weapon

Hofud

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Description

Heimdall's sword Höfuð

Snorri names Heimdall's sword Höfuð, "man-head." Gylfaginning says that at Ragnarok Heimdall and Loki will kill each other. The blade is barely described: an attribute of the Bifrost watchman, not a dwarf-forged set-piece with a wager-story like Mjöllnir. Skalds remember Heimdall more for hearing, the Gjallarhorn, and the nine mothers. Do not invent a temple of the sword. The name is Snorri's; the poems give the fated duel more than the metallurgy.

Primary Sources

“Heimdall's sword is called Höfuð. He and Loki will slay one another in the breaking of the gods.”
Prose Edda, Gylfaginning / Skáldskaparmál(c. 1220 CE)

Powers & Abilities

Divine SharpnessFated KillingBifrost Attunement