Eggþér


Eggþér is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is the herder of the giantess who lives in Járnviðr and raises monstrous wolves. Eggþér is described as sitting on a mound and joyfully striking his harp while the red rooster Fjalar begins to crow, heralding the onset of Ragnarök.

Name

The Old Norse name Eggþér is a compound formed with egg attached to þér. It could have denoted a 'bearer of a sword', 'one who is servant of the sword'; perhaps, 'one who provides victims for battle'. Eggþér is cognate with the Old English personal name Ecgþéow, the father of Beowulf in Old English poetry, and with the Old High German Eggideo. They may stem from a common Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *Agjō-þewa.
According to Salus and Taylor, the Old Norse Eggthér is a descriptive agnomen derived from his function as the arouser of the jötnar and wolves to battle during Ragnarök. They argue that there is a "remote similarity" with Ecgþéow, since the latter was also known for the feuds he have brought about by his fighting. Both names could embody, in their separate traditions, the role of arousers of great battles and feuds. Orchard and Lindow contend however that a mythological parallel between the two figures is most likely a "red herring".

Attestation

Eggþér is mentioned in the poem Völuspá as the herder of the jötunn living in Járnviðr and raising "the kinfolk of Fenrir". While the red rooster Fjalarr is heralding the onset of Ragnarök, Eggþér is portrayed as joyfully striking his harp.

Theories

Scholar Andy Orchard notes that the scene of Ragnarök has a "curious echo" in the Icelandic Njáls saga, where the hero Gunnar is portrayed as singing joyfully on top of his own burial mound.
The identity of the giantess mentioned in the poem is unclear. According to scholars, she is probably the one described in stanza 40 of the same poem, a figure possibly identified with the jötunn Angrboða. She is said to dwell in the forest of Járnviðr, where she raises the offspring of the wolf Fenrir. Salus and Taylor contend that the herdsman Eggþér is not a shepherd, but rather a wolf-herder. In this view, Eggþér is portrayed as 'joyful' or 'cheerful' in Völuspá because the "rearing of the wolves will bring about the downfall of the gods", and he is striking his harp to "arouse his charge to ferocious deeds".