Angrboða.
Angrboða, meaning "she who offers grief" or "the herald of sorrow" is a female jötunn (giantess) and the mistress of Loki, the trickster god.
Description[]
She is known as the Hag of Iron Wood, one of the witches of Iron Wood who are a group of giantesses that gave birth to fierce wolves. Angrboða took Loki as her consort, and as a product of that union, gave birth to Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel.
The meaning behind her name also carries truth to the reality of it, that reality being that since her name means “foreboding”, she ultimately functions as the giantess who undoes creation or brings about destruction through each of her children. Although despite her status in Norse myth, Angrboða reveals herself primarily as a mother figure through the stories of her children.
Overview[]
Angrboða was the tribal wise giantess of the Nine Clans of Iron Wood, often referred to as the chief of chieftains. The Iron Wood Clan were known to be lycanthrope jotunns; some staying in animal form, others shapeshifting at will to other forms, some were feathered and some scaled.
It is often thought that she was married to Loki but in fact, he was her consort. She is, oddly enough, regarded as a perfect example of independence and one's right to choose, her choice of a consort. She was a tribal wise woman referred to as chief of chieftains, her strength and wisdom honored by her people. However, this means not that she is not to be feared or trifled with, for she remains to be a jotunn and thus an enemy of the gods. And when in battle, especially one that concerns her children, she is a deadly and fiercely strong warrior.