All Topics  
Grani

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Grani
 
 
  Topics Grani Topic Home

In Norse mythology
Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
, Grani is an eight-legged horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
. He is the horse that Sigurd
Sigurd

Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Volsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving and the G?k Runestone ....
 receives through advice from an old man (Odin
Odin

Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
). Grani is a descendant of Odin's own steed, Sleipnir
Sleipnir

In Norse mythology, Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse. 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....
.

hapter 13 of Völsunga saga, the hero Sigurđr is on his way to a wood when he meets a long-bearded old man he had never seen before.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Grani'
Start a new discussion about 'Grani'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Faroe Stamp 391 Gram and Grani
In Norse mythology
Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
, Grani is an eight-legged horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
. He is the horse that Sigurd
Sigurd

Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Volsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving and the G?k Runestone ....
 receives through advice from an old man (Odin
Odin

Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
). Grani is a descendant of Odin's own steed, Sleipnir
Sleipnir

In Norse mythology, Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse. 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....
.

Attestations


Völsunga saga

In chapter 13 of Völsunga saga, the hero Sigurđr is on his way to a wood when he meets a long-bearded old man he had never seen before. Sigurd tells the old man that he is going to choose a horse, and asks the old man to come with him to help him decide. The old man says that they should drive the horses down to the river Busiltjörn. The two drive the horses down into the deeps of Busiltjörn, and all of the horses swim back to land but a large, young, and handsome gray horse that no one had ever mounted. The grey-bearded old man says that the horse is from "Sleipnir's kin" and that "he must be nourished heedfully, for it will be the best of all horses". The old man vanishes. Sigurd names the horse Grani, and the narrative adds that the old man was none other than Odin.

Modern influence

In Wagner's Ring cycle the name (as "Grane") is given to Brunhilde's horse.