HORSES

Eeheeynynynyn.

Crazy Horse -- Devil Horse -- Hell Horse -- Nightmare -- Sleipnir

CRAZY HORSE

Named after the celebrated Lakota leader (1849-1877). As this creature is, literally, ia crazy horse (or rather unicorn, judging by the horn), the name is a pun.

DEVIL HORSE, HELL HORSE

There are a number of legends that deal with demonic horses, or, at least, horses ridden by demons. For example, Reginald Scot's 1584 book Discoverie of Witchcraft states that the demon Orobas "commeth foorth like a horsse", and also mentions a number of demons that take the form of people riding horses; Irish mythology has evil horse-like spirits called Kelpies and the book of Revelation's allegorical description of the Apocalypse descibes fire-breathing horses with lions' heads.

The hell horse's six legs are a reference to Sleipnir.

IMAGE: Illustration of Orobas from Dictionnaire Infernal

NIGHTMARE

Nightmares are often personified in mythology - in fact, the word "nightmare" is itself a personification; the "mare" comes from an Old English word meaning "evil spirit". This monster, however, plays on a different meaning of "mare" - a female horse. Thusly, a nightmarish horse.The FF1 nightmare has a horn, meanign that it was modelled aroudn the unicorn.

SLEIPNIR

According to Norse mythology, a builder visited the gods and offered to build a wall, in exchange for the Sun, the Moon and the goddess Freyr. The gods were reluctant, but the trickster Loki accepted on the grounds that he had to work with a tight deadline, under the reasoning that he'd be unable to complete the task. The wall would be unfinished, but it'd be for free.

But the builder was a giant in disguise, and was able to build the wall at incredible speed. The gods were desperate to stop him, and ordered Loki to come up with a plan.

Loki turned into a horse and lured away the builder's mare, leaving him helpless. In his anger, the builder turned back into a giant, and was dispatched by Thor. Meanwhile, Loki and the builder's horse had a foal with eight legs (not six, as in FF), Slepnir, which was later presented to Odin.

IMAGE: Norse carving depicting Sleipnir

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