Wayland the Smith (Völund)

Wayland was the legendary smith and craftsman. Wayland may have become the god of crafts and metalworking.

Wayland was a popular Germanic mythical figure, since he appeared in many of the sagas and poems in the Germanic societies (Scandinavia, Germany and Anglo-Saxon England). Wayland appeared as Volund in the Völundarkvida ("Lay of Völundr") of the Poetic Edda, and in the Beowulf (Old English saga) as Weland, who made the corslet for the hero Beowulf. In the Norwegian Thiðrekssaga, he was called Velent. The German authors called him Wielund.

In the Völundarkvida, he was called Volund, the "Prince of Elves". He was not merely a smith. He was also a hunter, and several times, he was called the weather-eyed shooter, indicating he was an excellent archer.

Wayland even reappeared in William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

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In the Norse myth, Völund (or Wayland) was the brother of Egil and Slagfid (Slagfinn). They were the sons of a Lappish king and resided in Wolfdale, which was possibly south of Mirkwood. The three brothers encountered three sisters who were bathing in a lake. These sisters were Valkyries (or swan-maidens) named Alvit (Hervor) and Svanhvit (Hladgud), the daughters of King Hlodver, and Olrun, the daughter of King Valland. The brothers raped the three sisters. Alvit became Wayland's wife.

The three sisters stayed with them for seven years, but flew away to the battlefield, they never returned to their husbands. Wayland's brothers left him to find their wives.

King Nídud (Nidud) of Sweden, the lord of Niarar, was so impressed with the craftsmanship of Wayland that he captured the hero at Wolfdale. While Wayland was out hunting, the king's men came to his home and found a bast rope threaded through 700 rings, and the men took only one of the rings. This was made by Volund, just in case his wife should return. When Volund returned from the hunt, he immediately recognised that one of the gold rings was missing. He sat for a long time, until he fell asleep. That's when Nídud's men captured and bound him in fetters and brought the smith before the king. Nídud took Wayland's own sword as his own, and gave the missing ring to his daughter, Bödvild (Bodhilda).

Nídud's wife saw that Wayland was dangerous, even when held captive. To prevent Wayland from leaving, Nídud had him crippled, cutting his sinews around the knees, and had the smith confined on the island called Sævarstadir.

After some time, Wayland killed Nídud's two sons, using their skulls to make cups studded with gemstones. He gave these skull cups to Nídud, while he made the boys' eyes into gemstones, which he gave to Nídud's wife.

When Nídud's daughter (Bödvild) turned up in the smithy, she brought her ring for Wayland to repair. It was the same ring that Nídud had stolen from Wayland. Wayland raped Bödvild, who became the mother of the hero Vidia (Witege, Wade, Widga or Vidga in the Thiðrekssaga).

It was not clear how Wayland escaped from Nídud by flying away, but according to Thidrekssaga, he created a huge, winged device that allowed him to fly away, just like in the myth of King Minos and the craftsman Daedalus, who also made a similar escape. But it is possible that this ring had magical properties which enabled Wayland to transform into a swan and fly away; this is a possibility since it mentioned "my webbed feet", which the king's men had deprived him of. Before he left Nídud, he revealed to the king how he had murdered Nídud's two sons and had impregnated his daughter. It was said that he flew all the way to Asgard.

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Similar tales about Wayland can be found in other Germanic and Norse sources. A more complete tale can be found in one of the episodes of the Thiðrekssaga, where he was known as Velent.

Velent (Wayland) was the son of the giant Vadi, who was the son of King Vilkinus and an unnamed mermaid. Vadi had another son named Egil. At the age of nine, Vadi decided to send his son to learn the trade of the smith from Mimir, from the Hunland.

Velent only stayed there for three years as Mimir's apprentice, demonstrating great craftsmanship. Vadi brought his son home in Sjoland (Zealand), because Sigurd, Mimir's foster son, was bullying Velent and the other apprentices.

Vadi decided make his apprenticeship to two dwarfs, living in a mountain of Kallava. The dwarfs agreed to take the boy for only one year, but during that time they found that the boy not only learned quickly, mastering any task that was put before him, but that he made objects with superior skill. The jealous dwarfs had to plead with their father to allow the boy to stay another year, but warned Vadi that he must pick up the boy on the appointed day or else they would cut off Velent's head.

Vadi agreed to the terms, but he secretly told his son that he hid a sword in a bush. Vadi told Velent that should he not be able to arrive in time, he urged his son to find the sword and defend himself.

As the second year drew to a close, Vadi set out a few days earlier so that he could arrive in time. Vadi, tiring from the journey, decided to rest at the foot of the mountain. As he slept, the boulders from the mountain came crashing down on Vadi, instantly killing him.

Young Velent became concerned when his father didn't arrive on the appointed day, so the boy retrieved his father's sword and killed the two dwarfs. Rather than return home, Velent took the entire set of tools and gold from the dwarfs' cave, and built himself a sort of vessel from a large tree trunk near the water. Stowing all the tools and treasure in the vessel, he set the vessel adrift on the river to the sea for 18 days.

Finally, the vessel came to the shore of Thiod in Jutland (Denmark), where it was found by King Nidung (Nídud). At first, he took loyal service with Nidung as a great smith. Velent had to compete against Nidung's chief smith, killing his enemy with Mimung, the great sword he had forged.

However, he later lost favour with the king when Velent killed Nidung's favourite steward, who attacked him. It was for that that Nidung crippled Velent, severing Velent's Achilles tendons, so that Velent would continue to serve him.

Nidung had three sons and a daughter. Like in the Icelandic poem, Velent killed the king's two sons. Velent used the boys' bones to make various objects to be used by the king, including making cups out of skulls. Velent kept their blood in a sealed bladder.

When Nidung's daughter visited Velent to fix her ring, Velent seduced her, and she became pregnant. Shortly after that, Velent's brother Egil took service with the king. Egil was the best archer in the world. Egil helped his brother to escape. First, Egil killed a lot of geese and gathered the feathers for Velent, who made a winged device. Egil was the first to test the device. Velent knew that the king would order Egil to shoot him. Velent told him to shoot under his arm, where the bladder of blood would be hidden under his clothes.

Later, Velent made his escape. First, as he hovered above the king, Velent boasted that he had murdered Nidung's two sons and made the princess pregnant with his child. Anguished and angered by the words, the king commanded Egil to shoot his brother down. Egil unerringly hit the bladder, as Velent flew away. Nidung thought that Velent had been mortally wounded, because the blood of the two princes flowed from Velent's wound.

Velent flew and returned to Sjorland, the land of his father. Nidung died of either grief over his sons' death or from shame over his daughter's pregnancy. Nidung's third son Otvin became king. Peace was settled between Otvin and Velent. Otvin's sister went to Sjoland and became Velent's wife. Velent became the father of Vidga (Widga), a great warrior and friend of Thiðrek (Dietrich).

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In a way, he was like the Celtic god Goibhniu, the master craftsman of the Tuatha de Danann, and Hephaestus (Vulcan), the Greek artisan god of fire who was the son of Zeus and Hera. Hephaestus was also a crippled master craftsman. Wayland's escape from Nídud bears a striking resemblance to that of the Cretan architect and inventor Daedalus, who escaped from King Minos in wings made out of feathers and wax.