Skidbladnir, the Ship of Freyr

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Skidbladnir, the Ship of Freyr

Skidbladnir is the best of ships, made for Freyr by the dwarfs called the Sons of Ivaldi. It can carry all the gods, always finds a fair wind, and folds up small enough to fit in a pouch.

What is Skidbladnir?

Skidbladnir is the finest of all ships, made for the god Freyr by the Sons of Ivaldi. It is large enough to carry every god with their war-gear, yet the moment its sail is raised it finds a fair wind wherever it is bound.

The ship that folds

Its greatest marvel is that it can be folded up like a cloth and slipped into a pouch when it is not needed. In Skidbladnir the Norse imagined the perfect vessel — vast upon the sea, and nothing at all in the hand.

The poem Grímnismál names it the best of ships, made "in days of old" for bright Freyr. In Snorri's Ynglinga saga, which tells the gods' story as if they were ancient kings, the ship belongs instead to Odin.

It belongs to Freyr, who also rides Gullinbursti.

Questions

Who owns Skidbladnir?

Freyr; one saga gives it to Odin.

Who made Skidbladnir?

The dwarfs called the Sons of Ivaldi.

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