That while he dwelt there, and after he had finished the sword, he was robbed of it (Loptr rúinn fyr nágrindr nedan);
That he or they who robbed him of it must have been closely related to Nat and the night dises, for the sword was thereafter in the keeping of the night-being Sinmara;
That she regarded it as exceedingly precious, and also dangerous if it came into improper hands, since she keeps it in a "tough iron chest" beneath nine magical locks;
That the eleven guards that dwell in the same castle with Menglad regard it as of the greatest importance to get the sword within their castle wall;
That it has qualities like no other weapon in the world: this sword, and it alone, can kill the golden cock on the world-tree—a quality which seems to indicate that it threatens the existence of the world and the gods.
It is evident that the artist who made this incomparable and terrible weapon was one of the most celebrated smiths in mythology. The question now is, whether the information given us by Fjölsvinnsmal in regard to him is sufficient to enable us to determine with certainty who he is.
The poem does not name him by any of his names, but calls him by the Loke-epithet Loptr, "the airy." Among the ancient smiths mentioned in our mythic fragments there is one who refers to himself with the epithet Byrr, "Wind," suggesting to us the same person—this one is Volund. After he in his sleep had been made prisoner by Mimer-Nidadr and his Njarians (see No. 87), he says when he awakes:
Hverir 'ro iofrar
their er a laugdo
besti Byr síma
oc mic bundo?
"Who are the mighty, who with bonds (besti, dative of böstr) bound the wind (laugdo sima a Byr) and fettered me?" The expression implies that it is as easy to bind the wind as Volund. He was also able to secure his liberty again in spite of all precautions.