Nine Mothers of Heimdallr - Theories and Interpretation

Theories 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 are otherwise mentioned as jötunn maidens who seek to contravene the god Thor from reaching their father, and Járnsaxa is otherwise the mother of Thor's son, Magni.

Some scholars have linked the Nine Mothers of Heimdallr with the Nine Daughters of Ægir (whose parentage and names combined imply waves), 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 (whose names point to waves) and the Nine Mothers of Heimdallr (as found in Völuspá hin skamma) do not match. Scholar John Lindow comments that the identification of Heimdallr's mothers as Ægir's daughters do, however, match on the grounds that Ægir's daughters, like Heimdallr's mothers, are sisters, and that two separate traditions about Heimdallr's mothers may explain the differences between the two.