HEIMDALLR is a Scandinavian deity who is the watchman of the Æsir, the dominant group of gods. Rarely mentioned in Norse court poetry, Heimdallr appears frequently in Eddic poetry. According to Grímnismál (st. 13) he lives in Himinbjorg, the "celestial shelter" from which he guards the abode of the gods, happily drinking mead while performing his task. The giant Loki claims (Lokasenna, st. 48), however, that Heimdallr was fated to an awful life and will forever stand watch with a muddy back due to his constant exposure to foul weather. According to Þrymskviða (st. 15), Heimdallr is the "whitest of the gods" and able to predict the future. The eddic poemVo̜luspá mentions that men are called "Heimdallr's children" (st. 1); similarly, the medieval scribe of Rígsþula, a poem explaining how the classes of society arose from the three sons of a being named Rígr...