Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

, Svaðilfari (

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 settlement ...

: ; perhaps "unlucky traveler"Orchard (1997:156)) is a

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

that fathered the eight-legged horse

Sleipnir In Norse mythology, Sleipnir (Old Norse: ; "slippy"Orchard (1997:151). or "the slipper"Kermode (1904:6).) is an eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. Sleipnir is attested in the '' Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier tradition ...

with

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...

(in the form of a

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

). Svaðilfari was owned by the disguised and unnamed

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods ( Æsir and Vani ...

who built the walls of Asgard.

Attestations

''Gylfaginning''

In chapter 42 of the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been ...

'' book ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with t ...

'',

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

tells a story set "right at the beginning of the gods' settlement, when the gods had established Midgard and built Val-Hall" about an unnamed builder who offered to build a fortification for the gods that would keep out invaders in exchange for

Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

, the sun, and the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. After some debate, the gods agreed to this but placed a number of restrictions on the builder, including that he complete the work within one season. The builder made a single request: that he could have help from his stallion Svaðilfari, and under

's influence, this was allowed. The stallion Svaðilfari performed twice the builder's deeds of strength and hauled enormous rocks, to the surprise of the gods. The builder, with Svaðilfari, made fast progress on the wall, and three days before the deadline of summer, the builder was nearly at the entrance to the fortification. The gods convene and unanimously agreed that, along with most trouble, Loki was to blame.Faulkes (1995:35). The gods declared that Loki would face severe repercussions if he did not come up with a scheme that would cause the builder to forfeit his payment. Loki, afraid, swore that he would devise a scheme to force the builder into a corner, whatever it would cost himself. That night, the builder drove out to fetch stones with Svaðilfari, and out from the woods, into the clearing, ran a beautiful mare who was, in fact, Loki in disguise. The mare approached and neighed at Svaðilfari, and Svaðilfari became frantic, neighed, tore apart his tack, and ran towards the mare. The mare suddenly turned and ran into the woods in a fast gallop, away from the stallion. Svaðilfari began to follow, and the builder chased after. The two horses ran around all night, causing the building work to be held up for the night. Seeing that the wall would not be finished in time, the builder went into a rage ( non, jötunmóð), revealing he was a bergrisi.Faulkes (1995:36). When the Æsir realized that the builder was a

, they disregarded their previous oaths with the builder and called for

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, ...

who quickly arrived and killed the builder with Mjöllnir. Due to his night with Svaðilfari, Loki became pregnant and later gave birth to a grey

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foa ...

with eight legs - the famed horse

Notes

References

* Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''.

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

. * Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''.

Cassell Cassell may refer to: Companies * ''Cassell Military Paperbacks'', an imprint of Orion Publishing Group * ''Cassell's National Library'' * Cassell (publisher) (Cassell Illustrated or Cassell & Co.), a British book publisher now owned by the Orion ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Svadilfari Horses in Norse mythology Horses in mythology Loki

Attestations

''Gylfaginning''

See also

Notes

References