Fafnir: Difference between revisions

In "[[Category:Origin: Norse Mythology|Norse Mythology]]", '''Fáfnir'''  or '''Frænir''' was a son of the dwarf king [[Hreidmar]] and brother of [[Regin]] and [[Ótr]]. In the ''[[Volsunga saga]]'', Fáfnir was a dwarf gifted with a powerful arm and fearless soul. He wore the [[Aegis]] helmet and guarded his father's house of glittering gold and flashing gems. He was the strongest and most aggressive of the three brothers.

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In [[Category:Origin: Norse Mythology]], '''Fáfnir''' (Old Norse and Icelandic) or '''Frænir''' was a son of the dwarf king [[Hreidmar]] and brother of [[Regin]] and [[Ótr]].  

Fafnir appears — as "Fafner" — in [[Richard Wagner]]'s epic opera cycle ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' (1848-1874), although he began life as a [[Jötunn|giant]] rather than a [[Norse dwarves|dwarf]]. In the first opera, ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' (1869), Fafner and his brother Fasolt win a massive hoard of treasure from [[Odin|Wotan]], the king of the gods, in exchange for building the castle [[Valhalla]].  The treasure includes the magic helmet [[Tarnhelm]] and a magic [[Andvarinaut|Ring]].  As they divide the treasure, Fafner kills Fasolt and takes the Ring for himself.  Escaping to earth, he uses the Tarnhelm to transform himself into a [[western dragon|dragon]] and guards the treasure in a cave for many years before being ultimately killed by Wotan's mortal grandson [[Sigurd|Siegfried]], as depicted in the [[Siegfried_(opera)|opera of the same name]].