Heiðr
Heiðr (also rendered Heid, Hed, Heith, Hetha etc, from the Old Norse adjective meaning "bright" or the noun meaning "honour") is a Norse female personal name. Several individuals by the name appear in Norse mythology and history.
A seeress
A seeress and witch (Æsir-Vanir war:
- Heith they named her
- who sought their home,
- The wide-seeing witch,
- in magic wise;
- Minds she bewitched
- that were moved by her magic,
- To evil women
- a joy she was.
-
- —Völuspá (22), Bellows’ translation[1]
The general assumption is that here, "Heiðr" is an alternate name for the witch
hypostasis of Freyja
. But it is sometimes argued that the völva who recites the poem refers to herself.
Heiðr is also a seeress in several works such as Örvar-Odds saga (2), where she predicts Örvar's death.
A jotun
Heiðr is also the name of a child of the giant Hrímnir according to Völuspá hin skamma (Hyndluljóð, 32).
A shield maiden
Harald Hildetand.[2] This may draw on the tale from the earlier Chronicon Lethrense, in which a woman named Hethae, who had fought with Harald, became queen of Denmark after Harald's defeat in that battle.[3]
References
- ^ Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). 1923. The poetic Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- ^ Elton, Oliver (2006-02-11). THE DANISH HISTORY, BOOKS I-IX by Saxo Grammaticus. Retrieved 16 June 2015 – via Project Gutenberg.
- ^ Chronicon Lethrense, with translation and commentary by Mischa Hooker of Augustana College