As Sigurð does this, he checks to see if it is cooked by touching it, whereupon he burns his finger and sucks it to cool it down.

Regin asks him to cook the worm's heart for him to eat.

Fáfnir's brother Regin forges a sword for Sigurð and convinces him to kill Fáfnir by hiding in a pit and striking him from below as the worm goes past, which Sigurð does.

Fáfnir kills his father and flees with the hoard and dwells in the wilderness, often at a place named Gnitaheath, where he becomes a worm or dragon ( Old Norse: ormr or dreki).Fáfnir kills his father Hreiðmarr and takes his hoard of treasure that was often given as weregild by the gods Odin, Loki, and Hœnir for their unintended killing of Hreiðmarr's son Ótr.Named attestations General narrative įáfnir's tale is attested in multiple medieval accounts which refer to a shared story with a general structure as follows:

This change is consistent with the wider trend in Germanic portrayals of dragons, and likely results from influence from continental Europe that was facilitated by Christianisation and the increased availability of translated romances. While in the form of a worm in Fáfnismál, Fáfnir is described as flightless and snake-like while at the same point in the narrative of the later Völsunga saga, he has shoulders, suggesting legs, wings or both. It has been noted that dwarf appearances were presented in the medieval period as highly diverse and they could even change their form, as with Andvari and potentially also Fáfnir. It has been noted though that his brother, Regin, is described as being a dwarf in Norna-Gests þáttr and resembling a dwarf ( Old Norse: dvergr of vǫxt), however, it is neither clear if relatives of dwarfs are also dwarfs, nor how dwarfs were conceived of as appearing. Appearance įurther information: Germanic dragon § Origin, appearance and terminologyīefore taking the form of a dragon, Fáfnir's appearance is not explicitly described. The name 'Fáfnir' has been translated from Old Norse as 'the embracer'. Name U 1163, the Drävle runestone, depicting Sigurð stabbing Fáfnir, who encircles the runestone. The story of Fáfnir has continued to have influence in the modern period, such as in the works of J.R.R Tolkien, who drew inspiration from the tale of Fáfnir in his portrayals of Smaug and Gollum. Fáfnir and his killing by Sigurð are further represented in numerous medieval carvings from the British Isles and Scandinavia, and a single axe head in a Scandinavian style found in Russia. He has been identified with an unnamed dragon killed by a Völsung in other Germanic works including Beowulf, the Nibelunglied and a number of skaldic poems. Fafnir's brother Regin later assisted Sigurð in obtaining the sword Gram, by which Fáfnir is killed. In Nordic mythology, he is the son of Hreiðmarr, and brother of Regin and Ótr and is attested throughout the Völsung Cycle, where, Fáfnir slays his father out of greed, taking the ring and hoard of the dwarf Andvari and becoming a worm or dragon. In Germanic heroic legend and folklore, Fáfnir is a worm or dragon slain by a member of the Völsung family, typically Sigurð. A depiction of Sigurð slaying Fáfnir on the right portal plank from Hylestad Stave Church, the so-called 'Hylestad I', from the second half of the 12th century For other uses, see Fafnir (disambiguation).

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