Starkaðr: the eight-armed giant Odin feared

Starkaðr, called Starkaðr the Mighty, was an eight-armed Jötunn warrior whose strength surpassed even Thor. Of all the Giants he was reckoned the most fearsome, and Mimir judged that had the Jötnar ever raised an army, Starkaðr would have led it. It was that very fear, planted in the mind of Odin, that doomed him.

The mightiest of the Jötnar#

Starkaðr was a Frost Giant of eight arms, a warrior whose strength was held to surpass that of Thor himself. Among the Jötnar he was counted the most formidable in battle, peaceful and honorable in nature despite his great martial skill. So great was his prowess that the God of Thunder, who feared no foe and gladly faced even Jormungandr, would not meet Starkaðr in single combat.

Mimir, who in those days served as Odin's advisor, believed that if the Giants ever assembled anything so ordered as an army, Starkaðr would have stood as their general. It was an opinion he confided to Odin, and one he would regret for the rest of his days.

Odin's slander#

Hearing Mimir's judgment, Odin grew fearful of what Starkaðr might become and bent his will toward the giant's destruction. Yet not even Thor was foolish enough to face Starkaðr alone, and so the Aesir turned to deceit. They set slanders upon his name, branding him throughout the realms as a monster to be feared. Among the lies was the tale that he had carried off an Elf-queen who killed herself rather than be taken by the giant.

The falsehoods served their purpose. Roused against him, the Vanir gods and the armies of Midgard joined the Aesir, so that the combined might of three peoples was turned against a single giant. Even so, Starkaðr proved no easy quarry, and only with great difficulty was he brought to his knees beneath a storm of arrows.

Death and Mimir's regret#

Worn down at last, Starkaðr surrendered, hoping that by trial he might clear his name of the slanders heaped upon him. Thor gave him no such chance. The God of Thunder fell upon the weakened giant and tore away one of his arms, which made it easier to rip away another, and another, until he was satisfied. Stripped of his limbs and drained of too much blood, Starkaðr perished upon the battlefield.

Mimir grieved the deed long afterward, confessing that he had told himself there was nothing he could do, yet wishing he had tried to stay Odin's hand. Among the Greek powers, the nearest in form to Starkaðr were the many-limbed Hecatonchires, chief among them Aegaeon.