The Viking Dragon Blog
Norse Gods
The Beginning of the World
In the beginning was the Yawning Void in which was neither heat nor cold, light nor darkness, until a spark arose and kindled, feeding on itself, into a vast world of flame.
At the far end of th...
Norse Gods
The Winning of Gerd
The Norse god Frey was the son of Njord of the Vanir and the brother of Freya. Like Njord and Freya, he was beautiful and well-beloved, and men sacrificed to him at marriages. But the story of Frey...
Norse Mythology
The Passing of the Ring (Andvari's Curse, Part X)
So Atli and Gudrun were wed, and they rode away together to his country. But his dreams became dark and full of death-omens so that he feared his wife....
Norse Gods
Thor, the Giant's Kettle, and the Midgard Serpent
In between their epic battles and their prodigious journeys, the Norse gods were fond of feasting. Once they invited themselves to the hall of a giant named Aegir who kept a good table. Aegir d...
Norse Mythology
The Passing of Sigurd and Brynhild (Andvari's Curse, Part IX)
An earlier blog post, "The Quarrel of the Queens," described how the spell of forgetfulness lifted from Sigurd so that he remembered how he had loved, pledged troth to, and lain with the Valkyrie ...
Norse Mythology
The Quarrel of the Queens (Andvari’s Curse, Part VIII)
Brynhild’s rage broke out and she swore that Gudrun would pay for stealing Sigurd. She added, truly enough, that Sigurd had had to be drugged into loving Gudrun, whereas he’d loved Brynhild first ...
Norse Mythology
Sigurd's Marriage and Brynhild's Betrayal (Andvari's Curse, Part VII)
The king's daughter Gudrun fell deeply and hopelessly in love with their guest; hopelessly, because he spoke constantly of his beloved and betrothed, Brynhild.Queen Grimhild saw her daughter’s gri...
Norse Gods
Brynhild's Origin and Brynhild's Love (Andvari's Curse, Part VI)
An earlier blog post described how the young hero Sigurd rode through a wall of fire to waken Brynhild, the beautiful armored woman who lay asleep within the enchanted ring. He had been told that s...
Norse Gods
Regin's Death and Brynhild's Waking (Andvari's Curse, Part V)
An earlier blog post described how the young hero Sigurd killed the dragon Fafnir, who had once been human. Sigurd was egged on to this exploit by his foster-father Regin, who told Sigurd (truly) t...