Sunna: Norse Goddess of the Sun

One day, two children were born to a man named Mundilfari and his wife, a boy and a girl. To his eye they were so beautiful that he named them for the two most beautiful things he knew, the Sun and the Moon. However, the Gods were not quite so pleased that a mortal would dare give his children such grand names so they swept both children up into the Heavens, placing them with their namesakes as a warning.

Sunna was placed on the chariot of the Sun and handed the reins of the horses that drove the Sun across the sky every day. It's believed that the speed the Sun moves across the sky is set by the wolf Sköll (treachery) who daily chases her chariot. Sunna drives fast enough to evade capture but not so fast as to tire Árvakr and Alsviðr, the horses that draw her. Her brother Máni, became the moon, forever chased his own wolf Hati Hróðvitnisson.

Sunna is known by many names in mythology, depending on the story she is appearing in. Often she is simply Sól (Sun), sometimes she is Daughter of Mundilfari or Sister of the Moon. Sometimes she is known as Wife of Glenr, her betrothed before the Gods swept them into the sky. Because she drives the fiery chariot of the sun she is sometimes called Fire of Heaven and of the Air; or Alfröðull (Elf-beam). And sometimes, Dvalinn's Playmate and Deceiver of Dvalinn for the dwarf who crafted the runes and gave them to the dwarven race. Like all dwarves, he lives underground and if touched by the Sun's rays will turn to stone.

Most of us in the modern west are used to viewing the moon as feminine and working with the energy of her waxing and waning cycles. With Sunna we can marry the constant fiery energy of the sun with the creative manifesting power of the Goddess. This can be especially useful for any magic designed to bring something positive into your life.