1. Dyau≠ Pitar and His Lost Mythology

is among the eldest of the Gods (Hyndloljóð 35): Varð einn borinn í árdag “One (Heimdall) was born in bygone days”)
is the eldest member of his clan to participate in the battle of Kuruk≠etra, survives three generations with unimpaired vigor as a result of the boon of choosing the moment of his own death
is the last to die at the battle of Ragnarøk (Gylfaginning 51)	is the last hero to die in battle of Kuruk≠etra

Cet ensemble cohérent de rencontres précises qui touchent au fond des personnages [Heimdallr, Dyu, et Bhīsma—P.T.] ne peut être l’effet du hasard : elles assurent que le Ciel, le Dyu dont Bhisma est la transposition épique avait, à la différence du celui du }gveda, une riche mythologie, et que cette mythologie était héritée des temps indo-européens. Cette constatation est d’une très grande portée. (G. Dumézil 1968: 190)
This coherent grouping of exact correspondences, extending to the most fundamental aspects of the figures [Heimdallr, Dyu, and Bhīsma], cannot not be the result of chance: they assure that Heaven, the Dyau˛ of whom Bhīsma is the epic transposition, had, unlike the god Dyau˛ of the }gveda, a rich body of mythology, and that this mythology was inherited from Indo-European times. The establishment of the existence of this mythology is of immense importance.