A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Riding into battle, Odin was always accompanied by Sleipnir(or Sleipner), an amazing, eight-legged horse of supernatural strength. Odin also has other constant companions, namely two wolves: Geri (Greedy) and Freki (Ravenous), and two ravens, Munin (memory) and Hugin (thought), ever present on the god’s shoulders.
Odin rides Sleipnir across the sky. Illustration by Arthur Rackham for Richard Wagner's The Rhine Gold. Source - Public Domain
The fastest of all horses and never tired, Sleipnir could carry Odin through the sky, over lands and seas, and to one of the nine worlds, Helheim, the Abode Of The Dead, and back. Sleipnir accompanied Odin wherever he went. When Baldr died, Odin’s son Hermod rode Sleipnir to the death goddess, Hel, to try to bring his brother back to the world of the living.
But how did this marvelous creature come to existence? Sleipnir was born under some very special circumstances.
The horse was the extraordinary offspring of a stallion, Svadilfari, and the trickster of Asgard, Loki, who shapeshifted it into a mare to give birth to the magical Sleipnir.
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See also:
Geri And Freki: Two Wolves ‘Greedy’ And ‘Ravenous’ Were Loyal Companions Of Odin In Norse Beliefs
Huginn and Muninn: Powerful Ravens Of Odin, Supreme God In Asgard In Norse Mythology
