Hliðskjálf

f., old dat. hliðskjálfu, Gm. (prose): [prob. rather to be derived from hlið, gate, than hlið, side; the initial h is borne out by alliteration, Sagði hitt er hugði | Hliðskjálfar gramr …, Edda (in a verse); in Akv. 14 the sense and alliteration alike require höll, hall, instead of ‘land’]:—a shelf, bench, a name for the seat of Odin, whence he looked out over all the worlds, Edda 6, 12, 22, 30, Gm. l. c.; Óðinn ok Frigg sátu í Hliðskjálfu ok sá um heima alla, Gm. l. c. The heathen Hlið-skjálf brings to mind the legend in Grimm’s Märchen of the Tailor in Heaven.