Hylestad stave church

The Hylestad stave church was a stave church locatedin Setesdal, Norway. The church was estimated to havebeen built in the late 12th to early 13th century and wasdemolished in the 17th century. Some of the intricatewood carvings from the church doorway were saved andincorporated into other buildings. They are now on dis-play at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.The carvings show several scenes from the legend ofSigurd Fvnesbane. A section of one of these carvingsin which Sigurd kills Regin was the basis for a Norwe-gian postal stamp.[1]

1 Engravings

There are seven scenes from the Sigurd legend carved onthe two door panels, with three scenes on the first paneland four scenes on the second panel. The description be-low notes the scenes and the corresponding section fromthe legend, with the order of the fifth and sixth scenesreversed to follow the normal sequence of the legend.

1.1 Sigurd and Regin forge the swordGram

The first scene shows Sigurd (who wears a helmet) andRegin (who has a beard) at the forge and the second sceneshows Sigurd holding the mended sword.[2]

Sigurd, described as one of the best swordsmen, wasurged by Regin to seek Fafnir the dragon's treasure. Re-gin then forged a sword with Sigurd at his side, providingassistance by keeping the fire going and providing wa-ter to cool the blade when needed. When the sword wascompleted they named it Gram. Sigurd tested the swordby striking it upon Regins shield, which had a picture ofFafnir engraved on it. The blade broke, which promptedRegin to forge another sword out of the broken piecesof the first Gram. When it was completed Sigurd testedthe blade once again on the shield with Fafnirs image,and this time it cut through the shield and also cut off thehorn of the anvil.[3][4]

1.2 Sigurd slays Fafnir the dragon

The third scene shows Sirgurd slaying the dragon with asword.[2]

Sigurd sucking the dragon blood off his thumb.

After forging the sword, Sigurd and Regin travel to Gnita-Heath in order to find Fafnir the dragon and take his trea-sure. There they dig a pit in the path used by Fafnir,[4]and then he crawled into it. When Fafnir came to thewater pit Sigurd emerged and thrust his sword[4] intoFafnir, killing him.

1.3 Sigurd roasts the heart of the dragon

The fourth scene, which is on the second door panel,shows Sigurd roasting the heart of the dragon and suckinghis thumb while Ragin appears to sleep.[2]

After slaying Fafnir, Regin asks Sigurd to take thedragons heart and roast it for him. Regin then lay down,drank Fafnirs blood and went to sleep.[4] Sigurd himselfthen touched the heart to see if it was cooked, but theboiling blood ran down his hand, scalding him. Whenhe drank the dragons blood, he was able to hear thespeech of birds.[4] From the birds, which are depictedin the fifth scene, he heard of Regins plot to kill Sigurd,in vengeance for his brother.[4]

1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stave_churchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setesdalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Cultural_Historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurdhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurdhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafnirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_dragonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram

2 3 REFERENCES

1.4 Sigurd kills Regin

The slaying of Regin.

In the sixth scene, Sigurd slays Regin with his sword.[2]

Sigurd, both warned by the birds of Regins plot to be-tray him and encouraged by their assertions that greatwealth, knowledge, and power would be his if he killedRegin preemptively and took possession of Fafnirs trea-sure, kills Regin. Sigurd, convinced by their counsel,states It will not be my ill fate that Regin shall be mydeath. Rather, both brothers should go the same way.[5]Sigurd decapitates Regin using the sword Gram.

1.5 Grani carries the treasure

In the fifth scene, Sigurds horse Grani stands carrying achest containing Fafnirs expansive treasure and two birdsare depicted below Grani perched in the branches of atree.[2] The birds likely belong to the group whose speechSigurd understood. This scene combines elements of thelegend that took place before and after the slaying of Re-gin.After killing Regin, Sigurd mounts Grani, and rides toFafnirs lair, where he finds an enormous store of goldfromwhich he takes many precious things including thehelm of terror and the sword Hrotti specifically.[5] Sigurdloads large chests with the treasure ontoGrani, despite ex-pecting that it would be too large a load even for a pair of

horses. Grani carries the treasure without difficulty, evenrefusing to move until Sigurd rides on his back, runningas if unencumbered.[5]

1.6 Gunnar in the serpent pit

The last panel shows Sigurds brother-in-law, Gunnnar, ina snake pit playing a harp with his feet in an attempt topacify the snakes.[2]

Fafnirs treasure is cursed. In his dying breaths, Fafnirwarns Sigurd that his gold will be the death of all thatpossess it.[5] Sigurd, is unfazed by this and mentions themortality of all men. After Sigurds death at the handsof his three brother-in-laws, Gunnar, Hogni, and Gut-torm, Fafnirs treasure is hidden by Gunnar, sunk to thebottom of the Rhine. Gudrun remarries, to Atli (Atillathe Hun), who is fascinated by the treasure and seeks toown it. Gunnar refuses to tell Atli its location, insisting,Rather shall the Rhine rule over the gold than the Hunswear it on their arms.[6] Atli orders Gunnar to be placedinto a serpent pit, with his hands bound behind his back.Gudrun sends her brother a harp, and Gunnar is able toplay so exceedingly well with his toes that he lulls thesnakes to sleep, except for one large and hideous adderwho kills Gunnar in a single strike.[6]

2 See also Sigurd stones

Volsung cycle

3 References[1] Bugge, Anders Ragnar (1953). Norwegian Stave

Churches. Dreyer. p. 46.

[2] Nordanskog, Gunnar (2006). Frestlld Hedendom:Tidigmedeltida Skandinaviska Kyrkportar i Forskning ochHistoria. Lund: Nordic Academic Press. p. 240. ISBN978-91-89116-85-6.

[3] Colum, Padraic (2010). The Children of Odin: The Bookof Northern Myths. London: Abela Publishing. pp. 25156. ISBN 978-1-907256-42-4.

[4] Sturluson, Snorri (2005). The Prose Edda. Penguin Clas-sics. pp. 97-98.

[5] Byock, Jesse L. (trans.) (1990). The Saga of the Volsungs:The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. University ofCalifornia Press. pp. 6566. ISBN 0-520-23285-2.

[6] Byock, Jesse L. (trans.) (1990). The Saga of the Volsungs:The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. University ofCalifornia Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-520-23285-2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_stoneshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volsung_cyclehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8L4HqxAYhOUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8L4HqxAYhOUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=8L4HqxAYhOUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-91-89116-85-6http://books.google.com/books?id=ycKkvV47Eh0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=ycKkvV47Eh0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-907256-42-4http://books.google.com/books?id=x8rO2P0VmjQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=x8rO2P0VmjQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-23285-2http://books.google.com/books?id=x8rO2P0VmjQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=x8rO2P0VmjQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-23285-2

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