Hermóðr the Brave is a figure in Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, the son of god Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

.

Prose Edda

Hermóðr appears distinctly in section 49 of the Prose Edda

Prose Edda

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...

 book Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue. The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology...

. There, it is described that the gods were speechless and devastated at the death of Baldr, unable to react due to their grief. After the gods gathered their wits from the immense shock and grief of Baldr's death, Frigg asked the Æsir who amongst them wished "to gain all of her love and favor" by riding the road to Hel. Whoever agreed was to offer Hel

Hel (being)

In Norse mythology, Hel is a being who presides over a realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...

 a ransom in exchange for Baldr's return to Asgard. Hermóðr agrees to this and set off with Sleipnir

Sleipnir

In Norse mythology, Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse. Sleipnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...

 to Hel.

Hermóðr rode Odin's horse Sleipnir for nine nights through deep and dark valleys to the Gjöll

Gjöll

In Norse mythology, Gjöll is one of the eleven rivers traditionally associated with the Élivágar, according to Gylfaginning, originating from the wellspring Hvergelmir in Niflheim, flowing through Ginnungagap, and thence into the worlds of existence...

 bridge covered with shining gold, the bridge being guarded by the maiden Móðguðr 'Battle-frenzy' or 'Battle-tired'. Móðguðr told Hermóðr that Baldr had already crossed the bridge and that Hermóðr should ride downwards and northwards.

Upon coming to Hel's gate, Hermóðr dismounted, tightened Sleipnir's girth, mounted again, and spurred Sleipnir so that Sleipnir leapt entirely over the gate. So at last Hermóðr came to Hel's hall and saw Baldr seated in the most honorable seat. Hermóðr begged Hel to release Baldr, citing the great weeping for Baldr among the Æsir

Æsir

In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...

. Thereupon Hel announced that Baldr would only be released if all things, dead and alive, wept for him.

Baldr gave Hermóðr the ring Draupnir

Draupnir

In Norse mythology, Draupnir is a gold ring possessed by the god Odin with the ability to multiply itself: Every ninth night eight new rings 'drip' from Draupnir, each one of the same size and weight as the original....

 which had been burned with him on his pyre, to take back to Odin. Nanna

Nanna (Norse deity)

In Norse mythology, Nanna Nepsdóttir or simply Nanna is a goddess associated with the god Baldr. Accounts of Nanna vary greatly by source. In the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Nanna is the wife of Baldr and the couple produced a son, the god Forseti. After Baldr's...

 gave a linen robe for Frigg

Frigg

Frigg is a major goddess in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power...

 along with other gifts and a finger-ring for Fulla

Fulla

In Germanic mythology, Fulla or Volla is a goddess. In Norse mythology, Fulla is described as wearing a golden snood and as tending to the ashen box and the footwear owned by the goddess Frigg, and, in addition, Frigg confides in Fulla her secrets...

. Thereupon Hermóðr returned with his message.

Hermóðr is called "son" of Odin in most manuscripts, while in the Codex Regius

Codex Regius

Cōdex Rēgius is an Icelandic manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing...

 version—normally considered the best manuscript—Hermóðr is called sveinn Óðins 'Odin's boy', which in the context is as likely to mean 'Odin's servant'. However Hermóðr in a later passage is called Baldr's brother and also appears as son of Odin in a list of Odin's sons. See Sons of Odin

Sons of Odin

Various gods and men appear as Sons of Odin or Sons of Wodan/Wotan or Sons of Woden in old Old Norse and Old High German and Old English texts.-Thor, Baldur, and Váli:...

.

Poetic Edda

The name Hermód seems to be applied to a mortal hero

Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

 in the eddic

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...

 poem Hyndluljóð

Hyndluljóð

Hyndluljóð or Lay of Hyndla is an Old Norse poem often considered a part of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in its entirety only in Flateyjarbók but some stanzas are also quoted in the Prose Edda where they are said to come from Völuspá hin skamma.In the poem, the goddess Freyja meets the völva...

(stanza 2):

The favor of Heerfather       seek we to find,

To his followers gold       he gladly gives;

To Hermód gave he       helm and mail-coat,

And to Sigmund

Sigmund

This article is about the mythological hero Sigmund; for other meanings see: Sigmund .In Norse mythology, Sigmund is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod...

 he gave       a sword as gift.

Heerfather is a name for Odin.

Skaldic poetry

In the skald

Skald

The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...

ic poem Hákonarmál

Hákonarmál

Hákonarmál is a skaldic poem which the skald Eyvindr skáldaspillir composed about the fall of the Norwegian king Hákon the Good at the battle of Fitjar and his reception in Valhalla. This poem emulates Eiríksmál and is intended to depict the Christian Hákon as a friend to the pagan gods...

(stanza 14) Hermóðr and Bragi

Bragi

Bragi is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology.-Etymology:Bragi is generally associated with bragr, the Norse word for poetry. The name of the god may have been derived from bragr, or the term bragr may have been formed to describe 'what Bragi does'...

 appear in Valhalla

Valhalla

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...

 receiving Hákon the Good. It is not certain that either Hermóðr or Bragi is intended to be a god in this poem.

Beowulf

In the Old English

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 poem Beowulf

Beowulf

Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...

, Heremod

Heremod

Heremod is a legendary Danish king and a legendary king of the Angles who would have lived in the 2nd century and known through a short account of his exile in the Old English poem Beowulf and from appearances in some genealogies as the father of Scyld...

 is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 king who was driven into exile and in Old English genealogies Heremod appears appropriately as one of the descendants of Sceafa and usually as the father of Scyld

Skjold

-Places:*Skjold, Bergen, a borough in Bergen, Norway*Skjold, Troms, a village in Målselv municipality, Norway*Skjold , a Norwegian army garrison in Målselv, Norway*Skjold, Rogaland, a former municipality, now in Vindafjord municipality, Norway-Other:...

.

Interpretation

Accordingly, it is debated whether Hermóðr might not have been the name of one or more ancient heroes or kings as well as the name of a god or whether the god mentioned by Snorri was in origin the same as an ancient hero or king named Hermóðr.

Hermod sounds similar to Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

, the Greek god of messengers. One of his jobs was to guide souls to Hades, the underworld.

As a mortal hero, Óðr enters Valhal. His myth is an Odinic initiation. In Svipdagsmal, his mother sings 9 spells over him to keep him safe on his way. He enters the land of the giants, rescues Freyja, and returns her to Asgard. Then he goes in quest of a sword found in the underworld, at the base of the world-tree, and struggles to bring it back to Asgard. He alone can do it. Odin (Fjolsviðr, cp. Grimnismal 47) meets him at the gate. As Skirnir, he goes back to Jotunheim in quest of Gerd on behalf of his brother-in-law Frey. Again, he carries the same sword. In the Edda, when the other gods are speechless, Herm-óðr alone acts. He mounts Sleipnir and rides to Hel in search of Baldur. Odin makes the same trip in the poem Baldur's Dreams. Both see Baldur's palace there, which is most likely Mimisholt (Vafthrudnismal 45). Odr-rerir, the name of the poetic mead, and of Mimir's well, means "the óðr-stirrer", "the óðr-mover". It forms a part of the name Herm-óðr.

In Beowulf

Beowulf

Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...

Heremod is first mentioned by a bard immediately after the bard tells an episode from the life of the hero Sigmund

Sigmund

This article is about the mythological hero Sigmund; for other meanings see: Sigmund .In Norse mythology, Sigmund is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod...

 and his nephew Fitela. In the Old Norse Eiríksmál

Eiríksmál

Eiríksmál is a skaldic poem composed sometime in 954 or later on the behest of the Norwegian queen Gunnhild in honour of her slain consort Erik Bloodaxe. Only the beginning of the poem is extant....

it is Sigmund and his nephew Sinfjötli

Sinfjötli

Sinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...

 (= Fitela) who are sent to greet the dead King Eirík Bloodaxe and welcome him to Valhalla

Valhalla

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...

while in the Hákonarmál it is Bragi and Hermóðr who are sent to greet King Hákon the Good in the same situation, potentially suggesting an equivalence between the two was seen. In Hyndluljóð (stanza 2) Hermóðr and Sigmund are again paralleled:

To Hermód gave he       helm and mail-coat,

And to Sigmund he gave       a sword as gift.