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Famous horses in Norse mythology include Sleipnir,
Odin’s eight-legged horse; Svadilfari, the horse of
the Giant Master Builder and the sire of Sleipnir;
and Gulltopp, the horse Heimdall rode to warn the
gods of the coming of Ragnarok.
The poems of the P oetic E dda and the P rose
E dda of Snorri Sturluson contain many names of
horses.
• G rimnismal names the following horses, which
the gods ride to Yggdrasil each day: Falhofnir,
Gisl, Gler, Glad, Gulltopp, Gyllir, Lettfeti,
Skeidbrimir, Silfrintopp, and Sinir.
• S kaldskaparmal includes names of horses that
were used by earlier poets. The list begins with:
Goti, Gulltop, Hrafn, Lettfeti, Lungr, Marr,
Mor, Sleipnir, Soti, Tjaldari, and Valr. This list
goes on to name 44 more horses.
H raesvelg (H r Æ svelg )
The creator of the
winds, a giant who takes the form of an eagle and
sits at the northern end of heaven. When Hraesvelg
flaps his wings to take flight the movement of the air
beneath those wings is so strong it blows the winds
into the world of man. Hraesvelg receives credit for
this feat in V afthrudnismal , a poem in the P oetic
E dda . S norri S turluson adds further details when
he tells the story of Hraesvelg in G rimnismal .
H rafnagaldur O dins (Odin’s Raven Chant)
An Old Norse poem that was once considered part of
the P oetic E dda but has long been left out of editions
and translations of those poems. Hrafnagaldur Odins
is preserved in several 17th-century manuscripts now
in the royal libraries in Stockholm, Norway, and
Copenhagen, Denmark. Since the late 1800s, when
an expert declared it to be a forgery, Hrafnagaldur
Odins has received little scholarly attention. Research
by Old Norse experts working in the late 20th and
early 21st centuries, however, has contradicted that
much older opinion. Some modern experts now
include this poem as part of the Poetic Edda.
Hrafnagaldur Odins is proving to be a confusing
poem for scholars to interpret and understand.
Essentially, it tells the story of the gods’ visit to the
underworld and their questioning of a goddess who
dwells there.
H reidmar (R eidmar ) A master magician. A
dwarf, for his sons Regin, Fafnir, and Otr are
identified as dwarfs. His daughters were Lofnheid
and Lyngheid. Otr was killed by the trickster god
Loki. As compensation for his son’s death, Hreidmar
was given the dwarf Andvari’s treasure of gold.
Hreidmar was killed by Fafnir, who stole the treasure
and turned himself into a dragon. The story is told
in the poems R eginsmal and F afnismal and in
S kaldskaparmal .
H rimfaxi (Frosty
Mane) The male horse that
each day pulls Nott (night) across the world of
the gods. He is named in V afthrudnismal , part
of the P oetic E dda . Each morning, the froth from
Hrimfaxi’s bit falls as dew upon the valleys of the
Earth. Hrimfaxi’s counterpart is Skinfaxi, who pulls
Dag (day) through the sky.
In S kaldsaparmal , Snorri Sturluson says that
another name for this horse is Fjorsvartnir. (See also
“Night and Day” under creation.)
H rimgrimnir (Frost-Shrouded)
The rime-
giant invoked by the fertility god Skirnir as he tries
to persuade the giantess Gerda to marry his master,
the god Frey. If Gerda does not give in to Frey’s
request, Skirnir says Hrimgrimnir will become her
mate in Hel (2).
Hrimgrimnir is one of the first giants from whom
all others came. The only other mention of him is
in the Thulur, one of the many existing lists of the
names of characters and events in Norse mythology.
Scholars suggest that Hrimgrimnir represents strong
forces of nature, since the curse Skirnir threatens
Gerda with is very strong and harsh. Hrimgrimnir
is perhaps the personification of the cruel cold of
northern winters.
H rimthurssar
The first giants, also known
as rime-giants. The Hrimthurssar represented the
changing seasons and the coming of the eternal night,
cold, and danger of the long winters of northern
climates.
The Hrimthurssar are the children of Ymir, the
first great giant, formed from the ice and fire that
existed at the beginning of time. Ymir represented, in
part, the numbing cold of the Artic.
H ringhorni (Ring
Horn) The longship of the
god Balder. It was perhaps named for the intricate
curving ring designs with which it, like many Norse
ships, was adorned. When Balder was slain, the funeral
pyre for his body was built on Hringhorni. Thor set the
fire ablaze, and the ship was sent out to sea.
See also ships and ship burials.