• ANDVARI •
Alberich Oberon El(b)egast
Detail from the DRÄVLE RUNESTONE in Uppland, Sweden. It is an example of Swedish Runic Inscriptions and is one of the so-called ‘Sigurd stones’.
The Sigurd stones form a group of seven or eight runestones and one picture stone that depict imagery from the legend of Sigurd the dragon slayer. They were made during the Viking Age and they constitute the earliest Norse representations of the matter of the Nibelungenlied and the Sigurd legends in the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda and the Völsunga saga.
This part of the DRÄVLE RUNESTONE is held to depict 'Andvari’. In Norse mythology, Andvari (Old Norse “careful one”) is a dwarf who lives underneath a waterfall and has the power to change himself into a fish at will. Andvari had a magical ring 'Andvaranaut’, which helped him become wealthy.
Using a net provided by Ran, Loki catches him as a pike and forces him to give up his gold and Andvaranaut. Andvari cursed the stolen gold which would destroy anyone who possessed it. After the deaths of Brynhild and Sigurd, Gunnar left Andvari’s gold in a cave. Years later, Andvari discovered the cave and his lost gold, although his ring was lost forever.