Læraðr is by far the best villain in FEH, and that is after we got the absolute worst with Gullveig
I really hope he doesnt get Fafnir'd, he really deserves a MHB
I don't know if I would say by far, but I agree that he is undeniably the best villain. Not only is he intimidating (a feat that is necessary for a good villain but that most other villains in this game also accomplish) he is also fascinating as a character and had the presence/screentime across the book to solidify our understanding of him over time.
The other villains come up short in one way or another. I find Freyja to be fascinating and she had ok screentime but she was never intimidating to me (one of the three villains with this problem, together with Muspell and Ganglot), Surtr had good screentime but was not fascinating at all, just a basic bit*h of an archetype, Gullveig COULD have been fascinating and with good screentime but the book is told SO badly and built on a foundation of cheap plot twists that we actually spend so little time with her and understanding her motivations. A waste.
And all the other villains are like that with the exception of my number two villain now: Eitri. She was intimidating and fascinating and her little screentime was somewhat remedied thanks to getting an entire Forging Bond (and I'm hoping beyong hope he gets some more screentime as Sindri). Plus you can't deny that it's interesting how she is a villain that "won".
But Læraðr is better in a vacuum AND his book is better written so there's no contest. I hope he is a sign of good things to come. We are getting closer and closer to meeting the main bad guy of the story in Asgard. It would be a shame if he ended up disappointing us now.
