Norse & Germanic
Mjölnir
Mjölnir
Smashes anything, and returns to its owner's hand when thrown.
WeaponFirst recorded 1220
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Photograph: A Greek bronze horse, possibly Corinthian, of the eighth century BCE. A long-legged, slim-bodied horse stands on an openwork base.
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3,000 × 2,745 PX3000×2745
ArchiveNorse & Germanic · Mount
Sleipnir
Sleipnir
With eight legs it runs across sky, sea and the underworld.
- Owner
- Odin
- Maker
- Born of Loki
- First record
- Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda1220
- Gallery
- Norse & Germanic
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
A mason offered to build the gods a wall in one winter and asked as payment the sun, the moon and the goddess Freyja. The gods agreed, thinking he could never do it, but his horse Svaðilfari hauled enormous stones and the wall was nearly done.
Desperate, the gods pressed Loki, who changed into a mare and lured Svaðilfari into the woods. The work went unfinished, and some time later Loki gave birth to a gray foal with eight legs.
Odin rode this horse, Sleipnir, across sky and earth. When Baldr died, Hermóðr borrowed Sleipnir and rode all the way to Hel to ask for Baldr's return.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Bronze horse(Greek, Corinthian ?, 8th century BCE), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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