Völund

   The Nordic name for Wayland Smith. The Völundar Kvida in the Poetic Edda tells the tragic story of his exploits. How he was the son of the giant Badi and was apprenticed first to Mimir and later to two dwarfs with whom he quarrelled and slew. He then served with King Nithud, who later had him hamstrung. With the aid of his brother Egil he built a flying machine and flew home, leaving behind him the heartbroken Bodvild, the king’s daughter, whom he had seduced. Völund, who is called ‘the Wise Elf’, is a smith artificer of the type of Goibniu and, as such, linked with the dwarfs who provided the technical background for the Nordics, the Teutons, and the Celts.