Riðill
Riðill (sometimes anglicised to Rithill or Ridill) or Refil is a sword that appears in Norse Mythology, possessed by the dwarf Regin.
Attestations
Regin then approached Fafnir and cut out his heart with a sword named Ridill, and afterwards drank blood from his wound.
— Benjamin Thorpe translation, Fáfnismál 26[1]
Riðill appears in the Fáfnismál, an eddic poem in the Poetic Edda. Regin's older brother Fáfnir had killed their father Hreiðmarr and taken his treasure. Regin goads the hero Sigurd into killing Fáfnir, who was transformed into a serpent or dragon at the time. After Fáfnir's defeat, Regin draws his own sword Riðill and uses it to cut out Fafnir's heart. The two roast the heart for them to eat.[2]
The Volsunga saga was likely later than and dependent on the Fáfnismál, and recounts a similar story. However, in it, it is Sigurd himself who uses Riðill (rather than his sword Gram) to cut out Fáfnir's heart.[3]
Reginn had that sword which was named Refill. So he [Reginn] fled away, and Fáfnir went up to Gnita Heath, and made himself a lair, and turned himself into a serpent, and laid him down upon the gold.
— Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur translation, Skáldskaparmál, Chapter 40[4]
The story also appears in the Skáldskaparmál of the Prose Edda, but the name of the sword is given as Refil or Refill there.[2]
References
- ↑ . Translated by Thorpe, Benjamin. Norrœna Society. 1907. p. 176 – via Wikisource. Unknown parameter
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- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. pp. 129, 132. ISBN 0-304-34520-2. Search this book on
- ↑ Byock, Jesse L. Saga of the Volsungs. University of california Press, 1990, p. 65
- ↑ . Translated by Broduer, Arthur Gilchrist. The American-Scandinavian Foundation. 1916. p. 153 – via Wikisource. Unknown parameter
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