DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

51

In anot her part of t he story,
Sigurd’s brot her-in-law
Gunnar tries to escape
from a snake pit by
playing a lyre
wit h his toes
and charming
t he snakes

Doorway was carved

around 1200

Fáfnir t he

dragon

Sigurd

kills Fáfnir

Sigurd kills

Regin

DOOM OF THE GODS

The Vikings told stories of Ragnarök, t he

“Doom of the Gods.” This was a great

battle between good and evil, when the

gods would fight it out with horrible giants

and monsters. The detail above comes from

a 10th-century cross on the Isle of Man. It

shows the god Odin (pp. 52–53) being

eaten by the monstrous wolf Fenrir (p. 37).

Sigurd’s horse Grani

loaded wit h treasure Sigurd tests t he

sword on t he anvil

and breaks it in two

The story starts

wit h Regin forging

Sigurd’s sword

Birds in a tree

Sigurd sucks his t humb

while cooking t he

dragon’s heart

6,*85'7+('5$*21ʜ6/$<(5

The adventures of the hero Sigurd are carved on

this wooden doorway from the church at

Hyllestad, Norway. Sigurd won fame and fortune

by killing the dragon Fáfnir. The sword he used

was forged by the smith Regin, who was the

dragon’s brother. But Regin was plotting to kill

Sigurd and steal the treasure for himself. Some

birds tried to warn Sigurd, but he couldn’t

understand them. Luckily, he burned his hand

cooking the dragon’s heart and put his thumb into

his mouth. One taste of the dragon’s blood and

Sigurd could understand the birds’ twitterings.

So he grabbed his sword and killed Regin.