uneasy as they rowed past the shallows where he usually caught whales. He warned Thor that they were approaching the waters where the Midgard Serpent, Jörmungandr, lay coiled in the dark abyss. Thor ignored the giant's pleas and rowed until the shore vanished behind the horizon. He then took a massive hook, baited it with the head of the ox, and cast it into the lightless depths of the ocean. Below the waves, the great serpent, the child of Loki and the predestined enemy of Thor, smelled the blood of the bull and clamped its jaws onto the hook.