GARM, name of the mythologic dog, who remains chained at the cavern of Gnypa, until Ragnarok; he will then break his chain, and fight with Tyr; both will perish.
GAUTHIOD (Gothland), a name of Sweden.
GEFION, an Asynia, the goddess of virginity, herself a virgin; she receives in her domain in Asagard women, who die unmarried. She is the founder of the island of Sealand (Denmark), which was supposed to have been formerly joined to the continent of Sweden, and which, at her request, was ploughed around, separated from the mainland, and dragged into the Ocean by the sons of Gyllfe, who, to please her, transformed themselves into oxen, and performed the said service.
GEIRSODD means “point of a lance.” The historical Odin, when on his death-bed, cut his veins with the point of a lance, assuring his surviving followers and companions, that those who died on the field of battle, or in this manner covered with blood, would meet him in Valhalla, and partake of all the delights of the immortals. Hence the natural death by old age or sickness, called emphatically strâ död (death on the straw), was looked upon as ignominious by the northern warriors, and as exposing them to the danger of falling into the clutches of Hela. They, in consequence, when they felt their end approaching, either by old age or sickness, opened their veins, and bled to death; this was called cutting runes to Odin, or otherwise geirsodd rita (to scratch with the point of a lance); and this, as they believed, ensured them admission into Valhalla.
GERDA, a beautiful damsel of Jotun race, daughter of the giant Gymer. She was united to Frey with the consent of all the gods, and admitted among the Asynior. She was renowned for her beauty, piety and virtue. Finn Magnussen thinks that Gerda is a type of the aurora borealis, which replaces the light of the sun in winter, in the extreme northern regions; Frey himself typifying the sun. Others suppose that Gerda typifies the earth, and her amour with Frey the relationship between the earth and the sun.
GESTUR, name of a blind giant who proposes riddles and enigmas to Skirnir on his journey to the world below, for the purpose of visiting Gerda.
GIALLAR, name of the horn of Heimdal, which he blows, to give notice to the gods of those who arrive at, and attempt to cross the bridge Bifrost. Etym.: Icelandic verb gala (to sing, to call out). The English verb call, and the Swedish and Danish verbs kalla, kalde, come from the same root.
GIANTS, called in the Scandinavian dialects Jotun, Jetter, Jâttar, the evil genii of the Gothic mythology. At Ragnarok they are to fight with and defeat the Asar on the plains of Vigrid; but they are themselves to perish in the conflagration that ensues, and they will never be resuscitated (i.e. in a future state of existence there will be no violence or crime). The giants dwell in their peculiar territory, Jotunheim, in Utgard, and are ruled by their sovereign, Lok, commonly called Utgard-Lok, to distinguish him from an Asa of the same name. The giants were supposed to be of various forms and races, some having the heads of wild beasts joined to human bodies, and others the human form entire. They understood magic, were capable of assuming divers shapes, and of increasing or diminishing their stature ad libitum. They seem to bear a great resemblance to the Titans of the Greek, and to the Afrites of the Mohammedan theology, and all are borrowed from the Persian system, the doctrine of the Magi.
GIMLE, the most beautiful of all buildings, in which virtuous mortals are to dwell together with the gods, after the reconstruction of the universe, in eternal joy and felicity. The grave is often termed by the Scalds, “the verdant gate of Gimle.” The German word Himmel (heaven) is derived therefrom. Etym.: from the Icelandic word gimlir (splendour).