Draupnir found back - A skald Story
Devised by Gunivortus Goos being his contribution to “Skald-Evening” of the Eldaring regulars’ table Rhein-Main-Taunus “Fafnir’s Hoard”, Held on Thursday, April 20th, 2023
The theme for this evening was ‘Draupnir’ and the organization gave the competitors in advance the following information:
From the Edda we know Draupnir, the golden ring, from which every ninth night eight more rings of equal weight fall. The dwarves Sindri and Brokkr created it and gave it to Odin. Odin in turn offered the ring at the funeral of his son Balder. Balder gave the ring to Hermod as a sign of recognition and proof when Hermod visited him in Helheim. Then the trace of Draupnir is lost… Did Odin take it back? Did Hermod keep it? Is there a being sitting in a deep cave somewhere, holding Draupnir and muttering something like “my precious” – and if so, why? All forms of art are allowed, and every participant will receive Germany’s most prestigious art award and may call themselves “Scald of Fafnir’s Hoard”. We look forward to seeing your artwork!
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This is where my story begins.…
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You all already know the story of the magic ring Draupnir. It was already given. I would like to tell you now some special details which are much less known….
First of all….in the small German town of Thale in the Harz mountains there is a replica of this ring on the “Germanic Myth Trail”, you could even call it a replica….
This ring has a diameter of about one meter (3.3 ft.). This gives us an idea of the size of the gods. Because, if the ring finger of a Germanic deity is already over a meter thick, then you can calculate how big the Asir, Vanir and giants were.
I leave the calculation to you, I was never really an ace in math.
From time to time it is claimed that it should have been an arm ring. That would give then again another calculation. But that assertion is quite airy.
From the Gylfaginning, as you know, the first part of the Prose Edda, we know that Draupnir was made of gold: anyway, Arnulf Krause’s translation says where the dead Balder lies on the funeral pyre:
“Odin puts the gold ring on the pile, which is called Draupnir.”
I assume thereby that it is here the name of the ring, and not the name of the pyre.
However, the ring was probably not made of gold only. You could already guess that. One might immediately think of the mead, whose, according to the myth, most important ingredient was the wise deity Kvasir, who was murdered by dwarves before being processed into mead..…
Yeah, those dwarves, and you know that Draupnir was also made by dwarves!
Well, in the Edda, in the Völuspá, in the list of the dwarves, a dwarf is mentioned…. who was called Draupnir. The rest you can easily imagine. That is why I do not want to show that process in a picture.
But well, let’s keep it a golden ring.
Yet, not everyone seems to have understood this correctly. See what is offered here:
In various places in the Norse mythology is told about shape-shifting. Loki was particularly good at it. But the magic ring Draupnir can also change its shape. For example, it can take the form of a mouse. The picture below is enough of evidence for it:
If any of you wants to buy a new mouse for your computer now, one like the one in the picture, you should of course watch to see if eight identical mice drip out of it after nine days. If they don’t, cancel the purchase, it’s a fake.
Now it gets even a little more bizarre …., if that’s still possible….
The makers of a fantasy game may not have understood that Draupnir is a ring….
That is certainly clearly an aberration of the fantasy, but apparently anything goes there. Because we all know here that Odin’s spear is called “Gungnir”, which meand “the Rocking”
This godly ring has, except that from it regularly duplicates drip off, still clearly more influence on us people. Who of you has good godlike ears can hear the music that Draupnir sends out…. listen yourself….. and in the end pays good attention when Odin starts to sing…. he is also a poet and bard.…
A warning in advance….. such voices of the gods are not suitable for every human ear. Its just 80 seconds.
Lebenslust-Draupnir
Excerpt from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU8cQsMcXBI
But enough of such facts and misunderstandings, my time is running out at this event and I have not even told how Draupnir developed itself in our human world. It happened like this.…
After Hermod finished his visit to Balder in Helheim, Balder gave him the ring Draupnir. Odin should get it back. However, there is nothing in the myth told about this return to Odin.
Not to denigrate Hermod now, far from that…. he had just made a long and arduous journey for Odin and Frigg, perhaps that is the reason that it is not mentioned in the myths that he lost the ring. He simply lost it. That can easily happen when you are sitting on a hopping, jumping, fast galloping horse.
Now, real magic rings are never really lost, as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings clearly proves.
So there was a non-Norse God named Hortuslapis, who could be well be one of my ancestors, who at that time roamed the lands bordering Helheim in search of adventure and treasure. You can translate the Latin name of this god into English yourself, that may give some clearness.
After visiting his fellow god Crom on his divine icy mountain, on his swampy way back home he found this ring, Draupnir. Or rather, the ring found him. Of course, he put the thing in his pocket, maybe he even was forced to do that.
As he continued his journey, he noticed that this ring was multiplying itself, and thereupon he had a great business idea.
Because, as everyone knows, even Gods need an income, they even pay taxes. Anyway, this God Hortuslapis adjusted the rings in the way so that phuman eople could wear them. And he sold, and still sells, the many offshoots of Draupnir through jewelry stores around the world. When two people get married or otherwise get together for a long time, they almost always buy a Draupnir for both of them. Ordinary people can afford gold-yellow Draupnir rings; select people wear Draupnirs of white gold. (Here I raise right my ringed right hand)
That’s how it is.
