Editing Tyrfing (section)

== The Tyrfing Cycle ==
[[Svafrlami]] was the king of [[Gardariki]], and [[Odin]]'s grandson. He managed to trap the [[Dwarf (Norse mythology)|dwarfs]] [[Dvalinn]] and [[Durinn]] when they had left the rock where they dwelt. Then he forced them to forge a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes.

The dwarfs made the sword, and it shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge they cursed it so that it would kill a man every time it was drawn and that it would be the cause of three great evils. They finally cursed it so that it would also kill Svafrlami himself.

When Svafrlami heard the curses he tried to slay Dvalinn, but the dwarf disappeared into the rock and though the sword was driven deep into it, it missed its intended victim.

Svafrlami wielded the sword and achieved many victories with it, until he faced the [[berserker]] [[Arngrim]]. When he struck at Arngrim, he cut through his opponent's shield, burying the sword in the ground. Arngrim then cut off the king's hand, took the sword and killed Svafrlami with it, accomplishing the dwarfs' curse.

Arngrim took Svafrlami's daughter as his wife and had a son [[Angantyr]] and eleven other brothers. He passed the sword to Angantyr. Later, Angantyr wished to marry [[Yngvi and Alf#Hervarar Saga and the Saga of Orvar-Odd|Ingeborg, daughter of Yngvi]]. However, Yngvi said Ingeborg should choose who she would marry, and she chose the Swedish champion [[Hjalmar]]. In a rage, Angantyr challenged him to a duel. Angantyr and his brothers were thus all slain at [[Samsø]] by Hjalmar and his Norwegian sworn brother [[Orvar-Odd]]; but Hjalmar, being wounded by Tyrfing, has only time to sing his death-song before he dies, and asks Orvar-Odd to bring his body to his beloved back at [[Gamla Uppsala|Uppsala]]. Ingeborg fell down dead at the sight, and so Tyrfing completed its first evil deed.

Angantyr had married another woman ([[Tofa (Poetic Edda)|Tófa]]) between issuing his challenge and his death, and through her had a daughter [[Hervor]]. Hervor was brought up as a bond-servant, and inherited her father's prowess in combat. Upon learning of her parentage, she armed herself as a [[shieldmaiden]], and travelled to Munarvoe in [[Samsø]] in an attempt to recover her father's weapon. There she visited her father's burial mound and spoke with the ghost of the dead man, who warned her Tyrfing would bring ill-fortune to her descendants. She then counters her father by threatening him with the "curse of annihilation" if he keeps the sword, saying that he and his brothers "shall waste away as in an anthill," and that it was "not fitting that the dead should hold such a precious weapon."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ellis Davidson |first=H. R. |date=1960 |title=The Sword at the Wedding |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1258785 |journal=Folklore |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=14–15 |jstor=1258785 }}</ref> At this, Angantyr relents and gives Hervor his sword willingly, wishing luck and valor upon her. Hervor used the sword in various adventures, and eventually would marry King Gudmund's son, Höfund. Together they had two sons, Heidrek and Angantyr (the second). Hervor gave Heidrek the sword Tyrfing in secret. While Angantyr and Heidrek walked, Heidrek showed Angantyr the sword. Since he had unsheathed it, the curse the dwarfs had put on the sword made Heidrek kill his brother Angantyr. This was the second of Tyrfing's three evil deeds.

[[Heidrek]] became king of the Goths by slaying the previous king Harold. During a voyage, Heidrek camped at the Carpathians (Harvaða fjöllum, cf. [[Grimm's law]]). There, he defeated a disguised [[Odin]] in a game of [[riddle]]s. Heidrek was accompanied by a number of [[thrall]]s, and due to Odin's anger that night they entered his tent and slew him in his sleep, the third and final of Tyrfing's evil deeds. Heidrek's son, also named [[Angantyr]] (the third), caught and killed the thralls and reclaimed the magic sword, finally satisfying the dwarfs' curse.

[[Angantyr]] was the next king of the Goths, but his illegitimate half-Hun brother [[Hlod]] (or Hlöd, Hlöðr) wanted half of the kingdom. Angantýr refused, and [[Gizur]] called Hlod a bastard and his mother a slave-girl. Hlod and 343,200 mounted Huns invaded the Goths (See [[The Battle of the Goths and Huns]]), killing Angantyr's sister. Angantyr raised an army to face Hlod, but the Huns greatly outnumbered the Goths.  The Goths won because Angantyr used Tyrfing to slay Hlod on the battlefield. The bodies of the numerous warriors choked the rivers, causing a flood which filled the valleys with dead men and horses.