SERIES: JANUS: The Return Of The "God" Of New Beginnings
Part 11: JANUS: Heimdall And His Gold Teeth
By Ed Tarkowski

In Part 4, I mentioned that there are two other gods, in other mythologies,
who correspond to the Roman Janus. There was very little information on one
of these, but the second - Heimdall - held one description that shocked me.
The thing about Heimdall that struck me so is that he has GOLD TEETH.

In the "New Larousse Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Introduction By Robert
Graves, Teutonic, p. 268," Heimdall is referred to as corresponding to
Janus, and here is what is said of him. Notice the many eschatological
shadows. I'm not going to prolong this by going through each point, but
Heimdall, along with Janus, was a god of beginnings (frankly, I am weary at
this point <G>):

"Heimdall

"Among the great Aesir must be counted Heimdall. But of this god who
certainly held an important place in Germanic mythology almost nothing is
known. He is familiar to us only through the allusions which the poets make
to his person, role and power.

"He was a god of light. His name probably signifies 'he who casts bright
rays'. He may in particular represent the morning light, the dawn of day.
He may also personify the rainbow.

"In the Indo-European perspective, he occupies a particularly important
position, corresponding to that of the Indian Vayu and the Roman Janus. He
is the god who presides over the ambiguous beginnings of things, over the
prima as distinct from the summa. Like the guardian Janus, he is guardian
of the gods, installed on the threshold of the world of the gods, born in
the most ancient times and ancestor of gods and men, considered in their
social classes. In the divine assembly, it is he who speaks first, and
eschatologically it is he who opens the final phase of the world at the
Twilight of the Gods.

"The Scandinavians, who are the only Teutons by whom he is mentioned,
depict him as tall and handsome. His teeth are of pure gold. He was armed
with a sword and mounted on a charger with a glittering mane. He was
normally to be found near the great bridge Bifrost (the rainbow) which led
from the dwelling-place of men to that of the gods. He was the guardian of
this road, the divine sentinel, who warned the Aesir of the approach of
their enemies. He required less sleep than a bird. He could see at night as
easily as during the day. He could hear the grass growing on earth and the
wool on the backs of sheep. He owned a trumpet the sound of which could be
heard throughout the world.

"He was the sworn enemy of Loki. Loki had only contemptuous laughter for
the monotonous sentinel-duty which Heimdall performed, and for the long
periods during which he was obliged to remain at the gates of Asgard. Since
the beginning of time, as Loki ironically remarked, Heimdall had had to
sit, getting his back wet, at his post. But this modest and noble god was
able, on occasion, to chastise the diabolical Loki. One day Loki happened
to steal the goddess Freyja's necklace. He went to hide it under a reef
situated in the far-off Western sea. But Heimdall in the guise of a seal
also slipped under this reef and after a fierce struggle with Loki - who
had also turned himself into a seal succeeded in taking possession of the
necklace and restoring it to Freyja. In the final struggle in which the
gods fought for their very existence it was, as we shall later see,
Heimdall who struck Loki the Fatal blow. But he, too, fell beneath his
adversary's blows." [End Of Article]

Continued in Part 12.