The Giantess Who Would Not Weep

Why did Thokk refuse to weep?

To bring Baldr back, everything in the world had to weep for him. If anything refused, Hel would not let him go. The gods sent messengers throughout the world, asking all things to weep so that Baldr could return from the land of the dead.

People and animals wept. Earth, stones, trees, and every kind of metal shed tears too. On their way home, the messengers found a giantess sitting in a cave. She called herself Thokk. They asked her to weep for Baldr as well.

But Thokk refused to shed a tear. She said that Baldr had never done her any good, alive or dead. Let Hel keep what she had, she declared. With that, the condition for Baldr's return could not be met. The story tells us that this giantess was thought to have been Loki.

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