Andvaranaut- Norse ArtifactArtifact"The Cursed Ring"

The Dwarf's Treasure

Andvari was a dwarf who lived in the shape of a pike beneath a waterfall, guarding a hoard of gold he had accumulated over uncounted ages. Among his treasures was the ring Andvaranaut, a gold ring with the power to generate more gold, multiplying wealth endlessly for whoever possessed it.

The story begins with an accident. The gods Odin, Loki, and Hoenir were traveling through Midgard when they came upon an otter eating salmon by a river. Loki killed the otter with a thrown stone. But this otter was Ótr, son of the sorcerer Hreiðmarr, who had taken animal form. When the gods sought lodging at Hreiðmarr's house, he recognized his son's skin and bound the gods with magic, demanding a ransom: fill the otter skin with gold, then cover it entirely.

The Curse Pronounced

To obtain the ransom, Loki traveled to Andvari's waterfall. He caught the dwarf in pike form using a net borrowed from the goddess Rán and forced him to surrender all his gold. Andvari gave up everything, treasure by treasure, until only the ring remained on his finger. He begged Loki to leave him this one piece. With Andvaranaut he could rebuild his fortune; without it, he would be destitute forever.

Loki stripped the ring from the dwarf's hand and turned to leave. Andvari spoke his curse: the gold shall be the death of whoever owns it, and the ring shall be the doom of whoever wears it.

The Chain of Possession

The curse worked quickly. The ransom was paid, the otter skin stuffed and covered with gold, but Hreiðmarr saw that one whisker remained exposed. He demanded the ring to cover it. Loki gave Andvaranaut and warned of the curse, but Hreiðmarr's greed overcame his caution. That night, his son Fáfnir murdered him and seized the gold.

Fáfnir refused to share with his brother Regin. Taking the treasure to a desolate heath, Fáfnir transformed into a dragon and lay upon the hoard for years, guarding it with poisonous breath. Regin raised the hero Sigurd as his instrument of revenge. Sigurd killed Fáfnir with the sword Gram, and the curse passed to him.

Sigurd gave Andvaranaut to Brynhild as a pledge of love. When the ring later appeared on Gudrún's hand, it proved the shape-swapping deception that Sigurd had undertaken on Gunnarr's behalf, and Brynhild demanded Sigurd's death. The treasure passed to the Gjúkung brothers Gunnarr and Högni, drawing the greed of Atli, who murdered them to seize it. Gudrún avenged her brothers by killing Atli in turn. The Völsunga saga records that the gold was sunk in the Rhine, hidden beyond recovery.