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Norse mythical character

Vafþrúðnir (Old Norse: ; "mighty weaver") is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. His name comes from Vaf, which means weave or entangle, and thrudnir, which means strong or mighty. Some interpret it to mean "mighty in riddles". It may be anglicized Vafthruthnir or Vafthrudnir. In the Poetic Edda poem Vafþrúðnismál, Vafþrúðnir acts as (the disguised) Odin's host and opponent in a deadly battle of wits that results in Vafþrúðnir's defeat.

The structure of Odin's and Vafþrúðnir's encounter has parallels with the Gestumblindi and King Heidrek incident in the Norse Hervarar saga and The Hobbit’s “Riddles in the Dark” between Bilbo and Gollum. Many of the riddles in these events are alike and all end with the same type of question. The riddle contest between King Heidrek and Gestumblindi, Odin in disguise yet again, ends with the same question that he posed to Vafþrúðnir about his final words to Baldr. Bilbo’s final question to Gollum is about the contents of his pocket. Odin and Bilbo break the established structure of a riddle contest and ask a virtually impossible yet simply worded question instead of a riddle about an object or mythological event. Gollum and King Heidrek were both angry and frustrated with their opponent. King Heidrek becomes violent and swings his sword, Tyrfing, at Odin. Gollum demands a total of three guesses due to the nature of Bilbo’s question. This is in contrast to how Vafþrúðnir is depicted as being calm and accepting of his fate when bested by Odin. Thus, Odin's riddle contest with Vafþrúðnir influenced not only other works within Norse mythology, but also more modern works of literature such as The Hobbit.