Engraved horn - Sigurd saga

A beautiful natural cow horn with an engraving of the mythological tale of Sigurd Fafnir's bane. The pattern is taken from a runestone outside Eskilstuna in Sweden, where the entire saga has been recorded with accompanying graphic descriptions.

The horn stand is not included in this product but can be purchased separately. The 70 mm horn stand fits.

The horn has a suitable volume of about 500ml.

Sigurd grew up with King Hjalprek in Denmark. His father had been murdered, and then his mother remarried to Hjalprek's son Alf. Sigurd was raised to manhood by the king's smith, who was a dwarf named Regin. As the years went by, Sigurd grew into a handsome young man whom few could match, and his strength and bravery were widely known. One day, Regin called Sigurd to him and told him the story of his life.

Regin's father was named Reidmar, and he was one of the richest dwarfs. Regin's brothers were named Fafner and Utter. Utter could take on animal form and used to hunt and fish transformed into just an otter. One afternoon, Utter lay on the beach in his animal shape and ate salmon. Then the gods Odin, Höner, and Loki passed by, not knowing who the otter really was. They wanted to stay overnight with the rich Reidmar, but they could not go there without gifts, so Loki threw a stone at Utter, who died. The animal was then skinned and handed over to Reidmar. He, of course, saw who they had killed and became beside himself with grief and rage. Therefore, he demanded a large man’s ransom – the skin should first be filled with gold, and then it should be completely covered on the outside.

Nearby lived the immensely wealthy dwarf Andvare, who could also transform into animals. Loki set off and managed to catch Andvare when he was a pike. He took the dwarf's gold as payment for releasing him. But Andvare tried to sneak away a magical gold ring. Loki saw this and demanded it as well. Then Andvare pronounced a curse over the entire treasure, especially the ring. Whoever owned Andvare's gold would always suffer death and misfortune.

With the treasure, Loki could pay the ransom, but he kept the ring. When Reidmar examined the otter skin, he saw that it was not completely covered in gold – a whisker was sticking out. Then Loki placed Andvare's beloved ring there, and they were free.

However, the treasure was cursed, and Reidmar was murdered by his son Fafner, who wanted all the gold for himself. Thereafter, Fafner transformed into a dragon, took the treasure out to the dreadful Gnitaheden, and lay down to guard the gold.

All this Regin told Sigurd. Regin wanted revenge, but he could not do it himself. Therefore, he now asked for Sigurd's help. As a reward, Sigurd would receive the horse Grane and the magical sword Gram. With these gifts, Sigurd could then ride away and avenge his father's murderer. Once that was done, Sigurd would help Regin and slay Fafner.

Said and done. When Sigurd was done with his task, he set off to Gnitaheden to find the dragon. Fafner used to drag himself down to a small lake every day to drink, and where the dragon's body was pulled out, a path had formed. Sigurd dug a pit in the path and lay down in it to wait for the dragon with the sword raised high. Then a bearded man in gray clothes with a walking staff and a pointed hat appeared – Odin. He wanted to help Sigurd and advised him to dig more pits where the blood could flow out; otherwise, Sigurd could drown in all the dragon's blood.

Soon the dragon came, and Sigurd drove the sword Gram all the way to the hilt when the heart was directly above him. In the dragon's death struggle, Fafner reminded him of the curse that lay over the treasure. When the dragon was dead, Regin suddenly jumped out from a hiding place. He praised Sigurd and asked him to roast the dragon's heart. Sigurd did as he was asked while Regin went to rest for a while. To check if the heart was done, Sigurd touched it with his finger but burned himself. Instinctively, he put his finger in his mouth and then tasted dragon's blood. This made him suddenly understand what the birds were singing.

The small birds in the trees whispered that Regin had treachery in his heart, so Sigurd simply went and beheaded the dwarf. Once again, Andvare's ring had brought about the situation where those who had been friends and kin killed each other. The treasure thus became Sigurd's, but he too was affected by the curse. But that is another story...