Sigurðr Fáfnisbani

Sigurd Fáfnisbani — the dragon-slayer — is the greatest hero of Germanic legend, the Norse Siegfried, around whom the whole Völsung tragedy turns. Last and finest of the cursed Völsung line, he is fostered by the smith Regin, who reforges for him his father's broken sword Gram and goads him to kill the dragon Fáfnir and take the gold it broods on. Sigurd kills the dragon, roasts its heart, and — tasting the blood — suddenly understands the speech of birds, who warn him that Regin means to murder him; so he kills Regin too and rides off with the hoard. But the gold is Andvari's cursed gold, and it ruins everyone who holds it. Sigurd wakes the valkyrie Brynhild on her fire-ringed mountain and pledges her his love, then is tricked by a potion into forgetting her and marrying another — and out of that betrayal comes his murder and the fall of the whole house. Bright, doomed, and pitilessly used by fate.