[background-alien]

ben sisko coolly telling dukat to fuck off is my aesthetic

Sleipnir doesn’t make sense

[wakeupontheprongssideofthebed]

One thing I never really understood was Sleipnir (meaning “slippery one” fyi) in depictions of Norse mythology. Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse, the steed of Odin and the son of Loki, and he is commonly depicted like this:

(image not mine)

But why would you depict an eight-legged horse like this? Horses gallop the same way most other mammals run, with all feet leaving the ground at one point, so having extra feet here doesn’t seem like it could make the horse any faster. I’m also not sure it would give it any more stable footing, since it doesn’t have a wider base.

If you want a stable eight-legged form that can reach great speeds for its size, wouldn’t you want to start with what nature has already provided? Wouldn’t you want something more like… this?

(my drawing)

“But wait!” you might say, “Sleipnir was conceived when Loki, in horse-form, seduced another horse! That’s why it looks all horsey, just with extra bits!”

Well, that’s a good point, but consider that Loki as a deity was originally based off the spider, and his name even derives from the old Swedish word for spider (source). Therefore, it’s not too hard to believe Sleipnir inherited his horse half from his mother and the more spidery half from his father. In conclusion:

Spider-Horse,
Spider-Horse,
He does spider-things of course!
Weaves a web,
Makes you gawk,
Riding round ‘til Ragnarok!
Look out! Here comes the Spider-Horse.

[edderkopper]

I am all for creative interpretations of Sleipnir. And spiders, obviously. This is epic.

But just so you know, that journal is from the 60′s, and the current scholarly consensus no longer considers the spider etymology to be likely. We still aren’t sure where the name comes from, and probably won’t ever be, but I’ve seen quite a few more recent academics lean toward Old Norse luka, meaning “close”, “shut”, or “end.” (See Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology.)

[myreligionisconfused]

^^^^ my research found much the same. (which is sad, i like spiders)

As far as Sleipnir having eight legs, it’s probably a reference to Icelandic horses. Icelandic horses are one of the few horse breeds with five gaits. They can do a walk, trot and canter/gallop, like most horses. But they have also evolved to have a tolt,

[ gif of a man riding a brown Icelandic horse doing a tolt. The back legs of the horse move rather stiffly back and forth, while the front legs are lifted up almost to the horse’s chest. While the horse bounces slightly, the man riding the horse could probably hold a glass of water without spilling. ] 

which is fast, smooth and noted for its explosive speed and ability to cover long distances.

The second unique gait is called flugskeið, or flying pace.

[ a light brown Icelandic horse demonstrating the flugskeið. With the exception of the wind in the horses’ mane, the upper part of the horse and the rider seem to almost be still, with the background simply zipping by them. The horse’s legs, however, move fast enough to blur. Unlike with a full gallop, the horse does not fully extend its legs away from its body. This is particularly obvious in the front legs of the horse, which lift up to the chest of the horse and land under its chin the same way as in the tolt]

It is both smooth and fast, some horses being able to reach speeds of 30 mph. Not all Icelandic horses can do a flugskeið, but you’ll notice that when done properly the legs move in unison and so fast they can blur, giving the illusion of the horse having eight legs.

Anyways, here is a video to further emphasize how cool the flugskeið is;

[edderkopper]

I’d never heard this theory! That’s so neat.

The one I’ve read attributed the eight legs thing to a metaphor of a coffin + 4 pallbearers.

[starrynightfantasies]

This is FASCINATING, and I adore Sleipnir! 😍 @tinaferraldo

[catwinchester]

You’ve brought my horse geek out now. You have been warned!

The thing is, until the late 1800s we didn’t know how horses moved. 

In old paintings you typically see horses with their legs stretched wide as they thought that gave the appearance of great speed. 

But it really just looks like Timmy’s big brother was being an evil bastard and bent the legs of his tin horses out . 

It’s completely unnatural looking, but horses moved too fast for us to be able to see how they moved, until Edward MAuybridge captured their motion in a series of consecutive photographs in 1878.

And for the first time we could see that all four legs did leave the ground. (and are never stretched uncomfortably wide!). 

He also created the first motion picture as the individual photographs could be put together as a series of film frames (below).  

So, all this is to say that back when Sleipnir was being dreamed up, they didn’t understand how animals moved and probably thought more legs = faster, and to a degree they were right, things on four legs run faster than bipeds so they continued that principle to its logical, if incorrect, conclusion. 

[hesaidsidhesaid]

THIS IS THE BEST HORSE MOVEMENT DISCOURSE EVER

[jumpingjacktrash]

or we can consider that norse epics were, above all else, poetry, and consider that the image of an eight-legged horse brings to mind a horse that moves like a spider – with that fast darting scuttle that so many people find terrifying. an alien horse. a divine horse. a monster.

(personally i find the spider run adorable, like when a cat gets startled and does the skitter. but i recognize this is an unusual reaction.)

[furball891]

So, inspired by the whole concept of a spider-horse I very loosely sketched this:

…To which my brother @foxofwar simply pointed out, that being a spider-horse, it’s a sporse.

[monstrous-hourglass]

Slightly off topic, but it isn’t unique to Norse mythology to give a magical horse unusual number of legs tho. In Hungarian folklore special horses (usually fond of eating cinders, capable of flying or running faster than the win or even faster than thoughts, usually liked to sass the hero of the tale) had 5, 6 or 7 legs.

Obviously those numbers were chosen because they held cultural significance (our dragons/giants had odd number of heads too), but it probably sounded like common sense that more legs=faster horse.

[odinnsdottir]

I have nothing to add but damn is this thread epic.

[theactualcluegirl]

There’s a Peruvian horse breed called the Paso that has a fifth gait as well – kind of a smooth, toe-skimming shuffle between the trot and the canter. It’s smooth as butter.

[boogiewoogiebuglegal]

Epic horse thread is epic. And fascinating :)

[elodieunderglass]

Mythology, gaited horses, Muybridge and a wee touch of biomechanics. 👌 well done with this blog bait. You have caught me. You have won

[unflatteringcatselfies]

this is sasha, she sleep and she stretch

[unpretty]

thank god for the mythbusters though because it used to be that whenever i knew i had insomnia i’d just kind of accept it and stay up doing whatever until my morning classes and spend the day feeling like shit

but then they did an episode where they established that even just fucking laying there for a half hour, not even sleeping just laying there and not even for an hour, makes a significant difference and you’ll feel way better

it has made a huge difference in my life to know that it’s okay if i can’t fall asleep, it takes a lot of the pressure off and ironically helps me fall asleep better

[inkstainedchocolateeyes]

…i did not know this, thank you

[unpretty]

If anyone wants to look it up, the episode was specifically the Deadliest Catch crossover ep, and the myth was that it’s better/safer when working a 30 hour shift to take a 20 minute nap every six hours rather than try to power through. They did an obstacle course test, one without naps and one with, and even though they couldn’t even sleep half the time the naps resulted in their scores doubling.

So actually I undersold it, even if it’s 7:40 and your alarm goes off at 8 just lie down and shut your eyes and it will still be better than nothing

[spooniecollection]

This is what my mom always tells me: “You’ll rest even when you’re just lying down”. Good to know for everyone who has problems sleeping. 

[scottmcdoll]

@knightinironarmor

[comrademugsy]

I was eating dinner with my mom and when she went to pay I noticed a “Hooters” frequent diner card or whatever in her wallet. I asked her WTF, and she explained that a friend of hers got a coupon for the grand opening and so a group of them went for lunch just to try it out. This is a group that consists of women from their 50s into their 80s. Apparently the food decent but the service was amazing, and the servers were “all such wonderful girls, so sweet! Said it was nice to take a break from all the gross men they had to deal with.” So they decided to come back. Now they go once a week at least, and the Hooters waitresses fight each other for who gets to serve them. Anyhow I thought it was cute. 

[breelandwalker]

I am all for the idea of a bunch of aunties and grandmas invading a space typically dominated by men acting like gross creepers and just taking the fuck over and being nice to the ladies on staff.

Because who the fuck is gonna argue with an army of polite older ladies?

Nobody, that’s who.

[elodieunderglass]

Bree my eyes skimmed this and saw “I’m all for aunties and grandmas invading outer space.” And I went with it.

[readysteadytrek]

Cast on set

[tokyo-fashion]

25-year-old Haine on the street in Harajuku wearing a white pirate inspired look by the Japanese brand Alice and The Pirates and Dr. Martens buckle shoes. Full Look

Before I met her, my world was… a much smaller place. I kept to myself, I didn’t need anyone else, and I took pride in that. The truth is, I was ashamed of what I was, afraid that if people saw how truly different I was, they would recoil from me. Lwaxana saw how different I was… and she didn’t recoil. She wanted to see more. For the first time in my life, someone wanted me as I was. And that changed me forever. The day I met her is the day I stopped being alone. And I want her to be part of my life from this day on.

Odo, The Muse, Star Trek: Deep Space 9

This is really hitting me on a person lvl atm.

(Also, see how touching and important this is and it was intimate without being romantic. Amazing how you can tell a good story without romance.)