Norse Pantheonweapon
Hofud
- Divine Sharpness
- Fated Killing
- Bifrost Attunement
The sword of Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost. This legendary blade will be used in the final battle at Ragnarok, where Heimdall and Loki are fated to slay each other.
About Hofud
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. The name is Snorri's; the poems give the fated duel more than the metallurgy.
Origin
Forged specifically for the watchman of the gods, attuned to his role as guardian of the rainbow bridge.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning / Skáldskaparmál
About this entry
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.
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