Big Love

Question: I have a question about Heimdall. I've read that he is the son of nine mothers, the daughters of the sea god Aegir, but in the Aesir family tree he is a son of Frigg and Odin. Are you going to change that as you go through the site updating the gods associated powers?

Oh, tricky Heimdall. He is indeed described as the son of nine mothers, a group of giantesses named in the Prose Edda; some scholars do connect them with the nine daughters of Aegir, though the sea-daughters in fact have different names and turn up in different places in both the Poetic and Prose Edda, so it's really a question of whether you want to assume that nine ladies in a group must always be the same nine ladies. Heimdall does have some seemingly ocean-y connotations, particularly in the myth in which he chases Loki into the ocean and the two wrestle as seals for days on end; however, the giantesses named as his mothers all appear elsewhere doing other things in the Eddas, usually fucking with Thor in some way (especially Jarnsaxa, who is with Thor also the mother of Magni and Modi).

However, elsewhere in the Prose Edda, right before the aforementioned tussle with Loki, in fact, he is also described as a son of Odin during a long passage lauding his attributes, relics and deeds. So, as in many things in Scion, the ST gets to make a choice as to what's going on with his parentage exactly.

It's entirely possible that the Edda calls him the son of Odin poetically, meaning only that he's beloved by Odin or works for Odin; then again, it's just as possible that it calls him the son of the nine giantesses poetically (especially if you do connect them to the seafoam daughters of Aegir, it might be a poetic device to suggest he has a link with the ocean). If Heimdall's lineage is important to your game (because you have a Scion of Heimdall, you plan to use his relations in some way or other, or what have you), you can choose to play it a few ways; you can make him a son of Odin, a son of the giantesses, or a son of both (since his father/mother is never named in either case).

We chose to keep Heimdall under Odin because he would actually be a giant rather than Aesir if he were from Aegir's line instead; we were looking for a more unambiguous set of Norse gods to throw the ones who are already outsiders - the Vanir and Loki's line - into more sharp contrast. While he is listed in our family tree under Frigg as well, we're actually more fans of the idea that Odin is his father with the nine giantesses (but you try figuring out how to represent that on a family tree!). However, I think you could also do really interesting things with Heimdall as the son of giantesses alone; not only would that make him half-brother to Thor's kids, but I think there's some fun mythic ground to cover with him, as a giant himself, being the only person at Ragnarok capable of taking on Loki, the other giant in play.

It's just one of those places where myths give you a couple of options, so pick the one you like for the White God and run with it.