Hlidskjalf

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This page is about the throne of the Norse god Odin. For the Burzum album see Hliðskjálf.

In Norse mythology, Hliðskjálf (sometimes Anglicized Hlidskjalf) is the high seat of Odin enabling him to see into all worlds.

In Grímnismál, Odin and Frigg are both sitting in Hlidskjálf when they see their foster sons Agnar and Geirröd, one living in a cave with a giantess and the other a king. Frigg then made the accusation to her husband that Geirröd was miserly and inhospitable toward guests, so after wagering with one another over the veracity of the statement Odin set out to visit Geirröd in order to settle the matter.

In Skírnismál, it is Freyr who sits in Hlidskjálf when he looks into Jötunheim and sees the beautiful giant maiden Gerd, with whom he instantly falls in love.

In Gylfaginning, Snorri mentions the high seat in four different places in the poem. In the first instance he seems to refer to it rather as a dwelling place:

"There is one abode called Hlidskjálf, and when Allfather sat in the high seat there, he looked out over the whole world and saw every man's acts, and knew all things which he saw."

However, later in the poem he explicitly refers to it as the high seat itself:

"Another great abode is there, which is named Valaskjálf. Odin possesses that dwelling. The gods made it and thatched it with sheer silver, and in this hall is the Hlidskjálf, the high seat so called. Whenever Allfather sits in that seat, he surveys all lands."

The third mention made of Hlidskjálf is during Snorri's recounting of the wooing of Gerd, quoted by him from Skírnismál.

Lastly, Snorri relates how Odin used the high seat to find Loki after he fled from the scene of his murder of Baldr.

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