Weland

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A legendary master smith from Germanic and Norse mythology, famed for forging magical swords and armour
2. The skilled blacksmith of old northern legend who crafted enchanted weapons for heroes and kings
3. A mythical craftsman of Anglo-Saxon and Norse tradition, known for making wondrous blades and jewellery

Etymology: In Anglo-Saxon England, Weland was the legendary smith of the Germanic peoples, the craftsman whose story is told in the Old English poem "Deor" and in the Old Norse "Völundarkviða," where he is called Völundr. In "Deor," King Nithad captures him and hamstrings him to keep him at work, and Weland later takes a grim revenge on the king's sons and seduces his daughter. The name is best understood as a proper name rather than a common noun, and its exact etymology is uncertain. Scholars have proposed Germanic roots connected to craft or strength, but none is firmly established. The name survived in English place-lore long after the poems were copied. Wayland's Smithy, a Neolithic long barrow near Uffington in Oxfordshire, was linked in folk tradition to the smith. A traveller who left a coin and his horse there would find the animal shod by the time he returned, the work done by the invisible smith. The barrow's connection to the legend is folklore rather than documented history, but it shows how the figure became attached to the English landscape.

Synonyms: Wayland, Völundr