How many mothers did the god Heimdallr have?

Heimdallr had nine mothers. Norse myth describes them as nine sisters, and some interpretations identify them with sea-associated maidens or the nine daughters of Ægir and Rán.

The Prose Edda gives the most direct evidence. In Gylfaginning, Heimdallr is introduced as the son of nine sisters. Skáldskaparmál similarly refers to him as the son of “eight mothers plus one,” making the total nine rather than a symbolic or approximate number.

A poem known as Völuspá hin skamma, preserved within Hyndluljóð, lists nine giantess maidens connected with his birth: Gjálp, Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Ulfrún, Angeyja, Imðr, Atla, and Járnsaxa. The imagery says he was nourished by the earth, the cold sea, and boar’s blood.

The identity of the mothers remains debated. Some scholars connect them with the waves or with Ægir and Rán’s nine daughters, but the names in the surviving lists do not perfectly match. That uncertainty affects who the mothers were, not the standard mythic count: nine is the canonical quiz answer.