Svadilfari was the horse of the unnamed giant from Dahl's story in "Now Hear Of...." Svadilfari was based on the horse of the same name from Norse mythology.
Biography[]
The builder takes Svadilfari to Adgard.
Belonging to a jötun builder with incredible skill, Svadilfari joined his journey, ending up in Asgard. The builder wanted to make a deal with the Aesir to build them a wall to protect them from outside attacks, offering to build a wall that could never be scaled nor destroyed. In exchange, he hoped for Freya's hand in marriage, the sun, and the moon. While the Aesir initially declined, Loki Laufeyson accepted the deal if only the builder would accomplish the task in a third as long as initially estimated, using no one by Svadilfari for support. Otherwise, the builder would get nothing. The builder agreed and set out to work with his horse.
They worked at an incredible rate and were set to finish the wall in time. Loki was tasked with preventing the builder's victory, which he did by shapeshifting into a beautiful mare to entice Svadilfari away from his work. Without his horse, the builder was unable to finish the wall in time. Meanwhile, Svadilfari impregnated Loki, who bore an eight-legged colt that he later offered to Odin. When the builder complained of the Aesir's treachery, Thor killed him.[1]
Norse origins[]
The builder
Dahl's story of the builder told in "Now Hear Of..." is based directly on the story of the unnamed jötun and Svaðilfari, leading to the birth of Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse. An unnamed builder approaches the Æsir and offers to build them a wall to protect them from the jötun. Loki suggests that if he can do it in one winter with no help but that of his horse, he would be given the sun, the moon, and Freyja. While the story is embellished in Twilight of the Gods, it's a faithful adaptation. The wall is given much more importance in Twilight, as one would expect since it was the reason this story was told.
When the builder is revealed to be a jötun, both in Twilight and the mythology, he's killed by Thor.
References[]
- ↑ Eric Carrasco, Caitlin Parrish (writers) & Dave Hartman, Andrew Tamandl (directors). September 19, 2024. Twilight of the Gods episode 6, "Now Hear Of...."