Gram (mythology)
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Branstock.jpg Template:VölsungIn Norse mythology, Gram was the name of the sword that Sigurd (Siegfried) used to kill the dragon Fafnir. It was forged by Weyland The Smith and originally belonged to his father, Sigmund, who received it in the hall of the Volsung after pulling it out of a log into which Odin had stuck it—nobody else could pull it out. The sword was destroyed and reforged at least once. After it was reforged, it clove an anvil in half. See Sigurd for more details on the story of Siegfried and Fafnir.
In the Nibelungenlied, Siegfried's sword is called Balmung.
Appearances in popular culture
Gram is the name of a sword in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Balmung is also used as the name of a weapon in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, though oddly enough, a sword named Gram is also present in Aria of Sorrow, being redundant. Balmung is also the name of a legendary character in the .hack series. Although in .hack//sign, Balmung's whole name is Balmung of the Azure Skies, there is no direct relation between this and the history of the Balmung. He appears in all of the .hacks, even if he is only mentioned. Gram is an artifact in Valkyrie Profile which is an equipable weapon for one or two-handed swordsmen. In Soul Calibur II Gram is one of Nightmare's (aka Siegfried) extra weapons, misspelled as Glam due to Japanese-to-English translation errors. Also, in Ragnarok Online, the Balmung is disputably the strongest weapon in the game - but is only available to GMs (Game Masters). The sword Balmung also appears as King Alric's magical sword, which shoots forth lightning at all adjacent to it when swung, in the Bungie Studios game Myth II: Soulblighter. In Final Fantasy XI the Balmung drops of the monster Fafnir
In the game Marvel vs. Capcom, the character Strider Hiryu uses an attack known as "Gram", in which he takes an exceptionally long slash with his sword.
In the anime Saint Seiya, The Odin armor has the Balmung sword, that can defeat any god and is the only weapon capable of breaking the Nibelung Ring. Seiya wears this armor once to remove the Nibelung Ring from Hilda, who was possessed by it.da:Gram (sværd) de:Gram (Schwert) es:Gram it:Gramr he:בלמונג ja:グラム (北欧神話) pt:Gram (mitologia) sv:Gram (mytologi)