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Gullfaxi

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Gullfaxi

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

It was originally owned by Hrungnir, and was later given to Magni by Thor as 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.'
Then Odin spake and said that Thor did wrong to give the good horse to the son of a giantess, and not to his father.
Skáldskaparmál (17)[1]

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

Folk tale

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Gullfaxi is also the name of a horse in the modern Icelandic folk-tale The Horse Gullfaxi and the Sword Gunnfoder collected by Jón Árnason, translated into German by Josef Poestion [de], then rendered into English and included in the Crimson Fairy Book (1903) compiled by Andrew Lang.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Skáldskaparmal". sacred-texts. Retrieved 24 December 2016.[permanent dead link]