Cult of Gods

Heimdallr

Norse tradition. See the whole pantheon.

Domains
watchman of the gods
Symbols and attributes
Horn Gjallarhorn; bridge Bifröst
Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.
Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.

Key myth

He guards the rainbow bridge Bifröst, needs less sleep than a bird and hears grass grow. Hyndluljóð calls him son of nine mothers. At Ragnarök he blows the horn and fights Loki.

Primary sources

  • Hyndluljóð 35
  • Gylfaginning 27

All sources for the Norse pantheon

Place in the family graph

Choose a deity to see where it comes from. Dashed lines are links the sources describe that are not parent and child.

YmirFriggBúriNjörðrÆgirRánSólBorrBestlaFreyrFreyjaSifLokiSigynHeimdallrTýrOdinHelThorBaldr

More traditions

Papyrus of Ani, British Museum (New Kingdom), a Book of the Dead.EgyptianA chaos monster and a sun god, drawn by L. Gruner for A. H. Layard's Monuments of Nineveh.MesopotamianVishvarupa Vishnu, Kashmir or Himachal, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art collection.HinduFolio 309r of the Book of Kells (Trinity College Dublin), c. 800.Celtic (Irish)

Elsewhere in the world

Deities in other traditions who share a theme with Heimdallr: wisdom, writing and divination. This is overlap in one area only.

Egyptian

Isis

magic, protection, motherhood

Egyptian

Thoth

writing, moon, wisdom

Egyptian

Maat

truth, order, justice

Mesopotamian

Enki / Ea

fresh water, wisdom, craft

Mesopotamian

Marduk

Babylon's patron, king of the gods in the first millennium

Hindu

Varuna

cosmic order (ṛta), waters

Hindu

Vishnu

preservation, the universe's order

Compare across cultures