Groa

Sorceress and a sibyl. Groa was wife of Aurvandil the Bold.

She appeared in the Prose Edda, in the myth where Thor fought the giant Hrungnir. Although Thor killed the giant with the Mjollnir, a piece of Hrungnir's whetstone was lodged in Thor's head.

Groa was using her magic to remove the piece of the whetstone, but the grateful Thor distracted the sorceress with news of her husband's whereabouts.

Thor had helped Aurvandil in crossing a freezing river of the Elivagar, whom the god was carrying in a basket, but one of Aurvandil's toes froze into ice when his foot dipped into the water. Thor broke the toe off and threw it into the sky, where it became a star. Thor told Groa that Aurvandil was now at her home.

Groa's spell went awry from the distracting news, so the whetstone became permanently stuck in Thor's head.

See Giant of Clay.

According to the poem Gróugaldr, Groa was the mother of the hero Svipdag (Svebdegg). Her son used a spell to raise her from her grave, so that Svipdag could learn how he could successfully woo the beautiful Menglöd, whom he had to win in a dangerous quest. The tale of Svipdag's quest for Menglöd can be found in another poem called Fjölsvinnsmál. Svipdag found Menglöd in a castle on top of a mountain, where she was surrounded by a ring of flame and guarded by a giant named Fjolsvinn.