#ancient horses

[himorenart]

Doodles of my favorite horses on cave walls!

[letsgostealthelouvre]

Ancient people loved them some horses.

[ID: A small bronze sculpture of a thickset horse, with a short neck and large head, lush mane, and one stubby leg extended; it looks a bit like a chibi interpretation of a horse would, or a particularly whimsical Disney horse.]

[vulpine-vackra]

Horses in Norse Mythology

Written with the Swedish name first, followed by Old Norse and English translations, as well as the meaning of the name if applicable.

Allsvinn / Alsviðr / Alsvid - “very swift”, one of the two horses that pulls the sun across the sky each day

Arvaker / Árvakr / Arvak - “early riser”, one of the two horses that pulls the sun across the sky each day

Blodighov / Blóðughófi / Blodughofi - “bloody hoof”, the horse of Freyr

Falhofner / Falhófnir / Falhofnir - “weak hoof”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the ninth best horse

Gardrova / Garðrofa / Gardrofa - the sire of Hofvarpnir

Gils / Gísl / Gisl - “bright”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the eighth best horse

Glad / Glaðr / Gladr - “brilliant”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the second best horse after Sleipnir

Gler / Glær / Glenr - “light”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the fourth best horse

Grane / Grana / Grani - the son of Sleipnir himself, the horse of Sigurd

Guldmane (Gullfaxe) / Gullfaxi - “golden mane”, the horse of Hrungnir who is gifted to Magni after his original owner is slain

Gulltopp / Golltoppr / Gulltoppr - “golden top”, the horse of Heimdall

Gyller / Gyllir - “golden yellow”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the third best horse

Hamskerper / Hamskerpir - the mother of Hofvarpnir

Helhäst / Helshäst / Helhest - “Hel’s horse”, a three legged horse, the horse of Hel

Hovvarpner / Hófvarfnir / Hofvarpnir - “hoof tosser”, the son of Hamskerpir and Gardrofa, the horse of Gná

Lättfot / Léttfeti / Lettfeti - “light feet”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the eleventh best horse

Modin - “tired”, the horse of the dwarf Dvalinn

Rimfaxe / Hrímfaxi / Hrimfaxi - “frost mane”, the horse of Nótt

Silfrintopp / Silfrintoppr - “silver mane”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the sixth best horse

Siner / Sinir - “sinewy”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the seventh best horse

Skeidbrimer / Skeiðbrimir / Skeidbrimir - “fast racer”, one of the horses ridden each day to Yggdrasil by the gods, listed as the fifth best horse

Skinfaxe / Skinfaxi - “shining mane”, the horse of Dagr

Sleipner / Sleipnir - eight legged horse, the son of Loki (as a mare) and Svaðilfari, the best of all horses, the horse of Odin

Svadilfare / Svaðilfari - the sire of Sleipnir, the horse of a giant who built the walls of Asgard

An honorable mention also to the following, who, while not mentioned in the stories of the gods, existed in the lore regardless.

Bäckahäst - would appear during foggy weather near rivers as a majestic white horse. If you mounted the horse, you would never be able to dismount, and it would instead jump into the river and drown you.

[ancientstuff]

Most ancient evidence of horsemanship in the Bronze Age

Scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU) have discovered new facts about the use of horses in the Bronze Age, working with materi...

The horses were long-lived, so looked after. This is quite an astonishing find, I think. Not so long before the Hyksos brought the horse to Egypt.

[himorenart]

Yes, I’m a horse girl.

[himorenart]

I'm having such a fun time exploring different papers for cyanotypes! 

the first is some cheap sketch paper i was running out of chemicals for, watercolor, toned and some funky decorative paper.

[ancientstuff]

Ancient horse burial in Nile River Valley connected to Kushite state formation

An ancient horse burial at Tombos along the Nile River Valley shows that a member of the horse family thousands of years ago was more impor...

The 10 donkeys buried next to (probably) Narmer’s funerary enclosure at Abydos were also buried with care, covered with reed mats, as were human burials of the period.

[myidic]

It’s the Year of the Horse, so naturally I’m thinking about famous war horses.

Achilles had three:

Xanthos – immortal. Name means golden. At one point Hera gives him a human voice so he can tell Achilles he’s about to die.

Balios – the other immortal. Usually translated dappled or shimmering, meaning his coat caught and shifted the light, which is a very dignified way of saying Achilles owned a horse whose name basically means glitter.

Pedasos – the mortal war prize. Runs with the divine team. Dies in battle. No one ever talks about Pedasos enough.

And then later, Alexander:

Bucephalus – massive black stallion, whose name translates to “ox head.” He was untamable until Alexander realized he was afraid of his own shadow and turned him toward the sun.

Ancient hero culture is prophecy and grief and fate and divine destiny, and also extremely dramatic horses.