Sleipnir: the 8-Legged Horse of Odin
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- Опубликовано: 23 ноя 2023
- A look at Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, in the Eddas.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
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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.
This is exactly what I think too.
It's interesting to draw parallels between Ptolemy's constellations too. The constellation Auriga represents a figure in a chariot and contains the star Capella which represents a goat and the star Haedi which represents two kids. As for the Ashvins, they have been associated with Castor and Pollux which are represented in the constellation Gemini and this constellation becomes much more prominent in October. If I were to place Sleipnir as a constellation, it would seem to fit pegasus well. Odin rides Sleipnir. Zeus rides Pegasus. And it's also interesting to note in Jackson's interview with Gisli Sigurdsson, he mentions a theory that the milky way could be the 'tree' associated with Yggdrasil. Pegasus is close to the plane of milky way we see in the sky.
This comment is more interesting to me than the video.
Sleipnir the spider horse
If you watch the horses in Iceland do the flying pace you can see why Odin's horse had eight legs
I’ve heard that. I’ve also seen Icelandic horses, and I agree.
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.
😆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 (Florida-Georgia-Tennesee-Iowa-Nebraska-Wyoming-Idaho-Utah-Arizona-Nevada-California-Arizona-New Mexico-Texas-Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama-Florida). That's when I discovered how big America was (especially the 200 miles to the next gas station in Wyoming).
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.
Thanks, I was just about to add something like that.
Adjacent to the grinding you mentioned, the verb schleifen is also used for the act of smoothing something, usually wood, with sandpaper, which, in German, is called Schleifpapier. So the idea of something smooth is in there, too.
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.
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.
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.
Perfect timing for the drive home 👌👍 excellent way to start the weekend
Great video, as usual, Jackson. Keep em' coming, buddy 👍
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?
Nice video, thanks for the entertainment!
So Sleipnir is a spider, obviously… :)
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!
Cheers
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 ...
Don't icelandic horses have a certain tread that makes them very >smooth< to ride?
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.
You need to record in a den built from larch and pine. Often inaudible. I need subtitles.
Grateful that Sleipner's legs are doubled and not as a spider
Jackson
does double the legs create double the horsepower?
In that awesome norse saga dream logic. Yes.
Double off-road capability
@@JoinMeInDeathBaby im gonna guess its also double the traction on those snowy Scandinavian ice roads 😅
I love your content and have been following your channel for several years now. May I suggest you get a mic when your outside? These Colorado winds get super noisy....
My sister named her horse Niero after him. Only ever got roman comments of course
Im about to buy you a wind guard for your mic lol
Go on then
❤
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.
Is there a place in Scandinavia or anywhere in Europe which has been seen as a gateway to Asgard? I mean, the Greeks have Mt. Olympus and other sacred mountains. Do the Norse and so on have a similar location to this? Or is the access to such places only available in the spiritual realm after death? It seems a bit more fluid in other cultures, where people can just visit the Underworld for a quest or something.
As far as I know. There is no specific place.
There isn't a specific place as far as I'm aware. We know from literary sources that they believed the gods lived in the East and used the Bifröst, a bridge made out of a rainbow to travel between Asgard and Midgard
Robert Selpher just put out a video about Trump's bloodline. He talks about where Odin came from when he led his people out of the east. Asgair is somewhere around Eastern Ukraine it sounded like. Odin settled on an island in Denmark called Odins Island.
@@irisjanemay1903 Trump's bloodline goes back to cowards who failed their countries and refused to serve! This is why he makes fun of actual veterans.
@@irisjanemay1903 stop smoking stuff
Do you think there is any connection between the name "Sleipnir", the word "slippery", and the flying pace of the Icelandic horse where the legs are moving SO quickly in a blur that the horse appears to have 8 legs "floating" or "slipping" over the ground quickly? Just a thought from a veterinarian and equestrian.
Imagine the offspring of Spartan Rage and Jotan rage... that would make a great video game. Maybe Teal'c could voice a character. Haha.
Ive always wondered if Slepnir was Tolkiens inspiration for Shadowfax.
Hm, been scrolling through my subfeed a lot and this is the first time I see it. Odd.
"slip meg på dingsen, din sleiping"
tja
hmm
I think Sleipnir is an allegorical concept as are many of the gods and mythological figures. Odin's name is related to the word for poetry. Sleipnir having 8 legs may be allegory for the meter of a poem. It was common for a line of poetry to have 8 beats to it which could correspond to 8 hooves on a horse. If Odin's name is poetry he could ride a horse that is an 8-beat meter. Loki could also be seen as a parent of poetry since he is also known to be the "stirrir of the story," often the central character causing the conflict at the heart of the poems.
It's a spider horse
Could Sleipnir also be because he could "Slip" between the various realms....?
Now let me tell you my home-spun theory.
It's a goat tho
hey doc, thanks i needed this today :) . . . and i'd like to say, you're about the only one i watch the sponsors and commercials for :) . . . when are you doin your books in audio book form with musical score by grimfrost and their buddies :)