Gramr Sword
of
Sigurd
STORY:
The owner of the sword from the fragments of which Gramr was later born was Sigurd's father Sigmund. Sigmund was extraordinarily strong and resistant to snake venom and he was also a favorite of the highest god Odin. Odin himself helped Sigmund obtain the sword from which the Gramr was later forged. Throughout the story of Sigurd, the character of Odin appears, whose decisions determine the fates of the main characters. Sigmund dies before the birth of his son ...
The upbringing of Singur is after a while took over by Regin, the brother of dragon Fafnir .A skilled blacksmith, who forges the extraordinary sharp, magical sword Gramr out of shards of Sigurd's father's sword, later on. Over time, the relationship between Sigurd and Regin changes. Regin laughs at Sigurd, that he has no wealth, but he says that he knows about one treasure ... About the treasure of the dragon Fafnir. After all Sigurd agrees with this expedition. Regin accompanies Sigurd and assures him that Fafnir is only moderately large. He advises him to dig a hole in the path on which the dragon usually crawls to the water, Regin himself runs away cowardly. Sigurd follows the advice of Regin, digs a pit and waits for a dragon inside, Odin appears, and advises Sigurd to dig more smaller pits, into which dragon's blood can flow. Sigurd listens to Odin's advice and does so. As the dragon Fafnir crawled to the water, Sigurd thrust his sword Gramr into his body up to his handle. After the death of the dragon, Sigurd washes himself in the dragon's blood and thus becomes invulnerable. He also tastes the blood from the roasted dragon's heart, which saves his life. In this way, he learned of the betrayal of his companion Regin and he killed him before he found out something.
The inspiration for the basic shape of this project is a sword of the "R" type from Petersen's typology. The project is a combination of a forge welded blade with a wavy torsion core, walnut wood, pale reindeer antler and dark bronze, which is complemented by a twisted silver wire. The decoration of this piece is strongly inspired by the Jellinge style (year 900 - 975).
SYMBOLISM:
The decoration of the bronze components of the handle and case symbolizes the dragon Fafnir and also the resistance of Sigurd's father Sigmund to snake venom. The bronze cap at the end of the scabbard is finished with Odin's rune Othala, which represents Odin's influence on the figures associated with the sword. The face of Sigmund is depicted in the center of the bronze pommel, and the face of Sigurd himself is depicted in the center of the hand guard. The grip of the sword is a combination of walnut and white reindeer antler. The reindeer antler is complemented by a Jellinge-style carving depicting the dragon Fafnir. The walnut wood carries a silver twisted wire. In the walnut scabbard is carved woodcarving depicting the story of Sigurd and Regin, from the forging of a sword to the defeat of Regin. This depiction of the story in walnut wood is heavily inspired by woodcarving from a church in Hylestad, Norway. The walnut scabbard is complemented by a belt holder made of white reindeer antler. This belt holder carries pieces of amber setted in a silver trim, between the pieces of amber is an engraving of the dragon Fafnir in the Jellinge style. Amber represents the treasure that this dragon Fafnir protects. Between the leather bindings of the belt holder is a rune text (younger Futhark). It is an excerpt from the saga itself, which has been translated into Old Norse and runic younger Futhark. The blade of this sword contains a forged core representing the wavy body of the dragon Fafnir. This core is surrounded by highly layered edges.
After all, part of this project, which is a magical weapon from the story about the dragon slayer Sigurd, is also the right balance created by a hard, flexible but light blade in combination with bronze parts of the hilt and a hollow pommel.
BLADE:
Patter-welded blade composed of 6 rods. Blade Hardness 54-55 hrc.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Blade thickness under the guard: 4,5mm
Blade thickness at the peak: 3mm
Total weight: 1095g
Total length: 900 mm
Blade length: 745 mm
Blade width under the guard: 58 mm
Handle length: 155mm including handguard and pommel.
point of balance from tip: 595 mm
MATERIALS:
Handle:
Walnut wood, reindeer antler, bronze, twisted silver wire.
Scabbard :
Walnut wood, reindeer antler, amber, bronze, twisted silver wire, leather stripes.
Wooden storage chest:
Ash wood masiff, burgundy velvet, forged hinges and fastening.