Dunst Opening Lambertville, New Jersey), giving the opening its most popular name in the United States. The Dutch International Master and correspondence grandmaster Dirk Daniel ("Dick D.") van Geet (March 1, 1932 – April 29, 2012) frequently played 1.Nc3, so it is often called the van Geet's Opening in the Netherlands. The appellation Sleipnir seems to come from Germany. Sleipnir is Odin's ("Wotan" in German) magical eight-legged horse, and chess knights are horses with up to eight different possible moves each turn. Czech Jan Kotrč (1862–1943), editor and publisher of the magazine "České Listy", said the opening was analyzed by English players.
Sleipnir mentioned in a riddle found in the 13th century legendary saga "Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks", in the 13th-century legendary saga "Völsunga saga" as the ancestor of the horse Grani, and book I of "Gesta Danorum", written in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus, contains an episode considered by many scholars to involve Sleipnir. Sleipnir is generally accepted as depicted on two 8th century Gotlandic image stones: the Tjängvide image stone and the Ardre VIII image stone. Scholarly theories have been proposed regarding Sleipnir's potential connection to shamanic practices among the Norse pagans. In modern times, Sleipnir appears in Icelandic folklore