[7-8] aldrminkanda aldar Ellu steins ‘the life-diminisher of the people of the Ælla <Northumbrian king> of the stone [GIANT > GIANTS > = Þórr]’: As usual, Þórr is referred to periphrastically by a kenning that describes him as a killer and fighter of giants. The base-word of the giant-kenning, Ella, is unusual because such base-words are otherwise almost always the names of sea-kings or mythical and legendary persons (Meissner 258). It is possible, however, to treat Ella as a legendary-heroic name. The Anglo-Saxon king Ælla was killed in 867 by Danish vikings during the sacking of York. In legendary tradition, his death was the result of the revenge of the sons of Ragnarr loðbrók ‘Shaggy-breeches’ for Ælla’s murdering their father, and that probably was the basis for the development of the legends surrounding Ragnarr loðbrók (de Vries 1923a, 252-3).