Gullfaxi (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ) is a horse in Norse mythology. Its name means "Golden mane". It was originally owned by

Hrungnir Hrungnir (Old Norse: , 'brawler') is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is described as made of stone and is ultimately killed in a duel with the thunder god Thor. Prior to his demise, Hrungnir engaged in a wager with Odin in which Odin stakes his ...

, and was later given to Magni by

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

as a reward for lifting off the leg of Hrungnir, which lay over the unconscious Thor and strangled him: :'And I will give thee,' he said, 'the horse Gold-Mane, which Hrungnir possessed.' :Then Odin spake and said that Thor did wrong to give the good horse to the son of a giantess, and not to his father. ::—''Skáldskaparmál'' (17) Gullfaxi is equally fast on land, in the air and on the water, but not quite as fast as Sleipnir, Odin's horse.

Folk tale

Gullfaxi is also the name of a horse in the modern Icelandic folk-tale '' The Horse Gullfaxi and the Sword Gunnfoder'' collected by Jón Árnason, translated into German by , then rendered into English and included in the ''Crimson Fairy Book'' (1903) compiled by

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

References

Horses in Norse mythology Horses in mythology Thor {{Norse-myth-stub

Folk tale

See also

References