Gríðarvölr
Gríðarvölr is the staff of the giantess Gríðr, mother of Víðarr, which she lent to Thor along with iron gloves and a belt of might when he set out against the giant Geirröðr. In the tale told in Skáldskaparmál, Thor uses the staff to fend off the giantess Gjálp and her kin and to brace himself when Geirröðr's sons try to crush him in a chair, and he finally breaks the giant's back with the aid of the borrowed gear. The loan is a rare act of kindness by a giantess toward the thunder god, and Gríðr is remembered as the wisest and most generous of the giantesses for it. The story shows that even