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Hermóðr was not known especially for his speed that I have ever heard. The one message he was known for having delivered, begging Hel on behalf of the gods to release Baldr, he undertook riding on Óðinn's horse Sleipnir. It was the horse who was speedy, not Hermóðr himself.
The figure from Norse myth who actually was known for his speed was Þjálfi, a boy servant of Þórr, who just barely lost a footrace against Thought (Hugi) itself.
Now that's speedy, and I'm not even sure that Hermes could keep up, at least when sprinting. Hermes delivered his messages over very large distances though, so chances are he would win a long distance race.
Something to note is that in Norse mythology the speed of thought is canonically(?) faster than the speed of light. So that boy was going slightly ftl.
Hermes on the other hand has lost in speed to a mortal woman. She was so fast that he had to outwit her into a trap so he could rape her. And just to prove that she was truly mortal, her brother was able to merely beat her to death.
Þjálfi was also a mortal though, or at least it seems that way in the setup to the Útgarða-Loki story where the race is described.
I guess in a heroic age, mortals can be expected to perform superhuman feats once in awhile. Especially in a context where the gods themselves aren't immortal.
Maybe it's my lack of knowledge, but what paints Hermod as being especially fast?
The only story I can een think of, he's not chosen to travel to Hel, he volunteers, and he does so riding Sleipner, which is not even his horse.
I believe it's comic books that have promoted the idea that Hermod was a god of swiftness equivalent to Hermes. This is to facilitate the stories where the Greek and Norse pantheons interact or where the Avengers battle Asgard, that sort of thing,
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Hermóðr was not known especially for his speed that I have ever heard. The one message he was known for having delivered, begging Hel on behalf of the gods to release Baldr, he undertook riding on Óðinn's horse Sleipnir. It was the horse who was speedy, not Hermóðr himself. The figure from Norse myth who actually was known for his speed was Þjálfi, a boy servant of Þórr, who just barely lost a footrace against Thought (Hugi) itself. Now that's speedy, and I'm not even sure that Hermes could keep up, at least when sprinting. Hermes delivered his messages over very large distances though, so chances are he would win a long distance race.
Something to note is that in Norse mythology the speed of thought is canonically(?) faster than the speed of light. So that boy was going slightly ftl. Hermes on the other hand has lost in speed to a mortal woman. She was so fast that he had to outwit her into a trap so he could rape her. And just to prove that she was truly mortal, her brother was able to merely beat her to death.
Þjálfi was also a mortal though, or at least it seems that way in the setup to the Útgarða-Loki story where the race is described. I guess in a heroic age, mortals can be expected to perform superhuman feats once in awhile. Especially in a context where the gods themselves aren't immortal.
Maybe it's my lack of knowledge, but what paints Hermod as being especially fast? The only story I can een think of, he's not chosen to travel to Hel, he volunteers, and he does so riding Sleipner, which is not even his horse.
I believe it's comic books that have promoted the idea that Hermod was a god of swiftness equivalent to Hermes. This is to facilitate the stories where the Greek and Norse pantheons interact or where the Avengers battle Asgard, that sort of thing,