ed miles off as plainly by
night as by day; and with all this he required less sleep than a bird.

"'Mongst shivering giants wider known
Than him who sits unmoved on high,
The guard of heaven, with sleepless eye."

Lay of Skirner (Herbert's tr.).

Heimdall was provided further with a flashing sword and a marvellous
trumpet, called Giallar-horn, which the gods bade him blow whenever he
saw their enemies approach, declaring that its sound would rouse all
creatures in heaven, earth, and Nifl-heim. Its last dread blast would
announce the arrival of that day when the final battle would be fought.

"To battle the gods are called
By the ancient
Gjallar-horn.
Loud blows Heimdall,
His sound is in the air."

Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).

To keep this instrument, which was a symbol of the crescent moon,
ever at hand, Heimdall either hung it on a branch of Yggdrasil above
his head or sank it in the waters of Mimir's well. In the latter it
lay side by side with Odin's eye, which was an emblem of the moon at
its full.

Heimdall's palace, called Himinbiorg, was situated on the highest
point of the bridge, and here the gods often visited him to quaff
the delicious mead which he set before them.

"'Tis Himminbjorg called
Where Heimdal, they say,
Hath dwelling and rule.
There the gods' warder drinks,
In peaceful old halls,
Gladsome the good mead."

Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).

Heimdall was always depicted in resplendent white armour, and he was
therefore called the bright god. He was also known as the light,
innocent, and graceful god, all of which names he fully deserved,
for he was as good as he was beautiful, and all the gods loved
him. Connected on his mothers' side with the sea, he was sometimes
included with the Vanas; and as the ancient Northmen, especially the
Icelanders, to whom the surrounding sea appeared the most important
element, fancied that all things had risen out of it, they attributed
to him an all-embracing knowledge and imagined him particularly wise.

"Of AEsir the brightest--
He well foresaw
Like other Vanir."

Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).

Heimdall was further distinguished by his golden teeth, which
flashed when he smiled, and won for him the surname of Gullintani
(golden-toothed). He was also the proud possessor of a swift,
golden-maned steed called G