Sleipnir man sings a prophecy, and takes Hadingus back to where he found him on his horse. During the ride back, Hadingus trembles beneath the old man's mantle, and peers out of its holes. Hadingus realizes that he is flying through the air: "and he saw that before the steps of the horse lay the sea; but was told not to steal a glimpse of the forbidden thing, and therefore turned his amazed eyes from the dread spectacle of the roads that he journeyed." In book II, Biarco mentions Odin and Sleipnir: "If I may look on the awful husband of
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