Hreiðmarr

In the Völsunga/Prose Edda narratives summarized by modern sources, Hreiðmarr is a dwarf who fathered Regin, Fafnir and Ótr (and daughters Lyngheiðr and Lofnheiðr). After his son Ótr was accidentally killed by Loki, the Æsir compensated Hreiðmarr with Andvari's gold and the ring Andvaranaut. The ring carried a curse placed by Andvari; Hreiðmarr kept the ring despite warnings, and was later killed by his sons Fafnir and Regin over the treasure. Fafnir subsequently took the hoard and guarded it until he became a dragon and was slain by Sigurd.

The supplied sources give no physical description of Hreiðmarr himself. Textual summaries record his social position and possessions: he is described as owning a house "of glittering gold and flashing gems" built by his son Regin and initially guarded by his son Fafnir, but the primary materials do not supply bodily or anthropomorphic detail for Hreiðmarr.

As attested in the cited summaries, Hreiðmarr is presented as a dwarf—a mythic being associated in Norse literature with craft and treasure—but the available sources do not attribute specific supernatural powers, crafts, or magical abilities to him beyond his ownership of the hoard (Andvari's gold and the ring Andvaranaut). His narrative role is chiefly as possessor of cursed wealth whose retention of the ring precipitates familial betrayal and murder.