Árvakr and Alsviðr

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Árvakr and Alsviðr are two horses in Norse mythology. They pull the Sun, carried by the goddess Sól, across the sky each day in her chariot. The names mean “early awake” and “very quick.” To keep the horses from overheating on their daily run, the gods place large bellows under their shoulders.

These horses are mentioned in Norse poems like Grímnismál and Gylfaginning and are closely linked to the Sun. In the myths, the Sun is formed from a spark of Muspelheim, and it needs a driver to move. Sól drives the Sun in a chariot pulled by Árvakr and Alsviðr. If she ever stopped, the great wolf Sköll would catch and swallow the Sun, a fate said to come at Ragnarök.

The idea of the Sun being drawn by horses appears in other mythologies as well—Mithras and Attis in Persian and Phrygian traditions, and Apollo in Greek myth (before Helios). The tale of Árvakr and Alsviðr may have inspired later writers, including James Shirley in The Triumph of Peace (1663).