He looks like a magnificent black horse with a starry hide, and wears medieval-style barding. He has the ability to fly. Sleipnir can change the number of his legs at will and sometimes has eight legs, although he did not take this form in his encounter with the Avalon World Tourtravelers.
Real World Background[]
Sleipnir was Odin's horse in Norse mythology, and was particularly noted for having eight legs, although he is described in the legends as grey rather than black. (Some scholars of Norse mythology believe that this feature of his was thanks to Odin's status as a death-god. According to this theory, Sleipnir is a personification, of a sort, of a coffin, which is carried by four pallbearers, and thus can be viewed as having eight legs). According to the myths, he was born in this wise. A frost giant offered to build a mighty stone wall around Asgard, on the condition that, if he completed it before the end of winter, Odin give him in payment the sun and moon, and also Freya, the Norse goddess of love and beauty, for his wife. Odin disliked the demanded price, but, after Loki the trickster-god convinced him that the giant could not possibly complete the wall in that amount of time, agreed to it. What he and the other gods had not reckoned with was that the giant had a powerful work-horse, a stallion named Svaldifari, who hauled massive rocks for the wall to the building site, allowing the giant to build the wall with amazing swiftness.
The gods, alarmed at this development, blamed Loki for this state of affairs, and ordered him to do something about the problem. Loki did just that by shape-shifting into a mare and luring Svaldifari away from the building-site, thus preventing the giant from completing the wall by the deadline. However, Svaldifari managed to catch up with him, and Loki later on gave birth to Sleipnir.
Behind the Scenes[]
Slepnir was originally going to have eight legs in his appearance on Gargoyles, but it was determined that animating an eight legged horse would be too difficult for the overseas animation studio. The in-continuity explanation is that Slepnir can alter his form at will, including his number of legs, though it's never mentioned in the episode itself.
1. Awakening 2. Awakening, Part Two 3. Awakening, Part Three 4. Awakening, Part Four 5. Awakening, Part Five 6. The Thrill of the Hunt 7. Temptation 8. Deadly Force 9. Enter MacBeth 10. The Edge 11. Long Way to Morning 12. Her Brother's Keeper 13. Reawakening
1. Leader of the Pack 2. Metamorphosis 3. Legion 4. A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time 5. The Mirror 6. The Silver Falcon 7. Eye of the Beholder 8. Vows 9. City of Stone, Part One 10. City of Stone, Part Two 11. City of Stone, Part Three 12. City of Stone, Part Four 13. High Noon
14. Outfoxed 15. The Price 16. Revelations 17. Double Jeopardy 18. Upgrade 19. Protection 20. The Cage 21. Avalon, Part One 22. Avalon, Part Two 23. Avalon, Part Three 24. Shadows of the Past 25. Heritage 26. Monsters
27. Golem 28. Sanctuary 29. M.I.A. 30. Grief 31. Kingdom 32. The Hound of Ulster 33. Walkabout 34. Mark of the Panther 35. Pendragon 36. Eye of the Storm 37. The New Olympians 38. The Green 39. Sentinel
40. Bushido 41. Cloud Fathers 42. Ill Met By Moonlight 43. Future Tense 44. The Gathering, Part One 45. The Gathering, Part Two 46. Vendettas 47. Turf 48. The Reckoning 49. Possession 50. Hunter's Moon, Part One 51. Hunter's Moon, Part Two 52. Hunter's Moon, Part Three
1. The Journey 2. Ransom 3. Runaways 4. Broadway Goes Hollywood 5. A Bronx Tail 6. The Dying Of The Light 7. And Justice For All 8. Genesis Undone 9. Generations 10. ...For It May Come True 11. To Serve Mankind 12. Seeing Isn't Believing 13. Angels In The Night
SLG comics
Gargoyles #1. Clan Building Chapter One: Nightwatch Gargoyles #2. Clan Building Chapter Two: The Journey Gargoyles #3. Clan Building Chapter Three: Invitation Only Gargoyles #4. Clan Building Chapter Four: Masque Gargoyles #5. Clan Building Chapter Five: Bash Gargoyles #6. Clan Building Chapter Six: Reunion Gargoyles #7. Clan Building Chapter Seven: The Rock Gargoyles #8. Clan Building Chapter Eight: Rock & Roll Gargoyles #9. Clan Building Chapter Nine: Rock of Ages Gargoyles #10. Clan Building Chapter Ten: The Gate Gargoyles #11. Clan Building Chapter Eleven: Tyrants Gargoyles #12. Clan Building Chapter Twelve: Phoenix
Bad Guys #1. Strangers Bad Guys #2. The Lost Bad Guys #3. Estranged Bad Guys #4. Louse Bad Guys #5. Strangled Bad Guys #6. Losers
Dynamite Entertainment comic books
Here In Manhattan
Quest
Dark Ages - Alliance
Gargoyles (2022) #1. Here In Manhattan: A Little Crazy Gargoyles (2022) #2. Here In Manhattan Chapter Two: Idyll or Nightmare Gargoyles (2023) #3. Here In Manhattan Chapter Three: Miracle Child Gargoyles (2023) #4. Here In Manhattan Chapter Four: Tale Old As Time Gargoyles (2023) #5. Here In Manhattan Chapter Five: Render Unto Caesar Gargyoles (2023) #6. Here In Manhattan Chapter Six: Underwater Volume Two Gargyoles (2023) #7. Here In Manhattan Chapter Seven: Everywhere Gargoyles (2023) #8. Here In Manhattan Chapter Eight: Mayday Gargoyles (2023) #9. Here In Manhattan Chapter Nine: Your Witness Gargoyles (2023) Special. Trick-Or-Treat Gargoyles (2023) #10. Here In Manhattan Chapter Ten: New Rules Gargyoles (2023) #11. Here In Manhattan Chapter Eleven: Young At Heart Gargyoles (2023) #12. Here In Manhattan Chapter Twelve: Cold Comfort
Gargoyles (2024) #1. Quest Chapter One
Dark Ages #1. Alliance Chapter One: The Reach Dark Ages #2. Alliance Chapter Two: The Draw Dark Ages #3. Alliance Chapter Three: The Oath Dark Ages #4. Alliance Chapter Four: The Promise Dark Ages #5. Alliance Chapter Five: The Dream Dark Ages #6. Alliance Chapter Six: The Pledge
