# data[].attributes.body
Background image:
'Thrym's Wedding Feast'
Bray (1908) The Poetic Edda; Edited and translated with introduction and notes by Olive Bray. Illustrated by W.G. p.g. 127

# data[].attributes.body
I don't know if anyone else has an interest in opera but there's one based on Þrymskviða which goes by the same name. It premiered in 1974 and the libretto is based mainly on the poem but also includes other Eddic poems.
It's also the first full length Icelandic opera!

# data[].attributes.body
Acker and Larrington (1996) The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mthology; Reading Þrymskviða pp. 180-192

Ellis-Davidson (1964) Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. pp. 83-84

Faulkes (2007) A New Introduction to Old Norse: Glossary pp. 14

Frankki (2012) Cross-Dressing in the Poetic Edda: Mic muno Æsir argan kalla pp. 425-437

Larrington (2008) The Poetic Edda

# data[].attributes.body
Is þorr reliant on his hammer (Mjollnir) to reinforce his identity?
How can we interpret Loki's role in this Eddic poem? (Is it solely a contrast to þorr?)

# data[].attributes.body
'“a symbolic castration” of the mighty Thor' (Frankki, 2012)

# data[].attributes.body
The hammer not only stands as a symbol of Þorr's virility but also of the god's continued survival. It's loss threatens the gods with extinction in so much that Þorr is willing to further sacrifice his masculinity to regain it.

# data[].attributes.body
Virility

Masculine identity

Strength

Continuation/survival of gods

Honour and status as both protector and warrior

# data[].attributes.body
Þorr's hammer is taken while he sleeps, as such we must then consider the significance of the bed chamber. Þorr's manhood/identity being removed while he sleeps may connote a forced emasculation that is further pressed when he must take on the role of a female bride.
Arguably, this holds connotations of rape - the bedchamber, loss of masculinity and symbolic loss of Þorr's status as a protector all seem to support this.

# data[].attributes.headline
'Ah, what a lovely maid it is!' Elmer Boyd Smith (1902)

# data[].attributes.subject
'Ah, what a lovely maid it is!' Elmer Boyd Smith (1902)

# data[].attributes.body
“Loki’s successful impersonation of a quick-witted maid underlines his androgynous character”
(Acker and Larrington, 1996)

# data[].attributes.body
Gakk þú út með mér og mun eg kasta yfir þig kvenskikkju og falda þig með höfuðdúki.
Come out with me and I’ll put a woman’s cloak on you and wrap your head with a scarf

# data[].attributes.body
Arguably it is the return to normalcy (or in this case Thor's masculinity) that makes such actions acceptable in this poem. We see a similar scenario in Njálls saga. Flosi has surrounded Njall’s farmstead to burn it,  but he allows the women amongst others to leave.
Helgi wears a woman’s cloak  in order to leave with the women.
Once he has left he removes the disguise and wounds an enemy with his previously concealed weapon before he is killed.
"In this manner Helgi’s manhood is firmly reestablished, and he dies an honourable Viking death." (Frankki, 2012).
This is reflected in the Eddic poem when Þorr regains his hammer, and therefore his masculinity. Both then proceed to reinforce their masculinity by wounding (or killing) others around them.

# data[].attributes.body
Loki suffers under the label three times in Locasenna, for his 'feminine' behaviours e.g.  bearing children and milking cows. Yet this seemingly derogatory term is used only by Þorr in Þrymskviða to express his fear of shame and dishonour by being emasculated.
Arguably, the lack of this in reference to Loki acts not only as a reminder of his other exploits, but reinforces how shameful an act this would be for Þorr as the protector of the gods, whose whole image is reliant on his unrelenting masculinity.

# data[].attributes.body
Þá qvað þat Þórr, þrúðugr áss:
‘Mic muno æsir argan kalla,
ef ec bindaz læt brúðar líni. (Edda 113)
Then said Thor, the vigorous god:
“The Æsir will call me a pervert,
if I let you put a bride’s veil on me.”

# data[].attributes.body
Effeminate, perverted, dastardly, wicked (Faulkes, 2007)

# data[].attributes.body
Bindo vér Þór þá brúðar líni
hafi hann iþ micla men Brísinga!
Látom und hánom hrynia lucla
oc qvennváðir um kné falla,
enn á briósti breiða steina,
oc hagliga um ho˛fuð typpom! (Edda 113)

Let’s dress Thor in a bridal head-dress,
let him wear the great necklace of the Brisings.
Let keys jingle about him
and let women’s clothing fall down to his knees,
and on his breast let’s display jewels,
and we’ll arrange a head-dress suitably on his head!

# data[].attributes.body
Is there a dual standard for gender (Loki vs. Þorr)

What represents masculinity/femininity?

How do objects/appearance help reinforce the idea of masculinity in Þrymskviða?

Maintenance of honour through masculinity

Is the subversion of identity purely for comedic effect?

# data[].attributes.body
"Not dissimilar to the confusion and problematisation of gender roles in much of Shakespearean comedy cross-dressing is an integral part of the mechanics of the plot”
Acker and Larrington (1996)

# data[].attributes.body
Central to both the complication and resolution of the plot

Presented as comedic in the character of Þorr, but natural in Loki

Use in Shakespearean comedies (~¹/5  of his plays involve cross-dressing)

# data[].attributes.body
As with Njall's saga, Þrymskviða highlights the interactions of masculine and feminine sexes.
In both we witness interpersonal relationships or feuds of men being pushed to resolution through the control of women.
Þorr and Þrymr's conflict is both caused by and resolved through Freyja, just as Hallgerdr incites much of the violence in Njall's saga.