Sleipnir

What it is

Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse in Norse mythology. He is Odin's steed in both Eddas, and is called the best of horses. He is also the child of Loki and the stallion Svaðilfari, and the Prose Edda says his coat is grey. In the stories he carries gods and heroes: Odin rides him to the land of Hel, and Hermóðr mounts him to seek Baldr. He belongs with the horses of the Æsir and with travel between Asgard, Jötunheimr and the world of the dead. The name is glossed in Old Norse as 'slippy' or 'the slipper'.

Where it comes from

Sleipnir is named in the Poetic Edda, a 13th-century collection that draws on older tradition, and in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, also from the 13th century. Both present him as Odin's horse and as the offspring of Loki and Svaðilfari. The Prose Edda gives the fullest account of his birth. He also appears in a riddle in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, in Völsunga saga as the ancestor of Sigurðr's horse Grani, and in an episode in book I of Saxo Grammaticus's 12th-century Gesta Danorum that many scholars connect with him. Two 8th-century picture stones from Gotland, Sweden, are generally accepted as showing him.

Tools and materials

Few objects gather around Sleipnir. A saddle is placed on him before Odin rides to Hel, and Hermóðr tightens the girth before spurring him at Hel's gate. Sigrdrífumál names Sleipnir's teeth, together with a sledge's strap-bands, as a place for cutting runes. The Prose Edda adds that the horse is grey. In Skáldskaparmál his name also serves in kennings for a ship, as 'sea-Sleipnir'.

What it is for

Sleipnir serves as Odin's mount and as the best horse among gods and men. In Baldrs draumar Odin saddles him and travels to the location of Hel. In Gylfaginning Hermóðr rides him for nine nights to Hel's gate, where the horse jumps over the gate, in an attempt to win Baldr back. In Skáldskaparmál Odin rides him into Jötunheimr and races Hrungnir. In Völsunga saga the grey horse Grani is said to come from Sleipnir's kin.

Who does it

No human office is attached to Sleipnir in the surviving texts. His riders are gods and heroes. Odin saddles him for the journey to Hel, and Hermóðr mounts him to seek Baldr. In Völsunga saga an old man, later identified as Odin, tells Sigurðr that the grey horse Grani is of Sleipnir's kin. The Prose Edda names Loki as his parent, so the horse belongs to the company of the Æsir and the giants rather than to a class of ritual specialists.

Peoples and places

Sleipnir belongs to Norse mythology and to the world of Norse pagans. Lindow places knowledge of his role in Iceland in the last decades of paganism, and Icelandic folklore makes him the creator of Ásbyrgi. Two picture stones on Gotland, in Sweden, show eight-legged horses that most scholars take to be Sleipnir. The sagas also bring him into the stories of Sigurðr and of Hadingus in Saxo's Gesta Danorum. No local cult held in his name is described.

What people believe

The stories assume a world of gods, giants and the dead. Odin is chief among the Æsir, and Sleipnir is his horse. Loki, a trickster among the gods, is Sleipnir's parent after dealings with the stallion Svaðilfari. The horse crosses Bifröst with the gods, runs over the sea in Gesta Danorum, and can go to Hel, the realm of the dead. In Skáldskaparmál he is called the relative of Loki in a kenning, a poetic figure for the god.

How scholars and sceptics see it

John Lindow connects Sleipnir with the failed recovery of Baldr. He reads Úlfr Uggason's kenning 'sea-Sleipnir' in Húsdrápa as a sign that the horse's part in that story was known in Iceland in the last decades of paganism. Lindow says the eight legs have been taken as a mark of speed or as linked to cult practice, and he leaves the question open. Davidson calls the eight-legged horse the typical mount of a shaman and compares it with animal mounts in shamanic journeys. She cites Mircea Eliade's study for an eight-legged foal in a Buryat shaman story.

Compare and confuse

Other horses frame Sleipnir in the texts. Hrungnir boasts of Gullfaxi, and Sigurðr's grey horse Grani is called Sleipnir's kin. The name also enters ship kennings, where 'sea-Sleipnir' stands for a ship. The Old Norse gloss gives 'slippy' or 'the slipper' as the sense of the name.

Today

Sleipnir lives on in Icelandic folklore as the maker of Ásbyrgi. Modern works of art, literature and software include him, and ships have been named after him. The old poems and Snorri's prose remain the main written records for the horse, while the Gotland picture stones and other carved stones are read as early images. No living cult is described.

Questions people ask about Sleipnir

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Sleipnir on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data