One of the goals of our community content is to connect our players to For Honor via the many real world touchstones the game calls upon for inspiration. In this "Tale of Weapons" series of articles, we will explore legendary weapons that are either historical or mythological, which inspire our team's creation of the weapons wielded by the Knights, Vikings and Samurai of For Honor.
In this 6th installment of our Tale of Weapons series, let’s go back to the Vikings faction with Gram (which means “wrath”), a mysterious sword from Norse mythology. Everything about Gram is based on fables and stories, as no information places the weapon in a historical setting. We need to take a look at the Volsunga Saga to understand the sword’s backstory. The Volsunga Saga is an Icelandic tale from the 13th century, written in prose. It tells the story of the Volsung clan and their struggle to defeat other clans and obtain power. Among many tales, the saga features the story of Sigurd defeating the legendary dragon Fafnir. That story gave birth to the legend of Gram, the sword of Sigurd.
Sigurd proofing Gram, by Johannes Gehrts (Public Domain)
Sigurd was a Germanic hero featured in many Norse stories and fables. He is the son of Sigmund, who was killed by none other than the god, Odin, disguised as a warrior under King Lyngi. Odin is a widely revered god associated with healing, death, royalty, the gallows, battle and poetry. He is often pictured with his long beard, his one functional eye and a sorcerer hat. He’s also well known for his own legendary weapon: the Odin’s Spear that may be the topic of a future article.
Odin the Wanderer, by Georg Von Rosen (Public Domain)
According to the legend, Sigmund was at his sister Signy’s wedding, when a strange man appeared carrying a sword. The man thrusted the sword into the Barnstokkr tree that was in the middle of the hall. He said: “The man to pull out this sword from the trunk shall receive it from me as a gift and he will find out for himself that he never bore in hand a better sword than this.” It was then revealed that the mystery man was Odin himself, and this was a test to find the strongest and most honorable warrior in the hall. Every man attempted to pull the sword out of the tree, but Sigmund was the only one able to do it, very easily. King Siggeir offered Sigmund a lot of gold in exchange of the sword, an offer Sigmund always refused, making Siggeir very angry and secretly plotting against him.
Sigurd slaying the dragon Fafnir, from Old Norse Stories (Public Domain)
Sigmund fought multiple battles with Gram until it was broken during his final battle with Odin. His wife kept the two remaining parts of the blade for years, and offered it to her son Sigurd who was training with the dwarven smith Regin. And that’s where Viking mythology meets the Japanese culture, as Sigurd performed the same test as seen in our Honjo Masamune article, by throwing a piece a wool up a stream, and waiting for the piece to be sliced through by the blade. Just like his father, Sigurd fought a lot of successful battles with the sword, which granted him luck and power.
After the epic battle with the dragon Fafnir, there is no more appearance of the sword in literature. The story, dates and names differ depending on the sources, but Gram was a widely celebrated tale in the Norse mythology. Today, an old runestone in Sweden dating from more than 1000 years depicts the story of Sigurd killing the dragon with Gram.
Old runestone in Sweden – Sigurd killing the dragon with Gram (Source unknown)
