Wayland

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mythical master metalworker from Germanic legend who forged famous swords and armor ; a small American town bearing this name in states such as Massachusetts and Michigan
2. The renowned smith of Norse and Germanic myth, celebrated for crafting legendary weapons ; a municipality in the United States named after such a place
3. An elven or heroic blacksmith of old northern tales ; a community in several American states that carries this proper name

Etymology: Wayland is the name of a figure from Germanic legend: the master smith who forged swords and treasures for gods and kings. The Old English form "Wēland" is a cognate of the Old Norse "Vǫlundr", and the Old High German "Wēlant" shows the same figure was known across the Germanic world. The name is reconstructed back to a Proto-Germanic form, so it is far older than any surviving English text. In the Old English poem "Deor", Wayland is the smith who was lamed and held captive by King Niðhad, and who took revenge on him. That story of a captive craftsman is the core of the legend, and it survives in several northern sources, where he is sometimes called the best of smiths. The name has also survived in English places. Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic chambered tomb in Oxfordshire, and folklore once said that a horse left there with a coin would be shod overnight by an unseen smith.