Thrym (Dungeons & Dragons)

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Dungeons & Dragons Deity
Thrym
Title(s) Lord of the Frost Giants
Home Plane Ysgard
Power Level Intermediate deity
Alignment Chaotic evil
Portfolio Frost Giants, Cold, Ice, War
Domains Chaos, Cold, Destruction, Earth, Evil, Strength, War
Alias(es) Þrymr, Thrymr, Thrym
Superior Annam

Thrym is the lord of the frost giants. He is a god of cold and ice, as well as a deity of magic. He can plunge any part of the Prime Material Plane into a state of extreme cold. His animal is the white dragon. His holy symbol is a white, double-bladed greataxe.

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[edit] Description

Thrym is a hulking menace, appearing as a mighty frost giant with white eyes, blue hair, and a constant snarl.

[edit] Relationships

Like Surtr and Skoraeus Stonebones, Thrym is part of the second generation of giantish deities. Although Surtr's cult is similar to Thrym's, fire and ice do not mix.

Thrym is credited with creating the first minotaur from the vestige Haagenti, and with creating the first icebergs during his battle with his sister Shax.

Kostchtchie hates him and hopes to take all his worshippers for his own.

[edit] Realm

Thrym rules from Jotunheim in Ysgard. Jotunheim is a harsh realm of glaciers and volcanoes, desolate plains, and snow-capped mountains. Thrym's court makes occasional stops in Utgard, the capital city of the giants there, which is ruled by a giant called Utgard-Loki.

[edit] Dogma

Thrym's cults teach that the world will end with Fimbul Winter, and that cold will triumph after Surtr's fire burns everything.

[edit] Worshippers

Almost all of Thrym's worshippers are frost giants, but he has been known to approve clerics of other races if they fit his ideals. Some neanderthals and northern barbarians have been known to worship him.

[edit] Clergy

Frost giant shamans are responsible for helping frost giants of their tribe claim their spot in the afterlife, which they do by holding regular prayer vigils and trying to incite frost giant warriors to undertake ever more daring adventures. They wear horned helms and snowy white furs.

[edit] Temples

Thrym's temples in the lands of men are hidden affairs, but in the lands of the giants they may be enormous fortresses that ring with the sounds of weapons being forged. Visitors have only moments to prove their intentions before they are slain by frost giants, who do not desire witnesses to their activities.

Smaller tribes of frost giants make do with small shrines built of logs.

[edit] Holy Days

The holy day of Thrym is the Winter Solstice. Prayer vigils are held, but Thrym does not demand sacrifices.

[edit] Myths and legends

[edit] Grjotgard

Grjotgard, one of the ten brothers of Thrym, was captured by the demon prince Kostchtchie and chained within a fortress of ice within the Abyss. Kostchtchie hoped to use him as a bargaining chip against Thrym, but thus far all he has received is a steady stream of frost giants eager for vengeance in their god's name. Though this has cost Kostchtchie dearly, he has thus far been unwilling to admit defeat.

[edit] Haagenti

Haagenti was a shapeshifting hill giant sorceress who transformed into a beautiful frost giant so that she could bear the children of Thrym. Thrym cursed her and their sons, transforming them into the first minotaurs. The incestuous coupling between Haagenti and her sons resulted in the minotaur race.

Haagenti forswore beauty forevermore, and because every plane is beautiful to someone, became a trapped between the planes of existence as a mere vestige of her former self.

Haagenti is also the name of a presumedly unrelated Abyssal lord, the Lord of Alchemy.

[edit] Shax

Shax, the Sea Sister, was once goddess of the sea in the Giant pantheon. A daughter of Annam, she had dominion over storm giants and the waters. She was a cruel goddess, inspiring the storm giants to battle other species. For some reason, Annam could not sense her, and never knew she existed, perhaps in the same way that he didn't know of his daughters Diancastra and Hiatea until they introduced themselves to him.

Thrym found his sister beautiful and terrible, and offered to wed her. She refused, and so he decapitated her, thus saving the storm giants from eons more cruelty. The fragments of flesh that fell from Thrym's wounds became the first icebergs.

[edit] Creative origins

In Norse mythology, King Þrymr (Thrymr, Thrym; "uproar") of the Jotuns (frost giants) stole Mjollnir, Thor's hammer, to extort the gods into giving him Freyja as his wife. His kingdom was called Jötunheimr, but according to Hversu Noregr byggdist, it was the Swedish province Värmland.

Þrymr was foiled in his scheme by the knowledge of Heimdall, the cunning of Loki, and the sheer violence of Thor. In fact, mighty Thor, son of Odin, later killed Thrym, his sister, and all of his giant kin, which had been present at the wedding reception. The poem Þrymskviða gives the details of how Thor got his hammer back.

Bergfinnr is a son of Thrymr, the Giant of Vermland.

[edit] References

  • Baker, Richard and James Wyatt. Players Guide to Faerun. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
  • Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:[1]
  • McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996.
  • Sernett, Matthew, Dave Noonan, Ari Marmell, and Robert J. Schwalb. Tome of Magic. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2006.
  • Smith, Lester W., and Wolfgang Baur. Planes of Chaos. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1994.
  • Ward, James and Troy Denning. Legends & Lore. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990.
  • Winninger, Ray. Giantcraft. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995.