Cult of Gods

Sól

Norse tradition. See the whole pantheon.

Domains
the sun
Symbols and attributes
Horses Árvakr and Alsviðr; the wolf Sköll
Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.
Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.

Key myth

Sun and moon are driven across the sky in chariots, each chased by a wolf. Sól drives the sun, drawn by the horses Árvakr and Alsviðr; her wolf Sköll is fated to catch her before Ragnarök, after which her daughter takes her road.

Where sources differ or caution applies. Sól and her brother Máni have no recorded cult; they are known from poems and Snorri.

Primary sources

  • Vafþrúðnismál 23, 46-47
  • Grímnismál 37-39
  • Gylfaginning 11

All sources for the Norse pantheon

Place in the family graph

Choose a deity to see where it comes from. Dashed lines are links the sources describe that are not parent and child.

YmirFriggBúriNjörðrÆgirRánSólBorrBestlaFreyrFreyjaSifLokiSigynHeimdallrTýrOdinHelThorBaldr

More traditions

Papyrus of Ani, British Museum (New Kingdom), a Book of the Dead.EgyptianA chaos monster and a sun god, drawn by L. Gruner for A. H. Layard's Monuments of Nineveh.MesopotamianVishvarupa Vishnu, Kashmir or Himachal, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art collection.HinduFolio 309r of the Book of Kells (Trinity College Dublin), c. 800.Celtic (Irish)

Elsewhere in the world

Deities in other traditions who share a theme with Sól: the sun and light. This is overlap in one area only.

Egyptian

Atum

creator, the completed one

Egyptian

Ra

sun, kingship, order

Hindu

Agni

fire, the sacrifice, messenger of the gods

Celtic (Irish)

Lugh

skill in all arts, kingship, the sun (in later readings)

Compare across cultures