Tyrfing

One day as the king rode out hunting, he lost sight of his men. He rode deep into the forest in pursuit of a hart but when the sun sank the following day, he still hadn’t caught it. He’d ridden so far into the forest, he hardly knew where he was. He saw a tall stone in the sunset, and by it two dwarves. He drew his knife over them, binding them outside the stone by the power of graven iron. They begged for their lives.

The king asked, “What are your names?”

One was called Dvalin, the other Dulin.

The king said, “Since you two are the most skilled out of all the dwarves, you shall make me a sword, the best that you can. The guard and boss shall be of gold, and the grip too. It will bite iron like cloth and never rust. It will bring victory in battles and single combats for all who bear it.”

They agree to this. The king rides home. And when it comes to the appointed day, he rides to the stone. The dwarves were outside. They hand him the sword and it was indeed splendid. But as Dvalin stood in the doorway of the stone, he said:

“May your sword, Sigrlami, be a man’s bane each time it is drawn and may three vile deeds be done with that sword. It will also be death to your kin.”

Then the king swung his sword at the dwarves. They sprang into the rock. The sword stuck right into the stone so that both edges were lost from sight, for the door closed behind them in the stone.

Sigrlami kept that sword and called it Tyrfing. It was the sharpest of swords and each time it was drawn it shone like a sunbeam. Never could it be bared without killing a man, and with warm blood it would always be sheathed. And nothing, not human nor animal, could live a day if they got a wound from it, no matter how great or small. It never failed to strike, nor did it stop till it hit the earth, and any man who bore it in battle would have victory if he used it. The king bore it in battles and single combats and had victory every time. That sword is famous in all the old sagas.


- The Saga of Hervor & King Heidrek the Wise (Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks), Chapter 1