Sleipnir: Odin's Eight-Legged Horse in Norse Mythology
Explore Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse in Norse mythology: his birth from Loki, his role in Hermod's Hel-ride, and his place in Norse cosmology.
Sleipnir (Old Norse Sleipnir, “the sliding one” or “the slipper”) is the eight-legged horse of Odin, the steed on which the Allfather rides through the air, the sea, and the underworld. According to the Gylfaginning, Sleipnir was born of Loki and the stallion Svaðilfari, after Loki had taken the form of a mare to distract the great stallion of a giant builder who was constructing the walls of Asgard. Sleipnir is described in the Gylfaginning as the best of horses, and Odin rides him to Helheim and back, and on his many journeys through the nine worlds.
This page is an encyclopedic account of Sleipnir: his origin, his role in the mythology of Odin, his appearances in the Eddas and the heroic poetry, and his place in the Norse imagination.
The Birth of Sleipnir
The story of the birth of Sleipnir is one of the most famous in Norse mythology. According to the Gylfaginning of Snorri Sturluson, when the gods of Asgard had decided to build a great fortress to protect themselves from the giants, a master-builder appeared and offered to construct the fortress in a single winter, in exchange for Freyja as his wife, the sun, and the moon. The gods agreed, on the condition that he complete the work alone but with the help of his stallion Svaðilfari. The builder and Svaðilfari worked with great speed, and the gods became alarmed at the prospect of having to pay the agreed price.
Loki was responsible for the gods’ predicament, and he was given the task of finding a way out. He transformed himself into a beautiful mare and ran out to where the stallion Svaðilfari was working. Svaðilfari, excited by the mare, broke free of his harness and ran after her into the forest. The builder, deprived of his stallion, was unable to complete the work on time, and the gods, freed from their agreement, called upon Thor to slay the builder. The result of Loki’s ruse was the birth of Sleipnir, who was conceived from the union of Loki (in mare-form) and Svaðilfari. Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, was given to Odin as the child of Loki and the great stallion.
The image of Loki as a mare is one of the most striking in the Eddas. The trickster-god takes the form of a female animal to distract the stallion, and the ruse succeeds. The image is a mythic one, drawing on a common Indo-European motif of the trickster in animal form, and the resulting child — Sleipnir — is one of the most important figures of the Norse cosmos.
The Eight Legs of Sleipnir
The image of Sleipnir’s eight legs is one of the most distinctive in Norse mythology. The horse is described in the Gylfaginning as having eight legs, and the image is sometimes interpreted as a kind of doubling of the normal four-legged horse. The eight-legged horse is a figure that can move through all the realms of the Norse cosmos, and the eight legs are the legs of the earth, the air, the water, and the underworld — four realms, twice each. The eight legs are the legs of a horse that is not bound to any single realm but can move freely through all of them.
The image of the eight-legged horse has been extensively compared to the eight-legged horses of other Indo-European traditions. The two horses of the sun in the Greek tradition (the Aióvion of Helios), the eight horses of the Vedic sun-god Surya, and the eight-legged steed of the Iranian tradition are all related figures. The Norse Sleipnir is distinctive in being a single eight-legged horse (rather than a team of four or eight), and in being the mount of the chief god (rather than the sun).
The image of the eight legs is also connected to the runic tradition. The Sleipnir-rune or eight-rune is a possible figure in the runic alphabet, and the 8-shaped runic inscription has been interpreted by some scholars as a reference to Sleipnir. The connection is not firmly established, but the structural similarity is suggestive.
Sleipnir’s Role in the Norse Cosmos
Sleipnir is the mount of Odin in his many journeys through the cosmos. The Gylfaginning describes Odin as riding Sleipnir to Helheim and back, and the Baldrs draumar describes him as riding Sleipnir to the realm of the dead to summon a völva (prophetess) from her grave. The image of the Allfather riding the eight-legged horse through the air and the sea is one of the most powerful in the Eddas, and it is the basis for the iconography of Odin on his eight-legged horse in the Viking Age art.
The most famous of Sleipnir’s journeys is the helreið (“Hel-ride”) of the hero Hermóðr in the Gylfaginning. After the death of Baldr, the gods sent Hermóðr the Bold to ransom the dead god from Hel. Hermóðr rode Sleipnir, and after a long journey, he came to the bridge Gjallarbrú, which he crossed. The maiden Móðgjöð guarded the bridge, and she asked Hermóðr his name and business. He answered that he was the son of Odin, and that he had come to ransom Baldr. After a long ride, Hermóðr came to the high walls of Hel and to the great hall Éljúðnir. There he found Baldr sitting in the high seat, and he stayed with him for the night.
The image of Hermóðr riding Sleipnir to Hel is a remarkable one. The hero rides Odin’s horse on a journey to the underworld, and the journey is a precedent for the helreið of later heroic poetry. The image of Sleipnir as the steed of the heroes as well as the mount of the gods is one of the most important in the Norse imagination, and it is the basis for the many legends of heroes riding eight-legged horses to the underworld.
Sleipnir in the Eddas and Sagas
Sleipnir appears in several of the principal Eddic texts:
- The Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda, which contains the most systematic account of his birth and his role
- The Baldrs draumar, in which Odin rides Sleipnir to the realm of the dead to summon a völva
- The Völuspá, which contains a reference to Sleipnir in the context of Ragnarok
- The Hávamál, which contains a reference to Sleipnir in the context of Odin’s self-sacrifice
- The Grímnismál, which describes Sleipnir in the list of Odin’s attributes
Sleipnir also appears in the heroic poetry, most notably in the Helreið Brynhildar (in which the dead Valkyrie Sigrún meets the hero Helgi Hundingsbani on his burial mound and they ride together), and in the heroic sagas (in which Sleipnir-like horses are the mounts of great heroes). The Hrólfs saga kraka contains a passage in which a hero rides a magical horse to the underworld, and the Hervarar saga contains a similar passage.
The archaeological evidence for Sleipnir is extensive. The Tjängvide picture-stone in Gotland (8th century) depicts a rider on an eight-legged horse, generally identified as Odin on Sleipnir. The Stora Hammars stones in Gotland (8th century) and the Tängelgårda stones in Gotland (8th–9th century) contain similar images. The image of the rider on the eight-legged horse is one of the most distinctive in Viking Age art, and it is found in many places throughout the Scandinavian world.
Sleipnir in the Cult of Odin
Sleipnir is central to the cult of Odin in the late Iron Age and Viking Age Scandinavia. The image of Odin on Sleipnir is one of the most important iconographic elements of the cult, and the eight-legged horse is one of the most distinctive figures of the Norse imagination. The cult of Odin is in some sense the cult of the rider, the cult of the god who rides through the air and the underworld on his eight-legged horse, and the iconography of the cult is built around this image.
The image of Odin on Sleipnir is found in a wide range of cult objects and grave-finds of the Viking Age. The Vallentuna Runestone in Sweden (11th century) depicts a rider on an eight-legged horse, perhaps a representation of the Christian Christ or of Odin on Sleipnir. The Hørning stone in Denmark, the Lärbro Stave Church carvings in Gotland, and the Dynna church carvings in Iceland all contain images of the rider on the eight-legged horse.
The cult of Odin is also the cult of the dead hero in some sense, and the image of the dead hero being carried to Valhalla on Sleipnir is a structural image of the welcome of the dead. The warrior is taken by Sleipnir (or by the Valkyries on Sleipnir) to the hall of the slain, and the welcome in Valhalla is the eternalization of the warrior’s welcome by the Allfather.
Sleipnir and the Heroic Steeds
The figure of Sleipnir is the archetype of the heroic steed in the Norse tradition. The most famous of the heroic steeds are:
- Grani (“the gray”) — Sigurd’s horse, descended from Sleipnir, who carries the treasure of the Nibelungs
- Hildisvíni (“battle-swine”) — Freyja’s boar, which she rides into battle
- Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr — the two goats of Thor, which pull his chariot and which can be eaten and resurrected
- Blóðughófi (“bloody-hoof”) — the horse of the giantess Hyrrokkin, which Loki borrows to launch the ship of Baldr’s funeral pyre
- Skíðblaðnir — Freyr’s ship, which can be folded up and put in a pouch
The image of the heroic steed is connected to the divine in the Norse tradition, and the heroic steeds are often descendants of the divine steeds. Grani, for example, is descended from Sleipnir in the Völsunga saga, and the connection is significant: the hero is mounted on a descendant of the divine horse, and the hero’s journey is in some sense a continuation of the divine journey.
The image of the rider is also central. The hero is the rider, the one who is mounted, the one who goes on the journey. The Norse image of the hero is the image of the mounted hero, the one who goes on the journey to the underworld, the one who fights the dragon, the one who wins the treasure. The horse is the vehicle of the journey, and the journey is the structure of the heroic life.
The Eight-Legged Horse in Comparative Perspective
The image of the eight-legged horse is found in many Indo-European traditions. The most famous parallels are:
- The two horses of the Greek sun (the Aióvion of Helios)
- The eight horses of the Vedic sun-god Surya
- The eight-legged steed of the Iranian sun-god Mithra
- The eight-legged horse of the Slavic folklore (which is also a feature of the Russian folk tradition)
The Norse Sleipnir is distinctive in being a single eight-legged horse (rather than a team of four or eight), and in being the mount of the chief god (rather than the sun). The Norse image of the eight-legged horse is connected to the navigational and psychopomp functions of the horse, and the eight legs are the legs of a horse that can move freely through all the realms of the cosmos.
The image of the eight-legged horse has also been compared to the Celtic tradition of the eared horse and the winged horse (the Pryderi’s horses in the Mabinogi are sometimes described as having a special relationship with the other world), and to the Slavic tradition of the winged horse of the folk tales. The Norse image is distinctive in the eight legs specifically, and in the divine mount specifically.
The Horse in Norse Cult and Practice
The horse is one of the most important animals in Norse cult and practice, and the cult of the horse is closely connected to the cult of Odin. The blót (sacrifice) of the horse is attested in several sources, and the horse-fights of the Viking Age are a continuation of an older cult practice. The most famous of the horse-cults is the cult of the white horse at the Temple of Uppsala in Sweden, described by Adam of Bremen in the 11th century. Adam describes a great feast at the temple, in which nine human beings and many horses and dogs were sacrificed and hung from the sacred trees.
The runic inscriptions of the Viking Age also contain references to the horse. The most famous is the Rök Stone in Sweden, which contains a long inscription with several references to horses and to the god Þórr (Thor) and Óðinn (Odin). The Kalle Runestone in Sweden, the Skärkind Runestone in Sweden, and several Danish runestones also contain horse-related imagery.
The place-names of Scandinavia also preserve the cult of the horse. The Hesthaug (“horse-mound”) in Norway, the Hestur (“horse”) of the Faroe Islands, the Hestsveit (“horse-slope”) in Iceland, and many other place-names all preserve the cultic significance of the horse in the medieval North.
Sleipnir in the Eddic Cycle of Doom
At Ragnarok, Sleipnir is described as carrying Odin to the field of Vígríðr for the final battle. The Völuspá mentions the rider on the eight-legged horse, and the Vafþrúðnismál mentions Sleipnir in the context of the great battle. The image of the Allfather riding Sleipnir to the final battle is a powerful one: the chief of the gods, mounted on his eight-legged horse, riding out to meet the wolf Fenrir and the other great threats of the world order.
The image of Sleipnir at Ragnarok is the climax of Sleipnir’s role in the Norse cosmos. The horse that was born of the trickster’s ruse, that carried the Allfather through the air and the underworld, that brought the dead hero to the realm of the goddess of death, now carries Odin to his doom. The image of Sleipnir carrying the dying Odin to the final battle is one of the most poignant in Old Norse poetry, and it is the basis for the modern image of the eight-legged horse as a psychopomp, a being that carries the dead to the next world.
The Making of the Walls of Asgard
The story of the building of the walls of Asgard is the context in which Sleipnir is born, and the story is one of the most famous in the Prose Edda. According to the Gylfaginning, after the Æsir-Vanir war, the gods of Asgard decided to build a great fortress to protect themselves from the giants, who had been threatening the world order. A master-builder appeared and offered to construct the fortress in a single winter, in exchange for Freyja as his wife, the sun, and the moon. The gods agreed, on the condition that he complete the work alone but with the help of his stallion Svaðilfari.
The builder and Svaðilfari worked with great speed, hauling great stones into place. The gods, alarmed at the prospect of having to pay the agreed price, prevailed upon Loki to find a way out. Loki transformed himself into a beautiful mare and ran out to where the stallion was working. Svaðilfari, excited by the mare, broke free of his harness and ran after her into the forest. The builder, deprived of his stallion, was unable to complete the work on time, and the gods, freed from their agreement, called upon Thor to slay the builder.
The story of the building of the walls of Asgard is a myth of origins — the origin of Sleipnir, the origin of the walls of Asgard, the origin of the gods’ victory over the giants. The story is also a comic one, with Loki’s ruse and the builder’s frustration providing much of the humor. The result of the story is the birth of Sleipnir, who is given to Odin as the child of Loki’s ruse and the stallion’s strength.
Sleipnir and the Concept of the Divine Mount
The figure of Sleipnir is one of the most important examples of the divine mount in Norse mythology. The concept of the divine mount is found in many Indo-European traditions: the two horses of the Greek sun, the eight horses of the Vedic sun, the winged horse of the Iranian sun-god, the eagle of the Christian Christ, the lion of the Christian Mark. In each case, the divine mount is a vehicle for the god, a means by which the god moves through the cosmos, and a sign of the god’s power and authority.
The Norse Sleipnir is distinctive in being the mount of the chief god (rather than the sun or the wind), and in being a single eight-legged horse (rather than a team of horses). The eight legs of Sleipnir are the legs of the world — the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) doubled. The horse moves through the world on its eight legs, and the god moves through the world on the horse.
The image of the divine mount is also connected to the cult of the divine animal in the Norse world. The horse is one of the most important cult animals, and the dwarves of the Norse world are sometimes associated with the horse (the dwarves are the smiths who make the bridles of the gods, the bits of the horses, the saddles of the riders). The image of the divine mount is, in this sense, an image of the divine smithy and the divine art.