What it’s about
A legendary smith, Völund, is sent to claim Brísingamen for Freyja, but the necklace lies in the guarded forge of Dvalin, a ruthless dark-elf forgemaster who sets her own price: four nights of work side-by-side, each ending in a truth neither can take back. Sparks fly, tempers flare, and the choice to surrender a god-jewel tangles with a far riskier surrender of pride and heart.
More About the Myths
This story is meant to be a retelling of the story of how Freya comes to possess the Brísingamen necklace in the world of Leifthasir.
Many characters, such as Völund the smith and Dvalin the dwarf, will be represented with changes made for poetic licensing.
Most notably, Dvalin, who is usually described as a male dwarf but is occasionally referred to as a dark elf in rare translations, will be presented as a female dark elf.
Dvalin’s character retains many of the character traits associated with the smith Dvalin from the Prose Edda, specifically her great skill as a smith and her ruthless nature.
Völund finds himself in similar circumstances to his own Saga appearances. Forced to forge his freedom until he eventually creates his own means of escape.
The role of Freya in this story will be markedly different. Freya herself will play a much smaller role and will retain full sexual agency, unlike her role in the Eddas.
Historically, if you would like the most accurate account of the Brísingamen, you should refer to the Sörla þáttr, a translation of which reveals the full plot in detail. However, be warned that this medieval retelling portrays the gods as earthly kings and is likely to perpetuate medieval cultural biases.
While still a dubious interpretation, Kevin Crossley-Holland’s 1980s book “The Norse Myths” does a decent job at “removing the medieval Christian lens” from this myth.
There is very little evidence of this myth before the Icelandic manuscript of Sörla þáttr. Some scholars believe that monks or contemporary medieval storytellers may have invented the story. Others believe this may be due to the oral skaldic traditions, or just that any written evidence would have been lost to time.
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