Fafnir Fafnir In Norse mythology, Fáfnir (Old Norse and Icelandic) or Frænir is a son of the dwarf king Hreidmar and brother of Regin, Ótr, Lyngheiðr and Lofnheiðr. After being affected by the curse of Andvari's ring and gold, Fafnir became a dragon and was slain by Sigurd. In the Icelandic "Volsunga Saga" (late 13th century), Fáfnir is a dwarf with a powerful arm and fearless soul. He guards his father's house of glittering gold and flashing gems. He is the strongest and most aggressive of the three brothers. Regin recounts to Sigurd how Odin, Loki and Hœnir were traveling when
Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology groves and individual trees. After Christianization, trees continue to play a significant role in the folk beliefs of the Germanic peoples. The pagan Germanic peoples referred to holy places by a variety of terms and many of these terms variously referred to stones, groves, and temple structures. From Proto-Germanic or , a masculine noun, developed Old Norse meaning 'temple, idol', Old English 'temple, idol', and Old High German meaning 'holy grove, holy stone'. According to philologist Vladimir Orel, the term was borrowed from the continental Celtic * or, alternately, the same non-Indo-European source as the Celtic source. A more general