The Bound Artisan. The Flight of Iron and Flame.

Völundr holds the distinction of being one of the only named álfar in the lore, a title that wraps him in both myth and memory. His tale comes to us most vividly through the Völundarkviða of the Poetic Edda, but his story doesn’t stop there. The Thidrekssaga, Old English poems like Deor, Waldere, and Beowulf, and even the carved images on the Franks Casket and Ardre Image Stone VIII carry his name.

He was known as Wayland in England. Revered. Feared. Called by kings and whispered of by the people.

Some say he was the son of the jötunn Wade (or Vaði, in Norse). Others name him the son of a Finnish king. His brothers were Egil and Slagfiðr. His wife, a valkyrie named Hervör. And with her, a son Heime.

But what makes Völundr more than legend is not his bloodline. It’s his craft.

He was trained by dwarfs, though they paid dearly for that act. He learned to bend iron to his will, to make beauty from fire. At Wayland’s Smithy in the Berkshire Downs, they still say if you leave a horse and a silver coin overnight, it returns shod by morning.

Völundr’s most famous tale is one of pain, patience, and vengeance. Captured by a greedy king named Niðhad, his hamstrings were cut so he could never run. Bound and broken, he was set to work on the island of Sævarstöð.

And he did work. He made treasures. Trinkets. Masterworks. All while plotting.

He killed the king’s sons. Turned their skulls into goblets and their bones into ornaments. Gave them to the king as gifts.

He lured the king’s daughter. Raped her. She bore him a son.

Then, like Daedalus of old, he made wings of gold and iron. And flew.

In some tellings, his brother Egil helped build the wings. In others, he flew alone.

Some stories claim Völundr crafted the legendary sword Gramr, the blade Sigurd would one day use to slay Fafnir. Óðin is said to have delivered it. And Óðin is said to have broken it. So perhaps the Æsir did know him after all.

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Thoughts on Völundr
Much of what we know about Völundr comes from layers. Norse, English, poetic, embellished. Over time, his story thickened. His father Vaði became a giant, a sea spirit, a king, a man who waded across oceans with his son on his back.

They say Vaði fostered Völundr to Mímir. A wise move. Later, the dwarfs trained him. Then betrayed him. Or perhaps feared him. When Vaði died in an earthquake, perhaps not an accident, Völundr took vengeance and killed the dwarfs.

He is said to have made at least fourteen famous swords. His name echoes in the Poetic Edda, the Karlamagnus Saga, and even Arthurian verse. Always the same man, one who built his way into legend.

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Signs and Symbols
Anvil. Forge. Smith’s apron. Hammers. Golden wings. The fire that does not consume.

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Associated Names
Wayland, Weyland, Wēland, Velentr, Galand