Hylestad stave church

The Hylestad stave church was a stave church located

in Setesdal, Norway. The church was estimated to have
been built in the late 12th to early 13th century and was
demolished in the 17th century. Some of the intricate
wood carvings from the church doorway were saved and
incorporated into other buildings. They are now on display at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.
The carvings show several scenes from the legend of
Sigurd Fvnesbane. A section of one of these carvings
in which Sigurd kills Regin was the basis for a Norwegian postal stamp.[1]

Engravings

There are seven scenes from the Sigurd legend carved on

the two door panels, with three scenes on the rst panel
and four scenes on the second panel. The description below notes the scenes and the corresponding section from
the legend, with the order of the fth and sixth scenes
reversed to follow the normal sequence of the legend.

1.1

Sigurd sucking the dragon blood o his thumb.

Sigurd and Regin forge the sword

Gram

After forging the sword, Sigurd and Regin travel to GnitaThe rst scene shows Sigurd (who wears a helmet) and
Heath in order to nd Fafnir the dragon and take his treaRegin (who has a beard) at the forge and the second scene
sure. There they dig a pit in the path used by Fafnir,[4]
[2]
shows Sigurd holding the mended sword.
and then he crawled into it. When Fafnir came to the
Sigurd, described as one of the best swordsmen, was water pit Sigurd emerged and thrust his sword[4] into
urged by Regin to seek Fafnir the dragon's treasure. Re- Fafnir, killing him.
gin then forged a sword with Sigurd at his side, providing
assistance by keeping the re going and providing water to cool the blade when needed. When the sword was
completed they named it Gram. Sigurd tested the sword 1.3 Sigurd roasts the heart of the dragon
by striking it upon Regins shield, which had a picture of
Fafnir engraved on it. The blade broke, which prompted The fourth scene, which is on the second door panel,
Regin to forge another sword out of the broken pieces shows Sigurd roasting the heart of the dragon and sucking
[2]
of the rst Gram. When it was completed Sigurd tested his thumb while Ragin appears to sleep.
the blade once again on the shield with Fafnirs image, After slaying Fafnir, Regin asks Sigurd to take the
and this time it cut through the shield and also cut o the dragons heart and roast it for him. Regin then lay down,
horn of the anvil.[3][4]
drank Fafnirs blood and went to sleep.[4] Sigurd himself
then touched the heart to see if it was cooked, but the
boiling blood ran down his hand, scalding him. When
1.2 Sigurd slays Fafnir the dragon
he drank the dragons blood, he was able to hear the
speech of birds.[4] From the birds, which are depicted
The third scene shows Sirgurd slaying the dragon with a in the fth scene, he heard of Regins plot to kill Sigurd,
sword.[2]
in vengeance for his brother.[4]
1

1.4

Sigurd kills Regin

REFERENCES

horses. Grani carries the treasure without diculty, even

refusing to move until Sigurd rides on his back, running
as if unencumbered.[5]

1.6 Gunnar in the serpent pit

The last panel shows Sigurds brother-in-law, Gunnnar, in
a snake pit playing a harp with his feet in an attempt to
pacify the snakes.[2]
Fafnirs treasure is cursed. In his dying breaths, Fafnir
warns Sigurd that his gold will be the death of all that
possess it.[5] Sigurd, is unfazed by this and mentions the
mortality of all men. After Sigurds death at the hands
of his three brother-in-laws, Gunnar, Hogni, and Guttorm, Fafnirs treasure is hidden by Gunnar, sunk to the
bottom of the Rhine. Gudrun remarries, to Atli (Atilla
the Hun), who is fascinated by the treasure and seeks to
own it. Gunnar refuses to tell Atli its location, insisting,
Rather shall the Rhine rule over the gold than the Huns
wear it on their arms.[6] Atli orders Gunnar to be placed
into a serpent pit, with his hands bound behind his back.
Gudrun sends her brother a harp, and Gunnar is able to
play so exceedingly well with his toes that he lulls the
snakes to sleep, except for one large and hideous adder
who kills Gunnar in a single strike.[6]

2 See also
The slaying of Regin.

In the sixth scene, Sigurd slays Regin with his sword.[2]

Sigurd, both warned by the birds of Regins plot to betray him and encouraged by their assertions that great
wealth, knowledge, and power would be his if he killed
Regin preemptively and took possession of Fafnirs treasure, kills Regin. Sigurd, convinced by their counsel,
states It will not be my ill fate that Regin shall be my
death. Rather, both brothers should go the same way.[5]
Sigurd decapitates Regin using the sword Gram.

1.5

Grani carries the treasure

In the fth scene, Sigurds horse Grani stands carrying a

chest containing Fafnirs expansive treasure and two birds
are depicted below Grani perched in the branches of a
tree.[2] The birds likely belong to the group whose speech
Sigurd understood. This scene combines elements of the
legend that took place before and after the slaying of Regin.
After killing Regin, Sigurd mounts Grani, and rides to
Fafnirs lair, where he nds an enormous store of gold
from which he takes many precious things including the
helm of terror and the sword Hrotti specically.[5] Sigurd
loads large chests with the treasure onto Grani, despite expecting that it would be too large a load even for a pair of

Sigurd stones
Volsung cycle

3 References
[1] Bugge, Anders Ragnar (1953).
Churches. Dreyer. p. 46.

Norwegian Stave

[2] Nordanskog, Gunnar (2006). Frestlld Hedendom:

Tidigmedeltida Skandinaviska Kyrkportar i Forskning och
Historia. Lund: Nordic Academic Press. p. 240. ISBN
978-91-89116-85-6.
[3] Colum, Padraic (2010). The Children of Odin: The Book
of Northern Myths. London: Abela Publishing. pp. 251
56. ISBN 978-1-907256-42-4.
[4] Sturluson, Snorri (2005). The Prose Edda. Penguin Classics. pp. 97-98.
[5] Byock, Jesse L. (trans.) (1990). The Saga of the Volsungs:
The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. University of
California Press. pp. 6566. ISBN 0-520-23285-2.
[6] Byock, Jesse L. (trans.) (1990). The Saga of the Volsungs:
The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. University of
California Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-520-23285-2.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

Hylestad stave church Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylestad%20stave%20church?oldid=545953354 Contributors: LindsayH,

Kelisi, Mais oui!, Cydebot, The Anomebot2, WereSpielChequers, Deanlaw, Addbot, Krenakarore, RjwilmsiBot, 7mike5000, John of
Reading, Carsten R D, Jcabaniss, Laurennielsen, Glacialfox, Krakkos and Anonymous: 1

4.2

Images

File:Hylestad_-_Sigurd_Sucking_Thumb.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Hylestad_-_Sigurd_

Sucking_Thumb.jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.0 Contributors: sigurd portal Original artist: Marieke Kuijjer from Leiden, The Netherlands
File:Hylestad_I,_left.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Hylestad_I%2C_left.jpg License: CC BY-SA
3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Jeblad
File:Hylestad_I,_right.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Hylestad_I%2C_right.jpg License: CC BYSA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Jeblad
File:Sigurd_Fvnesbane.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Sigurd_F%C3%A5vnesbane.jpg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Jeblad

4.3

Content license

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