ottar 79
begged Loki not to take from him. Loki snatched the
ring and put it on his finger. Andvari laid a terrible
curse upon the ring, vowing that anyone who wore it
would be smitten with ill fortune and death.
The eyes of Hreidmar and his sons glittered
greedily when they saw the gold. Odin, Hoenir,
and Loki stuffed the otter’s pelt and then made a
blanket of gold all around the outside of it. Hreidmar
examined it critically, then pointed out a whisker that
was exposed. Odin had seen Andvari’s ring on Loki’s
finger. Loki pulled it off and laid it on the whisker.
Thus was Otr’s ransom paid and the three travel-
ers allowed to go, but not without a parting shot from
Loki. He told Hreidmar that he and his sons were
doomed to ill fortune and death, for that was the
curse of Andvari.
O ttar
The human lover of the goddess Freya.
He built an altar to Freya and offered sacrifices. Freya
helped him win a bet by turning him into her boar,
Hildisvini, and taking him to visit the giantess
and seeress Hyndla. Hyndla revealed that Ottar
was the son of Instein and the priestess Hledis and
that Sigurd, the greatest of Germanic heroes, was
among his ancestors. This story is told in the poem
H yndluljodth .