Manda's (Amachan) Order of Heimdallr

For my fantasy army I wanted something to represent me and thus I looked at the things I like and combined them. I love horses for one, so Rohan from the Lord of the Rings would be good one. I also do like Bretonnia from the old Warhammer Fantasy with all of their cavalry in different forms. I do also like their infantry from Total War: Warhammer.

Now when I start looking at history I do like the medieval period, preferably the earlier medieval period (11th-13th century). I kind of do have an affinity with Scandinavia, the cultures, the history and the environment. I’ve never been there, but surely will have to at some point. So for those two I can combine them in medieval Scandinavian armies at which I focus mostly around the time of the Northern or the Baltic crusades in which the Danish and the Swedish took part.

Another thing I’ve been inspired by is the militant orders of the crusades, the Teutonic knights, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar and so on. But I have absolutely no interest in their beliefs. I myself have a more pagan belief and therefore I decided to make a militant order for pagan beliefs, Norse in this case.

Norse mythology is also something I have a deep interest in and thus will become a key theme of this army.

And with all of those ingredients I came up with the Order of Heimdallr. A pagan militant order upholding pagan beliefs against all other odds.

To start of I bought the Scandinavian Starter army from Fireforge Games to form the base of the army. I’m planning on buying some more bits from other companies to kitbash my leaders and characters.

As new religions began to be introduced in the lands and the old pagan beliefs were being abandoned, not everyone felt comfortable doing so. Þórhildr (Thourhildr) being one of them and being fairly wealthy, She held her own realm. As the new religions took roots through the lands, Þórhildr was one to oppose this movement actively. This led to a war that Þórhildr could never win. Þórhildr lost most of her lands and her realm to the kings loyal to these new religions. Her last castle, the mighty fortress now nicknamed Himinbjörg by the locals, is where Þórhildr together with her enchantress Hjǫrdís founded the Order of Heimdallr. There are many people who cannot convert to these new religions. Those capable of fighting make their way to Himinbjörg to join the Order of Heimdallr. Those less capable of fighting join the society in Himinbjörg and contribute to its economy under the protection of the Order of Heimdallr. The Order of Heimdallr’s purpose is to defend and hold true to their pagan beliefs, their gods and their way of life, even though the rest of the lands and its people would see them destroyed.

I want the colours to represent me and I found a list of what stuff in medieval heraldry means. Using this I made my own symbolism for my army.

Green (Vert); I chose green as my primary colour as it stands for hope and loyalty in love. 2 things that represent me as I still have some hope things are getting better and I know that when I fall in love with someone I’m loyal to that person to a fault.

Black (Sable); Black is my secondary colour as it stands for grief. I suffer a lot from the pains from my past.

Gold (Or); Gold is my tertiary colour, not as much for it’s heraldic means, but more for the fact that most heraldry did include a metal colour and gold looked the best in my opinion.

Boar; I use a boar as my heraldic charge as it represents bravery and someone who fights to the death. I chose it because I’m still fighting the pains from my past and I will until I die. The boar is also my second favourite animal, the wolf being the first obviously. The boar is also a creature represented a lot in early Germanic art and cultures and does have some significance in Norse mythology as well. Apart from Freyja and Freyr who both had their own boar, I haven’t yet been able to find much more on the significance of the Boar in Norse mythology.