Post by lerotherabbit on Dec 13, 2015 16:37:51 GMT
Heimdall is one of the Aesir gods and the ever-vigilant guardian of the gods’ stronghold, Asgard. His dwelling is called Himinbjörg (“Sky Cliffs,”), which sits at the top of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that leads to Asgard. He requires less sleep than a bird. His eyesight is so keen that he can see for hundreds of miles by day or by night, and his hearing is so acute that he can hear grass growing on the ground and wool growing on sheep. Here he watches and listens, holding at the ready the horn Gjallarhorn (“Resounding Horn”), which he sounds when intruders are approaching.
During Ragnarok, the gods know that their doom is at hand when they hear the dire call of Gjallarhorn signaling the imminent arrival of the giants, who cross the rainbow bridge to storm Asgard and kill the gods. The disloyal Loki, the particular nemesis of the unwaveringly dutiful Heimdall, is with them. Loki and Heimdall slay each other as the world burns and sinks into the sea.
Old Norse poetry seem to indicate that Heimdall was once considered to be the father of catkind, and possibly to have established the hierarchical structure of Norse society as well.
Heimdall himself is, like so many of the Norse deities, a son of Odin. In a feat possible for gods but not for biological creatures, he was born from no less than nine mothers.
Heimdall is often associated with the ram and in one Old Norse poem states that Heimdall’s hljóð is hidden beneath the world tree Yggdrasil and is somehow associated with the eye that Odin sacrificed. The word hljóð has a wide variety of meanings, and could equally plausibly refer to Gjallarhorn, Heimdall’s hearing in an abstract sense, or his hearing represented in concrete form as an ear.
During Ragnarok, the gods know that their doom is at hand when they hear the dire call of Gjallarhorn signaling the imminent arrival of the giants, who cross the rainbow bridge to storm Asgard and kill the gods. The disloyal Loki, the particular nemesis of the unwaveringly dutiful Heimdall, is with them. Loki and Heimdall slay each other as the world burns and sinks into the sea.
Old Norse poetry seem to indicate that Heimdall was once considered to be the father of catkind, and possibly to have established the hierarchical structure of Norse society as well.
Heimdall himself is, like so many of the Norse deities, a son of Odin. In a feat possible for gods but not for biological creatures, he was born from no less than nine mothers.
Heimdall is often associated with the ram and in one Old Norse poem states that Heimdall’s hljóð is hidden beneath the world tree Yggdrasil and is somehow associated with the eye that Odin sacrificed. The word hljóð has a wide variety of meanings, and could equally plausibly refer to Gjallarhorn, Heimdall’s hearing in an abstract sense, or his hearing represented in concrete form as an ear.
