Fafnir- Norse DragonDragon"Wyrm of Gnitaheiðr"

The Curse of Andvari

Fáfnir's story begins not with the dragon, but with a crime and a curse. He was born a dwarf, son of the wealthy dwarf-king Hreidmar, brother to Regin the smith and Otr, who could take the form of an otter. The family lived in comfort until three gods, Odin, Hœnir, and Loki, came traveling through Midgard.

Loki saw an otter eating a salmon by a waterfall, threw a stone, and killed it. The gods skinned the otter and carried the pelt with them. But when they sought lodging with Hreidmar, they discovered their mistake: the otter had been Otr in his animal form. They had slain their host's son.

Hreidmar and his surviving sons seized the three gods and demanded weregild. The price: enough gold to fill the otter-skin and cover it so that no hair remained visible. Loki was sent to obtain the ransom.

He sought out the dwarf Andvari, who lived beneath a waterfall in the form of a pike and had hoarded gold for ages beyond counting. Loki captured him and demanded everything. Andvari surrendered his treasure but tried to keep back one ring, Andvaranaut, which had the power to multiply gold. Loki took that too. Andvari, stripped of his last possession, cursed the ring: it would bring death to all who held it.

The cursed gold filled and covered the otter-skin. When one whisker remained visible, Odin surrendered even Andvaranaut to complete the payment.

The First Murder

The curse worked swiftly. Fáfnir gazed at the golden hoard and could not look away. His father's weregild became an obsession that swallowed everything else.

In the night, he murdered Hreidmar for the gold. When Regin demanded his share, Fáfnir answered with threats. He took the entire treasure and fled to a desolate heath called Gnitaheiðr, where he could possess his gold alone.

The Dragon on the Heath

In his exile, Fáfnir lay on the treasure and would not leave it. According to the Völsunga saga, his obsession transformed him. The dwarf who had killed for gold became a lindworm, armored in scales, breathing venom that withered all life around his lair. He wore the Ægishjálmr, the Helm of Terror, and any creature that looked upon him froze where it stood. The heath around him turned to poisoned wasteland. No grass grew. No traveler came near.

Regin's Plot

Regin nursed his grievances across the years. He was a smith, not a warrior, and could not face the dragon himself. So he became foster-father to Sigurd, son of Sigmund and last of the Völsung line. He raised the boy, taught him, and prepared him for one task: killing Fáfnir. When Sigurd demanded a sword worthy of his heritage, Regin forged Gram from the shards of Sigmund's broken blade.

Sigurd's Pit

Regin guided Sigurd to Gnitaheiðr and showed him Fáfnir's path, a trail the dragon had worn through years of crawling to a nearby pool to drink. Regin told Sigurd to dig a pit in the path and hide within it; when Fáfnir crawled overhead, Sigurd could thrust upward into the unprotected belly.

Odin appeared in disguise and told Sigurd to dig several pits so the dragon's blood would drain rather than drown him. Sigurd followed this advice and waited.

When Fáfnir came, the earth shook beneath his weight. The sky darkened with his poison breath. Sigurd held firm. As the dragon's belly passed over the pit, he drove Gram upward with all his strength. The blade found Fáfnir's heart.

The Dying Dragon's Words

Fáfnir did not die at once. Writhing in agony, he demanded to know who had killed him, for he could not see his slayer. Sigurd at first refused his name but eventually identified himself as a Völsung, son of Sigmund. Fáfnir recognized the lineage.

In the Fáfnismál, the dying dragon warns Sigurd that the treasure will destroy him. "The glittering gold and the red-bright treasure, the rings will be your death," he says. He tells Sigurd to leave the gold where it lies, to ride away and save himself from the fate that consumed Fáfnir.

Sigurd refused. Every man dies, he answered. Better to have wealth while alive than to live in cowardice.

The Dragon's Blood and Heart

Sigurd bathed in the dragon's blood. It made his skin hard as horn, proof against any weapon, except for one spot between his shoulders where a linden leaf had fallen and blocked the blood from touching his skin.

Regin appeared and asked Sigurd to roast Fáfnir's heart. While cooking it over the fire, Sigurd tested whether it was done by pressing it with his finger. The hot blood burned him, and he put his finger to his mouth. The moment Fáfnir's blood touched his tongue, he understood the speech of birds.

The birds in the nearby trees were discussing his fate. Regin meant to kill him and take the treasure. Sigurd heard them, struck off Regin's head, ate the heart himself, and claimed the hoard, cursed ring and all. Fáfnir's warning had been true, and the gold would go on killing long after the dragon was dead.