Ótr

Overview

Odin, Hœnir and Loki come to a waterfall where an otter eats a salmon with its eyes closed. Loki kills it with a stone and boasts that the throw secured two animals at once. When the travellers seek lodging and display their catch, Hreiðmarr recognises the otter as his son and calls Fáfnir and Reginn to seize the visitors.

The settlement requires the otter skin to be filled with gold and covered completely. Loki obtains Andvari's treasure, including the ring that Odin initially tries to keep. An uncovered hair forces its inclusion in the ransom. Ótr's death thus turns an apparent hunt into a kinship wrong with far-reaching consequences. His role is not that of an unusually large ordinary otter, and his brothers' later forms and actions should not automatically be attributed to him.

In Völsunga saga XIV, Regin identifies Otter as his second brother and describes a daily pattern absent from the Edda’s brief encounter. He is an exceptional fisherman who has an otter’s likeness by day, lives in the river, carries his catch ashore in his mouth and brings it to their father. He generally remains in his otter guise, eats alone and drowses; Regin adds that he cannot see on dry land. The description gives this version a particular bodily limitation and household role, rather than merely an animal name.

The killing occurs at Andvari’s waterfall while Otter eats a salmon. Hreidmar recognises the flayed skin, captures the visitors and sets the complete gold-covering ransom. In this saga account Regin later blames Fafnir alone for killing their father over the compensation, whereas the Edda’s initial account involves both brothers in the murderous purpose. Otter’s death starts the succession dispute, but the different allocation of guilt is preserved as a difference between witnesses. The saga’s fishing routine does not establish that all ordinary otters have human identity.

Origins & earliest records

The selected witness is the Prose Edda's Niflung account, compiled in the early thirteenth century and inspected in Anderson's 1901 edition of his 1879 translation. The same treasure sequence belongs to a broader heroic tradition, but the bibliography here identifies this particular rendering rather than claiming every version has been compared or a first oral origin established.

Records & interpretation

Located Edda and Völsunga saga passages document distinct narrative versions. The saga translation’s edition basis and identified poetic insertions remain distinguished from its prose.

In the literature

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Younger Edda

   Snorri Sturluson; Rasmus B. Anderson, translator · 1901 selected edition; translation first published 1879

   Poetical Diction: The Niflungs and Gjukungs, pp. 193–196. Selected inspected witness; bibliography is not exhaustive.

2. 02

   The Story of the Volsungs, chapters XIV

   Anonymous saga; translated by William Morris and Eiríkr Magnússon · Hosted text based on London, Walter Scott, 1888 edition

   Version compared with Brodeur’s Edda; translator-inserted Reginsmal bird songs explicitly identified for chapter XIX.

3. 03

   The Younger Edda — Poetical Diction, The Niflungs and Gjukungs

   Snorri Sturluson (traditional attribution) · 1901

   Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1901 selected edition; translation copyright 1879 and preface September 1879 appear in the inspected text. Rasmus B. Anderson’s English translation of the medieval Prose Edda, traditionally associated with Snorri Sturluson. The edition preserves different spelling conventions and has its own chapter and numbered-section sequence.

Family, evolution & connections

Textual genealogy: Hreidmar’s three sons in Volsunga saga XIV

The three sons explicitly named and ordered by Regin in chapterXIV.

Preserve the stated father and three sons; retain local links for Fafnir and Otter, with Regin as an external named node. Selected saga-text parentage, not biological phylogeny. Mother and further ancestry are not supplied. Different animal forms do not define a zoological family. Grani’s separate association with Sleipnir’s kin is deliberately excluded because no exact generation is stated.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textAnderson's Younger Edda: Poetical Diction: The Niflungs and Gjukungs, pp. 193–196Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary historical translated literary narrativeMorris and Magnússon: Völsunga saga, chapters XIVResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.