Völund smith true meaning

The True Meaning of Völund, The Smith.

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In Norse mythology, Völund (also known as Wayland the Smith) is a legendary craftsman and blacksmith. His story is told in the Völundarkviða. He is considered to be one of the most skilled and celebrated smiths in all of mythology.

According to popular and modern interpretations, Völund is an iconic figure in Norse mythology, representing the power and skill of the craftsman and the enduring human desire for freedom and revenge in the face of oppression.

But what is this story about? Is it about oppression?

In norse mythology, the male is the spirit of the Seeker, similar to wands in tarot. The feminine is often a symbol of the soul of the seeker, especially if they have mead (cups). When Völund and his two brothers come across three valkyries swimming in the stream of water, it represents marriage between the male and feminine within the Seeker.

The hero of the story goes on a vision quest. A vision quest is when the Seeker goes deep within themselves to experience sacred marriage with the divine. They accomplished this by connecting to the part of their soul that is connected to the divine. In all norse myths, this part of the Seeker is maiden with mead.

Precious mead is the Divine Essence in all things, and it creates lasting changes in the Seeker. The hero of the story often has to kill off several characters. This is a symbol of ego death in the face of the Divine Essence. In Skaldskapermal, Gillingr whose name means Son of Screamer is killed. Son of Screamer represents generational pain and harm that does not survive the vision quest.

Old Norse Myths are Vision quests. This story is the vision quests of the elf Völund. The hero of the story is a symbol of the Seeker, yes, that means you and me. So you and me are in this story called Völund and every character is a part of our psyche.

Völund and his two brothers, Egil (terror) and Slagfiðr (battle fin), come across three valkyries. The Valkyries names are Olrun (leash secret), Alvit (all knowing), and Svanhvit (white swan). The Valkyries were known to fly to earth in swan plumage. When they came to a secluded stream they threw off their swan feathers and bathed in the stream. The 3 brothers stole their feathers and took the valkyries as their wives.

The valkyries remained with their husbands for 9 years, and by the end of this time, they had recovered their plumage which effected their escape.

The brothers took the loss of their wives very hard and two of them, Egil and Slagfinn, went in search of them. Völund on the other hand remained at home. He found solace in the ring which his wife Alvit had given him as a love token. He was a very clever smith and manufactured 700 rings exactly like the one which his wife had given him. Then he bound them all together.

One night, he discovered that someone had taken one ring, leaving the others behind. This gave him hope as he thought his wife had been there and would return for good.

King Niðhad (King downstairs)

king Niðhad

That night, Völund was surprised in his sleep as he was bound and taken prisoner by the King Niðhad. Niðhad’s name means downstairs. He represents the subconscious of the Seeker. Now Völund is bound, similar to the hanging ritual we often see in the Norse myths.

The hanging ritual was our Norse ancestors way of saying to us that we often bypass the vision quest. Now we call it spiritual bypassing. They told us that they knew it is difficult to face ourselves. Unless we are hanging our bound up, most of us will run away. But our problems and fears are not unique and understanding the hanging ritual in this context, they aimed to minimise the hurdles to our vision quest. I also believe the hanging ritual is a metaphor for the famous red and white shroom which our ancestors used. This shroom induces sleep paralysis. In Odin’s case, he is hanging on Yggdrasil. During his vision quest, he achieves what the yogi’s call the breathless state. You can read more about Odin and his true meaning here.

Despite his captivity, Völund remained defiant and plotted his revenge. He fashioned a pair of wings similar to those his wife used as a Valkyrie. One day Niðhad asked him to repair a stolen sword that had magical abilities. Völund cleverly substituted another weapon identical to the magical sword. A few days later, Völund tricked the king’s sons into his smithy where he slew them. He fashioned drinking vessels from their skulls and jewels out of their eyes.

The killing of characters in Norse myths is a common metaphor for ego death.

The royal family accepted the gifts joyfully, and believed the sons had drifted out to sea and drowned.

The King’s daughter, Böðvildr (brave one), visited the smith to have her ring repaired. The reintroduction of the ring symbolises Alvit (his soul) who gave him a ring, is back. (A similar clever metaphor is used in Grímnismál when Agnar who ended up living in a cave with an ogre is reintroduced as Geirrod’s son, offering mead to Odin.)

While Böðvildr waited, she unsuspectedly partook of a magic drug (precious mead) and Völund impregnates her (divine union).

Völund grasped his sword and flew with the wings he made himself to Niðhad’s throne where he tells him what he did to his sons. He also tells the king he has impregnated his daughter. The King says, ‘You couldn’t have told me anything worse and now you are so high that no-one on horseback can reach you and no-one could shoot you down’.

Völund flying high is a symbol of coming out of the vision quest, similar to when Odin flies high as an eagle after being with Gunlod to receive Mead of Poetry.

The king summoned Egil, Völund brother, to shoot Völund with his archery. Obeying a sign from Völund, Egil aimed and hit a protuberance under Völund’s wing where a bladder full of the young princes’ blood was concealed. The smith escaped triumphantly without hurt. This symbolises that the true character can not be hurt, even though several other characteristics are killed off during the vision quest.

Völund went to Alfheim where he found his beloved wife and lived out his life happily (lasting change in character).

What does Völund’s name means?

Völund means the Land Of The Path, indicating the importance of the vision quest.

Our ancestors believed the Vision Quest could save a life. They believed union with the deepest part of ourselves and have sacred marriage with divine essence was the only thing that would create a permanent change in character.

The Goddess of the Underworld is called Hella meaning Holy.

Goddess Hella is our subconscious and she has a hall called Misery, a bed called Sorrow, a Knife called Greed, and a Man called Idleness. The holiest journey we can be on is investigating our own subconscious to find out why we have negative traits, to merge with the divine, and to learn that our ‘false’ self will die, but our true selves can’t be harmed.

The true meaning of Völund

The true meaning of Völund is that your true self survives and only your false self will die. This is clear when you understand that the hero of the story is on a vision quest deep within himself.