Tyr eventually went inside to get something to eat, and found that the hall was rather empty, with even four of the tables removed. A Valkyrie flew down and landed in front of Tyr and curtseyed.
“Greetings jarl Tyr, how might I serve you?”
“Some breakfast would be nice. What is there to have?”
“There is cheese, bread, and for you the apples of Idunn. If you desire any meat, I am afraid you will have to find it yourself.”
“That is fine, thank you. What is your name?”
The Valkyrie looked shocked at this question.
“Most of Odin’s jarls do not care to know the name of the lesser Valkyries. I am Bodilla Tryggsdottir.”
“Warrior Woman, daughter of Faithful.” Tyr translated and smiled. “That is a wonderful name for a Valkyrie.”
Bodilla smiled back, then went to get the food. Though good, the meal lacked the spectacle of the night before, being of simple ingredients. Once done eating, Tyr wandered through Valhalla, trying make the layout familiar to him. He soon found that as large as Valhalla was on the outside it was even bigger on the inside, with many empty rooms that were waiting to be furbished to hold more people, a sign as to how big the army for Ragnarök was planning to become. Tyr figured that as of this point, Odin was hoping to increase the einherjar by at least thirtyfold.
Tyr soon found himself in a room filled with silver sticks and black shields, and even saw there the einherjar, Varin, looking at the stock.
“Greetings Varin Rikiwulfson, how fair you this morning?”
Varin looked up at Tyr surprised and then bowed to him.
“I…I am well jarl Tyr, merely trying to decide what is best to use from the armory.”
“We are in the armory? Tis more like a carpenter’s shop to me.” Tyr stated, picking up one of the sticks.
“Would not a sword be better than this?”
No sooner had he said it than the stick grew, becoming longer and thinner at the top until what Tyr held was not a silver stick, but a silver sword. Upon seeing Tyr’s puzzling look, Varin spoke.
“According to old veteran einherjar, Odin wished to find a way to create the weapons of the einherjar in mass and did so through Laerad, the second world tree. Its branches and twigs can be used to create Gambanteinns, a magical wand that could not only cast spells for those who knew how but also shapeshift into weapons of silver. There is a limit of course, as a Gambanteinn must retain its overall shape, so a straight one like you are wielding could become a sword, dagger, wand, stick, staff, club, and spear but not an ax or a bow. Furthermore, the Gambanteinns cannot be enchanted, so they are often weaker to other weapons made in Asgard.”
“I see, then the einherjar I saw wearing gambesons and armed with these Gambanteinns were the newly dead.”
“Most were, some were merely unsuccessful. Odin has been using the daily battles of the einherjar as a competition of sort. The last einherjar standing is given gold to buy custom weapons and armor from the blacksmiths of Asgard.”
“I imagine that group combat practices are viewed quite favorably then.”
“There are no group battles, the fight is always free for all.”
Tyr frowned at this statement, as he found this detail to be a hazardous mistake that would be to Asgard’s detriment in the future. However, he thought it best to speak to Odin about this in private and continued his conversation with Varin.
“The black shields, are they mass produced as well?”
“Yes, they are copies of Svalinn, the giant shield that its namesake Vanir created to prevent Midgard from being burned by the sun’s heat. These can make any magic thrown at its wielder to become harmless, render all flames it contacts as harmless, and has some minor ability to manipulate the wind around it so no projectile will hit the wielder from the front unless it is enchanted to do so. These Svalinns, as they are called, are usually the last thing that an einherjar will consider replacing and is viewed to be as vital for all einherjar as the Helskor shoes we use to move around Valhalla.”
Tyr nodded his head and looked down at the Gambanteinn in his hand. It had grown into a proper sword for him, and as he tested it, he found the balance and weight nearly perfect. Tyr transformed it back to its wand form, and as he was putting it back heard some call to him.
“In here!” Tyr replied and an Aesir came through the door. He was bald, clean shaven, wore no armor on himself and had powerful looking legs.
“Hermod right? How can I help you?”
“Mimir wishes to speak with you, he is waiting in his chamber. Also, Odin wishes to have you watch the first battle of the einherjar that will begin in an hour. Mimir asked me to lead you to his chamber since you have been gone for a long time.”
“I see. Thank you Hermod.”
Tyr followed behind Hermod, walking at first but soon found himself running. Apparently Hermod was someone who enjoyed running everywhere he went and rarely stopped moving, as he had walked towards Tyr when he delivered his message rather than just standing near the door. Tyr gained on him at first, but then Hermod looked back at Tyr, smiled, and began to run faster.
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So Hermod likes to race, eh? Alright then.
Tyr pushed a little harder and started to run alongside Hermod, though Hermod just grinned even more. By the time they reached the door to Mimir’s chamber, Hermod was ahead of Tyr by the length of a horse.
“You too fast for me Hermod.”
“You would have been much closer if you knew the layout of Asgard better. Though in fairness those einherjar that were in the hall we last ran through did slow you down.”
“Well, I couldn’t just bowl them over or run up the wall like you did.”
“So you just jumped over the entire group, rolled and started running again.
“Once you’re done talking to Mimir and exit his chamber, turn left and walk straight, that will lead you to the practice fields.”
Hermod then turn and ran back the way they came, and his speed made Tyr wonder how he ever kept up with him.
Tyr entered Mimir’s chamber and found it dimly lit and filled with sweet incense, which caused Tyr’s head to feel a little fuzzy at first. Walking forward and peering through the gloom, Tyr soon found Mimir, or rather his head, resting on a pillow on an altar like structure close to the wall.
“Greetings Tyr, it is nice to see you again for the first time.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“One part of my brain tells me that you have returned from a long trip, while the other part knows that all those memories are created by Yggdrasil to explain how all the things that happened where you should have been involved happened while you were missing. A contact from that bird fellow, Thoth, helped some too.”
Tyr smiled and nodded.
“He did claim to be you son, so I suppose it makes sense that you two met at one point.”
“Probably thought you’d buy that too. Thor did when Thoth visited Odin 600 years ago but that is beside the point. I know that you just arrived, and that you may have an idea about how things are but not enough to escape standing out, like how I know the names of three Olympian bachelorettes but could not tell you which would be a nice dinner companion. We will start by having you ask me about what you want to know about the history of the nine realms if that is alright.”
“Well, I am curious as to whether Thor knows that his mother is Jord and not Frigg, though Frigg strikes me as the sort that it wouldn’t that there was no blood between them and love him anyway.”
“Jord?”
“I believe she was also called Fjorgyn.”
“It appears we will be talking first about Odin then. I know well enough that the lightening throwing idiot that some call Zeus spends more time with a pretty face than looking after his realms, but Odin is different. I will not claim that he did not chase the fairer sex from time to time, but his chasing days were over the moment he married Frigg. I’ll admit she wasn’t his first wife, but she is his favorite and the mother of most of his children including Thor, who I might add broke the legs of the last Jotun who mocked his mother.”
“Ah, well then, let’s just chalk that up to misinformation and move on, like perhaps to Loki and Odin’s apparent animosity towards me and… perhaps each other?”
“Well, I can’t say for Odin, but Loki is probably remembering that you were key to the imprisonment of Fenrir, who was the only child he sired from Angrboda that was allowed freedom till that point. Though to be fair there were many who thought you should have killed them as penance for what Loki did. Ah, I see you do not understand, meaning that detail was understandably forgotten. Angrboda was betrothed to you for a long time, then Loki heard the Norns prophecy that the children of Angrboda would be the most powerful forces in the realms, and that through them the fate of Ragnarök would be decided. After which, he seduced Angrboda and sired those three, with you annulling the engagement to Angrboda upon discovery.”
“Was…was Loki married to Sigyn at the time?”
“Yes, and you were angrier about Loki being unfaithful to Sigyn and breaking her heart than what he did to you, or at least I think that was what was being shouted as Thor and Odin were prying your hands off his neck outside my door. Heimdall told me that was the quietest Loki had been since his mouth was sown shut.
“Now, getting back to your sensing of animosity towards each other, that is because of their similarities. You see, while Odin is considered the leader of the Aesir, he himself is not considered Aesir. He was born of the High Vaettir, those born of Buri before they split into the Aesir and Vanir, and of a primordial Jotun, who were of the first generation of giants born from Ymir. After Ymir’s death and great flood that came from his bleeding out, no Jotun blood carries the same properties, nor did the blood of the Aesir and Vanir. The last of the primordial Jotuns was Loki’s father, who died in the flood while he was yet to be born and the last two of the High Vaettir died in the Aesir-Vanir War, those two being Loki’s mother in childbirth and me from beheading. Therefore, Loki and Odin’s shapeshifting abilities are so unique because they are of bloodlines now lost.
“Also, I and a few others remember how Odin was in his youth: a practical joker who enjoyed causing trouble that had great difficulty control his emotions, combined with a rebellious streak and a desire to prove how great he was. Becoming the leader of the Aesir and the love of Frigg straightened him out to be manageable, but Loki is slightly different. Odin feels a kinship due to their shared blood, but he is also worried as to how much of his past self he sees in Loki, so he keeps an eye on Loki always. Loki, for his part, becomes frustrated that fewer of his schemes work than he would hope, and has begun to look at Odin in the way Odin once looked at Ymir.”
“Is Loki aware of all this?”
“Not unless you tell him after leaving here, for my chamber here is in between realms, and this incense not only helps me stay alive but interferes with shifted shapes, making it so all in here are in their true forms.
“Times running out before you need to be elsewhere, anything else you want to know?”
“Well yes. This might sound silly to you but…who are my parents?”
Mimir blinked for a moment, then gave Tyr a look of pity before speaking.
“I’m afraid not even the Norns know that Tyr. The first memory that most of us have of you was of you walking barefooted up the Bifrost straight into Asgard to offer Odin your services. The fact that you were barefoot is of some significance, as only one of Aesir blood could move about Asgard without magic shoes. Yet your height was a sign that you were of the Jotun, for pure blooded Aesir are usually no taller than the mortals and cannot grow larger at will like the Jotun can.
“But perhaps the most unsettling thing about you is your eye.”
“My eye? The one with the wings in it?”
“Yes. You see, that is the sign that means one has dominion over the Valkyries. Only two other people have that sign, the leaders of the Valkyries: Odin and Freya. In fact, the reason they have that sign is because during the brief time that they were married they combined their magics and created the Valkyries.”
“So, this is a sign that I am their child.”
“Except Freya never had a child with Odin, part of the reason the marriage was annulled you see, and Odin has welcomed all the children he has ever had with joy.”
And he wasn’t joyful to see me.
“Fortunately for them, there are as of now only five people that know what that mark means should they see it, so there is little risk of more awkward conversations between everyone. I am sorry I cannot provide you with more clues as to who might be your kin Tyr, so I guess you’ll have to start making your own.”
Tyr nodded glumly, then turned to leave before asking on last question.
“Why did I…leave?”
“It was shortly after Fenrir’s binding. You wanted to find out about yourself and your fate.”
“Thank you Mimir.”
“Feel free to come back to talk Tyr. I’ll be here waiting.”