This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
| “ | THAT'S the idea! You gotta overpopulate his senses, see? And I got just the thing in mind to help you do it. Sindri - go get Draupnir! | ” |
–Brok | ||
Draupnir is an enchanted ring created by the Huldra Brothers Brok and Sindri for the Aesir god Odin.
Norse Mythology[]
Draupnir (Old Norse: [ˈdrɔupnez̠], "the dripper") is a gold ring or arm-ring possessed by the god Odin with the ability to multiply itself: Every ninth night, eight new rings 'drip' from Draupnir, each one of the same size and weight as the original.
Draupnir was forged by the dwarven brothers Brokkr and Eitri (or Sindri). the two made this ring as one of a set of three gifts which included Mjöllnir and Gullinbursti. They made these gifts in accordance with a bet Loki made saying that Brokkr and Eitri could not make better gifts than those made by the Sons of Ivaldi. In the end, Mjöllnir, Thor's hammer, won the contest for Brokkr and Eitri. Loki then cleverly used a loophole to get out of the wager for his head (the wager was for Loki's head only, but he argued that, to remove his head, they would have to injure his neck, which was not in the bargain) and Brokkr punished him by sealing his lips shut.
The ring was placed by Odin on the funeral pyre of his son Baldr:
Odin laid upon the pyre the gold ring called Draupnir; this quality attended it: that every ninth night there fell from it eight gold rings of equal weight. (from the Gylfaginning).
The ring was subsequently retrieved by Hermóðr. and was offered as a gift by Freyr's servant Skírnir in the wooing of Gerðr, which is described in the poem Skírnismál.
God of War: Ragnarök[]
History[]
Made by the Huldra Brothers as an attempt to curry more favor with Odin and the Aesir, they enchanted it with the particularity to duplicate itself every ninth night, creating an additional eight rings ad infinitum, though it is noted that these copies have no real value compared to the original. When they did not receive the expected recognition, Sindri and Brok secretly took the ring back, for which Odin blamed Mimir for losing it, though the advisor said he knew nothing.
God of War: Ragnarök[]
Years later, the Greek god of war Kratos sought to find a weapon he could use to defeat the Aesir god Heimdall to prevent him from killing his son Atreus as he was fated to. Brok suggested Draupnir as an option and had Sindri pick out the original from the massive stockpile of copies they had been using as scrap material for their forging. Together with Brok, Kratos brought the ring to the Lady of the Forge, who used a mystical forging process to combine it, a spear head, and a drop of Kratos' godly blood, creating the Draupnir Spear, a weapon harnessing the ring's duplicative enchantment along with powerful wind magic, which Kratos would put to use throughout the leadup to Ragnarök, notably fulfilling its intended purpose in being used to defeat and kill Heimdall in Vanaheim.
Trivia[]
- A scale replica of Draupnir is included as a collectible in the Jötnar Edition of God of War: Ragnarök.
Gallery[]
