Give Grani

Then Regin came to talk to Sigurđ a second time and said, “It’s
strange that you just want to be some stableboy for these kings and go
around like a vagabond.”

Sigurđ said, “It isn’t that way at all. I make decisions together with
them. And what I want isn’t kept from me.”

And Regin said, “Then ask King Álf to give you a horse.”

Sigurđ said, “He will do it right away if I ask.” So Sigurđ went to see
King Álf and King Hjálprek.

One of them asked Sigurđ, “What do you want?”

Sigurđ said, “I’d like a horse to ride for fun.”

King Álf said, “Then choose a horse for yourself, and whatever else
you want that is ours.”

The next day Sigurđ went to the forest and met an old man with a
long beard who was a stranger to him. The man asked Sigurđ where he
was going. Sigurđ said, “I’m on my way to pick out a horse. Help me
decide which one.”

The man said, “Let’s go and drive them into the river called
Busiltjorn.” So they drove the horses into the deepest part of that river,
and all the horses swam out again except for one. Sigurđ picked this
one. He was a young gray stallion, big and handsome, and he had never
been ridden before.

The old man said, “This horse is descended from Sleipnir. He should
be brought up well, because he will be a better horse than any other.”
Then the man disappeared. Sigurđ named the horse Grani, and he was
indeed the best of all horses. The old man he had met was Óđin.

Soon Regin said to Sigurđ, “You don’t have enough money. It troubles
me that you run around like some peasant’s child, but I know of
a way you could probably win some treasure, and it’s even more likely
that you would be honored and spoken of well if you got it.”


- Volsunga Saga, Chapter 13