> [Taylor, Patrick](taylor-p.md). "Bhīṣma on the Plain of Vígríðr: Indic Perspectives on the Death of Heimdallr". See also the companion peice [[taylor-p-bhishma-olympia]] > **Abstract** > > Georges Dumézil’s comparison of the Norse god Heimdallr with the Indic god Dyu and Dyu’s incarnation in epic, Bh
sma, has established the Indo-European status of the *figure «cadre»*, a god or hero who is born or present at the very beginning of an eschatological conflict and is the last to die at its end. Heimdallr, the *dieu cadre* of Norse myth, finds his earthly counterpart in the superhuman *héros cadre* of the Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma. Dumézil’s comparison is supported by a remarkable series of agreements between the two figures, of which only a few can briefly be mentioned here: both are born from watery sources; their birth is associated with a motif of multiple mothers or a series of births; both are the greatest and eldest of their line but do not reign directly; both are unmarried but play a role in assuring the continuity of generations (Dumézil 1968: 176190). Furthermore, Skjærvø (1998) has shown that Dumézil’s *héros cadre* appears within Iranian epic cycles in the figure of Rostam. > > Although the similarity between Bhīṣma’s birth and Heimdallr’s forms a cornerstone of his analysis of the two figures, Dumézil does not extend his comparison to encompass the other end of the career of the *dieu/héros cadre*: his death. Both Bhīṣma and Heimdallr, however, meet their death in the final eschatological battle through the actions of a longstanding personal enemy. The Indic hero’s death is brought about by Ambā, jilted princess whose intense hatred of Bh
sma stretches across her own death into her next incarnation, during which she is transformed into a man and faces Bh
sma in battle on the plain of Kurukṣetra. Ambās story, one of the most fascinating subplots of the great Indian epic, shares a number of striking details with the career of Heimdallr’s adversary, Loki. A comparison of Ambā and Loki allows us to discern another aspect of the *riche mythologie* of Dyu, the outlines of the death-tale of the Indo-European sky-god.