he is Val-father (Father of the Slain), and the Valkyries are his
"Wishmaidens," as the Einherjar are his "Wishsons." He naturally takes
a special interest in mortal heroes, from whom come the chosen hosts
of Valhalla. But, in spite of the splendour of his surroundings, he
is wanting in dignity. The chief of the Gods has neither the might and
unthinking valour of Thor, nor the self-sacrificing courage of Tyr. He
is a God who practises magic, and it is as Father of Spells that he is
powerful. He is the wisest of the Gods in the sense that he remembers
most about the past and foresees most about the future; yet he is
powerless in difficulty without the craft of Loki and the hammer of
Thor. He always wanders in disguise, and the stories told of him are
chiefly love-adventures; this is true of all the deeds he mentions
in _Harbardsljod_, and also of the two interpolations in _Havamal_,
though one of the two had an object, the stealing of the mead of
inspiration from the giant Suptung, whose daughter Gunnlöd guarded it.

_Völuspa_ makes him one of three creative deities, the other two being
Lodur (probably Loki) and Hoeni, of whom nothing else is known except
the story that he was given as hostage to the Vanir in exchange for
Njörd. The same three Gods (Odin, Loki and Hoeni) are connected with
the legend of the Nibelung treasure; and it was another adventure of
theirs, according to Snorri, which led to the loss of Idunn.

Of the other Gods, Bragi is a later development; his name means
simply king or chief, and his attributes, as God of eloquence and
poetry, are apparently borrowed from Odin. Heimdal, the watchman and
"far-seeing like the Vanir," who keeps guard on the rainbow bridge
Bifröst, is represented in the curious poem _Rigsthula_ as founder of
the different social orders. He wandered over the world under the name
of Rig, and from his first journey sprang the race of thralls, swarthy,