Wayland
THE SMITH, a hero of German saga; was originally a kind of demi-god in popular mythology, with of identity with Greek Hephæstus and Dædalus. He was son of the sea giant Wade, a nephew of King Wilkinus, and was first bound apprentice to the famous smith Mimir. Then he was carried across the sea to the dwarfs, whom he soon surpassed in their own science. He dwelt a long time in Ulfdaler along with his two brothers, Eigil, the best archer, and Slagfidr, and here they met three swan maidens, with whom they lived for seven years, till these flew away to follow battles as Walkyries. Afterward Wayland came to King Nidung, who cut the sinews of his feet and put him in prison, for which he revenged himself by putting the king's two sons to death, and violating his daughter Baduhild, who afterward gave birth to Wittich. Wayland then flew away in a feather robe, which he himself manufactured, and which his brother Eigil had tried first, only to be precipitated to the ground. The legend is often alluded to in Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, English, and German poems, and even old French poems tell of Galant the smith. Wayland Smith's cave, a two-chambered megalithic monument, near the White Horse in Berkshire, England, is immortalized in "Kenilworth."