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creature

Veðrfölnir and the eagle

Veðrfölnir

An unnamed eagle sits at the top of Yggdrasil, and between its eyes sits a hawk called Veðrfölnir; the hawk is named only by Snorri.

At the top of Yggdrasil sits an eagle. Grímnismál mentions it only as the source of the words the squirrel Ratatoskr carries down to Níðhöggr Grímnismál 32.

Snorri gives the eagle a little more: it "has understanding of many a thing", and between its eyes sits a hawk called Veðrfölnir Gylfaginning 16. That sentence is the only appearance of Veðrfölnir in the Eddas. Snorri does not say where he found the name or what the hawk does. The squirrel, in his version, carries "envious words" between the eagle and the dragon Gylfaginning 16, setting the top of the tree against its roots.

The eagle is never named. Readers who want to identify the eagle sometimes point to Hræsvelgr, the giant in eagle's form who sits at the end of heaven and makes the winds with his wings Vafþrúðnismál 37, but that is a guess.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

An eagle sits in the limbs of the Ash, and he has understanding of many a thing; and between his eyes sits the hawk that is called Vedrfölnir.
Gylfaginning 16 The only mention of Veðrfölnir: a hawk perched between the eyes of the wise eagle in the tree.
From above the words of the eagle he bears, And tells them to Nithhogg beneath.
Grímnismál 32 Grímnismál knows an eagle at the top of the tree whose words the squirrel carries down.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • The eagle is never named. Some readers identify it with Hræsvelgr, the giant in eagle's shape who makes the wind (Vafþrúðnismál 37), but no source makes the link.
  • Why a hawk should sit between the eagle's eyes is never explained.

Related

Yggdrasil Yggdrasill The world-ash at the centre of the Norse cosmos: its roots reach the realms of gods, giants and the dead, and the gods hold court beneath it every day. Ratatoskr The squirrel that runs up and down Yggdrasil carrying words, and in Snorri envious words, between the eagle at the top and the dragon Níðhöggr at the roots. Níðhöggr The dragon that gnaws the root of Yggdrasil from below and feeds on the dead at Náströnd; at the end of Völuspá it flies up with corpses on its wings. The four stags of Yggdrasil Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Duraþrór Four harts that browse the topmost branches of Yggdrasil; two of them share names with dwarves. Hræsvelgr A giant in eagle's shape who sits at the end of heaven; the wind comes from the beating of his wings.