Reginn: The Smith Who Needed a Slayer

“Regin then went to Thjode, to king Hjalprek, and became his smith.”

“Then Regin made the sword which is hight Gram (wrath), and which was so sharp that when Sigurd held it in the flowing stream it cut asunder a tuft of wool which the current carried down against the sword’s edge.”

“Then Regin came and declared that Sigurd had slain his brother, and demanded of him as a ransom that he should cut out Fafner’s heart and roast it on the fire”

“Then Sigurd went to Regin and slew him”

In Skáldskaparmál, Reginn flees from his brother with the sword Refill and goes to the court of King Hjálprekr, where he becomes smith and fosters Sigurðr, son of Sigmund. He tells Sigurðr where Fáfnir lies on the gold and urges him to take it. Reginn forges the sword Gram. Its edge is tested on a tuft of wool in a stream, and Sigurðr then cuts Reginn’s anvil in two.

After Sigurðr kills Fáfnir, Reginn claims it was his brother’s killing and demands that Sigurðr cut out Fáfnir’s heart and roast it. Reginn drinks the blood and lies down to sleep. Sigurðr burns his finger on the heart, tastes it and understands the speech of birds. Two birds warn that Reginn is planning to betray him, and Sigurðr kills Reginn. He loads the gold on his horse Grani and rides away. This account follows Snorri; other versions of the story differ.

Reginn is Hreidmarr’s son and the brother of Otr and Fáfnir, so he stands in the same family as the gold itself. Anderson’s glossary lists him as the son of Hreidmar. In Snorri’s tale the second bird calls him an evil smith who plots revenge against the brother, and Anderson’s footnote ties the verse to the Elder Edda’s Fáfnismál.

For the earlier story see Andvari and Andvarafors, and for the dragon Fáfnir at Gnitaheiðr: Wealth Beneath a Serpent.