Engraved Horn, the Saga of Sigurd

A beautiful natural cow horn engraved with the mythological legend of Sigurd the dragon-slayer. The pattern is taken from a runestone outside Eskilstuna in Sweden, where the entire saga was recorded along with accompanying graphic depictions.

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

The horn has a suitable volume of approx. 500ml.

Sigurd grew up in the household of King Hjalprek in Denmark. His father had been murdered, and his mother then 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 match, and his strength and courage were widely renowned. One day Regin summoned Sigurd 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 named Fafnir and Otter. Otter could take animal form and used to hunt and fish transformed into, fittingly, an otter. One afternoon Otter lay on the shore in his animal shape eating salmon. Then the Aesir Odin, Hoenir and Loki passed by, not knowing who the otter really was. They wished to spend the night with the wealthy Reidmar, but they could not go there without gifts, so Loki hurled a stone at Otter, who died. The animal was then skinned and presented to Reidmar. He saw at once whom they had killed and was beside himself with grief and rage. He therefore demanded a great man-price - the skin was first to be filled with gold, and then covered completely on the outside.

Nearby lived the immensely rich dwarf Andvari, who could also transform himself into an animal. Loki set off and managed to catch Andvari while he was a pike. He took the dwarf's gold as payment for setting him free. But Andvari tried to hide away a magical gold ring. Loki saw this and demanded that too. Then Andvari pronounced a curse over the entire treasure, and the ring in particular. Whoever owned Andvari's gold would always be struck by death and misfortune.

With the treasure Loki could pay the man-price, but he kept the ring. When Reidmar examined the otter skin, he saw that it was not completely covered with gold - a single whisker was sticking out. Then Loki placed Andvari's cherished ring there, and they were free.

The treasure was cursed, however, and Reidmar was murdered by his son Fafnir, who wanted all the gold for himself. Fafnir then turned himself into a dragon, took the treasure out onto the dreadful Gnita Heath, and lay down to guard the gold.

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

Said and done. When Sigurd had finished his task, he made his way to Gnita Heath to find the dragon. Fafnir used to drag himself down to a small lake every day to drink, and where the dragon's body was dragged along, a path had formed. Sigurd dug a pit in the path and lay down in it to wait for the dragon, sword raised high. Then came a bearded man in grey clothes with a walking staff and a pointed hat - Odin. He wished to help Sigurd and advised him to dig more pits where the blood could drain away, otherwise Sigurd might drown in all the dragon's blood.

Soon the dragon came, and Sigurd drove the sword Gram in up to the hilt when the heart was right above him. In the dragon's death throes, Fafnir reminded him of the curse that lay upon the treasure. When the dragon was dead, Regin suddenly leapt out from a hiding place. He praised Sigurd and asked him to roast the dragon's heart. Sigurd did as he was bidden while Regin went to rest for a while. To feel whether the heart was done, Sigurd put his finger to it, but burned himself. Instinctively he put his finger in his mouth and thus tasted dragon's blood. This made him suddenly understand what the birds were singing.

The little birds in the trees whispered that Regin had treachery in his heart, so Sigurd simply went and cut off the dwarf's head. Once again Andvari's ring had caused those who had been friends and kin to slay one another. The treasure thus became Sigurd's, but he too was struck by the curse. But that is another story...