In Norse mythology, Gram, also known as Balmung or Nothung, is the sword that Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir. It is primarily used by the Völsungs in the Volsunga Saga. However, it is also seen in other legends, such as the Thidrekssaga in
which it is wielded by Hildebrand.
A depiction of Sigurd with Gram on the Ramsund carving, dated to around the year 1030
Sigmund's Sword by Johannes Gehrts (1889)
Sigurd proofs the sword Gram by Johannes Gehrts (1901)
Sigurd or Siegfried is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon—known in some Old Norse sources as Fáfnir—and who was later murdered. In both the Norse and continental Germanic tradition, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife (Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he has tricked into marrying the Burgundian king Gunnar/Gunther. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respects, however, the two traditions appear to diverge. The most important works to feature Sigurd are the Nibelungenlied, the Völsunga saga, and the Poetic Edda. He also appears in numerous other works from both Germany and Scandinavia, including a series of medieval and early modern Scandinavian ballads.
The death of Siegfried. Hagen stands to the right of Siegfried with a bow. From the Hundeshagenscher Kodex.
"Sigurd proofs the sword Gram" (1901) by Johannes Gehrts.
Siegfried's Departure from Kriemhild, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, c. 1843
Relief "Siegfried in Xanten" on the Nordwall in Xanten.