Svaðilfari in the context of "Loki"

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⭐ Core Definition: Svaðilfari

In Norse mythology, Svaðilfari is a stallion that fathered the eight-legged horse Sleipnir with Loki (in the form of a mare). Svaðilfari was owned by the disguised and unnamed jötunn who built the walls of Asgard.

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👉 Svaðilfari in the context of Loki

Loki is a god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Nari and Váli. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir and the world serpent Jörmungandr. In the form of a mare, Loki was impregnated by the stallion Svaðilfari and gave birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

Like other gods, Loki is a shape shifter and in separate sources appears in the form of a salmon, a mare, a fly, and possibly an elderly woman named Þökk (Old Norse 'thanks'). While sometimes friendly with the gods, Loki engineers the death of the beloved god Baldr. For this, Odin's specially engendered son Váli binds Loki with the entrails of one of his sons, where he writhes in pain. In the Prose Edda, this son, Nari or Narfi, is killed by another of Loki's sons, who is also called Váli. The goddess Skaði is responsible for placing a serpent above him while he is bound. The serpent drips venom from above him that Sigyn collects into a bowl; however, she must empty the bowl when it is full and the venom that drips in the meantime causes Loki to writhe in pain, thereby causing earthquakes.

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Svaðilfari in the context of Sleipnir

In Norse mythology, Sleipnir /ˈslpnɪər/ (Old Norse: "slippy" or "the slipper") is an eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. Sleipnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Sleipnir is Odin's steed, is the child of Loki and Svaðilfari, is described as the best of all horses, and is sometimes ridden to the location of Hel. The Prose Edda contains extended information regarding the circumstances of Sleipnir's birth, and details that he is grey in color.

Sleipnir is also mentioned in a riddle found in the 13th-century legendary saga Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, in the 13th-century legendary saga Völsunga saga as the ancestor of the horse Grani, and book I of Gesta Danorum, written in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus, contains an episode considered by many scholars to involve Sleipnir. Sleipnir is generally accepted as depicted on two 8th-century Gotlandic image stones: the Tjängvide image stone and the Ardre VIII image stone.

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