Gram (mythology)
"Balmung" redirects here. For the character from the ".hack" franchise, see
Balmung (.hack).
In Norse mythology, Gram (Old Norse "wrath")[1] is the name of the sword that Sigurd (Siegfried) used to kill the dragon Fafnir. [2]
It was forged by Wayland the Smith and originally belonged to his father, Sigmund, who received it in the hall of the Volsung after pulling it out of the tree Barnstokk into which Odin had stuck it—no-one else could pull it out. The sword was destroyed in battle when Sigmund struck the spear of an enemy soldier dressed in a wide brimmed hat and a black hooded cloak. Before he died, Sigmund instructed his wife to keep the pieces so that it may be reforged for the son (Sigurd) that she was pregnant with. The sword was eventually reforged by Regin for Sigurd's use. After it was reforged, it could cleave an anvil in twain.
In the Nibelungenlied, Siegfried discards Gram after receiving a legendary sword called Balmung; in Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, it is called Nothung. Some sources refer to the sword as Balmus.[3][4]
Notes
References
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2.
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