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Draupnir

Odin's gold ring, forged by a dwarf, from which eight rings of equal weight drop every ninth night; Odin lays it on Baldr's pyre and Baldr sends it back from Hel.

Draupnir, "the dripper", is a gold ring that makes more gold: every ninth night, eight rings of the same weight drop from it.

Its making

Snorri tells how it was made in the contest between Loki and the dwarf Brokkr. Loki wagers his head that Brokkr's brother cannot make three treasures as good as those of Ívaldi's sons. The brother (Sindri in Brodeur's translation, Eitri in most modern ones) makes the boar Gullinbursti first, then lays gold in the forge; Brokkr keeps blowing the bellows though a fly bites his neck "half again as hard as before", until the smith takes out "that gold ring which is called Draupnir" Skáldskaparmál 35. Brokkr gives it to Odin, saying that "eight rings of the same weight would drop from it every ninth night" Skáldskaparmál 35.

Baldr's ring

The ring's best story is a sad one. When Baldr is burned on his ship, Odin lays Draupnir on the pyre Gylfaginning 49. Hermóðr rides to Hel to ask for Baldr's return; when he leaves, Baldr gives him the ring "and sent it to Odin for a remembrance" Gylfaginning 49. Snorri's kennings for Baldr include "Possessor of Hringhorni and Draupnir" Skáldskaparmál 5.

In Skírnismál, Freyr's servant offers the giantess Gerðr "the ring that was burned / Of old with Othin's son", from which eight of like weight fall every ninth night; she refuses it, since her father has gold enough Skírnismál 21 Skírnismál 22. The poem does not name the ring, but the description is Draupnir's. Gold could be called "Draupnir's Drop" in poetry Skáldskaparmál 32.

A dwarf called Draupnir also appears in the Völuspá list of dwarves Völuspá 15.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

he blew even until the smith took from the hearth that gold ring which is called Draupnir.
Skáldskaparmál 35 The dwarf smith forges Draupnir in the contest with Loki while Brokkr works the bellows.
he gave to Odin the ring, saying that eight rings of the same weight would drop from it every ninth night
Skáldskaparmál 35 Brokkr presents the ring to Odin and names its power.
Odin laid on the pyre that gold ring which is called Draupnir
Gylfaginning 49 Odin gives the ring to his dead son Baldr on the funeral pyre.
Baldr led him out of the hall, and took the ring Draupnir and sent it to Odin for a remembrance.
Gylfaginning 49 From Hel, Baldr returns the ring to his father through Hermóðr.
Then do I bring thee the ring that was burned Of old with Othin's son; From it do eight of like weight fall On every ninth night.
Skírnismál 21 Skírnir offers Gerðr a ring that matches Draupnir, though the poem does not name it.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • Skírnismál's ring is not named; it is identified with Draupnir only because its description matches Snorri's.
  • If the ring is Draupnir, Skírnismál must take place after Baldr's death, though nothing else in the poem points to that. The poems were not composed to a single chronology.

In modern culture

Not from the medieval sources.

God of War Ragnarök (2022) turns the ring's power to multiply into the 'Draupnir Spear', a weapon that duplicates itself, forged by the game's dwarf smiths Brok and Sindri. Draupnir is also sometimes confused with Gleipnir, the fetter of Fenrir, or with Andvaranaut, the cursed ring of the Völsung story.

Myths with Draupnir

Baldr's dreams and death Baldr dreams of his own death; Odin rides to Hel to question a dead seeress; and, in Snorri's telling, Loki puts a sprig of mistletoe into blind Höðr's hand. The gods lose their brightest member and the slide toward Ragnarök begins. Freyr and Gerðr Freyr sits in Odin's high seat, glimpses the giant's daughter Gerðr and is sick with love. His servant Skírnir rides through fire to woo her, and when gifts fail he wins her with threats and a curse. The price is Freyr's sword. Hermóðr's ride to Hel After Baldr's death Hermóðr rides Sleipnir nine nights down to Hel to ransom his brother. Hel agrees to let Baldr go if everything in the world weeps for him; one giantess in a cave will not. The treasures of the gods: Sif's hair and Brokkr's wager Loki shaves Sif's head, and to save his own skin sets two families of dwarf-smiths competing. The result is six treasures — golden hair, a folding ship, a spear, a ring, a golden boar and Thor's hammer — and Loki's lips sewn shut.

Related

Odin Óðinn Chief of the Æsir: a one-eyed god of wisdom, poetry, magic, war and the dead, who gave an eye and hanged himself on a tree for knowledge, and who dies at Ragnarök. Baldr Odin and Frigg's son, the brightest and best-loved of the gods. His death by a mistletoe dart, thrown by his blind brother Höðr, is the first great loss on the road to Ragnarök. Brokkr The dwarf who bet Loki his head that his brother could out-forge Ívaldi's sons, worked the bellows while a fly stung him, won, and sewed Loki's lips shut. Eitri The dwarf smith, Brokkr's brother, who forged the boar Gullinbursti, the ring Draupnir and Thor's hammer Mjöllnir; Brodeur's translation calls him Sindri. Gungnir Odin's spear, made by the dwarves called Ívaldi's sons; Snorri says it never stops in its thrust, and Odin carries it into his last battle. Mjölnir Mjöllnir Thor's short-handled hammer, forged by the dwarf brothers Brokkr and Sindri: it never misses, always returns to his hand, kills giants, and hallows brides, pyres and the dead goats it brings back to life. Gullinbursti Freyr's golden boar, forged by the dwarf Sindri. It runs through air and water faster than a horse and lights up the darkness with its bristles. Hermóðr Odin's son who rode Sleipnir for nine nights down to Hel to ask for his brother Baldr's release, and brought back Hel's condition: that all the world must weep. Gerðr A giant's daughter so beautiful that light shone from her arms, whom Freyr's servant Skírnir won for him by bribes, threats and a runic curse.