Veðrfölnir

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This illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript gamely attempts to show a hawk on top of an eagle on top of a tree.

In Norse mythology, Veðrfölnir ("the one bleached by the weather") or Veðrlaufnir is the name of a hawk sitting between the eyes of an eagle in the crown of Yggdrasill, the World Tree.

While the hawk is mentioned in the Gylfaginning part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the eagle is not. According to Fjölsvinnsmál, it is instead a rooster named Viðópnir that sits at the top of Mímameiðr (Yggdrasil).

Ignoring Fjölsvinnsmál, it has been speculated that this eagle could be identical to Hræsvelgr, the jötunn in eagle shape who, according to the Vafþrúðnismál, sits at the end of the skies and brings about the winds with his wings. However, there is no source in the Norse accounts to make this more than a qualified guess.

It is also speculated by John Lindow in his book Norse Mythology (2001) that since this particular eagle is said by Snorri to have an "understanding of many things," the hawk may represent the higher faculty of wisdom, possibly being sent out to acquire knowledge in a similar manner as Odin's ravens, Hugin and Munin, although again the primary sources do not support this.