Wayland the Smith in Norse tradition
At his forge, Wayland the Smith is a Norse-Germanic hero known for smithing and exceptional craftsmanship. He is also associated with forged weapons and rings, vengeance, and escape through flight. In the Wolfdales, Wayland and his brothers found three valkyries beside their swan garments and married them, but after seven winters the women flew away, leaving Wayland alone at his forge.
The quick answers
Who is Wayland the Smith?
Wayland the Smith is a Norse hero associated with smithing and metalwork, exceptional craftsmanship, forged weapons and rings, vengeance, escape and flight.Source
Source
- Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland
- Nart Sagas From the Caucasus: Myths and Legends From the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs
- Treasury of Norse Mythology
- Norse Mythology
- The Poetic Edda
What is Wayland the Smith associated with?
smithing and metalwork, exceptional craftsmanship, forged weapons and rings, vengeance, escape and flightSource
Source
- Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland
- Nart Sagas From the Caucasus: Myths and Legends From the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs
- Treasury of Norse Mythology
- Norse Mythology
- The Poetic Edda
What family links are recorded for Wayland the Smith?
Spouse: Hervör alvitr, 1 child, 2 siblings.
Wayland the Smith’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
with Hervör alvitr
The names Wayland the Smith answers to
Völundr
Old Norse form of his name
SourceThe Poetic Edda
Weland
Old English form of his name
SourceThe Poetic Edda
Wieland
German form of his name
SourceTeutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland
Velent
Name used for him in the Þiðreks saga
SourceThe Poetic Edda
The myths of Wayland the Smith
1 myth, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
Wayland and the Swan-Maidens
Wayland, Egil and Slagfid found three women on the shore of a lake in the Wolfdales. They were spinning flax. Their swan garments lay beside them. The poem identifies the women as valkyries. Egil took Olrun as his wife. Slagfid took Swanwhite. Wayland took Alvitr. Another version names Wayland's wife Hervor. The prose introduction calls her Hervor, the Strange-Creature.
They lived together for seven winters. During the eighth year, the women became troubled. In the ninth year, necessity parted them. They longed for the dark wood and for the fate that awaited them. They put on their swan forms and flew away. The brothers' halls stood empty. Egil and Slagfid returned from hunting and found no one there.
Egil went east to search for Olrun. Slagfid went south to look for Swanwhite. Wayland remained alone in the Wolfdales. He sat at his forge and worked with metal. He struck red gold around a firm-set gem and closed serpent rings. He waited in case his wife returned to him. The poem does not say that he followed his brothers or found her.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Norse MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“Three valkyries lived with Wayland, Egil and Slagfid for seven winters before longing for the dark wood and the fate awaiting them, then they donned their swan forms and flew away.”
the ancient sources
- 3The Poetic EddaT1
2 works catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Wayland the Smith: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 2 of 2 works.
Television2
- Robin of SherwoodReference
- The Moon StallionReference
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
2 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Wayland the Smith. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/wayland-the-smith
"Wayland the Smith." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/wayland-the-smith.
"Wayland the Smith." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/wayland-the-smith.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Wayland the Smith embeds here once it publishes.