Icelandic horse them. Horses played a significant part in Norse mythology, and several horses played major roles in the Norse myths, among them the eight-footed pacer named Sleipnir, owned by Odin, chief of the Norse gods. Skalm, a mare who is the first Icelandic horse known by name, appeared in the "Book of Settlements" from the 12th century. According to the book, a chieftain named Seal-Thorir founded a settlement at the place where Skalm stopped and lay down with her pack. Horses also play key roles in the Icelandic sagas "Hrafnkel's Saga", "Njal's Saga" and "Grettir's Saga". Although written in the 13th
Odin ] over it", which imbued the head with the ability to answer Odin and "tell him many occult things". In , the great king and his wife (unnamed) are unable to conceive a child; "that lack displeased them both, and they fervently implored the gods that they might have a child. It is said that heard their prayers and told Odin what they asked", and the two gods subsequently send a Valkyrie to present an apple that falls onto his lap while he sits on a burial mound and 's wife subsequently becomes pregnant with the namesake of the family