Page "Skíðblaðnir" Paragraph 1

Skíðblaðnir ( Old Norse ' assembled from thin pieces of wood '), sometimes anglicized as Skidbladnir or Skithblathnir, is the best of ships in Norse mythology.

It is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.

All sources note that the ship is the finest of ships, and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda attest that it is owned by the god Freyr, while the euhemerized account in Heimskringa lists attributes it to the magic of Odin.

Both Heimskringla and the Prose Edda attribute to it the ability to be folded up — as cloth may be — into one's pocket when not needed.