Wood carvings of the

Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer

from the portal of
Hylestad stave church, Setesdal, Norway, 12th century


Photo by mararie.

4) Sigurd roasts the heart of the dragon.
The fourth scene, shows Sigurd roasting the heart of the dragon and sucking the dragon blood off his thumb while Ragin appears to sleep. After slaying Fafnir, Regin asks Sigurd to take the dragon's heart and roast it for him. "Regin then lay down, drank Fafnir's blood and went to sleep." Sigurd himself then touched the heart to see if it was cooked, but the boiling blood ran down his hand, scalding him. When he drank the dragon's blood, he was able to hear "the speech of birds." From the birds, which are depicted in the fifth scene, he heard of Regin's plot to kill Sigurd, in "vengeance for his brother."

A larger image of Sigurd roasts the heart of the dragon



Back to the wood carvings from the portal of Hylestad stave church, Setesdal, Norway, 12th century