Monstrefact Redux: Sleipnir, the Eight-Legged Horse

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses Sleipnir, the mythical stead of the Norse god Odin. (originally published 06/07/2023) 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the
Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow
Your Mind, focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters
in time. Given the tomorrow's core episode of Stuff to
Blow Your Mind focuses on the horse hoof and at

(00:29):
least one legendary account of exceptional horse anatomy, I thought
it fitting to discuss Sleipnir, the fabulous eight legged steed
of the Norse god Odin. In the Old Norse collection
of poems, the poetic Edda slap Near is described as
the best of horses, swifter than all other mortal and

(00:52):
divine steeds. The horses eight legs propelled it at great
speeds across water, land, air and ice, even to the
gates of Hell. In one account quote, then Othan rose
the enchanter old and the saddle he laid on Sleipner's back.
Thence rode he down to nithel Diek, and the hound

(01:15):
he met that came from Hell. Bloody he was on
his breast before at the father of magic. He howled
from Afar forward rode Othan the earth resounded till the
house so high of hell he reached. This is via
the Henry Adams Bellows translation of the poetic Getta nineteen

(01:38):
thirty six. As for Sleipner's parentage, well, it's a bit tricky.
As Carol Rose explains in Giants, Monsters and Dragons, the
trickster god Loki took on the form of a mare
and made it with the magical giant stallion Savadolfari, whose
giant master was tasked with building a wall around Asgard.

(02:02):
The unnamed giant agreed to finish the wall in but
three winters, all for the cost of well, the sun,
the moon, and the goddess Freya's hand in marriage. Now,
the Norse gods the assier, thought they should probably try
install completion a bit. After all, they don't want to
give up the sun, the moon, and the hand in

(02:23):
marriage of the goddess Freya. And so they turned to Loki,
who took on the form of a beautiful mare to
distract the giant laborer's steed, and hey, it seemed to work.
The giant's progress was stalled because he had to spend
a whole day chasing after his lusty stallion. That was
chasing after this beautiful mayre. As a result, he did

(02:45):
not win the Sun, the Moon, and Freya's hand in marriage,
and his resulting quest for vengeance only brought about his
own death at the hands or rather the hammer of Thor.
But also during all this, Loki did manage to find
himself impregnated in the form of a horse, and thus

(03:06):
gave birth to the miraculous steed slept near one of
Loki's many monstrous children. The horse became the chosen steed
of Odin and is a common feature in old depictions
of the Norse king of the Gods. As Judith tar
explored in a twenty eighteen post for tour dot com,
academics have made various interpretations of those eight legs, ranging

(03:30):
from the notion of four shadow legs then enable him
to move across air and water, to the interpretation that
the eight legs represent the legs of pallbearers carrying the dead.
After all, Sleipner was able to carry Odin to Nifflheim,
the world of Fog. Tune in for additional episodes of

(03:52):
the Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email
us at contact at stuffed to Bole your Mind dot com.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
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