Fimm hundruð gólfa
og um fjórum tugum,
svo hygg eg Bilskirni með bugum;
ranna þeirra
er eg reft vita,
míns veit eg mest magar.

Fem hundra rum inalles
och fyrtio därtill
i Bilskirner byggda jag tänker;
mig tyckes av hus,
som takade äro,
ett större än min sons ej stånda.

Five hundred rooms
and forty withal
I ween that in Bilskirnir be;
of all the halls
which on high are reared
the greatest I see is my son's.

Grimnismál

The God Thor, who is also called Asa-Thor or Driver-Thor, is one of the
foremost of the Aesir. He is strongest of all Gods and men. He rules over a
kingdom called Thrudhvangar¹, and his hall is called Bilskirnir². In that
building are six hundred and forty floors; it is the largest house known. In
the Lay of Grimnir Odhinn says:
Bilskirnir with its winding ways
I know has more
than six hundred forty floors,
Of those buildings to be roofed
I know my son's is the largest.
Thor has two goats known as Tooth-gnasher and Tooth-grinder, and they pull His
chariot. This is why He is known as Thor the Driver. He also owns three
precious things. One is the hammer Mjolnir³, which the frost ogres and cliff
giants know when it is raised aloft, and that is not surprising since He has
cracked the skulls of many of their kith and kin. His second great treasure
is a belt of strength, and when He buckles that on his divine might is
doubled.
And he owns a third thing of great value, which are his iron gloves: He cannot
do without them when he grips His hammer.

¹ "Plains of Power"
² "Strong"
³ "Crusher"

Gylfaginning The Prose Edda
       
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