Fáfnir

Fáfnir, also spelled Fafnir in some traditions, is a dragon in Norse mythology prominent in the Völsunga saga and the Poetic Edda. He is associated with a hoard of gold and a ring that originate from Andvari the dwarf, and the treasure is said to carry a curse that brings doom to its possessors. The story places Fáfnir as a creature driven by greed to guard the wealth, which he acquires after the theft or seizure of the hoard.

In the myth, Fáfnir’s hoard is tied to the gold of Andvari. Regin, a smith who plays a key role in the saga, guides the hero Sigurd in the task of slaying Fáfnir. Sigurd kills the dragon with a sword forged by Regin, stabbing it in the heart as the dragon lies coiled around the treasure. After slaying Fáfnir, Sigurd tastes the dragon’s blood and gains the ability to understand the speech of birds, a divinatory gift that aids him in the pursuit of the treasure and the subsequent events of the legend. Sigurd then claims the hoard.

Fáfnir’s death is a central episode in the Völsung narrative, illustrating themes of greed, fate, and the peril of excessive wealth. The tale is referenced in various medieval Icelandic sources and later adapted in other literary traditions. In broader Western myth, the figure of Fáfnir (often rendered as Fafnir) influenced later dragon-slaying motifs and appears in adaptations such as Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, where the dragon is a key element of the same legendary lineage.