Sleipnir distinguished Muria dies, and provides a verse: 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." Ulla Loumand cites Sleipnir and the flying horse 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." The "Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture" theorizes that Sleipnir's eight
Eight-legged essay are "breaking open the topic (破题)", "receiving the topic (承题)", "beginning discussion (起讲)", "initial leg (起股)", "middle leg (中股)“, "later leg (后股)", "final leg (束股), "conclusion (大结)." The eight-legged essay format was invented in the Song Dynasty, by reformer and poet Wang Anshi (1021 – 1086), in the eleventh century. During the Song Dynasty, due to the invention of the printing press and the emperors' wish to recruit more men of talent, there was a huge boost in education and a consequent increase in the number of people taking the civil service exam. Additionally, there was a shift from a