Eir

Eir attests in Old Norse texts preserved in medieval Iceland. In the Prose Edda (Gylfaginning ch. 35) Snorri lists Eir among the ásynjur and comments that she is "an extremely good physician." In Skáldskaparmál (Prose Edda ch. 75) her name appears in a list of valkyrie names. In the Poetic Edda (Fjölsvinnsmál) she is one of the maidens attending Menglöð who "sit on the hill Lyfjaberg" (the "hill of healing"); there Svipdagr asks whether the maidens will give aid if blót (offerings) are made to them and the answer is affirmative. Modern scholars (e.g., Simek, Orchard, Lindow, Davidson) note the uncertain identity-unity of these occurrences and debate whether they describe a single goddess-figure, a valkyrie, or attendant/guardian spirits sharing a name.

No surviving medieval source provides a descriptive physical appearance or iconography for Eir. Her presence in texts is functional and classificatory—listed among ásynjur, in a valkyrie-name list, and as one of Menglöð's maidens—rather than pictorially described; therefore no specific dress, attributes, or bodily features are attested in the cited materials.

Primary attested ability is healing: Snorri explicitly calls Eir "an extremely good physician" (Gylfaginning ch. 35). In Fjölsvinnsmál she is one of the maidens associated with a healing place (Lyfjaberg) and, by context and scholarly commentary (Hilda Ellis Davidson), belongs to a group of guardian maidens who "shelter and save" those who make offerings. Her name is used in skaldic kennings as a poetic synonym for woman, indicating cultural association with valued female qualities. Some scholars note theoretical links between valkyrie functions (life-and-death agency) and healing, but such links are interpretive rather than explicit in the primary attestations.