Gullfaxi

Gullfaxi

Gullfaxi(Old Norse:[ˈɡulːˌfɑkse]) is a horse inNorse mythology.Its name means "Golden mane".

It was originally owned byHrungnir,and was later given toMagnibyThoras a reward for lifting off the leg of Hrungnir, which lay over the unconscious Thor and strangled him:

'And I will give thee,' he said, 'the horse Gold-Mane, which Hrungnir possessed.'

ThenOdinspake and said that Thor did wrong to give the good horse to the son of a giantess, and not to his father.

—Skáldskaparmál(17)

Gullfaxi is equally fast on land, in the air and on the water, but not quite as fast asSleipnir,Odin's horse.

Folk tale

Gullfaxi is also the name of a horse in the modern Icelandic folk-taleThe Horse Gullfaxi and the Sword Gunnfodercollected byJón Árnason,translated into German byJosef Poestion,then rendered into English and included in theCrimson Fairy Book(1903) compiled byAndrew Lang.

See also

• Guldfaxe (glacier)
• List of horses in mythology and folklore