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[ Return to European Dragons ]
Location:
Scandinavia, Europe
Description:
Fafnir began life as a
dwarf. He killed Otter for the gods, and received gold as a reward. Fafnir
hid this hoard, and guarded it day and night. Through his greed, he slowly
transformed into a dragon. Sigurd Volsung (also known as Siegfried) was
encouraged by Fafnir's brother, Regin, to kill Fafnir. Sigurd and Regin dug
a hole, and Sigurd hid in it. When Fafnir passed over the top of the hole,
Sigurd stuck his sword, Gram, into Fafnir's belly, killing him. Regin removed
Fafnir's heart, and cooked it. When passing the heart to Regin, Sigurd burnt
himself, and put his fingers in his mouth. The small amount of dragon heart
was enough to allow Sigurd to understand the birds. They told Sigurd that
Regin was planning to kill him, so Sigurd killed Regin, loaded the treasure
onto Granni, his horse, and rode away.
There are other versions of this tale. In another version, the king of the
dwarves leaves equal amounts of treasure to his three sons. When the mountain
threatens to cave in, two of them hide their treasure under a dragon stone
(the stone is a dragon). After five years and a day, the dragon takes on
human form, allowing Siegfried to take the treasure.
The story of Sigurd and Fafnir probably has the same origins as the story
of Hurnen Sifrit and Drachenstein.
Related Dragons:
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