Sleipnir 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." 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
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