Draupnir

"Dripper." In Gylfaginning, the golden ring which Odin laid on Baldr's funeral pyre, and which had the property of producing every ninth night eight rings of equal weight. During Hermóðr visit to Hel, Baldr gives his brother the ring, to present it as a keepsake to Odin.

The ring also appears in the eddic poem Skírnismál, which Skírnir is willing to give to Gerðr if she would love Freyr:

The ring too I will give thee,
which was burnt
with the young son of Odin.
Eight of equal weight
will from it drop,
every ninth night.

The origin of the ring is told in Skáldskaparmál. It was forged by dwarfs, Ívaldi's Sons, who had made various precious objects for the gods. Loki wagered with Brokkr that Brokkr's brother Eitri could not make three other things equal in virtue to these. The dwarf made a boar with mane and bristles of gold; a gold ring named Draupnir; and a hammer. Brokkr presented the ring to Odin and said that eight rings of the same weight would drop from it every ninth night.

Draupnir features in several kennings for gold in skaldic verse, such as Draupnir's Drop and Rain or Shower of Draupnir. In Skáldskaparmál Baldr is periphrased as Possessor of Hringhorni and Draupnir.

Draupnir is also the name of a dwarf, according to the catalog of dwarfs in Völuspá (15).

References

Sources

  • Gylfaginning, 49.
  • Skáldskaparmál, 5, 32, 35.
  • Skírnismál, 21.