Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr and Irpa

In Norse mythology, Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr and Irpa are divine figures. Þorgerðr and Irpa appear together in Jómsvíkinga saga, Njáls saga and Þorleifs þáttr jarlsskálds. Irpa does not appear outside of these four attestations, but Þorgerðr also appears in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Færeyinga saga, and Harðar saga ok Hólmverja and is mentioned in Ketils saga hœngs. Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr is particularly associated with Haakon Sigurdsson (d. 995), and, in Jómsvíkinga saga and Þorleifs þáttr jarlsskálds, she and Irpa are described as sisters. The roles of the Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr and Irpa in these sources, and the implications of their names, has resulted in an amount of scholarly discourse and theory.

The name Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr is Old Norse and literally means "Þorgerðr, Hǫlgi's bride." According to Skáldskaparmál chapter 42, Hǫlgi (a traditional eponym of the northernmost Norwegian province Hålogaland) is also Þorgerðr's father. The first name Þorgerðr is a compound of two names, the god name Þor (Thor), and gerðr—the latter name meaning "fenced in."

The figure's second name sometimes appears in sources featuring -brúðr replaced with -troll, and, in place of Hǫlg-, the prefixes Hǫrða-, Hǫrga-, and Hǫlda- also appear. It has been suggested that name Þorgerðr derives from the name of the jǫtunn Gerðr, as Þorgerðr is also described at times as a troll or giantess. Alternatively, Gerðr may simply be an abbreviated version of the name Þorgerðr. Þorgerðr is referred to as Gerðr in Tindr Hallkelsson’s 10th-century drápa on Haakon, quoted in chapter 43 of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar, found in the Heimskringla.

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