The Sigurd carving and the tale of Sigurd Fafnesbane.

So 101 Sigurd carving in Ramsundsberget

This is perhaps the most famous of all Swedish runestones, second only to the Rök Runestone in Östergötland. This is naturally due to the beautiful sequence of images depicting scenes from the Saga of Sigurd, but also its unique location and its kinship with the runestones Sö 106 in Kjula and U 617 by Bro Church in Uppland.

As an interesting detail, an image of this carving can be found in the floor of the Gold Room at the Museum of History in Stockholm. What could be more fitting in such a place, provided one knows the saga of Sigurd?

The runic rock face is located near Sundbyholm, just north of Eskilstuna. If you want to take a look, simply follow the signs from the road leading towards Sundbyholm, and there are several other runestones nearby for the interested visitor.

Adjacent to the carving, there are clear, fact-filled signs providing information not only about the runes, but also about the surrounding area and the Saga of Sigurd.

The Saga of Sigurd

Sigurd grew up with King Hjalprek in Denmark. His father had been murdered, after which his mother remarried Hjalprek's son Alf. Sigurd was raised to manhood by the king's smith, a dwarf named Regin. As the years passed, Sigurd grew into a stately young man whom few could rival, and his strength and bravery were widely renowned. 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 dwarves. Regin's brothers were Fafner and Utter. Utter could assume animal form and used to hunt and fish transformed precisely into an otter. One afternoon Utter was lying on the shore in his animal shape eating a salmon. The Æsir gods Odin, Hönir, and Loki happened to pass by, not knowing who the otter truly was. They wanted to stay overnight with the wealthy Reidmar, but they could not enter without gifts, so Loki hurled a stone at Utter, who died. The animal was then skinned and presented to Reidmar. He naturally saw who they had killed and became frantic with grief and anger. Therefore, he demanded a heavy blood-money payment – the skin was first to be filled with gold, and then completely covered on the outside.

Nearby lived the immensely wealthy dwarf Andvari, who could also transform into animals. Loki set out and managed to capture Andvari while he was in the form of a pike. He took the dwarf's gold as payment to release him. But Andvari tried to sneak away a magical gold ring. Loki saw this and demanded it as well. At that, Andvari placed a curse upon the entire treasure, and especially the ring. Whoever owned Andvari's gold would forever be struck by death and misfortune.

With the treasure, Loki was able to pay the blood-money, but he kept the ring. When Reidmar inspected the otter skin, he saw that it was not completely covered by gold – a whisker was sticking out. Loki then placed Andvari's precious 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. Afterwards, Fafner transformed himself into a dragon, took the treasure out to the dreadful Gnitaheid, and lay down to guard the gold.

All of this Regin told to Sigurd. Regin wanted vengeance, but he could not achieve 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 forth and avenge his father's killer. Once that was done, Sigurd was to help Regin slay Fafner.

No sooner said than done. When Sigurd had finished his own task, he set out for Gnitaheid to find the dragon. Fafner used to drag himself down to a small lake every day to drink, and a path had formed where the dragon's body was dragged along. Sigurd dug a pit in the path and lay down inside it to wait for the dragon with his sword at the ready. Then a bearded man in grey 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 drain away, otherwise Sigurd could drown in all the dragon's blood.

Soon the dragon arrived, and Sigurd drove the sword Gram all the way to the hilt when the heart was directly above him. In the dragon's death throes, Fafner reminded him of the curse resting upon the treasure. When the dragon was dead, Regin suddenly leapt forth 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 test if the heart was done, Sigurd touched it with his finger, but burned himself. Instinctively he put his finger in his mouth and thus tasted the dragon's blood. This caused him to suddenly understand what the birds were singing.

The small birds in the trees whispered that Regin harboured treachery in his mind, so Sigurd simply went over and chopped the head off the dwarf. Once again, Andvari's ring had brought about that those who had been friends and kin slaughtered one another. The treasure thus became Sigurd's, but he too fell victim to the curse. But that is another story...