The Tricky Tale Of Odin’s Investigation Into King Geirrod Of The Goths

Odin and Frigg were the main power couple of the Norse pantheon of deities. Odin, in particular, was the owner of Valhalla and held a leadership role in Asgard—the homeland of the Norse gods. Like most divine figures, Odin and Frigg kept an interested eye on the affairs of humans. According to mythology, one of the mortals who caught their attention was a certain King Hraudung, who ruled over a Gothic kingdom. In particular, the godly couple were impressed by Hraudung’s sons, Geirrod and Agnar. As the story goes, the arch-couple of the gods became quite competitive in their assessments of the king’s children. Like judges assessing a prize-winning animal, the two gods began to argue over which of the boys was the superior prince. Odin threw his support behind the younger son, Geirrod. Frigg, however, favored the older boy, Agnar. Faced with this disagreement, the godly couple could not agree to disagree. Instead, they decided to go to great lengths in order to definitively prove which of the two boys was superior.

As the story goes, the gods—in their efforts to assess the boys—caused the two princes to be lost at sea. As was divinely planned, the lost children washed up on a strange shore, at which time Odin and Frigg swooped in to save the day by offering the boys shelter. The divine couple used the time to tutor their princes of choice, with Odin offering his guidance to Geirrod while Frigg did the same with Agnar. After a few months of this divine education, Odin and Frigg let the boys go. A ship was readied and the god and goddess prepared the boys to leave. Odin, however, was said to have held back Geirrod for a few seconds longer before allowing him to board the ship—the prince was given one last piece of advice on what to do when he returned to his homeland. After saying their farewells, the princes in their boat set sail and the divinely-inspired currents brought them back to their father’s kingdom among the Goths. Odin and Frigg, with their teaching done, watched with interest to see which of their two proteges would turn out to be superior.

Geirrod was the first of the two princes to jump out of the ship and plant his feet on the shore of his father’s domain. In a horrible and unbrotherly move, Geirrod then was said to have pushed the boat (with his brother still in it) back out to sea, from which it would never return to the land of the Goths. After doing this move (which was likely suggested by Odin), Geirrod returned to King Hraudung’s court, where he eventually succeeded his father as king.

Agnar, although lost at sea once again, did not have an uneventful life. As the story goes, his voyage at sea ended with him eventually reaching the land of giants, where he met a giantess and settled down with her to raise a family.

Odin, musing on the vastly different lives of Gierrod and Agnar, gloated that his student had become a king, while Frigg’s charge was now only a family man of little note. Frigg, at that time, could do little to argue against Odin’s assessment, at least if the judgment was based upon social station. The goddess, however, was loath to admit that Odin’s student had turned out to be more successful. Instead of admitting defeat, Frigg was said to have plotted a disgraceful demise for King Geirrod. To do this, the goddess accused Geirrod of traits that were widely hated in ancient Germanic and Nordic societies—stinginess and inhospitality. As the story goes, Odin scoffed at these allegations, but decided to pay a visit to King Geirrod’s court to see if the charges had any truth. The god put on a blue cloak and disguised himself with the alias, Grimnir, during his investigation. He then began wandering toward Geirrod’s kingdom among the Goths.

Odin’s journey and experience at the court of his protégé was recorded in a medieval poem (with a prose prologue and epilogue) called Grímnismál, or Grimnir’s Sayings. According to the poem, Odin was outpaced by an agent of Frigg, who appeared in the kingdom of Geirrod and spread rumors that a powerful wizard would soon enter the realm and that new arrivals in the kingdom should be treated with caution. The agent also divulged tidbits of information about how to detect Odin, saying these were ways to detect the nefarious wizard. Due to Frigg’s intrigue, Odin’s arrival at King Geirrod’s court was met with hostility. As the story goes, King Geirrod was not only inhospitable to his guest, but he had the suspected wizard arrested and tortured.

Odin, who was in no way squeamish about pain, put up with the torture for days while he reassessed Geirrod and his household. During this time, Geirrod’s son (ironically named Agnar), took pity on the arrested stranger and brought the god something to drink. The boy’s show of hospitality greatly impressed Odin, and the god asked the child to stay awhile and hear his wisdom. This knowledge, as the story goes, was delivered in fifty-four stanzas of poetry (aka Grimnir’s Sayings), delving into such topics as the creation of the world, the various mythical lands inhabited by supernatural creatures, and descriptions of the halls of the gods. The final stanzas of Odin’s wisdom were said to have been delivered on the eighth night of his imprisonment, at a time when both young Agnar and his father, King Geirrod, were present. As he finished his verses, Odin finally revealed his identity and declared that he was revoking all of his divine favor from King Geirrod and would instead give his support solely to the king’s son, Agnar.

As soon as the king realized that he had imprisoned and tortured a god, Geirrod quickly drew his sword and rushed to cut away the bindings that were holding Odin. Yet, devoid of the support of the gods, poor Geirrod suddenly found himself to be incredibly clumsy. As he hurried to free the captive, Geirrod slipped and was said to have impaled himself on his own sword. As the discourteous Geirrod died, Odin easily used his godly abilities to free himself from his binds. After giving his supernatural support to Geirrod’s hospitable heir, Agnar, Odin disappeared and resumed his wanderings.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Sculpture of Odin or Wotan, by Rudolf Maison (1854–1904), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Grimnir’s Sayings, an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. Translation by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).
• https://pantheon.org/articles/g/geirrodr2.html  

The Hairy Origin Myth Of The Lombard Name

The Lombards were a northern Germanic people who, according to tradition, originated from Scandinavia and eventually migrated to the Elba River region. According to The History of the Lombards by Paul the Deacon (c. 720-799), the tribe originally called themselves the Winnili, and when they reached the Elbe, they were confronted by other regional powers who gave the new arrivals an ultimatum of either paying tribute or facing war. The Winnili, despite being few in number compared to their neighbors, did not shy from war—a trait later recognized by the Romans. Instead of paying tribute, the early Winnili reportedly chose war.

As told in folklore and myth, the Lombard name originated in this period of war in the Elbe region. According to the Origo Gentis Langobardum and the aforementioned work of Paul the Deacon, the Winnili were soon confronted by a group called the Wandals. These foes are sometimes identified as the Vandals, and other times connected to the Wends—whatever the case the tale soon becomes swamped in myth, and the identity of the so-called Wandals makes little difference, at least for this story.

The Wandals, whomever they may have been, were reportedly devout followers of the Germanic god, Wotan (i.e. Odin). Wotan, according to myth, returned the affection and often answered their prayers. The goddess Frea (Freyja), on the other hand, favored the newly-arrived Winnili. Therefore, when the Winnili and Wandals went to war, so too did Wotan and Frea, entering into a Homer-esque battle of wits in the realm of the gods.

According to the tale, the Wandals called on Wotan’s support when they knew that a battle was imminent. Responding to their plea, Wotan promised victory to the first army he saw at sunrise. Although the god’s decree looks fairly unbiased at first glance, his favoritism was betrayed when it was only the Wandal army that was informed of the pledge. Furthermore, Wotan made sure to keep his head facing toward the Wandals before he went to sleep for the night.

Although Wotan went to his slumber expecting to give victory to the Wandals in the morning, Frea had another outcome in mind. While Wotan slept, Frea visited the Winnili camp and told them of the divine decree—or, at least, she advised them to mobilize their forces before sunrise. The Winnili, however, were still small in number, so to make the group more visible and eye-catching, Frea told the Winnili women to accompany their men into battle. The goddess further instructed the women to gather their lengthy hair around their chins in order to make their locks look like long beards. With this plan in place, Frea returned to Wotan. Yet, the goddess took one last step before dawn arrived. Silently and gently, Frea rotated Wotan’s bed to face the direction of the Winnili. To ensure that her favored people emerged victorious, Frea made sure to wake up Wotan just as the Winnili were amassing in the morning light. When the awakening god opened his eyes, the Winnili masses, with all their hair, were the first people that he saw. According to the Origo Gentis Langobardorum, the scene played out in the following way:

“And he, looking at them, saw the Winniles and their women having their hair let down around the face. And he says, ‘Who are these Long-beards?’ And Frea said to Godan [Wotan], ‘As you have given them a name, give them also the victory.’ And he gave them the victory, so that they should defend themselves according to his counsel and obtain the victory. From that time the Winniles were called Langobards.” (Origo Gentis Langobardorum, I, trans. William Foulke)

As the myth colorfully illustrates, the early medieval Lombards believed their name derived from facial hair. Other etymologies have been suggested, but the long-beard origin of the Lombards remains a fan-favorite. Whatever the case, the tribe had embraced their new name by the time the Romans began taking notes on Germania. Rome found the Lombards still in the Elbe region, calling them the Langobardi, and classified them as being part of a larger group called the Suebi. Despite their battle prowess and Frea’s support, the Lombards had, by then, become subject to the Marcomanni. Around 17 CE, they rebelled against Maroboduus of the Marcomanni and became a politically-influential force in the region. Around the 5th century, the Lombards migrated to the Danube, then to Pannonia. Finally, around 568, the Lombards invaded Italy to form the Kingdom of Lombardy, which survived until its destruction at the hands of Charlemagne in 774.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Depiction of King Alboin entering Pavia, illustrated by Charles F. Horne c. 1900, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.
• The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin Classics, 1996. 
• Agricola and Germania by Tacitus and translated by Harold Mattingly and revised by J. B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009. 
• History of the Lombards by Paul the Deacon, translated by William Dudley Foulke (c. 1904). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1907, 1974, 2003. 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lombard-people 
• https://www.ancient.eu/Lombards/ 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Suebi  

In Norse Myth, Odin’s Forefathers Had A Peculiarly Bovine Origin Story

According to Norse myth, or at least to the tradition that was handed down to the Icelandic chief, Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241), the high god of the Scandinavian pantheon, Odin, had a very odd ancestry. Although Odin was called the All-Father, and was said to be a builder of worlds and humankind, Norse myth told that there was also life and land before the birth of Odin. As the story goes, inhospitable realms such as blazing Muspelheim and cold, dark Niflheim came into being long before the advent of Odin. Between the two realms was a great void, called Ginnungagap, where heat and cold met. Ice from Niflheim encountered the warmth of Muspelheim, causing the ice to melt into a primordial soup. From the slush came the first giant, Ymir, as well as a great primeval cow, called Audhumla. The colossal cow was so large that from her udders poured four rivers of milk, which nourished Ymir and his descendants.

While Ymir was bizarrely spawning new giants from sweat on his arms and legs, Audhumla spent her time licking at a salty block of ice. The ice, however, was hiding a nasty surprise—after an unknown amount of time, hair emerged. As the cow kept licking the ice, a whole humanoid head began to appear. Finally, after three days of laborious licking, Audhmula excavated a living person from the ice—it was Buri, Odin’s grandfather.

Buri had a son named Bor with an unnamed woman, and Bor married a giantess named Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn the giant. From Bor and Bestla was born Odin, as well as two other sons. Unfortunately for those living at that time, Odin and all who would follow him detested the giants. Odin and the sons of Bor eventually slew the first giant, Ymir, and butchered his body. They filled the void, Ginnungagap, with Ymir’s blood, flesh and bones, creating from it the seas and continents of Midgard (Middle Earth). In their newly constructed realm, Odin and his brothers encountered the first trees, and from that wood they were said to have fashioned the first humans.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Image of Audhumla and Buri from a medieval text, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jesse Byock. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.

Some Medieval Norwegian Stave Churches Decorated Their Portals With Images Of Sigurd The Dragon-Slayer

Sigurd, the mythical slayer of the dragon Fafnir, was a member of the Volsung family. According to the tales, the Volsungs were one of several powerful families started by the archgod of the Norse pantheon—Odin. As if the Volsung line and Sigurd’s act of dragon-slaying were not epic enough, Sigurd’s daughter Aslaug married the legendary Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok, whose sons, most notably Ivar the Boneless, were the alleged leaders of the “Great Heathen Army” that invaded Britain in the year 865.

Carvings of scenes from Sigurd’s adventures have been found dating back to the 10th century. Many of the oldest of such carvings were located on the Isle of Man, a hub for Viking activity in Britain. It took a few more centuries for the tales of the dragon-slayer to be written down into a textual format. It appears that the German version of the tale came first, around 1200, by way of the Nibelungenlied, where the hero was known as Siegfried instead of Sigurd. The Icelandic Saga of the Volsungs, was written around the same time, with the date of its creation ranging anywhere from 1200 to 1270. Even though the 13th-century edition of the saga is the only one that survives, scholars believe that the anonymous author of The Saga of the Volsungs used an earlier (now lost) Volsung-themed saga as a source for his own work.

By the 13th century, when saga writing in Iceland became popular, the Scandinavian world was heavily Christianized. The governing body of Iceland, the Althing, formally announced its conversion to the Christian faith in the year 1,000. Even so, many medieval Scandinavians, especially the Icelanders, never lost interest in their old pagan gods and the stories about the North's greatest warriors and adventurers. The dragon-slayer, Sigurd the Volsung, despite being allegedly descended from Odin, was also able to mesh with surprising ease into the Christianized society of Scandinavia. After all, even the archangel Michael was often depicted as a slayer of dragons. As such, no complaints were made when numerous stave (wooden) churches of 12th- and 13th- century Norway were decorated with carvings not of the angelic Michael, but of mighty Sigurd slaying the dragon Fafnir. In particular, these carvings of Sigurd were frequently located on the doorframes (or portals) to the stave churches, presumably so that the mythical hero would scare off Satan, the greatest of evil serpents, from entering the holy sanctuary.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Image from the Hedalen stave church, c. 1853, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Saga of the Volsungs, by an anonymous 13th-century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock. New York: Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999.

The Mythical Hero, Sigurd The Volsung, Had A Bad Habit Of Cutting His Enemies In Half

Spoken tales of the dragon-slayer, Sigurd, were around long before anyone took the time to write the legend down into a textual format. Even though the oldest surviving written accounts of Sigurd (or Siegfried in Germanic legend) date to the 13th century, carvings that depicted scenes from Sigurd’s adventures were produced as early as the 10th century. The age in which the mythical Sigurd was supposed to have lived was called the Migration Period, an era which has been given an approximate date of being between the years 300 and 700 by modern historians. In particular, the character of Sigurd was set in the late 4th and 5th century, because a character named Atli, inspired by Attila the Hun (d. 453), was said to have been a contemporary of Sigurd.

According to The Saga of the Volsungs (written in 13th-century Iceland), Sigurd was born in Denmark, but descended from the Volsung tribe, which was said to have controlled some land in France. Like the similarly legendary Yngling family, the Volsungs were supposedly able to trace their ancestry back to the high-god of the Norse religion, Odin. As such, Sigurd and other members of his family were often portrayed as having superhuman abilities. Sigurd, himself, was described as being a brown-haired man of unequaled strength and height. Along with his physical prowess, Sigurd also had the gift of foresight, as well as an extensive knowledge of magic, and he even acquired a power that let him understand birds.

In addition to all of these mighty attributes, Sigurd was also equipped with the great sword, Gram, which he had forged from the broken pieces of an ancestral sword handed over to the Volsungs by Odin. When Gram was completed, it was said to have been seven “spans” long and was sturdy enough that Sigurd could chop through an anvil without cracking or denting the blade. The hero’s own natural might, combined with the durability of Gram, turned Sigurd the Volsung into an unstoppable force on the battlefield.

With such power, Sigurd enjoyed dispatching his opponents with a flair of showmanship. In particular, Sigurd had a fondness for cutting people in half. At least three named characters in The Saga of the Volsungs experienced this unpleasant fate. Sigurd’s peculiar habit played a prominent role in his battle against the sons of Hunding, of which, only two sons were named—Hjorvard and his brother, King Lyngvi. During the bloody battle, Sigurd sliced Hjorvard in two and dramatically cut Lyngvi straight down the middle, slicing through the king’s helmet and mail coat. Even in his final death scene, Sigurd had to chop just one more person in half. According to the tale, Sigurd’s brother-in-law, Guttorm, stabbed the hero while he was sleeping. After waking up to find that he was mortally wounded, Sigurd picked up Gram and threw it at his assassin. The sword spun through the air and happened to slice Guttorm across the waist, cutting him in two. Having halved another man, Sigurd died calmly in his bed, his wife in his arms.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Sigurd with the sword, Gram, by Johannes Gehrts (1855–1921), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Saga of the Volsungs, by an anonymous 13th-century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock. New York: Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999.

Odin, The All-Father Of Norse Mythology, Was Prophesied To Be Eaten Alive By His Own Pet

Many of the gods from the pantheon of Norse mythology were animal lovers. For instance, Hel had a hound named Garm. Frey had a golden boar, and his sister, Freyja, was often accompanied by a retinue of cats. Odin, the All-Father and chief deity of the Norse gods, was also an avid pet owner. He had two ravens, named Hugin and Munin, which served as Odin’s scouts, taking note of events happening in the world and reporting the news to their master. Two pet wolves, named Geri and Freki, also accompanied the All-Father. The ravens and wolves were free to enter and exit Odin’s hall of Valhalla at their leisure and could usually be found lounging with the All-Father, the crows perched on his shoulders, telling secrets, while the wolves snatch up scraps of food tossed to them by Odin. In addition to these animals, Odin had a treasured eight-legged horse named Sleipnir.

Yet, there was another animal, another wolf, that resided in Asgard, the home of the Norse gods. As surprising as it may sound, the wolf was the son of Loki, the Norse trickster who always annoyed and undermined Odin and the rest of the gods. The name of this particular wolf was Fenrir, and he was one of several animal offspring that Loki brought into the world. In fact, the horse, Sleipnir, was also one of Loki’s children, born after the trickster had shape-shifted into a mare and had an awkward affair with a stallion.

The Icelandic historian and saga author, Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241), wrote about the origin story of Fenrir in The Prose Edda. He wrote that Loki and an ogress named Angrboda had three monstrous children—the Midgard Serpent, Hel and Fenrir. When Odin heard of Loki’s new children, he summoned them for judgment. He tossed the Midgard Serpent into the ocean, and it eventually grew to encircle the world, biting its tail to form a ring around the earth. Hel, a gloomy and moody goddess with a body divided equally between light and dark skin, was sent down to the underworld of Niflheim, where she oversaw the souls of those who died of disease and old age. As for Fenrir, Odin decided to keep the wolf in Asgard to be raised by the gods.

Yet, there was a problem—Fenrir was not an ordinary wolf. The pup was extremely powerful and was constantly growing larger in size and stronger in strength. In addition, Fenrir was also intelligent and even had the ability to speak. Even though the special wolf was being raised in Asgard, almost every god residing there feared the beast. Only Tyr, regarded as the most courageous of the gods, was bold enough to give Fenrir food and water.

As Fenrir’s power became more and more palpable, the gods of Asgard unanimously decided that the wolf needed to be restrained for their own protection. The gods, themselves, made two separate fetters that they thought would surely hold the wolf. Now they only needed to convince the intelligent creature to put on the restraints. Therefore, the gods went to Fenrir, and, holding out the fetters, they proposed a test of strength. The wolf agreed to show off his prowess and let himself be harnessed. With a flex of his muscles, Fenrir was able to free himself from the first restraint. Next, the wolf agreed to allow the second fetter to be fastened. This time, Fenrir had to struggle and strain, but he eventually ripped free of his bonds, sending pieces flying in all directions. With these displays of strength, the gods became more determined than ever to find a way to chain the wolf.

When their own handmade fetters did not work, the gods turned to the best craftsmen they knew—the dwarves. From Thor’s mighty hammer (Mjollnir) to the gods’ foldable, self-propelling ship (Skidbladnir), all of the best weapons and tools featured in Norse mythology were crafted by the dwarves. So, in keeping with their reputation, the dwarves successfully created the ultimate dog leash. The forging of their fetter was so bizarre that it needs quoting: “It was constructed from six elements: the noise of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird” (Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda, chapter 34). When the dwarves had somehow combined those rare ideas and resources, they produced a restraint that felt smooth like silk, but was virtually unbreakable.

With this deceptive bond, the gods returned to Fenrir and asked the wolf to test his strength against another bond. As mentioned earlier, the wolf was an intelligent being, so he began to distrust the motives of the gods. Fenrir told them that he would not allow the restraints to be applied unless one of the gods stuck a hand in his mouth to serve as insurance that he would be released if the fetter did not break. Once again, only Tyr had enough courage to face the wolf—he put his hand in Fenrir’s mouth and the wolf was bound. No matter how hard he pulled, stretched and strained, the fetter would not budge. When the gods saw that the wolf was finally and truly restrained, they began laughing and refused to unbind the beast. Infuriated and betrayed, Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand.

 

(Tyr and the Fenriswolf by John Bauer  (1882–1918), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Prophecy foretold that the dwarven-made fetter would successfully trap Fenrir until the doomsday of the Norse gods—Ragnarok. As the gods clashed in a final battle against their foes, Fenrir would break free and join the fray. The prophecies proclaimed that Fenrir would kill Odin, possibly eating him alive. Fenrir, too, would die during Ragnarok. He was predicted to be killed by Odin’s son, Vidar.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Odin fighting the Fenriswolf on Ragnarok, painted by Emil Doepler  (1855–1922), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jesse Byock. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. 

 

Perpetual Battle And Giant Animals In the Valhalla Of Norse Mythology

According to Norse Mythology, every single warrior who died in battle, and gained the approval of the All-Father, Odin, while doing so, is now residing in Asgard, the land of the gods. There, they reside in the famous hall of Valhalla, feasting and preparing for the great apocalyptic battle of Ragnarok. In his work, The Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) recorded a vivid description of Valhalla, drawing heavily from The Lay of Grimnir for his detail.

According to these sources, Valhalla is a huge hall outfitted with at least 540 doors standing tall and wide enough for around eight hundred rushing soldiers to easily pass through each doorway. Every day the Einherjar, the warriors who died in battle and were allowed to enter Odin’s hall, wake up, don their battle-gear and fight to the death amongst themselves, only to revive and meet back at Valhalla for a feast around suppertime. At the head of the feast sits Odin (curiously drinking only wine and not eating food), surrounded by his several pets. The All-Father, according to myth, is accompanied by two wolves, named Geri and Freki, and two ravens (or crows, for the less poetic), named Hugin and Munin. The ravens serve an important role for Odin, acting as his spies and scouts, gathering intelligence on the countless happenings among the humans, elves, dwarves, giants and gods.

Odin’s wolves and ravens, however, are not the most interesting animals present in Valhalla. The unimaginable quantity of food and drink required to happily feed all of the fallen warriors throughout history is, according to myth, apparently satisfied by two huge animals. For the food supply, a single boar named Saehrimnir is carved and cooked daily by a chef named Andhrimnir. The boar’s meat never fails to fill the stomachs of the Einherjar, and no matter how much has been carved from the beast, it always regenerates by nightfall, so as to be cooked again on the next day. As for drink, all of the alcohol consumed by the inhabitants of Valhalla comes from a giant goat named Heidrun. She stands atop Valhalla and perpetually chews on the leaves of a tree named Lerad (or Laerad), which some assume to be interchangeable with the World Tree of Norse mythology, Yggdrasil. While Heidrun merrily chews on her leaves, an endless supply of mead pours from her udders, supplying the warriors of Valhalla with all the alcoholic drink they could ever want or need.

Heidrun, according to myth, has to share the roof of Valhalla with another giant animal. Her companion’s name is Eikthyrnir, or Oak Antlers. Eikthynir is a huge stag who also spends his time chomping away at the great tree. While Heidrun eats the tree’s leaves and produces mead, Eikthynir gnaws at the tree’s branches. This oddly causes Eikthynir’s antlers to perspire profusely, causing enough water to pour from his horns to supply many of the rivers throughout Asgard.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Valhalla painted by Hermann Burghart (1834-1901), [Public Domain] via creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jesse Byock. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005. 
•   http://www.germanicmythology.com/PoeticEdda/GRMTerry.html