Horses of the Æsir Horses of the Æsir The horses of the Æsir are listed twice. The Eddic poem "Grímnismál" gives the following names: Snorri Sturluson paraphrases this stanza in his "Gylfaginning": Apart from Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, and Gulltoppr, who belongs to Heimdallr according to the "Prose Edda", nothing is known about these horses, especially their owner. These names are yet listed in the "þulur". Other horses are mentioned elsewhere: Gullfaxi, which originally belonged to Hrungnir, but who was given by Thor to his son Magni after he killed the giant ("Skáldskaparmál", ), Blóðughófi, which belongs to Freyr ("Kálfsvísa") and Hófvarpnir, which is
Sleipnir in carnivals and processions, but that "a more fruitful resemblance seems to be on the bier on which a dead man is carried in the funeral procession by four bearers; borne along thus, he may be described as riding on a steed with eight legs." As an example, Davidson cites a funeral dirge from the Gondi people in India as recorded by Verrier Elwin, stating that "it contains references to Bagri Maro, the horse with eight legs, and it is clear from the song that it is the dead man's bier." Davidson says that the song is sung when a