The Sun Chariot
The chariot of Sól, the sun goddess, drawn across the sky by the horses Arvakr and Alsvinn, with the shield Svalinn before them to temper the light. The wolves Sköll and Hati hunt the sun and moon, and at Ragnarök Sköll will at last swallow the sun. The chariot is described in Grímnismál and Gylfaginning. The horses are harnessed beneath the shield Svalinn, 'the cooling one', which keeps the earth from being burnt, and their manes are cooled by wind. Sól is sister to the moon-charioteer Máni, and both are doomed to be caught by the pursuing wolves; in the Eddic telling the sun grew pale as the