ÉrrähM's Gramr

About the Name: The Volsunga Saga of Icelandic lore tells of a warrior named Sigmund. At his sister Signy’s wedding, Odin appeared as he was wont to do and thrust a sword, Gramr, into a tree. He declared that anyone who could remove the blade would find no better weapon in all his days. All the guests tried and failed to remove the sword, all save Sigmund. The king wished for the sword, but Sigmund refused to part with it because it was a gift from Odin. Sigmund used the sword in several battles until it was broken in two. Signy kept the two pieces of the legendary sword and passed them down to her son Sigurd, who became a renowned figure in his own right. A dwarven smith/warrior named Regin came to stay with Sigurd to train him. During this time, Regin told Sigurd about the dragon Fafnir and asked him to slay the dragon to retrieve its treasure. Anyone familiar with Tolkien’s work will see where the inspiration for The Hobbit came from (although of course Bilbo was not asked to kill Smaug). Sigurd found Fafnir and slew him with a single thrust. There are other stories about Gramr, but this is the most well-known one. Gramr has been depicted in many ways. In contemporary media, it is usually depicted as a greatsword, but if it has any historical basis it would have been a shorter seax-like weapon, or a single-handed straight sword.