Regin
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| Volsung Cycle |
|---|
| Volsunga saga |
| Poetic Edda |
| Norna-Gests þáttr |
| Skáldskaparmál |
| Artifacts |
| Andvarinaut |
| Gram |
| Dwarves |
| Andvari |
| Hreidmar |
| Ótr |
| Regin |
| Dragon |
| Fafnir |
| People |
| Volsung |
| Sigmund |
| Signy |
| Sinfjötli |
| Helgi Hundingsbane |
| Sigurd |
| Brynhild |
| Gudrun |
| Attila |
| Gunnar |
| Locations |
| Gautland |
| Hunaland |
| Related |
| Nibelungenlied |
| Þiðrekssaga |
| Hagbard and Signy |
Reginn, often Anglicized as Regin, in Norse mythology, was the son of Hreiðmarr and foster father of Sigurd. Regin had all wisdom and deftness of hand. Regin built a house of glittering gold and flashing gems for his father. Regin and his brother, Fafnir, killed Hreidmar for the cursed gold he had received from the gods after they killed his other son, Ótr. Fafnir, however, turned into a dragon because he wanted to keep all of the gold (dragons frequently symbolize greed in European folklore). Fafnir drove Regin away from the gold. Regin lived among men. He taught men how to sow, reap, work metals, sail seas, tame horses, yoke beasts of burden, build houses, spin, weave, & sew. Regin sent Sigurd to retrieve the gold.
Regin forged a marvelous sword for Sigurd, but it quickly broke. Sigurd found his father's (Sigmund) sword, Gram, and had it fixed and reforged by Regin and used it to kill Fafnir. He gained wisdom from licking the dragon's blood because Fafnir could talk to birds. Sigurd, who had discovered from the birds, that Regin was planning on killing him to get the gold, killed his foster father and took the gold.
The Norwegian Thidrekssaga relates a slightly different tale, with Regin as the dragon and Mimir as his brother and foster father to Sigurd.
In the operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, by Richard Wagner, the role of Regin is played by the Nibelung dwarf Mime, brother of Alberich (the Nibelung who forged the cursed ring out of the Rhinegold). Except for the change in name, probably inspired by the Thidrekssaga, the story of Regin, Sigurd and Fafner in Wagner's opera Siegfried follows closely the text of the Eddas.
[edit] Reginn the Dvergr
In the Poetic Edda (Völuspá 12), the Dvergatal lists Reginn as a Dvergr (Norse dwarf).
Among the heroic lays of the Poetic Edda (Reginsmál, aka Sigurðarkviða Fáfnisbana Önnur) says:
- Reginn the son of Hreiðmarr .. was the most skillful of men, and a Dvergr of stature. He was wise, cruel, and versed in magic.
- Reginn .. var hverjum manni hagari ok dvergr of vöxt. Hann var vitr, grimmr, ok fjölkunnigr.
Note, the Norse dwarf is fully human-sized, as Viking Era depictions of Dvergar confirm. The description that Reginn was a 'Dvergr of stature' (dvergr of vöxt) probably refers to the strong burly physique of a blacksmith. In the poem Álvissmál, Þórr says that a Dvergr has the 'likeness of Þurs' (þursa líki), a monstrous giant. While this could suggest the Dvergar are even larger than humans, in context, Þórr specifically refers to the monstrous pigmentation of the Dvergar, with black hair and a ghastly pale complexion. Likewise the Viking Era artwork visualizes Dvergar as the same size as humans, neither smaller nor larger.
The Prose Edda (Skáldskaparmál 46) identifies the father of Reginn as Hreiðmarr, and his brothers Fáfnir and Ótr.
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