Symbols & Their Meanings
no:11 ~ Sleipnir
On our Traditional Mead bottle, we have the image of an 8 legged horse. In Norse Mythology this horse is called Sleipnir, the grey steed that is usually ridden by the god Odin, as well as Hemrodr.
There are many stories referring to Sleipnir from the Poetic Edda, which is the largest group of ancient norse texts that were compiled together in the 13th century. He is also written about in Book 1 of Gesta Danorum, which was written in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus. There are stories about him that predate those by many years but nobody knows exactly how many years that is.
SLEIPNIR IS THE GREY HORSE RIDDEN BY ODIN AND HEMRODR
Sleipnir is reffered to as being the greatest of all horses, and is the offspring of Loki and Svaðilfari. That story happened in a super weird way in which Loki transformed into a female horse and 'did it' with a giant male horse to distract him. Then Loki lived in the woods for a while and gave birth to Sleipnir which Odin then took for himself.
Sleipnir is usually seen as being the transporter though to other realms. This would indicate that he is a Fylgja, which is a guide in the form of an animal. Also known as a Fetch in
Irish lore. It was believed that when you died, a Fylgja would guide you to the after life. This is sometimes confused with the Norse Valkyrie which are associated with choosing who will die in battle.
SLEIPNIR IS THE CHILD OF SVADILFARI AND THE SHAPE-SHIFTING LOKI
When one dies, the Old Norse (and many other cultures and people today) believed that the consciousness was simply moved to another location. When Odin and Hemrodr ride Sleipnir, they are doing exactly that, transforming their Selfs to another state of being. This is what I believe the symbol of Sleipnir is, not so much a physical horse that lives in the sky. Many people today call on Sleipnir during their meditation to help them transform their states of consciousness.
Another interesting story in Old Norse literature is that of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that connects Midgard (our realm) and Asgard (the realm of the gods). Sleipnir is known to have crossed this bridge many times.
SLEIPNIR IS REFERRED TO AS THE GREATEST OF ALL HORSES
I chose to have a symbol representing Sleipnir on our Traditional Mead bottles because well, it’s awesome, and it’s also very significant to our traditional culture.
Neighhhhh!
Skål.
