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Máni, a MythSource painting
Norse

Máni

The Moon · Mundilfari's Son · Sól's Brother

01Identity

Máni in Norse tradition

A wolf pursues Máni as he guides the moon across the sky. He is the son of Mundilfari and the brother of Sól, and he controls the moon’s increase and waning. Unlike Sól, who drives the sun’s car, Máni drives the moon’s car and is associated with lunar timekeeping.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Máni?

    Máni is a Norse deity associated with the moon, the moon's course, the moon's waxing, the moon's waning, lunar timekeeping.
    Source

    Source

    • Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland
    • Dictionary of northern mythology

  • What is Máni the god of?

    the moon, the moon's course, the moon's waxing, the moon's waning, lunar timekeeping
    Source

    Source

    • Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland
    • Dictionary of northern mythology

  • What family links are recorded for Máni?

    Father: Mundilfari, Mother: Nótt, 1 sibling.
02Family

Máni’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

MundilfariNótt
MániSól
03The names

The names Máni answers to

Tungl

The moon or lunar orb

SourceDictionary of northern mythology

Mundilfari's Son

Son of the figure Mundilfari

SourceDictionary of northern mythology

Sól's Brother

Brother of the sun goddess Sól

SourceDictionary of northern mythology

04The myths

The myths of Máni

2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.

The Birth and Appointment of Máni

Mundilfari’s children were seized and carried into the heavens after the gods took offence at their names. Mundilfari was a human from Midgard. His children were so beautiful that he named his son Máni after the Moon and his daughter Sól after the Sun. The sons of Bor judged these names arrogant, so they appointed the children to guide the celestial chariots.

Sól drove the chariot of the Sun. Her horses were Árvakr and Alsviðr. Árvakr’s name meant early awake, and Alsviðr’s meant perfectly wise. Two pairs of bellows hung beneath the horses’ bellies and cooled them as they crossed the sky. Máni guided the course of the Moon. He controlled its increase and its waning, and he drove its chariot through the heavens.

The chariots travelled swiftly because wolves pursued them. A giantess lived in Járnviðr, the Ironwood Forest east of Midgard, and the wolves were her offspring. One telling named Máni’s pursuer Managarmr. Another named him Hati Hróðvitnisson, the son of Hróðvitnir. Hati pursued Máni, while Sköll pursued Sól. Their chases forced the Sun and Moon to hurry across the sky.

At Ragnarök, Hati overtook Máni and swallowed the Moon. Sköll caught Sól. The wolves’ pursuit thus brought the courses of the Sun and Moon to their appointed end.

The Birth and Appointment of Máni, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Treasury of Norse MythologyT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Mundilfari’s beautiful children, Máni and Sól, are set in the heavens to guide the Moon and Sun, while wolves chase their courses until Ragnarök.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Norse MythologyT1

Máni Takes Hjúki and Bil

Hjúki and Bil came to the fountain Byrgir to fetch water. Their father was Vidfinnr. They carried a pail called Sœgr on a pole called Simul. The name Sœgr referred to liquid that seethed over its brims. One telling gave the pole’s name as Sumul, a name linked with brewing ale and mead. At the fountain, Máni took Hjúki and Bil up into the sky, with the pail and pole that they carried.

Máni carried the children on his journey through the heavens. By taking them, he also took the liquid kept at Byrgir. That liquid was connected with the skaldic mead, the drink of poetry, and Máni robbed Vidfinnr of it. Bil had a special connection with this drink. The skalds called on the noble Bil to favour them, and they prayed that she would show them grace. Bil later became an asynje and distributed the same creative sap of nature and inspiration that she had carried when Máni took her up.

Máni also bore the names Nökkvi, or Nökkver, Nefr, or Nepr, and Gevarr, or Gœvarr. These names placed him in other mythic events. Gevarr was also named as Nanna’s father. In another telling, the liquid and its bearers were carried to the moon, where Hjúki and Bil remained visible in its markings. Máni later carried the liquid in the moon’s silver ship, and Odin came to drink from it as the ship sank towards the western horizon.

Máni Takes Hjúki and Bil, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the NorthlandT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Máni carries Hjúki and Bil into the sky after finding them at Byrgir, taking the fountain’s liquid from their father Vidfinnr and linking Bil with the drink of poetry.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the NorthlandT1

Also appears in

The myths across MythSource where Máni features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Máni embeds here once it publishes.