Fafnir's Bane is a loose retelling of The Saga Of The Volsungs. In the mountains of northwestern Iceland, Sigurd Sigmundarson, a 14-year-old human boy, has lived in a hut with his mysterious dwarven guardian Regin, who works as a blacksmith/farrier and came from the ancient kingdom of Nidavellir (in Mt. Hekla), ever since he was orphaned as a baby. Sigurd is convinced to kill the evil dragon Fafnir in order that his foster father can reclaim the wergild his father was promised for the death of his relatives. When he meets the imprisoned Brynhildur
This work contains examples of the following tropes
- Abusive Parents:
- Signy, Sigurd's aunt and Sigmund's twin sister.
- Regin once slapped Sigurd across the face.
- Action Girl: Brynhildur (Hildur) Also, Gudrun, who trained as a Valkyrie briefly.
- After the End: Set some time after The End of the World as We Know It
- Artificial Human: Hildur, as she is a Valkyrie by birth she is a biorobot created through assembling artificial genomes based on natural ones through synthetic biology and magic, arranging them into chromosomes, growing them into cells, then implanting them in the wombs of surrogate mothers.
- Best Her to Bed Her
- Black Vikings: Sigurd is Black as was his mother Hjordis.
- Brain Uploading: Into Yggdrasil. Also, the Einherjar (special mercenaries named after the original undead warriors) are created this way, by first being brought to Valhalla dead, their souls saved as data which is uploaded into Yggdrasil and then into new immortal cloned bodies created through synthetic biology.
- Demythification: The Valkyries are a combination of combat medical unit who make use of genetic modification and complicated treatments to keep eternal youth.
- Disappeared Dad: Sigurd's biological father was killed in war by a jealous rival. Hildur's birth father Budli is dead.
- Divided States of America: Vinland is the Northern/Midwestern region of the
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Averted. The valkyrie/shieldmaiden Brunilda can cook extremely well despite being a bit more masculine.
- Girl of My Dreams: Sigurd dreams about Hildur three times.
- Happily Adopted: Sigurd with Regin. Also, Hildur with Heimir and Runa.
- Interspecies Adoption: Regin (Dwarf) and Sigurd (human).
- Meaningful Name: Regin means "Counsel-Giver." Sigurdrifa (Brynhildur's Valkyrie nickname) means "victory-bringer". Sigurd's mother's name was Hjordis, meaning "sword-spirit." she was a Valkyrie by status, and possibly also by birth. Sigurd's birth clan name is Volsung. His brother Sinfjotli and Arch-Enemy Lyngvi can transform into a wolf and a dog respectively (Hunding comes from hund, which means dog.)
- MegaCorp: Draupnir Corporation, which is implied to answer to Odin himself.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: The shards of the sword Gram.
- Physical God: Hnikar is Odin.
- Recycled In Space: The Saga Of The Volsungs IN THE FUTURE WITH MAGITEK!
- Shapeshifting: Hildur can shapeshift. So can Sigurd's cousin-brother Sinfjotli
- Stage Mom: Gudrun's mother, Grimhild, an aging Valkyrie/nightclub singer
- In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race: Averted. Everyone is a mix of skin colours and features.
- Tomboyand Girly Girl: Hildur (tomboy) and Gudrun (girly girl)
- Unusual Euphemism: "Shieldmaiden" for "Valkyrie".
- Used Future: Scrap metal is recycled to build practically anything
