Járnsaxa

Járnsaxa bore Magni to Thor, and Magni was their son. Her name meant ‘the one with the iron knife’. It also meant ‘she who crushed the iron’. The world-mill processed iron with other materials, and her name connected her with its work. In Hyndluljóð, Járnsaxa stood among Heimdall’s nine giant mothers: Gjálp, Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Ulfrun, Angeyja, Imdr and Atla. Another telling named her as the giantess who bore Magni to Thor. In a further telling, Járnsaxa was used as a name for the goddess Sif. The name therefore belonged among giantesses, entered Heimdall’s maternal ancestry, and marked the parentage of Thor’s son.