Hrimthur: the stonemason who doomed Asgard
Hrimthur was a Jotunn stonemason, the son of Thamur, who completed the Great Walls of Jotunheim and then sought vengeance on the Aesir. Disguised as a mortal, he rebuilt the walls of Asgard and hid a weakness within them that would one day open the realm to its destruction.
Hrimthur was a Jotunn stonemason, the son of the great mason Thamur, who completed the Great Walls of Jotunheim and then turned his skill to vengeance against the Aesir. Disguised as a mortal, he rebuilt the walls of Asgard and concealed within them a weakness that would one day bring it to ruin, a secret he passed to Freya and that was finally exploited in Ragnarok. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)
Son of the great mason#
Hrimthur possessed excellent skill in masonry, inherited from his father Thamur, who was renowned as the greatest stonemason in the world. Yet to his father's dismay, Hrimthur had the heart of a warrior and refused to help raise the walls around Jotunheim. A quarrel between father and son spiraled out of control until Thamur struck him, and Hrimthur ran away. When Thamur was later killed by Thor while searching for his son, Hrimthur returned to Jotunheim and completed his father's masterwork, the Great Walls of Jotunheim. (God of War (2018))
The walls of Asgard#
His father's work finished, Hrimthur turned his thoughts to vengeance against the Aesir for their crimes against the Giants. Once he had longed to fight Thor, but the tragedy of his father had taught him wisdom and cunning instead. He observed that the walls of Asgard were half built and shoddy, for no Aesir god would stoop to such labor, and so he adopted the guise of an ordinary mortal and made the Aesir an offer. He would build them magnificent new walls, and if he failed to complete them within two turns of the season they would owe him nothing, but if he succeeded he asked only for an audience with the goddess Freya. (God of War (2018))
Odin agreed, certain the task was impossible and intrigued by the stranger. With the lessons of his father and the aid of a magical stallion that hauled his stones, Hrimthur completed the work, much to the Allfather's frustration. (God of War (2018))
The hidden weakness#
Odin seemed to honor the wager and sent Freya to meet the mason. To her surprise, Hrimthur wished only to whisper something into her ear. That done, he made his way toward the entrance to Asgard, where Thor waited for him. It was then that Hrimthur understood he had been double crossed, for Odin had learned who he truly was and meant for him to be slain as his father and most of his kind had been. But he did not care, for his plan was complete. (God of War (2018))
Mimir long suspected that Hrimthur had built some weakness, structural or magical, into the walls of Asgard, and had given the secret to Freya, who bore little love for the Aesir, in readiness for their downfall. During a later voyage through Svartalfheim, Mimir at last asked Freya what the mason had told her. She confirmed that he had embedded a flaw behind the Asgard Realm Tower, but warned that they could not make use of it themselves, for Hrimthur had said that Surtr would know what to do, meaning the weakness was meant to ease the fire giant's entry come Ragnarok. In the end, during Ragnarok, the dwarf Sindri used a special contraption to blast open the flaw in Asgard's walls, allowing the armies of Kratos to pour through and completing Hrimthur's plan at last. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Hrimthur in God of War?
- Hrimthur was a Jotunn stonemason and the son of Thamur, the greatest mason of the Giants. After completing the Great Walls of Jotunheim, he disguised himself as a mortal, rebuilt the walls of Asgard, and secretly hid a flaw within them to one day bring about the downfall of the Aesir.
- What did Hrimthur whisper to Freya?
- When he was granted his audience with Freya, Hrimthur whispered to her the secret of the weakness he had built into Asgard's walls. Knowing that Freya loathed the Aesir, he passed her the knowledge of how the realm might one day be breached.
- How did Hrimthur's plan succeed?
- Hrimthur told Freya that Surtr would know what to do with the flaw. During Ragnarok, the dwarf Sindri used a special contraption to blast open the weakness behind the Asgard Realm Tower, allowing Kratos and his armies to storm Asgard and completing Hrimthur's long-laid plan.
Sources
- GameGod of War (2018), Santa Monica Studio, 2018
- GameGod of War Ragnarök, Santa Monica Studio, 2022
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
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Kratos
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Mimir
Mimir was a Celtic fae who rose to become Odin's advisor and the ambassador of the Aesir before the All-Father imprisoned him for over a century. Freed and reanimated as a disembodied head by Kratos and Atreus, he became their guide, conscience, and friend across the Nine Realms.
Sindri: the dwarf who destroyed Odin's soul
Sindri devised Mjolnir and dived into the Lake of Souls to bring his brother Brok back. After Odin murdered Brok, Sindri destroyed Odin's soul at Ragnarok.
Thamur: killed by his own chisel
Thamur was the finest stonemason in the Nine Realms. Thor drove the giant's own chisel through his skull, and his falling corpse crushed a village.
The Aesir
The Aesir were one of the two tribes of Norse gods, natives of Asgard known for their war-like nature and their hunger for knowledge. Descended from the slain primordial Ymir and ruled by Odin, they claimed dominion over all creation, waging genocide upon the Jotnar and war upon the Vanir before their fall in Ragnarok.
Asgard
Asgard was the realm of the Aesir gods, perched in the crown of Yggdrasil and ruled by Odin from the hall of Gladsheim. Behind the great wall of Hrimthur it stood as a fortress against the prophesied doom of Ragnarok, until Kratos breached it and the realm fell.
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Asgard
Asgard was the realm of the Aesir gods, perched in the crown of Yggdrasil and ruled by Odin from the hall of Gladsheim. Behind the great wall of Hrimthur it stood as a fortress against the prophesied doom of Ragnarok, until Kratos breached it and the realm fell.
Bergelmir: the Beloved King of the Giants
Bergelmir was a Frost Giant who, with his wife, alone survived the flood of Ymir's blood that drowned the rest of his race. He found a new land, named it Jotunheim, and repopulated the Jotnar as its king, refusing all vengeance against Odin. He died of old age surrounded by his kin and was remembered ever after as Bergelmir the Beloved.
Gladsheim: the hall of Odin
Gladsheim was the great hall and central settlement of Asgard, the heart of Odin's power. Sheltered behind the wall of Hrimthur, it was the seat of the Aesir and the place where Odin met his end during Ragnarok.
Hrimthur's Wall: the rampart of Asgard
Hrimthur's Wall was the colossal rampart that ringed Asgard, raised by the giant Hrimthur after the Aesir left their defences half built. Into it he set a secret flaw, a hidden weakness meant to one day bring the fortress down.
Ragnarok: the war that only Asgard lost
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Skjöldr: the farm boy of New Midgard
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Surtr: the fire giant who became Ragnarok
Surtr was the first fire giant, born from Ginnungagap after Ymir. He gave himself up to become Ragnarok and drove his blade into the heart of Asgard.
Thamur: killed by his own chisel
Thamur was the finest stonemason in the Nine Realms. Thor drove the giant's own chisel through his skull, and his falling corpse crushed a village.
Thamur's Corpse: the frozen grave of the giant stonemason
Thamur's Corpse was the vast frozen body of the giant stonemason Thamur, who fell upon a village in Midgard after a clash with Thor. The land around him remained an abandoned tundra, the site of two battles in Kratos and Atreus's journey.
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