Editing Sleipnir (section)

==Theories==
[[Image:Odin rides to Hel.jpg|thumb|300px|"[[Odin]] Rides to [[Hel (location)|Hel]]" (1908) by [[W. G. Collingwood]].]]
[[John Lindow]] theorizes that Sleipnir's "connection to the world of the dead grants a special poignancy to one of the kennings in which Sleipnir turns up as a horse word," referring to the skald Úlfr Uggason's usage of "sea-Sleipnir" in his ''Húsdrápa'', which describes the funeral of Baldr. Lindow continues that "his use of Sleipnir in the kenning may show that Sleipnir's role in the failed recovery of Baldr was known at that time and place in Iceland; it certainly indicates that Sleipnir was an active participant in the mythology of the last decades of paganism." Lindow adds that the eight legs of Sleipnir "have been interpreted as an indication of great speed or as being connected in some unclear way with cult activity."<ref name=LINDOW277/>

[[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] says that "the eight-legged horse of Odin is the typical steed of the shaman" and that in the shaman's journeys to the heavens or the underworld, a shaman "is usually represented as riding on some bird or animal." Davidson says that while the creature may vary, the horse is fairly common "in the lands where horses are in general use, and Sleipnir's ability to bear the god through the air is typical of the shaman's steed" and cites an example from a study of shamanism by [[Mircea Eliade]] of an eight-legged foal from a story of a [[Buryats|Buryat]] shaman. Davidson says that while attempts have been made to connect Sleipnir with [[hobby horse]]s and steeds with more than four feet that appear in carnivals and processions, but that "a more fruitful resemblance seems to be on the [[bier]] on which a dead man is carried in the funeral procession by four bearers; borne along thus, he may be described as riding on a steed with eight legs." As an example, Davidson cites a funeral [[dirge]] from the [[Gondi people]] in [[India]] as recorded by [[Verrier Elwin]], stating that "it contains references to [[Bagri Maro]], the horse with eight legs, and it is clear from the song that it is the dead man's bier." Davidson says that the song is sung when a distinguished [[Muria people|Muria]] dies, and provides a verse:<ref name=DAVIDSON142-143>Davidson (1990:142–143).</ref>
<blockquote>
:What horse is this?
:It is the horse of Bagri Maro.
:What should we say of its legs?
:This horse has eight legs.
:What should we say of its heads?
:This horse has four heads. . . .
:Catch the bridle and mount the horse.<ref name=DAVIDSON142-143/>
</blockquote>
Davidson adds that the representation of Odin's steed as eight-legged could arise naturally out of such an image, and that "this is in accordance with the picture of Sleipnir as a horse that could bear its rider to the land of the dead."<ref name=DAVIDSON142-143/>

Ulla Loumand cites Sleipnir and the flying horse [[Gná and Hófvarpnir|Hófvarpnir]] as "prime examples" of horses in Norse mythology as being able to "mediate between earth and sky, between [[Ásgarðr]], [[Miðgarðr]] and [[Útgarðr]] and between the world of mortal men and the underworld."<ref name=LOUMAND133>Loumand (2006:133).</ref>

The ''[[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture]]'' theorizes that Sleipnir's eight legs may be the remnants of horse-associated [[divine twins]] found in [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] cultures and ultimately stemming from [[Proto-Indo-European religion]]. The encyclopedia states that "[...] Sleipnir is born with an extra set of legs, thus representing an original pair of horses. Like [[Freyr]] and [[Njörðr]], Sleipnir is responsible for carrying the dead to the otherworld." The encyclopedia cites parallels between the birth of Sleipnir and myths originally pointing to a [[Celtic polytheism|Celtic]] goddess who gave birth to the Divine horse twins. These elements include a demand for a goddess by an unwanted suitor (the [[hrimthurs]] demanding the goddess [[Freyja]]) and the seduction of builders.<ref name=MALLORYADAMS163>Mallory. Adams (1997:163).</ref>