Sleipnir
Sleipnir ( German Schleipner; about "the Dahingleitende", spelling alternatively Sleipner ) refers to the eight-legged horse of the god Odin in the Snorra Edda and the Lieder Edda , as well as in some of the Icelandic prehistoric sagas of Nordic mythology . It got its name because it “glides” on land and water as well as in the air. In the Eddic sources Sleipnir is depicted as the child of the god Loki with the stallion Svaðilfari . According to legend, Loki had to prevent Asgard from being completed on time because an unnamed Hrimthurse , the builder of the wall around Asgard, desired the goddess Freya to be his wife to complete the construction work . Loki kidnapped the giant's stallion, Svaðilfari, in the form of a mare, who helped his owner with the work, and fathered Sleipnir with him. So the stallion disappeared for a few days and the deadline by which Asgard was supposed to be finished passed. Loki gave his child, Sleipnir, later Odin.
Theories
John Lindow starts from the theory that Sleipnir's connection to the world of the dead is a kenning in which Sleipnir appears as a term according to the skald Úlfr Uggason , who speaks of "Sea Sleipnir" in his Húsdrápa, which describes Balder's funeral. Lindow argues that Sleipnir's eight legs can be seen as an indicator of great speed.
reception
According to a legend, Sleipnir is also the reason why the Ásbyrgi gorge in Iceland is shaped like a horseshoe. When Odin rode with him across the arctic deserts, the horse is said to have slipped and set foot on northern Iceland. This is why the canyon is sometimes referred to as Odin's footprint .
Modern esoteric reception
Hilda Ellis Davidson writes that Odin's eight-legged horse is the typical steed of a shaman and that when a shaman travels to heaven or the underworld, he is always shown riding on a bird or animal. Davidson further states that while the nature can vary, the horse is usually widespread in the regions where horses are found and that Sleipnir's ability to carry the god is a typical quality of the shaman horse.
Davidson refers to the controversial religious phenomenologist Mircea Eliade , who writes that the eight-legged horse is the shaman's horse par excellence . You can find it e.g. B. in Siberia and the Muria, where it is always related to the ecstatic experience. On Sleipnir, Odin can ride through all worlds. It is believed by some historians that the eight legs are a symbol of the legs of four people carrying a coffin. Thus, the horse also enables a rider to be carried into the underworld . Odin rides Sleipnir to Niflheim to fathom Balder's dreams.
See also
literature
- Mircea Eliade: Shamanism and archaic ecstasy technique . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-518-27726-X .
- The Edda. Poetry of gods, proverbs and heroic songs of the Germanic peoples. Translated into German by Felix Genzmer . Diederichs, Düsseldorf 1981, Munich 1997, Weltbild 2006, ISBN 3-424-01380-3 , ISBN 3-7205-2759-X .
- Finnur Jónsson: Snorra-Edda. København 1900.
- HR Ellis Davidson (1990): Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-013627-4 .
- John Lindow (2001): Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0 .
- Rudolf Simek (2003): Religion and Mythology of the Teutons. Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchges. ISBN 3-534-16910-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0 .
- ↑ Simek (2003: 294)
- ^ HR Ellis Davidson (1990): Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-013627-4 .