Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, the Nine Mothers of Heimdallr are nine sisters who gave birth to the god

Heimdallr In Norse mythology, Heimdall (from Old Norse Heimdallr) is a god who keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök from his dwelling Himinbjörg, where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky. He is attested as possessing forekno ...

. The Nine Mothers of Heimdallr are attested in the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'', written in the 13th century by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

; in the poetry of

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

s; and possibly also in a poem in the '' Poetic Edda'', a book of poetry compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material. Scholars have debated what being "born of nine mothers" implies and have sought to connect the notion to other European folk motifs. Scholars have theorized that Heimdallr's Nine Mothers may be identical to the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán, who personify waves. In turn, Heimdallr would be born of the sea.

Attestations

The Nine Mothers of Heimdallr are mentioned in two books of the ''

''; '' Gylfaginning'' and '' Skáldskaparmál''. In ''Gylfaginning'', Heimdallr is introduced in chapter 25, where the enthroned figure of

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

tells the disguised mythical king Gangleri details about the god. Among other details, High says that Heimdallr is the son of nine sisters and, as a reference, provides two lines of the (otherwise now lost) poem ''

Heimdalargaldr "Heimdalargaldr" (Old Norse: ' Heimdallr's Galdr') is an Old Norse poem about the god Heimdallr of Norse mythology. The poem is mentioned in two books of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' book—''Gylfaginning'' and ''Skáldskaparmál''—but outside ...

'', in which Heimdallr says that he was born of nine sisters:

:"Offspring of nine mothers am I, of nine sisters am I the son."Faulkes (1995:25-26).

In chapter 16 of ''Skáldskaparmál'' a work by the 10th century

Úlfr Uggason Úlfr Uggason ( Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic skald who lived in the last part of the tenth century. The '' Laxdæla saga'' tells how he composed his ''Húsdrápa'' for a wedding. Geirmundr married Þuríðr, whose father, Óláfr pái ( ...

is quoted. The poem refers to Heimdallr as the "son of eight mothers plus one". Prose following the poem points out that the poem refers to Heimdallr as the son of nine mothers.Faulkes (1995:77). The poem '' Völuspá hin skamma'' (contained within the poem ''

Hyndluljóð ''Hyndluljóð'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Hyndla') is an Old Norse poem often considered a part of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in its entirety only in ''Flateyjarbók'', but some stanzas are also quoted in the ''Prose Edda'', where they ...

'', often considered a part of the ''Poetic Edda'') contains three stanza that scholars have frequently theorized as referring to Heimdallr and his nine mothers. According to the stanzas, long ago, a mighty god was born by nine jötunn maidens at the edge of the world. This boy grew strong, nourished by the strength of the earth, the ice-cold sea, and the blood of swine. Names are provided for these nine maidens. For discussion of these names, see ''Names'' section below (note that the translations below present anglicizations of Old Norse forms). The stanzas in question read as follows:

Names

Some of the names of Heimdallr's mothers found in '' Völuspá hin skamma'' appear in a variety of other sources, where they may or may not refer to separate entities:

Scholarly reception and interpretation

The names of all nine mothers mentioned above in ''Völuspá hin skamma'' appear elsewhere as the names of female jötnar (generally in the þulur). Adding to the confusion, Orchard points out,

Gjálp and Greip Gjálp (Old Norse: ; or Gialp) and Greipa (O.N.: ; or Greip) are two jötnar in Norse mythology, and the daughters of the giant Geirröðr. They are killed by the thunder-god Thor. Names The Old Norse name ''Gjálp'' has been variously transl ...

are otherwise mentioned as jötunn maidens who seek to contravene the god

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

from reaching their father, and Járnsaxa is otherwise the mother of Thor's son, Magni.Orchard (1997:78). Some scholars have linked the Nine Mothers of Heimdallr with the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán (who personify

waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

), an identification that would mean that Heimdallr was thus born from the waves of the sea. However, this connection has been questioned on the grounds that the names presented for the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán and the Nine Mothers of Heimdallr (as found in ''Völuspá hin skamma'') do not match.Simek (2007:136). Scholar

John Lindow John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lin ...

comments that the identification of Heimdallr's mothers as Ægir and Rán's daughters do, however, match on the grounds that Ægir and Rán's daughters, like Heimdallr's mothers, are sisters, and that two separate traditions about Heimdallr's mothers may explain the differences between the two.Lindow (2002:169).

Notes

References

* Bellows, Henry Adams (1923). ''The Poetic Edda''. The American-Scandinavian Foundation. * Dodds, Jeramy. Trans. 2014. ''The Poetic Edda''. Coach House Books. * Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''. Everyman. * Lindow, John (2002). ''Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * Orchard, Andy (1997).
Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend
'. Cassell. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall.
Dictionary of Northern Mythology
'.

D.S. Brewer Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, edition ...

* Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1866) ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''.

Norrœna Society The Norrœna Society was an organization dedicated to Northern European culture, that published sets of reprints of classic 19th-century editions, mostly translations, of Old Norse literary and historical works, Northern European folklore, and medi ...

. * Magnússon, Finnur (Danish) (1822) ''Den Ældre Edda: En samling af de nordiske folks ældste sagn og sange, Volume 1''. Gyldendahl. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nine Mothers Of Heimdallr Female supernatural figures in Norse mythology Gýgjar Nonets Sisters