“Love … armed to the teeth”

Icelandic poet Gerður Kristný’s Blóðhófnir (2010) retells the myth of the god Freyr, his servant Skírnir, and the giantess Gerðr in the words of the giantess alone. In the myth, Freyr sends Skírnir to seduce Gerðr on his behalf. The mission is successful, though only after Skírnir has suppressed Gerðr’s resistance using violent threats. This article examines how, in Blóðhófnir, voice and silence interact with structures of patriarchal power and violence to animate the ideology of feminine self-sacrifice. The poem encourages readers to reflect on the patriarchal tenets that place sacrificial demands upon women in both the past and present.