Finally
finished up Nial's backpiece. When he first approached me about the project 4
or 5 years ago he had an idea to get an interpretation of the Ramsund carving,
which depicts the story of Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir as found in the
Völsunga saga.
The Ramsund carving is not quite a runestone
as it is not carved into a stone, but into a flat rock close to Ramsund,
Södermanland in Sweden. It is believed to have been carved around the year
1030. It is generally considered an important piece of Norse art in runestone
style.
We decided
that instead of doing a true rendition of the stone, we would design a dragon that better
filled his (huge) frame and then add depictions from the story stone inside. It
has taken a long time as Nial is from England and he and his wife Hazel have
had 2 children since the time we started this. A good portion of the savgata
pattern in the dragon is actually done with hand tools while I attended the
London Convention a few years in a row.
The runic
text on the stone is ambiguous, but one interpretation of the persons mentioned in the
inscription, based on inscriptions on other runestones found nearby, is that
Sigriþr (a woman) was the wife of Sigröd who has died. Holmgeirr is her father
in law. Alrikr, son of Sigriþr, erected another stone for his father, named
Spjut, so while Alrikr is the son of Sigriþr, he was not the son of Sigruþr.
Alternatively, Holmgeirr is Sigriþr's second husband and Sigröd (but not
Alrikr) is their son.
The
inspiration for using the legend of Sigurd for the pictorial decoration was
probably the close similarity of the names Sigurd (Sigurðr in Old Norse) and
Sigröd.
Old Norse
transcription:
Sigriðr
gærði bro þasi, moðiR Alriks, dottiR Orms, for salu HolmgæiRs, faður SigrøðaR,
boanda sins.
English
translation:
"Sigríðr,
Alríkr's mother, Ormr's daughter, made this bridge for the soul of Holmgeirr,
father of Sigrøðr, her husbandman."
This photo of Nial is actually in several tattoo magazine articles from long before the backpiece was completed :-)
Sigurd is
sitting naked in front of the fire preparing the dragon heart, from Fafnir, for
his foster-father Regin, who is Fafnir's brother. The heart is not finished
yet, and when Sigurd touches it, he burns himself and sticks his finger into
his mouth.
As he has
tasted dragon blood, he starts to understand the birds' song. The birds say
that Regin will not keep his promise of reconciliation and will try to kill
Sigurd...
which
causes Sigurd to cut off Regin's head. Regin is dead beside his own head, his
smithing tools with which he reforged Sigurd's sword Gram are scattered around
him.
The
previous event when Sigurd killed Fafnir.
Sigurd's
horse Grani is laden with the dragon's treasure.
A little addition of our own shows the newly forged sword Gran, which slices through the anvil as if it were butter :-)
This is from Wikipedia:
In the
Völsunga saga, Sigurd was supposedly the posthumous son of Sigmund and his
second wife, Hiordis. Sigmund dies in battle when he attacks Odin (who is in
disguise), and Odin shatters Sigmund's sword. Dying, Sigmund tells Hiordis of
her pregnancy and bequeaths the fragments of his sword to his unborn son.
Hiordis
marries King Alf, and then Alf decides to send Sigurd to Regin as a foster.
Regin tempts Sigurd to greed and violence by first asking Sigurd if he has
control over Sigmund's gold. When Sigurd says that Alf and his family control
the gold and will give him anything he desires, Regin asks Sigurd why he
consents to a lowly position at court. Sigurd replies that he is treated as an
equal by the kings and can get anything he desires. Then Regin asks Sigurd why
he acts as stableboy to the kings and has no horse of his own. Sigurd then goes
to get a horse. An old man (Odin in disguise) advises Sigurd on choice of
horse, and in this way Sigurd gets Grani, a horse derived from Odin's own
Sleipnir.
Finally,
Regin tries to tempt Sigurd by telling him the story of the Otter's Gold.
Regin's father was Hreidmar, a magician, and his two brothers were Ótr and
Fafnir. Regin was a natural at smithing, and Ótr also had magical talents; he
liked to take the form of an otter and swim at a waterfall, where the dwarf
Andvari lived. Andvari often assumed the form of a pike and swam in the pool as
well.
One day,
the Æsir saw Ótr with a fish on the banks, thought him a real otter, and Loki
killed him for his pelt. They took the pelt to the nearby home of Hreidmar to
display their catch. Hreidmar, Fafnir and Regin promptly seized the Æsir and
demanded compensation for the death of Ótr. The compensation was to stuff the
body with gold and cover the skin with fine treasures. Loki got the net from
the sea giantess Rán, caught Andvari (as a pike), and demanded all of the
dwarf's gold. Andvari willingly gave the gold, except for a ring. Loki took
this ring, too, although it carried a curse of death on its bearer. The Æsir
used this gold to stuff Ótr's skin and then cover it. They then covered the
last exposed place (a whisker) with the ring of Andvari. Afterwards, Fafnir
murdered Hreidmar and took the gold, denying Regin his share.
Sigurd
agrees to avenge Regin and Hreidmar and kill Fafnir, who has been turned into a
dragon by a curse sourced in Andvari's ring and gold which he's protecting.
Sigurd has Regin make him a sword, which he tests by striking the anvil. The
sword shatters, so he has Regin make another. This also shatters. Finally,
Sigurd has Regin make a sword out of the fragments that had been left to him by
Sigmund. The resulting sword, Gram, cuts through the anvil. To kill Fafnir,
Regin advises him to dig a pit, wait for Fafnir to walk over it, and then stab
the dragon. Odin, posing as an old man, advises Sigurd to dig trenches also to
drain the blood, and to bathe in it after killing the dragon; bathing in a
dragon's blood confers invulnerability. Sigurd does so and successfully kills
Fafnir; Regin then asked Sigurd to give him Fafnir's heart for himself. Sigurd
drinks some of Fafnir's blood and gains the ability to understand the language
of birds. Birds advise him to kill Regin, since Regin has also been corrupted
by the ring and is plotting Sigurd's death. Sigurd beheads Regin, roasts
Fafnir's heart and consumes part of it. This gives him the gift of
"wisdom" (prophecy).
Sigurd met
Brynhildr, a "shieldmaiden," after killing Fafnir. She pledges
herself to him but also prophesies his doom and marriage to another. (In Völsunga
saga, it is not clear that Brynhild is a Valkyrie or in any way supernatural.)
Sigurd went
to the court of Heimar, who was married to Bekkhild, sister of Brynhild, and
then to the court of Gjúki, where he came to live. Gjuki had three sons and one
daughter by his wife, Grimhild. The sons were Gunnar, Hogni and Guttorm, and
the daughter was Gudrun. Desiring Sigurd's ring and gold for her own family,
Grimhild made an "Ale of Forgetfulness" to force Sigurd to forget
Brynhild, so he could marry Gudrun. Later, Gunnar wanted to court Brynhild.
Brynhild's bower was surrounded by flames, and she promised herself only to the
man daring enough to go through them. Only Grani, Sigurd's horse, would do it,
and only with Sigurd on it. Sigurd exchanged shapes with Gunnar, rode through
the flames, and won Brynhild for Gunnar.
Some time
later, Brynhild taunted Gudrun for having a better husband, and Gudrun
explained all that had passed to Brynhild and explained the deception. For
having been deceived and cheated of the husband she had desired, Brynhild plots
revenge. First, she refuses to speak to anyone and withdraws. Eventually,
Sigurd was sent by Gunnar to see what was wrong, and Brynhild accuses Sigurd of
taking liberties with her. Gunnar and Hogni plot Sigurd's death and enchant
their brother, Guttorm, to a frenzy to accomplish the deed. Guttorm attacks
Sigurd in bed and they are both killed in the struggle. Brynhild kills Sigurd's
three year-old son Sigmund (named for Sigurd's father). Brynhild then wills
herself to die, and builds a funeral pyre for Sigurd, his son, Guttorm and
herself. Before this tragedy, Sigurd and Brynhild had the daughter Aslaug who
married Ragnar Lodbrok.
Sigurd and
Gudrun are parents to the twins Sigmund (named after Sigurd's father) and
Svanhild.
