sures in one glittering heap; and he
clothed himself in a wondrous mail-coat of gold that was found among
them, and he put on the Helmet of Dread, which had once been the terror
of the mid-world, and the like of which no man had ever seen; and then
he gazed with greedy eyes upon the fateful ring, until he, too, was
changed into a cold and slimy reptile,--a monster dragon. And he coiled
himself about the hoard; and, with his restless eyes forever open, he
gloated day after day upon his loved gold, and watched with ceaseless
care that no one should come near to despoil him of it. This was ages
and ages ago; and still he wallows among his treasures on the Glittering
Heath, and guards as of yore the garnered wealth of Andvari.[EN#10]

When I, Regin, the younger brother, came back in the late evening to my
father's dwelling, I saw that the treasure had been carried away; and,
when I beheld the dead serpent lying in its place, I knew that a part of
Andvari's curse had been fulfilled. And a strange fear came over me; and
I left every thing behind me, and fled from that dwelling, never more
to return. Then I came to the land of the Volsungs, where your father's
fathers dwelt, the noblest king-folk that the world has ever seen. But
a longing for the gold and the treasure, a hungry yearning, that would
never be satisfied, filled my soul. Then for a time I sought to forget
this craving. I spent my days in the getting of knowledge and in
teaching men-folk the ancient lore of my kin, the Dwarfs. I taught them
how to plant and to sow, and to reap the yellow grain. I showed them
where the precious metals of the earth lie hidden, and how to smelt iron
from its ores,--how to shape the ploughshare and the spade, the spear
and the battle-axe. I taught them how to tame the wild horses of the
meadows, and how to train the yoke-beasts to the plough; how to build
lordly dwellings and mighty strongholds, and how to sail in ships across
old AEgir's watery kingdom. But they gave me no thanks for what I had
done; and as the years went by they forgot who had been their teacher,
and they said that it was Frey who had given them this knowledge and
skill. And I taught the young maidens how to spin and weave, and
to handle the needle deftly,--to make rich garments, and to work in
tapestry and embroidery. But they, too, forgot me, and said that it was
Freyja who had taught them. Then I showed men how to read the mystic
runes aright, and how to make the