Sleipnir: the 8-Legged Horse of Odin

A look at Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, in the Eddas.

[bob___]

I've long thought (maybe uncontroversially) that this double (eight-legged) horse and may illuminate the naming of Horsa and Hengist ("horse" and "stallion), who founded Anglo-Saxon Britain. Anglo-Saxon king lists in which kings are identified as ultimately descended from Woden are consistent with this idea, and the myth of Thor's chariot being pulled by a pair of goats may also be consistent (as chariots are more typically pulled by horses). The double horse may be very old, connected to the twin horsemen (Ashvins) in Sanskrit literature and possibly also the ancient Roman rite of the October horse, in which one of a winning pair of chariot-racing horses was sacrificed. (The Roman rite was observed in October, approximately the same lunar month as that of Ashvina, in which the Ashvins are celebrated.) While there are many examples of reconstructed Proto-Indo-European deity names that appear to have survived into documented languages, there are not very many examples of associated rituals. If this is such an example, then the smoothness of Sleipnir's motion (discussed in this video) may be because Sleipnir was a pair of horses pulling a chariot. The widespread use of chariots in warfare apparently ended with the Bronze Age, so this (essential?) aspect of the double horse may have been forgotten in the Iron Age, except as may have been incidental to poetic tropes.

[zhubajie]

😆Sleipnir, that's what I used to call my trusty rusty beat-up 1970 LTD which I had driven from the East Coast to the West Coast and back in 1979-1980 That's when I discovered how big America was (especially the 200 miles to the next gas station in Wyoming).

[JamisonStone]

Thank you! Despite the wind, your videos are great and well worth a little wind to have such a beautiful view -- thank you!

[paulboutchia]

A great Thank You, to Dr. Crawford; I love and admire your videos. You are my “go-to” for all things about Norse Mythology! Please, please keep doing what you do. I learn so very much.

[midmiddleton]

I visited the Swedish history museum. The Andre VIII stone was powerful. As with the downstairs exhibition. Which was full of treasure, weapons, and gold. Seeing a mjolnir pendent from the viking age was pure magic.

[Supermanrs]

Absolutely love this story. It is just such a loki thing to do. But yeah keep up the great work. I have learned so much for your videos.

[maddiebarker]

Schleifen in German actually doesn't just mean to sharpen, it also means, to rub, grind, drag, haul, and loop. So for a horse the meaning of dragging or hauling would make total sense.

[tmartino]

If you watch the horses in Iceland do the flying pace you can see why Odin's horse had eight legs

[judyshoaf]

The story of Loki and Svadilfari is the best shaggy-dog story of all time! As a kid, I read a version for kids, and it was 100% a translation of Snorri--it just left out the detail that this is how Sleipnir was conceived.

[ssmedja]

Thank you! I buy your books an will continue to do so as you publish. I especially like how your translations doesnt try to sound archaic.

[Valkyriestrong]

This is so amazing! Thank you for this, and all your clarifications. As someone who is wholeheartedly trying to follow this in my life and teach our kids this way, you, sir, have helped tremendously!

[LearnHittite]

Perfect timing for the drive home 👌👍 excellent way to start the weekend

[Son-of-Tyr]

Great video, as usual, Jackson. Keep em' coming, buddy 👍

[ancientswordrage]

Love these videos despite the wind, but it would be good to have some highlighting on the Norse to help us follow along :D

[francesconicoletti]

I wonder if the smith’s demand for the sun, the moon and Freyja is a tiny distant echo from the time the Norse still had sky gods. A similar demand at an earlier time may have been The Sun God, The Moon God and The Goddess of Love.

[zdenekdanko]

Thanks to your video, I realized that the word "hodanna" is similar to our (Slovak, Czech) hodný (good - obedient), or hoden (worthy of something). Interesting, I might have analyzed every word, but I don't have time for that ...

[bumpty]

You should consider a microphone with a wind guard. Giving lectures from the beautiful wilderness is a great idea, but it requires some tech to get right. If nothing works with an iPhone, you can get non-iPhone camera that's up to the task, or you can record audio with a separate device and sync them in editing with a clap.

If a student did this work, not for a Old Norse class but for a class on communicating your expertise to the public, how would you grade it?

[TheMidgardViking]

I know ill probably get some flack for this, but I think you should ditch the iPhone and go with Android. At any rate, such a great explanation of Sleipnir and Yggdrasil! Thank you!

[normsti]

I've always thought of slepnir as a metaphor for the men who carry the honored to burial. Four men = eight legs. But perhaps it is a remembrance of a ceremony which honored the gods, statues of gods carried about a ceremony by four men.

[emb]

Grateful that Sleipner's legs are doubled and not as a spider