Sól

ól (SOHL), the Norse diety of the sun, is a radiant figure in both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, embodying the celestial light that traverses the sky. In the Poetic Edda, particularly in poems like Völuspá (VEHL-oos-paa) and Grímnismál (GRIHM-nis-maal), Sól is briefly but vividly portrayed as a divine personification of the sun, pursued by the wolf Sköll, with her cosmic role tied to the cyclical nature of day and her eventual demise at Ragnarök. These references are poetic and symbolic, focusing on her essence and fate without detailed narrative. In contrast, the Prose Edda, authored by Snorri Sturluson, provides a more elaborate depiction in Gylfaginning, describing Sól as driving a chariot drawn by the horses Árvakr (AR-vah-kr) and Alsviðr (ALS-veeth-r), with a protective shield, Svalinn, tempering the sun’s heat. This chariot imagery, exclusive to the Prose Edda, adds a dynamic, mythological mechanism to her journey, distinguishing it from the Poetic Edda’s more abstract and concise portrayal.

These contrasting portrayals of Sól in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda likely arise from the Skaldic oral traditions, where mythological variations were common. Skalds, the poets of Norse culture, often adapted stories to suit different audiences or artistic purposes, leading to enriched details like the chariot motif in the Prose Edda while maintaining Sól’s core identity as the sun diety in the more symbolic Poetic Edda.

Ancient Evidence: Trundholm Sun Chariot

The nearby photo is of the Trundholm Sun Chariot, a stunning Bronze Age artifact unearthed in Denmark around 1902, dating to approximately 1400 BCE. Crafted by the Nordic Bronze Age culture, this bronze and gold sculpture features a horse-drawn chariot bearing a large sun disc, symbolizing the sun’s daily journey across the sky. Its origins reflect the cosmological beliefs of a people who venerated celestial cycles, blending artistry with spiritual significance. The chariot aligns with Snorri Sturluson’s portrayal of Sól, the Norse sun diety, in the Prose Edda, where she drives a chariot pulled by the horses Árvakr and Alsvinn. Snorri describes Sól’s radiant path as she is pursued by a wolf, a narrative that echoes the sun’s cyclical movement depicted in the Trundholm chariot, suggesting the artifact could have been inspired by earlier mythological traditions that shaped the Norse character of Sól and her steeds, embodying the eternal rhythm of the cosmos.

The nearby photo was authored by the National Museum of Denmark. The original photo was cropped. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

Sól: The Prose Sun Chariot

The following is an excerpt from the Gylfaginning section of Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, as translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur in 1916. In this passage, Gangleri inquires about the governance of the sun and moon, and Hárr explains the roles of Sól and her brother Moon in Norse cosmology. The excerpt, evocative of artifacts like the Trundholm Sun Chariot—a Bronze Age sculpture depicting a horse-drawn sun disc—remains unaltered except for the replacement of "sun" with "Sól" to reflect the mythological figure’s name.

Gangleri asked: “How does he govern the course of the sun or of the moon?”

Hárr answered: “A certain man was named Mundilfari, who had two children; they were so fair and comely that he called his son Moon, and his daughter Sól, and wedded her to the man called Glenr. But the gods were incensed at that insolence, and took the brother and sister, and set them up in the heavens; they caused Sól to drive those horses that drew the chariot of the sun, which the gods had fashioned, for the world’s illumination, from that glowing stuff which flew out of Múspellheim. Those horses are called thus: Early-Wake and All-Strong; and under the shoulders of the horses the gods set two wind-bags to cool them, but in some records that is called ‘iron-coolness.’ Moon steers the course of the moon, and determines its waxing and waning. He took from the earth two children, called Bil and Hjúki, they that went from the well called Byrgir, bearing on their shoulders the cask called Sægr, and the pole Simul. Their father is named Vidfinnr. These children follow Moon, as may be seen from the earth.”

Runic Evidence: the Eggja Stone

Full Translation: "It is not touched by the sun and the stone is not scored by an [iron] knife."

The Eggja Stone, a 7th-century runestone from Norway, and the Poetic Edda share a cultural reverence for the sun as a personified cosmic entity, revealing striking parallels despite their distinct contexts. In the Poetic Edda’s Völuspá (stanza 5), Sól is depicted as a deity, her “hand over the rim of heaven” guiding the sun’s path, evoking her touch on the celestial boundary. Similarly, the Eggja Stone’s alliterative inscription, visible in the nearby photo of a drawing, includes the term solu (Proto-Norse for “sun”), which scholars like Magnus Olsen interpret as the sun metaphorically “touching” the stone or ritual space, perhaps illuminating a funerary rite. This parallel suggests both texts draw from a Skaldic tradition where the sun, whether as Sól’s divine hand or the Eggja Stone’s solu, actively engages the world, uniting mythological and ritualistic Norse cosmology.

The photo of the drawing is in the public domain and is available on the stone's Wikipedia page.

Sól: The Poetic Creation Myth

The following is an excerpt from Vǫluspá (English: The Prophecy of the Seeress) in Henry Adams Bellows’ 1936 translation of the Poetic Edda. Sól is first mentioned in the early stanzas, where the Norse creation myth unfolds. The excerpt has been left untouched aside from replacing the word "sun" with the name "Sól".

1. Hearing I ask | from the holy races,
From Heimdall's sons, | both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather, | that well I relate
Old tales I remember | of men long ago.

2. I remember yet | the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread | in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew, | the nine in the tree
With mighty roots | beneath the mold.

3. Of old was the age | when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, | nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.

4. Then Bur's sons lifted | the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty | there they made;
Sól from the south | warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground | with growing leeks.