When Hermóðr, one of Odin’s sons, must ride to Hel in order to offer a ransom in return for the god Beldr, he is allowed to borrow Sleipnir for the journey, and the horse straight up leaps over the gates of Hel when they arrive there. The horse has proved quite handy throughout Norse mythology. Not only was Sleipnir of great speed and strength, but also had the power to travel to across all terrain, including sea and air. Sleipnir, rather than being your average gray colt, has eight legs, described as “the best horse among gods and men”. This would be the end to the story if it Loki and Svaðilfar had not have had…relations…during the midst of the scheme, and months later, Loki gives birth to the horse Sleipnir, which he gives to Odin to use as his steed. Enraged, the stonemason reveals his true form, that of a stone giant, but is killed by Odin. Under the guise of a young mare, Loki was able to lure the stallion away from the stonemason long enough for the wall’s progress to come to a stall, and thus, the deadline passes and the work is not yet finished. Odin threatened to kill Loki if the stonemason managed to finish the job on time, as he had allowed the worker to use the horse in the first place. In order to escape Odin’s wrath, Loki came up with a plan that would cause the stonemason to forfeit the agreement. However, this backfires on the gods, as with the help of said stallion, the stonemason makes rapid progress on the wall and near the end of Summer, (three days until the deadline, to be exact) it is nearly complete. I guess the trickster god thought it was only fair, so he helped persuade the gods. The stonemason asked if he could have the aid of his stallion, Svaðilfar, and under the influence of Loki, this was allowed. If he could complete the wall without the help of any man within three seasons, he would be granted his request. While this was a pretty heft request, the gods needed a replacement for the wall, as without it they would be left vulnerable in future conflicts. If asking for the goddess of love and fertility to be his wife wasn’t enough, he also wanted the sun and the moon. A stonemason, (by the name of Blast in some retellings) offers to rebuild the wall in exchange for Freya’s hand in marriage. During the war between Vanaheim and Asgard, the wall that protected Asgard was destroyed. I suppose I should start by explaining the origins of this eight-legged horse.

So today, I’ll be talking about the mythical war-horse of Odin, Sleipnir! Another creature today, but this time, rather than picking another Greek, I’ve chosen one from Norse mythology! Because it’s been a while since I did an article on anything Norse.

Sleipnir smt