G is for Grottasǫngr (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Grottasǫngr
Iceland

This story (in prose and poetic form) is part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, and even though it is short, it is rich in detail and influence. The title translates into The Song of Grotti - Grotti being the magical mill at the center of the plot. However, the real protagonists are the two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, who are turning the stone, and singing the song. The manuscripts it is preserved in date from the 13th and 14th centuries, but the song was likely composed in the 12th, under Danish influence. The translation I read (by Clive Tolley) comes with a lengthy introduction and detailed footnotes, which added a lot of interesting detail to the actual text.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Danish king Frodi enslaves two giantesses to turn a giant magical mill that grinds out riches. When he doesn't let them rest, the giantesses use magic to take revenge.

Snorri's prose version: Two large millstones are found in Denmark during the reign of King Frodi. They are so heavy that no one can turn them. Frodi travels to Sweden to visit the neighboring king, and acquires two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, as slaves. When he returns with them, he orders them to turn the millstones. The mill is so large that both girls are needed to turn it, and it can produce whatever is asked. The giantesses grind out large quantities of gold, peace, and prosperity for Frodi's kingdom. This era of peace and prosperity coincides with Augustus' "golden age" and therefore the lifetime of Christ. However, overtaken by greed, the king doesn't let Fenja and Menja rest at all. Eventually they grow spiteful, put everyone to sleep with a spell, and start singing their own song, grinding out strife and an invading army. Frodi's reign is toppled by a sea-king called Mysingr, who takes the mill on his ship. He orders the giantesses to grind salt for him (which is very valuable). However, weighed down by salt, the ship sinks, and the mill goes to the bottom of the ocean - where it is still grinding salt today.

The song itself: Fenja and Menja sing their story of becoming enslaved to the king, even though they are giantesses, and possess the ability of far-sight (clairvoyance). Frodi does not let them rest longer than "the cuckoo stops singing" - or, barely at all. They sing of their ancestry the king doesn't know of (they are related to several famous giants in Norse mythology), their childhood being raised underground - and they also reveal they were the ones who tore the large millstones from the mountain and tossed them down for humans to find. They sing about going to battle, toppling princes, winning wars. Eventually they sing Frodi's demise into existence, not deterred by the bloodshed they are causing.

The highlights

It was interesting to read in the introduction that the figure of King Frodi is actually a composite of two characters: one a prosperous, peaceful king (possibly a former fertility god), and the other a historical tyrant brought down by sea raiders. This accounts for the two halves of the story.

It is also a really interesting point that Frodi's eventual downfall is brought about by not investigating who his new slaves really were, or what they were capable of. The song states "you picked them for strength and appearances / but as to their ancestry you asked no question". Underestimating the mighty women is his fatal mistake.

The Introduction connects the song to ATU tale type 565, The magic mill, which appears in a whole lot of folktales explaining why the sea is salt. According to the research, this might have been tacked onto the Grottasongr at a later date, as it is not an integral part; Frodi's reign originally ends with Grotti shattering. Which I think is a pretty apt ending.

The notes of the translator raise the possibility of the human (Hengikjoptr) who found the millstones and gave them to Frodi actually being Odin in disguise. The gift being a test and a trick would be in alignment with an incognito god. It is also suggested that, since the giantesses had foresight, they might have intentionally put themselves in Frodi's power to eventually bring about his downfall. I kind of like that reading of the story.

The long-lasting reach of the story was illustrated by a list of kennings (metaphors) for gold in other sagas, all referencing Grottasongr in some way ("Fenja's grinding", "Frodi's seed", "flour of the joyless bondwomen" etc.). It was also fascinating to read how Fenja and Menja survived as witches in Orkney legends, and Grotti serves as the origin story of a whirlpool in the Pentland Firth.

THIS IS ONE OF THE LESSER KNOWN STORIES OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY.

Have you heard about it before? Which interpretation do you like?