giant
Eggþér
The giants' herdsman, who sits on a mound playing his harp, cheerful, as the red cock Fjalar crows to signal the coming of Ragnarök.
Eggþér appears in a single stanza of Völuspá, at the moment the signs of Ragnarök begin. He is "the giants' warder" or herdsman, sitting on a mound and playing his harp, and he is "joyous." Above him a red cock called Fjalar crows in the "bird-wood" Völuspá 42. In the next stanza two more cocks crow, one waking the heroes in Odin's hall and one "at the bars of Hel" Völuspá 43. A common reading is that the three cocks rouse the giants, the gods and the dead for the final battle.
That is everything the sources say. The giant's cheerfulness is usually read as the gladness of the giants, who know their day is coming. Snorri does not mention him.
In the sources
Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.
On a hill there sat, and smote on his harp, Eggther the joyous, the giants' warder; Above him the cock in the bird-wood crowed, Fair and red did Fjalar stand.
Where the sources disagree or fall silent
- The meaning of the name is unclear; 'edge-servant' (sword-guardian) has been suggested.
- Fjalar the cock is probably not the dwarf Fjalar of the mead story; the name is shared.
