Editing Sleipnir (section)

{{short description|Odin's eight-legged horse}}
{{other uses|Sleipnir (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
[[Image:Ardre Odin Sleipnir.jpg|thumb|300px|Depiction of Sleipnir in a detail on the [[Tjängvide image stone]].]]
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Sleipnir''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|l|eɪ|p|n|ɪər}} ([[Old Norse]]: "slippy"<ref name=ORCHARD151>Orchard (1997:151).</ref> or "the slipper"<ref name=KERMODE6>Kermode (1904:6).</ref>) is an eight-legged [[horse]] ridden by [[Odin]]. Sleipnir is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]. In both sources, Sleipnir is Odin's steed, is the child of [[Loki]] and [[Svaðilfari]], is described as the best of all horses, and is sometimes ridden to the location of [[Hel (location)|Hel]]. The ''Prose Edda'' contains extended information regarding the circumstances of Sleipnir's birth, and details that he is grey in color.

Sleipnir is also 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 [[Gotland]]ic [[image stones]]: the [[Tjängvide image stone]] and the [[Ardre image stones|Ardre VIII image stone]].

Scholarly theories have been proposed regarding Sleipnir's potential connection to [[shamanism|shamanic]] practices among the [[Norse paganism|Norse pagans]]. In modern times, Sleipnir appears in [[Scandinavian folklore|Icelandic folklore]] as the creator of [[Ásbyrgi]], in works of art, literature, software, and in the names of ships.