Messenger of Odin’s House

Frigg promises allir ástir hennar ok hylli, “all her love and favor,” to the volunteer who will travel to Hel and offer útlausn, “ransom” for Balder’s release. Hermod leaps onto Sleipnir’s back and rides for nine nights along the road to Hel. Along the way, he passes Móðguðr (“Brave Battle”), the guardian of the Gjallarbrú (“Resounding Bridge”) over the river Gjǫll (“Resounding”). After meeting Balder and Nanna in Helheimr, he confers with Hel herself, and then returns with her answer and with gifts for Frigg and Fulla (Gylfaginning 49).

Odin’s Most Devoted Servant, Retainer and Warrior

The oldest surviving manuscript of Snorri’s Edda, the Codex Regius, refers to Hermod as sveinn Óðins, “Odin’s boy” (Gylfaginning 49, see Faulkes, Edda, vol. 1, pp. xxviii, 145). The word would normally imply that he was Odin’s servant or retainer. It could also imply that he is Odin’s son, and other manuscripts of the Edda use the word sonr. A verse associated with Snorri’s Edda includes Hermod among Odin’s sons (Skáldskaparmál 75, verse 429)—but the verse also includes Freyr, who is not even one of the Æsir, so the idea of Hermod as Odin’s servant or retainer may be closest to Snorri’s intent.

This paternalistic motif of the Lord (Odin) being something like a loving father to his vassals was not uncommon in Medieval stories. Feudalism, at its ideal, was a system of relationships (mostly familial) after all. You were the vassal of the King, and your duty to him was your service in return for his protection.

Hermod, in this sense, can be seen as the ideal vassal for the Feudal Age: the one who does his Lord’s will without question or thought to his own safety or welfare.

When Hermod is mentioned in poetry, he usually appears alongside human heroes.

In Hyndluljóð 2-3 Odin is said to have given gifts to humans, including a helmet and mailcoat to Hermod and a sword to Sigmund.

In Hákonarmál, Odin orders Hermod and Bragi to receive Hákon the Good in Valhall. In Eiríksmál, Odin tells Sigmund and Sinfjotli to receive Eirik Bloodaxe, and Bragi also comes to greet Eirik. Since Sigmund and Sinfjotli were human heroes, and Bragi is suspected of having been a human (see above), it is likely that Hermod was also a human hero who was taken into the company of the gods.

If Hermod is in fact a human hero, he might be identical with Heremod the Danish king (note the slightly different spelling), referred to twice in Beowulf, once in lines 901-915 immediately after a passage recounting the deeds of Sigemund (note the pairing of Hermod and Sigmund in both Old Norse and Old English texts) and once in lines 1709-1722. Heremod is depicted as a promising warrior who becomes a bad king; he fails to give gifts to his people, kills his own retainers, and is eventually exiled, causing hardship for the Danes until their new king Scyld Scefing arrives from over the sea. This doesn’t sound like a hero worthy of Valhall—but Beowulf and the Norse sagas sometimes differ in their treatment of characters, and one tradition sometimes marginalizes or depicts negatively a person that the other admires.

For example, Hróðulf in Beowulf is a marginal and sinister character who is destined to kill Hroðgar’s sons, while in the Norse sources he is the great ruler Hrólfr kraki. It’s possible that Heremod in Beowulf is a dark portrait of a king that other peoples considered more heroic. (See Lindow, Murder and Vengeance, pp. 103-115, for a fuller discussion.)

The Worship of Hermod: Then and Now

There is no known evidence that Hermod received worship in the Viking Age, and not many Heathens call upon him now. Some modern Heathens have seen Hermod as an example of the courage to complete a mission at all costs. Hermod is also seen as an ideal warrior for Odin: blind to risk, fearless in the service of his Lord, and willing to do whatever he had to do to do the will of his Lord.