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Horses belonging to the 'gods' in Norse mythology
The
Horses of the Æsir
are
horses present in Norse mythology
which are ridden by the
Æsir
. Their main purpose is to be ridden daily to
Yggdrasil
in order for their riders to pass judgements.
[1]
They are said to cross
Bifrost
along their journey. Among them is the famous
Sleipnir
which is the strongest one. They are mentioned in the
Poetic Edda
and the
Prose Edda
.
Listing
[
edit
]
The horses of Æsir are listed twice:
In the
Eddic poem
Grimnismal
the following names are listed:
Glad
and Gyllir,
Gler and Skeidbrimir,
Sillfrintopp and Sinir,
Gisl and
Falhofnir
,
Gulltopp
and Lettfeti;
on these steeds the Æsir
each day ride,
when they to council go,
at Yggdrasil’s ash.
Snorri Sturluson
the author of the Gylfaginning paraphrases this stanza in his
Gylfaginning
:
Each day the Æsir ride thither up over Bifrost, which is also called the Æsir's Bridge. These are the names of the Æsir's steeds:
Sleipnir
is best, which Odin has; he has eight feet. The second is Gladr, the third Gyllir, the fourth Glenr, the fifth Skeidbrimir, the sixth Silfrintoppr, the seventh Sinir, the eighth Gisl, the ninth Falhofnir, the tenth Gulltoppr, the eleventh Lettfeti. Baldr's horse was burnt with him; and Thor walks to the judgment.
Apart from Odin's eight-legged horse
Sleipnir
, and
Gulltoppr
, who belongs to
Heimdallr
according to the
Prose Edda
,
[4]
nothing is known about these horses, especially their owner other than that they are ridden by the Æsir. These names aren't listed in the
þulur
.
Other horses are mentioned elsewhere:
Gullfaxi
, which originally belonged to
Hrungnir
. Who was given by
Thor
to his son
Magni
after he killed the
jotunn
(
Skaldskaparmal
,
17
),
Bloðughofi
, which belongs to
Freyr
(
Kalfsvisa
) and
Hofvarpnir
, which is ridden by
Gna
(
Gylfaginning
,
35
).
Meanings
[
edit
]
- Bloðughofi
: "Bloody-hoof";
- Falhofnir
: "Hairy-hoof" or "Hidden-hoof", i.e. whose hoofs are covered with hair, or "Pale-hoof";
- Gulltoppr
: "Gold-tuft";
- Gisl
: related to "beam", "ray";
- Glaðr
: "Glad" or "Bright";
- Glær
:
[5]
"Clear", "Glassy";
- Gullfaxi
: "Golden-mane"
- Gyllir
:
[6]
"Golden";
- Hofvarpnir
: "Hoof-thrower";
- Lettfeti
: "Light-foot";
- Silfrintoppr
: "Silver-tuft";
- Sinir
: "Sinewy";
- Skeiðbrimir
: "the one which snorts as he runs";
- Sleipnir
: "trickster";
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
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]
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