Reginn
Reginn ( Old Norse for "the mighty" ), also Germanized Regin , is a dwarf in Norse mythology , son of Hreidmar and brother of the dragon Fafnir and the otter Otur . His story is told in particular in the Eddic writings of the Liederedda ( Codex Regius ) in the Reginsmál and Fáfnismál ('Sigurðarkviða Fáfnisbana Önnur') and in Skáldskaparmál 62 of the Prose Edda . He also appears in the list of dwarfs in the Dverga valley of the Völuspá .
Reginn is considered to be the foster father of Sigurd , the Nordic variant of Siegfried the Dragon Slayer . Just as skillfully as maliciously, he forges the dragon- slaying sword Gram 'Grimm' for his foster son and instigates him to slay Fafnir. Then he cuts the heart from the body of the dead brother with his sword Ridil . Then he lets Sigurd roast the dragon's heart (lindworm) for him to eat. But Sigurd himself tastes from the heart, which is how he understands the language of birds. Ultimately, Sigurd kills Reginn because he learns from the birds that the dwarf wants to betray him.
literature
- Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X .