by Victoria H.

Created on: January 30, 2007   Last Updated: December 25, 2010

The horse makes frequent appearances in the mythologies of Indo-European cultures, such as Celtic and Germanic mythologies. Historical and archaeological evidence paints a picture of the horse as central in the cult practices of the proto-Indo-Europeans. For example, much of the earliest evidence of Indo-Europeans in the near east comes from the presence of loan words to Semitic language dealing with the equestrian arts. It is common in Indo-European belief systems to see a tri-partite division of society: the priestly caste, the warrior caste, and the working caste. The horse is often most revered by the warrior class and serves as an integral part of their sacral rights.

In Celtic mythology, the horse is often symbolic of fertility and is seen as having a close connection with the earth and the otherworld. In Giraldis Cambrensis's writings on Ireland, he describes an ancient Irish coronation ritual supposedly still taking place in the twelfth century. In this rite, the king mates with a mare (female horse), after which the mare is slaughtered and the king bathes in her blood and eats her flesh. Though this rite may be disturbing to modern sensibilities, it represents one aspect of the horse as the feminine fertility principle in the sacred marriage. Mating with the horse represents the joining of the king to the land and ensuring that his reign will be a fertile period for his people.The conflation of horse and feminine principle in Celtic mythology is best represented by the horse-goddess, Epona.

In Norse/Germanic mythology, the horse most prominently features as a means of moving between worlds, i.e., earth, the underworld, and Asgard. The most prominent of horses in Norse mythology is Sleipnir, the eight-legged steed of Odin, the king of the Aesir (Norse Gods). Sleipnir is foremost among horses, and is the product of a liaison between the trickster god, Loki, who in the shape of a mare seduced the giant's stallion, Svadilfaeri. Sleipnir was ridden by Hermod the Bold in his quest to visit the domain of Hel, the mistress of the underworld, and ransom back Baldar the Good. In Norse myths, the role of the god horse is much the same as the role of the horse in the human world: a means of travel. Just as the horse drastically expands the distance over and the speed with which a human can travel, the steed allows gods and heroes to transverse worlds, from Asgard to Midgard to Giantland to Hel.

The great gods and heroes of Indo-European societies are always served by a brave, swift, and sure-footed steed. The horse serves as a sign of distinction and is treated with the same individuality that the hero it serves. Horses are described with their own names, kennings or epithets, and characteristics. Their place in the stories of the Celts, Norse, and other Indo-European descendants paint a picture of the horse as having prominent and revered status in the cultures of most of Europe.

For further reading:
The Mabinogion
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
In Search of the Indo-Europeans by J.P. Mallory

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