human heart. Haakon and the two sisters then bring the trémaðr to life, arm him with a halberd, and send him to Iceland to kill Þorleifr, which he does. Theories A number of theories surround the figures of Þorgerðr and Irpa: Guardian goddesses Hilda Ellis Davidson counts Þorgerðr and Irpa as examples of guardian goddesses in Germanic paganism, and compares their roles to that of the dísir and valkyries. Davidson says that if Helgi is the mythical founder of Hålogaland, it would explain Þorgerðr's last name ("bride of Helgi") and that, subsequently, she would be the wife of each ruler of the kingdom in turn. Substantially the same argument has been advanced by McKinnell. Davidson compares this role to accounts of kings or leaders being granted entry into Valhalla in the Viking Age, that the idea of a guardian goddess welcoming kings was essentially an aristocratic concept, and that a tradition such as this could explain noble valkyries welcoming dead kings into the after life, using the poem Hákonarmál as an example. Þorgerðr and Freyja Davidson further theorizes that Þorgerðr's name may have originally been Gerðr, reasons that this form is what is found in early skaldic verse, and, further, that this is one of the names given for the goddess Freyja. Davidson points out that Haakon may have later turned to the same goddess soon before he met his death, when he hid in the earth beneath a swine in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (collected in Heimskringla) chapter 48, and that this could symbolize a mound of Freyja, one of whose names means "sow" (Old Norse sýr). Davidson theorizes that the account of Olaf I of Norway dragging Þorgerðr's image out of its temple after Haakon's death, and burning it next to a depiction of Freyr (Freyja's male twin), further supports this view. Irpa Irpa has been proposed as an earth goddess due to the derivation of her name to a word for "dark brown", but F.R. Schröder has expressed criticism at the notion of concluding that Irpa is an earth goddess based on this evidence. John McKinnell proposes that the Irpa may represent a "dark" aspect of Þorgerðr, in that her name may mean "swarthy," and that the two were probably of contrasting appearance; Irpa being unlucky to name and seen as a troll. McKinnell further proposes a connection between Irpa and Hel, stating that the two may have