Megingjörð
Thor’s Belt of Strength
Norse mythology
Eiður Eyþórsson, 29th of January, 2026.
1
Introduction
Megingjörð (Old Norse: megingjǫrð, “girdle of power”)[1a] is a magical belt in Norse mythology that doubles the strength of the god Thor. Alongside Thor’s hammer Mjölnir, and the iron gloves Járngreipr, the belt forms part of Thor’s essential equipment. Although it is only mentioned briefly in surviving sources, Megingjörð consistently appears as a practical object rather than a symbol of rank or authority, amplifying the power of a god already renowned for his physical strength.
We Vikings have included all mentions of Megingjörð in the literary sources with direct quotes. We believe that transparency is beneficial for you, the reader, to have easy access to what the sources actually say as you read the article. You can then better understand what is known, what is inferred, and what is a matter of interpretation.
2
Megingjörð in the sources
Megingjörð is attested only in the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson in the early 13th century. Snorri frequently draws on older poetic material, quoting or paraphrasing earlier works to support his explanations of myth and poetry.
One of the tales where Megingjörð plays a role is based on Þórsdrápa, a skaldic poem recounting Thor’s journey to the giant Geirröðr. Snorri attributes the poem to Eilífr Goðrúnarson, who according to Skáldatal was at the court of Earl Hákon Sigurðsson in the late 10th century. While Megingjörð itself is only named explicitly in Snorri’s prose, this places the narrative context in which it appears firmly within the Viking Age. How much older the concept may be cannot be determined with certainty.
2.1
Megingjörð as Part of Thor’s Identity
In Skáldskaparmál, a section of the Prose Edda devoted to poetic diction and kennings, Thor is defined not only by his deeds but by his relationships and possessions. Among these, Megingjörð is named as one of the objects by which Thor may be identified. [2a]
“How can one recognize Thor? He may be referred to as the son of Odin and Earth, the father of Magni and Modi and Thrud, the husband of Sif, stepfather of Ull, the wielder and owner of Mjolnir and Megingjord, of Bilskirnir, defender of Asgard and Midgard, and the slayer of giants and troll-women…” [3c]
This passage confirms that Megingjörð was understood as a recognizable and canonical attribute of Thor, rather than a marginal or incidental detail. Interestingly, Járngreipr is not mentioned here, though it appears elsewhere in the Prose Edda. This omission does not necessarily imply a hierarchy among Thor’s possessions, but it does highlight how consistently Megingjörð is associated with his identity.
2.2
The Function of Megingjörð
The clearest description of Megingjörð appears in Gylfaginning, where Thor’s possessions are listed in detail, and the function of the belt is explicitly described.
“He also possesses three precious objects. One of them is the hammer Mjolnir, which the frost-giants and mountain-giants recognize when it is raised aloft, and that is not surprising. He has smashed many a skull of their fathers or kinsmen. Another object he possesses, the best one, is Megingjord, and when he fastens it around himself, his divine strength increases by half. The third item he possesses is one in which there is great value: these are the iron gloves. He cannot do without them when gripping the hammer’s shaft.” [3a]
“Hann á ok þrjá kostgripi. Einn þeira er hamarrinn Mjöllnir, er hrímþursar ok bergrisar kenna, þá er hann kemr á loft, ok er þat eigi undarligt. Hann hefir lamit margan haus á feðrum eða frændum þeira. Annan grip á hann beztan, megingjarðar, ok er hann spennir þeim um sik, þá vex honum ásmegin hálfu. Inn þriðja hlut á hann, þann er mikill gripr er í. Þat eru járnglófar. Þeira má hann eigi missa við hamarskaftit.” [4a]
This passage establishes Megingjörð’s defining function: it amplifies Thor’s strength rather than creating it. This distinction is crucial. The source says that his strength increases by half, which is generally understood to mean it is doubled. One thing is certain. Thor is incredibly strong with or without Megingjörð. According to the Prose Edda, Thor is the strongest of both men and gods. [2b]
2.3
Megingjörð in Action
In Gylfaginning chapter 45, Megingjörð appears in a context that highlights its practical use. Thor is traveling when he encounters a massive being in the wilderness, later revealed to be the giant Skrýmir. During the night, Thor experiences what he believes to be earthquakes. At dawn, he realizes that these tremors were caused by the giant himself.
Before any confrontation takes place, Thor prepares himself for action:
“And when it came to dawn, Thor went outside and saw a man lying a short distance away from him in the forest, and he was no small man. He was asleep and snoring loudly. Then Thor realized what had caused the disturbances during the night. He girded himself with Megingjord, and his divine power increased.” [3b]
Preparing for combat with the giant, Thor’s first reaction is to equip himself with Megingjörð.
2.4
The Absence of Megingjörð: Thor's Journey to Geirröðr
In Skáldskaparmál, a story is told of when Thor sets out on a journey to the hall of the giant Geirröðr without his usual equipment:
“Then Bragi answered: “That is a tale worth telling. When Thor went to Geirrod’s dwelling. Then he did not have with him the hammer Mjolnir, Megingjord, nor Jarngreip, and Loki was the cause of this.” [3d]
The text immediately attributes Thor’s lack of equipment to Loki, but at this point, it does not explain how or why this came about. The reason is provided shortly afterward in the same chapter, where the narrative shifts its focus away from Thor and recounts an earlier episode involving Loki.
While traveling in the shape of a bird, Loki flies to Geirröðr’s hall out of curiosity and is noticed watching from outside. After a difficult attempt, he is captured and brought before the giant. Suspecting that the bird may in fact be a man in disguise, Geirröðr imprisons Loki and starves him for three months. Only when Loki finally speaks and reveals his identity does Geirröðr agree to release him, on the condition that Loki swear an oath.
In exchange for his life, Loki promises to bring Thor to Geirröðr’s hall without both Megingjörð and Mjölnir.
At this point, the Skáldskaparmál states:
“Loki told him who he was, and to save his life, he swore this oath to Geirrod: that he would bring Thor to Geirrod’s dwelling, without neither his hammer nor Megingjord.” [3e]
The mention of Megingjörð alongside Mjölnir underscores that the belt was understood as an essential component of Thor’s power.
The story then introduces an apparent inconsistency. Thor receives assistance from the giantess Gríðr, who apparently lends him Megingjörð, Járngreipr, and the staff Gríðarvölr before he confronts Geirröðr.
“Thor came to a lodging at the dwelling of the giantess Grid. She was the mother of Vidarr the Silent. She told Thor the truth about Geirrod, that he was a giant, extremely cunning and dangerous to confront. She lent him Megingjord and the Jarngreip that she owned, and her staff, which is called Gridarvol. Then Thor went to the river called Vimur, the greatest of all rivers. There, he girded himself with Megingjord and braced himself against the current with Gridarvol, while Loki held onto Megingjord. When Thor reached the middle of the river, the river rose so greatly that the water surged up to his shoulders.” [3f]
“Þórr kom til gistingar til gýgjar þeirar, er Gríðr er kölluð. Hon var móðir Víðars ins þögla. Hon sagði Þór satt frá Geirröði, at hann var jötunn hundvíss ok illr viðreignar. Hon léði honum megingjarða ok járngreipr, er hon átti, ok staf sinn, er heitir Gríðarvölr. Þá fór Þórr til ár þeirar, er Vimur heitir, allra á mest. Þá spennti hann sik megingjörðum ok studdi forstreymis Gríðarvöl, en Loki helt undir megingjarðar. Ok þá er Þórr kom á miðja ána, þá óx svá mjök áin, at uppi braut á öxl honum.” [4d]
Megingjörð is first described as Thor’s possession, which he is parted from, and later as an item lent to him. Whether this reflects a genuine inconsistency in the source, or Snorri’s difficulty in rendering the dense skaldic poem Þórsdrápa into prose cannot be determined with certainty.
Gríðr’s act of lending Thor Megingjörð, Járngreipr, and her staff Gríðarvölr is the closest the sources come to describing how the belt entered Thor’s possession. However, that theory is undermined by the conflicting information in the beginning about Thor venturing without megingjörð, járngreipr and mjölnir because of Loki, in addition to that the giantess Gríðr only lending Thor the items.
Arguably, it would have made more sense if Thor had only left without his hammer Mjölnir in the beginning of the story. Then later on acquiring Megingjörð, Járngreipr and Gríðarvölr from Gríðr before facing Geirröðr. However, that is not what the Prose Edda account of the story says. The story nevertheless reinforces Megingjörð’s importance by making its absence significant.
2.5
Does Thor's size increase with Megingjörð?
There is some evidence that could suggest that Thor’s size may increase along with his divine strength when he girds himself with Megingjörð.
First of which is in Þórsdrápa, a skaldic poem composed by Eilífr Goðrúnarson in the 10th century. Snorri states that his account of Thor’s journey to Geirröðr is in fact based on the poem. However, Þórsdrápa is famously dense and difficult to interpret. One stanza appears to correspond closely to the moment when Thor’s strength increases, aligning with Snorri’s prose description of Megingjörð.
In this stanza, Thor’s belt is referred to through the kenning njarðgjarðar, literally “Njörðr’s belt,” which is generally understood as a poetic circumlocution for Megingjörð. The reason Njörðr is invoked here remains unclear. No mythological connection between Njörðr and Thor’s belt is otherwise attested, and the kenning likely reflects skaldic convention rather than a lost narrative.
The stanza describes Thor’s situation as follows:
The belt’s bearer [Thor]
saw the hardened mountain shoulders,
closing in, falling around him;
no ready solution could the man find.
Then the bane of Thorn’s [giant] children said:
his strength will grow to the sky’s roof
unless Morn’s rushing blood [river] should recede.[5a]
[GKS 2367 4°, fol. 24v, lines 32–35]
Of particular interest here is also the phrase til svíra salþaks megin vaxa, which means that Thor’s power grows so much that his neck hits the roof. This imagery suggests not merely an abstract increase in power, but a form of physical expansion.
A similar idea appears in a stanza quoted in Skáldskaparmál, although the verse itself does not belong to Þórsdrápa. The stanza does not explicitly mention Megingjörð, but Snorri has already established in the surrounding prose that Thor is wearing the belt as he wades the river Vimur. Within this context, Thor declares:
Now you are growing, Vimur;
I will wade across to the giants’ dwellings.
You know, if you grow,
then my divine strength will grow
equally high as the sky.[3g]
This stanza from Skáldskaparmál reinforces the same idea. Thor’s divine strength increase is expressed spatially as height or size when he is confronted with resistance or danger. It’s also noteworthy that Thor’s strength does not seem to be constant. Instead, it grows with increased resistance.
If these poetic images are taken together, they suggest that Megingjörð increases more than just his strength when Thor puts the belt on. This would help explain why Snorri consistently presents the belt as something Thor actively girds himself with before confronting giants, and why its absence in the Geirröðr episode is narratively significant.
3
Etymology, meaning and possible runic writing
The Old Norse word megingjörð is a compound feminine noun. The word consists of two parts, megin– and gjörð, which mean:
- megin: Strength, power, or might
- gjörð: Girdle or belt
Together, megingjörð means “belt of strength” or “girdle of power”. [1b]
Writing megingjörð in runes is possible, even though there is no direct runic evidence for the whole word. The part megin can be found on a Swedish runestone, with the database name U1177, dating back to 725-1100. [6] It is part of the name of a man called Meginbjǫrn (Mighty-Bear). There, megin is there written: ᛘᛂᚵᛁᚾ
If that evidence is used, and the gjörð part is reconstructed, the word megingjörð would be:
ᛘᛂᚵᛁᚾᚵᛁᚢᚱᚦ
megingiurþ
This would not be the only way to write it. If another approach is taken, where runic evidence of certain letters is followed, there is another possible way to reconstruct the word using a more simplified runic alphabet. The letter E is often written with the rune ᛁ, and G with a ᚴ rune. In that case, megingjörð would be written:
ᛘᛁᚴᛁᚾᚴᛁᚢᚱᚦ
mikinkiurþ
Spelling was not as strictly systematized during the Viking Age as it is today. Therefore, both of these spellings could theoretically be considered valid. However, when there is direct evidence of the word or part thereof, it could be considered a more faithfully written runic version.
4
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Now we have covered every mention of Megingjörð in the literary sources, and it is time for some last thoughts. We can conclude that Megingjörð appears repeatedly as an essential component of Thor’s equipment in the Prose Edda.
It is notable that the belt is never mentioned in the Poetic Edda, another foundational source for Norse mythology. Whether this absence reflects differences in genre, emphasis, or the survival of sources cannot be said with certainty. Nevertheless, Snorri Sturluson’s work confirms that Megingjörð was understood as a defining element of Thor’s identity in the Icelandic tradition at the time when the Prose Edda was written.
The logic behind the way Megingjörð functions does not seem that far fetched. Modern powerlifters regularly use lifting belts to stabilize the body and enhance performance during heavy lifts. Megingjörð’s attribute seems to be based on a similar logic.
A similar pattern may be observed in the relationship between strength and physical size. Certain poetic passages suggest that Thor’s increase in power is expressed spatially. If this interpretation is correct, it would align with a widely observable correlation between size and strength. One that people in the Viking Age would have recognized, even without articulating it in modern scientific terms.
5
Q&A Summary
What is Megingjörð?
Megingjörð is a magical belt worn by the god Thor in Norse mythology. According to the Prose Edda, it increases Thor’s strength when he fastens it around himself.
Does Megingjörð create Thor’s strength?
No. The sources describe Thor as inherently strong even without the belt. Megingjörð amplifies a power he already possesses rather than creating it.
Is Megingjörð a symbol of status or a practical object?
Megingjörð functions primarily as a practical object that enhances Thor’s power rather than as a symbol of status or authority.
Is Megingjörð mentioned in the Poetic Edda?
No. Megingjörð appears only in the Prose Edda. The reason for its absence from the Poetic Edda is uncertain and may reflect differences in genre, tradition, or textual survival.
What sources mention Megingjörð?
Megingjörð is mentioned in Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. Related imagery also appears in Þórsdrápa, a skaldic poem.
Does Megingjörð increase Thor’s size as well as his strength?
Some poetic passages suggest that Thor’s growing power is expressed as an increase in height or physical presence. This interpretation is plausible but not explicitly stated in the sources.
6
References
[1] Zoëga, Geir T. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910, page 293.
Digital facsimile available via Internet Archive.
[2] GKS 2367 4to (Codex Regius of the Prose Edda). Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek. Fol. 24v, lines 32–35 [a], fol. 6r, line 21 [b].
Digital facsimile available via Handrit.
[3] Prose Edda, English translation by Eiður Eyþórsson (unpublished). Gylfaginning ch. 21 [a], ch. 45 [b]; Skáldskaparmál ch. 11 [c] & 26 [d][e][f][g].
[4] Guðni Jónsson, 1954, Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, Prentverk Odds Björnssonar, Gylfaginning ch. 21 [a] & 45 [b]; Skáldskaparmál ch. 11 [c] & 26 [d][e][f][g].
[5] Þórsdrápa, stanza 8. Normalized Old Norse text from the Skaldic Project. Based on GKS 2367 4to (Codex Regius of the Prose Edda). English translation by Eiður Eyþórsson, based on the Skaldic Project’s editorial reconstruction[a][b].
Digital edition available via Skaldic Project.
[6] U 1177 (Uppland runic inscription), c. 725–1100.
Scandinavian Runic-text Database, 2020 edition.
Uppsala University.
Digital record available via Scandinavian Runic-text Database.
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