Heimdallr (Heimdall)

Region/Culture: Northern Europe, Norse and Scandinavian
Mythos: Norse Mythology, Scandinavian Mythology
Primary Type/Nature: Gods and Deities
Mythical Attributes: Heimdallr possesses superhuman eyesight and hearing, foreknowledge, and the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, whose blast at Ragnarök will summon every Aesir to the final battle.
Role in Mythos: He is the ever-vigilant watchman of Asgard, guarding the rainbow bridge Bifröst from his sky-fortress Himinbjörg against the incursion of giants.
Relation to Humans: Under the name Rig, he is said in the Rígsþula to have fathered the ancestors of the three social classes of Norse society: thralls, karls, and jarls. Through this lineage, Heimdallr is regarded in parts of the Eddic corpus as the originator of human social order.

The first sound he hears each morning is wool lengthening on the backs of sheep. After that, the smaller noises: grass pushing through frozen soil far to the south, the keel of a longship grinding shingle at the edge of some fjord, the breath of a giant turning in his sleep many days’ ride away. Heimdallr does not need a watchtower so much as it needs him. Anything that moves in the nine worlds, he can hear it. Anything that crests a horizon, he can see it. He sleeps less than a bird.

His fortress is called Himinbjörg, “sky cliffs,” and it sits at the Asgardian end of Bifröst where the burning rainbow bridge meets the upper air. From there he watches the road. Below, the bridge runs in three coloured fires across the gulf between worlds, and any traveller crossing it leaves a tremor in the timbers that he can read like script. He keeps mead in his hall and drinks it gladly, but he is not a host. He is a door with teeth.

The teeth are real, and they are gold. The Eddas call him the white god, meaning radiant rather than pale, and his byname Gullintanni names the burnished mouth. He rides a horse called Gulltoppr, “golden mane,” and carries a sword named Höfuð, which simply means “head.” The Skáldskaparmál preserves a fragment of a lost myth in which a head is used as a weapon against him, and afterward the word for head became a kenning for sword. The fragment is all that survives. No one now knows the rest of the story.

His origin is stranger than that of most Aesir. He is the son of Odin, but he was carried and nursed by nine mothers, all sisters, at the edge of the world. One verse in the Hyndluljóð names them: Gjálp, Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Úlfrún, Angeyja, Imðr, Atla, Járnsaxa. The same verse says he was nourished on the strength of the earth, the cold spray of the sea, and the blood of swine. Whether the nine were jötnar at the world’s edge or the daughters of Ægir and Rán, who are the waves themselves, is a matter the stories disagree on. The older notion is the sea. Heimdallr the white god, born of foam.

There is one full-length myth in which he acts rather than watches. Loki stole Brísingamen, Freyja’s necklace, and fled toward the coast. Heimdallr caught him at a skerry called Singasteinn, and the two fought there in the shape of seals among the rocks. Salt, slick hide, the smack of bodies in cold water. Heimdallr won, recovered the necklace, and returned it. The skald Úlfr Uggason composed a section of his Húsdrápa around the encounter, and the kenning “Loki’s enemy” became fixed to Heimdallr’s name from then on.

Long before that fight, he had walked among humans. Under the name Rig, he came to three farms in turn: a hovel, a working steading, and a fine hall, and at each one he slept three nights between the husband and wife of the house. Each visit produced a child. From the first came Thrall, ugly and strong, who fathered the serfs. From the second came Karl, ruddy and quick-eyed, who fathered the free farmers. From the third came Jarl, bright-haired and high-browed, who fathered the noble line, and from Jarl’s youngest son Kon came the first king. Whether this was originally Odin’s deed and was later attached to Heimdallr is an old argument. The Codex Wormianus assigns it to Heimdallr, and that is the version that survives.

He waits, mostly. That is what watchmen do.

When the end of the world comes, he will see it before anyone else. The Völuspá says the giants will gather at Vígríðr and Loki will lead Hel’s people across the broken bridge, and at that moment Heimdallr will raise Gjallarhorn and blow with all his force. The blast will pour through every world. Yggdrasil will shudder at the sound. The Aesir will arm. On the field, after Thor has gone down with the serpent and Odin has fallen to the wolf, Heimdallr will find Loki at last, and the two of them will kill each other under the burning sky. Snorri says he is the last of the gods to die. After that, the sea rises.

His senses are gifts, and so is the foresight that came with them. He is loyal to a degree that approaches tedium and never once is shown wavering. The keenness of his hearing has limits, though: the Grímnismál hints that some part of his hljóð, a word that means hearing or sound or horn, lies hidden beneath the world tree alongside the eye Odin sacrificed at the well of Mímir. Something was given up for the listening. No one says what. The shining mouth, the horn slung across the back, the impossible patience: all of it was paid for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Heimdallr in Norse mythology?

Heimdallr is an Aesir god of Norse mythology who serves as the watchman of Asgard. He guards the rainbow bridge Bifröst from his fortress Himinbjörg at the bridge’s upper end, on watch against any giant or invader who might cross into the realm of the gods. He is the son of Odin and nine mothers.

What does Heimdallr’s horn do?

Heimdallr’s horn is called Gjallarhorn, the “resounding horn,” and its blast can be heard throughout all nine worlds. He keeps it ready to sound at the onset of Ragnarök, summoning every Aesir to arm and assemble for the final battle. Until then it hangs silent beside him at Himinbjörg.

Who are Heimdallr’s nine mothers?

According to the Hyndluljóð, Heimdallr was born of nine sisters at the edge of the world, named Gjálp, Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Úlfrún, Angeyja, Imðr, Atla, and Járnsaxa. Some sources identify these nine with the daughters of the sea god Ægir and his wife Rán, who personify the waves of the sea. The two traditions coexist in the surviving material.

How does Heimdallr die?

Heimdallr dies at Ragnarök in mutual combat with Loki. The two are lifelong enemies in the surviving texts, and the Völuspá and the Prose Edda agree that they will kill each other on the final battlefield. Snorri Sturluson records that Heimdallr is the last of the gods to fall before the sea rises and the world burns.

Why is Heimdallr also called Rig?

Heimdallr takes the name Rig in the Eddic poem Rígsþula, in which he wanders the world of humans and visits three couples in turn. From each visit comes the ancestor of one of the three Norse social classes: thrall, karl, and jarl. The poem credits Heimdallr with the origin of human social hierarchy, although some scholars argue the role originally belonged to Odin.