Norsery Rhymes from A to Z Eggþér, The Joyful Herdsman of Fenrir’s Children Well here we are on another ThorsDay with another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic, sometimes Celtic) mythological characters. This week it’s a second version of Eggþér (Eggthér / Eggther / Egdir) of the Jotnar (Jotun / Jotunn / Jetten / Eoten / Giant) mentioned in the Völuspá.
His name in Old Norse literally translated to ‘edge servant’ for the two parts of his name. Generally translated to mean ‘Holder of the sword’, or ‘the one who brings servants for a fight’, or ‘Servant armed with many knives’, and while some have translated that to mean he has servants armed with many knives, and other that he is a servant armed with many knives. Both of which can in fact be accurate at the same time.
Jolly Giant guardian of Angrboda the Giantess of the Járnviðr, the Iron Forest, or gallows wood. Which is where the idea of Eggther as a servant comes up.
He is also mentioned as a happy herdsman, joyfully playing his harp on a mound or cliff, with his friends, the the giant Red Cockerel Fjalar who will crow to signal the beginning of Ragnarok, and giant wolves who play and sleep around him.
Which is where the playful name of the giant herdsman is also something attributed to him, both as a literal mention of his herding of the giant wolves who are the offspring of Fenrir, but also playful nod about his guardianship of Angrboda.
Angrboda has been raising the giant wolves that Eggther herds during Fenrirs’ imprisonment. Which would make Eggther the herdman of the children of Fenrir.
Given his relation ship to both blades and Fjalar, there are some assert that this means he will also be a general in the time of Ragnarok herding the giants along in preparation and then in their fight against the gods. This interpretation adds a layer to his joyfull singing, as some have theorized that he may be singing of the battle to come.
Occasional attempts have made to link Eggther to Ecgþēow / Edgetho / Ecgtheow from Beowulf, have largely been set aside at this point, as Edgetho being a giant wouldn’t make much sense, and their personalities are the opposite of each others.