Fafnir in the context of "Germanic heroic legend"

Arthur Rackham RWS (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolour, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator.

Rackham's 51 colour pieces for the early American tale Rip Van Winkle became a turning point in the production of books since – through colour-separated printing – it featured the accurate reproduction of colour artwork. His best-known works also include the illustrations for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.

In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: gigas, cognate giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word giant is first attested in 1297 from Robert of Gloucester's chronicle. It is derived from the Gigantes (Ancient Greek: Γίγαντες) of Greek mythology.

Fairy tales such as Jack the Giant Killer have formed the modern perception of giants as dimwitted and violent ogres, sometimes said to eat humans, while other giants tend to eat livestock. In more recent portrayals, like those of Jonathan Swift and Roald Dahl, some giants are both intelligent and friendly.

Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr [ˈsiɣˌurðr]) or Siegfried (Middle High German: Sîvrit) is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir (Old Norse: Fáfnir) — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred to with the epithet "Fáfnir's bane" (Danish: Fafnersbane, Icelandic: Fáfnisbani, Norwegian: Fåvnesbane, Swedish: Fafnesbane), and is also widely known as "the Dragon Slayer". In both the Norse and continental Germanic traditions, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife (Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he had unknowingly tricked into marrying the Burgundian king Gunnar/Gunther. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respects, however, the two traditions appear to diverge. The most important works to feature Sigurd are the Nibelungenlied, the Völsunga saga, and the Poetic Edda. He also appears in numerous other works from both Germany and Scandinavia, including a series of medieval and early modern Scandinavian ballads.

Sigurd's story is first attested on a series of carvings, including runestones from Sweden and stone crosses from the British Isles, dating from the 11th century. It is possible that he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovingian dynasty, with Sigebert I being the most popular contender. Older scholarship sometimes connected him with Arminius, victor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. He may also have a purely mythological origin.

In Norse mythology, Andvaranaut (12th c. Old Norse: [ˈɑndˌwɑrɑˌnɔut]), meaning Andvari's Gem ("Andvari's precious possession"), is a magic ring, initially owned by Andvari, that could help with finding sources of gold. Andvaranaut is mainly a cursed treasure, but according to scholars, it forms part of a bigger tradition of objects that are divinely and supernaturally empowered in Norse mythology. Such items held cultural and religious significance and often mediated relationships between gods, dwarves, and heroic figures.

The mischievous god Loki stole Andvari's treasure and the ring. In revenge, Andvari cursed the ring to bring misfortune and destruction to whoever possessed it. Loki quickly gave the cursed Andvaranaut to Hreidmar, King of the Dwarves, as reparation for having inadvertently killed Hreidmar's son, Ótr. Ótr's brother, Fafnir, then murdered Hreidmar and took the ring, turning into a dragon to guard it. Sigurd (Siegfried) later killed Fafnir and gave Andvaranaut to Brynhildr (Brünnehilde). Queen Grimhild of the Nibelungs then manipulated Sigurd and Brynhildr into marrying her children, bringing Andvaranaut's curse into her family.

In Norse mythology, Hreiðmarr (Old Norse: [ˈhrɛiðˌmɑrː]; anglicized as Hreidmar) is a dwarf. He is featured in the Völsunga saga and in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.

Hreiðmarr was the father of Regin, Fafnir, Ótr, Lyngheiðr and Lofnheiðr. He owned a house of glittering gold and flashing gems built by Regin and guarded by Fafnir. After Otr was accidentally killed by Loki, the Æsir repaid Hreiðmarr with Andvari's gold and the ring Andvaranaut, a magical ring that could create gold. However, Andvari had cursed the ring to bring misfortune and destruction to whoever else possessed it. Hreiðmarr ignored Loki's warnings about the curse and kept the ring, only to have Fafnir and Regin later kill him for it. Fafnir decided he wanted Andvaranaut for himself, so he turned into a dragon and drove Regin away. Fafnir guarded the treasure until Sigurd, on Regin's instigation, arrived and delivered a fatal blow to the dragon. Regin was then also killed by Sigurd while attempting to murder him for the ring, thus leaving all of Hreiðmarr's family dead.

In Norse mythology, Otr (Old Norse: [ˈotz̠]; alternately: Ott, Oter, Ottar, Ottarr, Otter) is a dwarf. He is the son of the king Hreidmar and the brother of Fafnir and Regin.

According to the Prose Edda, Otr could change into any form and used to spend his days in the shape of an otter, greedily eating fish. In this form, he was slain by Loki, who wanted his pelt. Initially, Hreiðmarr demanded a life for a life, but with the argument that the murder had been an accident when no one involved knew that Otr was a dwarf, he settled for receiving a large weregild for Otr's death, namely to fill Otr's skin with yellow gold and to then cover it entirely with red gold. When the skin was covered, one whisker still protruded, forcing Loki to give up the ring Andvaranaut to hide it. The ring had been stolen from, and cursed by, the dwarf Andvari. It is suggested that this story was meant to show the benefits of not only adhering to the letter of the law (repayment for manslaughter) but sticking to the spirit of the law as well (not demanding an exorbitant ransom). Greed for this cursed treasure ultimately caused the deaths of Hreiðmarr and his two surviving sons: Hreiðmarr was killed by Fáfnir, who transformed into a dragon, and the other two were slain by Sigurðr's sword Gramr.

In Germanic mythology, Gram, in Norse legend (Old Norse: Gramr, "ill-tempered"), or Balmung, in the Middle High German epic poem Nibelungenlied, is a magical godlike sword, specifically the sword that the hero Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir. It is primarily used by the Völsungs in the Völsung Cycle, however, it is also seen in other legends, such as the Thidrekssaga in which it is wielded by Hildebrand.

The myth of Gram may be related to the British myth of "the sword in the stone", Excalibur, as Gram has been thrust into a tree, from which only the hero Sigmund can pull it out, much like how Excalibur only can be pulled out by the true king of England, King Arthur. The myth of Gram being broken and then reforged was also the inspiration of Tolkien's sword Narsil.

Smaug (/smaʊɡ/) is a dragon and the main antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit, his treasure and the mountain he lives in being the goal of the quest. Powerful and fearsome, he invaded the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor 171 years prior to the events described in the novel. A group of thirteen dwarves mounted a quest to take the kingdom back, aided by the wizard Gandalf and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. In The Hobbit, Thorin describes Smaug as "a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm".

Critics have identified close parallels with what they presume are sources of Tolkien's inspiration, including the dragon in Beowulf, who is provoked by the stealing of a precious cup, and the speaking dragon Fafnir, who proposes a betrayal to Sigurd. A further source may be Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 poem The Song of Hiawatha, where Megissogwon, the spirit of wealth, is protected by an armoured shirt, but whose one weak spot is revealed by a talking bird. Commentators have noted Smaug's devious, vain, and proud character, and his aggressively polite way of speaking, like the British upper class.