Hljod

Hljod or Ljod (Old Norse Hljóð) is a giantess in Norse mythology. According to the Völsunga saga Hljod, the daughter of Hrímnir, married the hero Völsung. She bore him ten sons, one of whom was Sigmund, and a daughter, Signy. She had earlier brought the apple from the gods that enabled Völsung's mother to conceive him.

The passage in which Hljóð is sent is:

Þat er nú sagt, at Frigg heyrir bæn þeira ok segir Óðni, hvers þau biðja. Hann verðr eigi örþrifráða ok tekr óskmey sína, dóttur Hrímnis jötuns
It is now said that Frigg heard their prayers and told Óðinn what they prayed. He was not without resources and took his wish-maid, the daughter of the jötunn Hrímnir.^[1]

In the translation by Eiríkr Magnússon and William Morris, the passage is very freely translated:

And so it is said that Odin hears their prayer, and Freyia no less hearkens wherewith they prayed unto her: so she, never lacking for all good counsel, calls to her her casket-bearing may.

For example, Margaret Clunies Ross says that "Óðinn sends a valkyrie by name of Hljóð".^[2]

Later in the same chapter, the report of her marrying Völsung repeats the story of the apple:

Nú þá er hann var alroskinn at aldri, þá sendir Hrímnir honum Hljóð, dóttur sína, er fyrr er getit, þá er hún fór með eplit til Reris, föður Völsungs.
"Now when he was fully come to man's estate, Hrimnir the giant sends to him Ljod his daughter; she of whom the tale told, that she brought the apple to Rerir, Volsung's father." (William Morris and Eiríkr Magnússon translation)^[1]

Notes