The Tale of Sigurd is a famous Viking story that mainly focuses on the adventure and tragedy of the hero Sigurd. The tale dates back to the Eleventh Century, and has its roots deep in Viking culture. Despite the common perception of Vikings being barbaric and illiterate, this story sheds light on our understanding of Viking culture, revealing that they were more than blood-thirsty sea raiders. Since the story was quite famous, it produced influence on many later pieces of work. By drawing comparisons, we can evaluate the influence it had on other stories.

One typical example of such works is the Dragon of the north, a well-known Estonian fairy tale, which tells a story of magic, dragon-slaying, love and revenge. In the story, with help from a good magician, an evil witch, and a magic ring, the Youth of the tale is able to kill the dragon and marry the princess. However, the evil witch soon seeks revenge for the wrong the Youth did to her by stealing her magic ring. After being captured by the evil witch, the Youth is eventually rescued by the good magician. Then the Youth and the princess lived happily ever after as King and Queen.

From the text, we can detect many similarities between the two stories, apparently the result of the influence Sigurd had on it. They share the plot elements of dragon-slaying, understanding bird language, betrayal, marrying a princess and so on.

There is also a magical ring as an important prop in the Dragon of the North, just as in Sigurd. In the latter story, the ring, a symbol of trust, is a key to marrying the princess, but it also carries with it a curse that brings bad fortune to possessor. In the Dragon of the North, the ring brings great power and knowledge, even powerful enough to bring down the monstrous dragon that had been plaguing the kingdom for many years. By deciphering and reading the text inscribed on the ring, one shall be able to acquire divine wisdom, just as the good magician does in the story. However, this ring is also responsible for the suffering of the youth. It is seen by the maiden-witch as a symbol of the youth’s betrayal of her as he had tricked her out of the ring. She punishes the youth heavily for the theft, causing him to suffer in a remote mountain cave for seven years. Comparing the two rings in the two works, we can see that in Viking culture, rings are often associated with magical powers or curses, and that they usually are significant in both meaning and use.

Another interesting element in these stories is bird language. From ancient times, humans have been trying to learn the language of birds and beasts as a way of having better understanding of their environment and the world. In the ancient Egyptian tale of Se-Osiris, for example, a learned scribe understands immediately the words of the birds after reading the sacred text the Book of Thoth. Back to our two tales, learning bird language appears in both of them. In Sigurd, our hero learns the tongue of the birds simply by having a taste of the dragon’s blood. With the birds’ help, he then discovers Regin’s plot against him and saves himself. Similarly, in the Dragon of the North, under the guidance of the birds, the youth finds his way to the maiden-witch and the powerful ring. This kind of scenario is typically Norse, illustrating the close and special relation between man and nature. The Norse god Odin in Norse mythology, for one, has two ravens as pets whose role is to fly around the world and retrieve knowledge on people, places, and subject matter. This link between nature and mankind is certainly part of the Viking impact that has its origin in Sigurd.

As is mentioned in the title the Dragon of the North, the story features dragon-slaying. Dragons, as often depicted in Norse and other stories, are the source of evil and destruction. Thus, slaying dragons is considered an act of bravery, and is often used to portray heroes such as Sigurd and “the youth”. What we can learn from such portrayal of heroes is that Vikings valued courage as well as knowledge. All this can also be considered as an influence Sigurd made on the Dragon of the North.

From the connections between the stories, we may arrive at the conclusion that the Viking tale of Sigurd had produced a significant impact on this Estonian tale. Human-nature relations, braveness, as well as symbols of powerful rings all mark Norse influence, and show us that the Norsemen who created these works certainly had good knowledge of the surrounding world, and that they were brilliant creators as well.

Works Cited

J?rv, R. (1999). "Vale-Jüri kiusatus. Valekangelasest ""Lohetapja"" (AT 300) p?hjal. Lohetapja". VI: Noorte folkloristide konverents Tartu; 1998. Toim. Hiiem?e, M.; Oras, J.; Tamm, K. Tartu, 52?69. (Pro folkloristica; 6).

Lang, A, ed. The Yellow Fairy Book. Longmans, 1894

?“Odin’s Ravens.” Gods-and-Goddesses, 2021, https://www.gods-and-goddesses.com/norse/odins-ravens/. Accessed 10 March 2023.

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