Motif
impossible vessel broken by hidden weakness
impossible_vessel_broken_by_hidden_weakness
A motif of the Conditional Invulnerability and Hidden Weakness family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
norse
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The Poetic Edda NOTES / HYMISKVITHA / THE LAY OF HYMIR / INTRODUCTORY NOTE; lines 5842-5985 confidence: medium
Thor strikes stone pillars with the cup; the posts shatter, but the cup is brought back whole.
The cup cannot be broken against stone pillars, but the giant's loved one reveals that Hymir's skull is harder than glass; when Thor strikes there, the cup shatters.
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