Also called the Slippery One, the best of horses.
Their story
A builder offered to wall Asgard in one winter for Freyja, the sun and the moon, and his stallion Svaðilfari worked so fast he nearly won. Loki turned himself into a mare and lured the stallion away, and later bore a grey foal with eight legs: Sleipnir, the best horse among gods and men. Odin rides him, and Hermóðr rode him to Hel to plead for Baldr.
Best times to give to them
- before a journey
- Wednesdays with Odin
- at Yule, when in modern Scandinavian and Dutch folk custom children leave hay for the Yule rider's horse
What they like being given
- hay, carrots or an apple
- a horse figurine
- care for real horses
How to honour them
- Leave hay or a carrot out on a winter night for Odin's horse, a modern custom drawn from old folk practice.
- Picture riding Sleipnir in guided meditation, a modern practice for journeying.
How they can help you
- safe travel
- meditative journeying
- caring for horses
Symbols
- eight legs
- a grey horse
- runes carved on his teeth
The link between Sleipnir and the Christmas-time horse of Sinterklaas and similar customs is suggested but not proven.
Sources
- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning 42 and 49
- Poetic Edda, Grímnismál 44
- Poetic Edda, Hyndluljóð 40
- Poetic Edda, Sigrdrífumál 15