The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún claims that he desires only to avenge his father. The gold and the glory, he adds, are for Sigurd to keep. Twice Regin attempts to forge a sword for Sigurd, only to see the latter effortlessly break them. At last, Sigurd goes to his mother Sigrlinn and requests the broken pieces of Grímnir. Regin takes these and forges the sword Gram. Although Sigurd wishes to slay Fafnir then and there, Regin tells him he must have a horse. In response, Sigurd buys the horse Grani, who was sired by Odin's eight-legged steed Sleipnir, and goes forth to kill Fafnir. Later,
Eight-legged essay The following is a translation of an original eight-legged essay, written by Wang Ao (1450–1524), who was considered to be a master of the form. Essay Topic: "If the people enjoy sufficiency how could the ruler suffer from insufficiency?" 1. Pòtí: When the people below are rich, the ruler at the top will naturally be rich. 2. Chéngtí: This is so because the wealth of the ruler is something kept by the people. If the people are already rich, how can it stand to reason that the ruler alone is poor? 3. Qǐjiǎng: You Ruo spoke from profundity the idea