As I was preparing for this coming weekend’s Circles at Asheville Raven & Crone, I came across a divine name I was not familiar with: Eir, Norse Goddess of Healing. Her name means “help” or “mercy.” As best as I can tell, it’s pronounced [eh-r or air] since the “e” would be the runic letter Ehwaz and the “r” is softy rolled. However, it appears to be [eye-r] in Icelandic so the jury is still out on the proper pronunciation. [I lean toward eh-r.] Somehow, I think she would answer to both since it’s about the intent in our hearts more than anything else.
There is actually very little info written about her even though she appears briefly in the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda and skaldic poetry. Perhaps the best detail we have is in the Prose Edds where Snorri Sturlesson says she is the best of physicians among the gods. However, there is no story or description of her realm attached to it.
Ocean Keltoi, who runs an excellent YouTube channel says that taking all literary sources into consideration, “she is associated with healing and seems to blur the line between goddess and valkyrie, as well as Aesir and Jotun (giant). And it could be concluded that she is a goddess who just doesn’t care about the lines between Aesir and Jotun and instead focuses on healing all those who have injury regardless of who they may be.”
My take on this is that Divine Energy is all the same energy that reveals itself to us in many forms. Some people may appeal to Brigid, Archangel Raphael, Jesus, Gaia, Asclepius, Artemis, etc. when performing healing work. It stands to reason that Eir is a Nordic version of the same energy. This Divine energy responds to us, no matter what name we attach to it. Does that make sense?
To be honest, there is no way we can do a deep dive on Eir because there is so little info to go on. The scholars I came across when researching this blog post had lots of different opinions on this subject with little or no agreement between them.
So, if you feel called to work with Eir in your healing work, I say go for it. If you already do, let me know about your experiences with this Norse deity. I’d love to hear your story.
Blessed be! ©2025, David Taliesin, http://www.sabbatsandsabbaths.com
Sabbats and Sabbaths 
I’ve seen Eir refered to as the Goddess of surgery and battle medics, although I don’t know where exactly that association came From.
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Not sure either. It may be a later addition to what was written in the original source mythology which is very sparse to begin with. Since much of the mythology was oral, it makes sense that this would be seen as part of Eir’s gifts.
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