---
title: Wayland the Smith
author: The Trustees of the British Museum
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/13487/wayland-the-smith/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 1970-01-01
---

# Wayland the Smith

_Authored by The Trustees of the British Museum_

## Image File

[![Wayland the Smith](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/13487.jpg)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/13487.jpg)

## Image Caption

Close-up of the front panel of the [Franks](https://www.worldhistory.org/Franks/) Casket, Auzon, France, 8th century CE.

The British Museum, London.

This part of the casket features an Anglo-[Saxon](https://www.worldhistory.org/Saxons/) depiction of the Wayland (Volund) legend. Wayland is depicted next to his forge and tools, with the decapitated body of one of King Niðhad’s sons before him. He is offering a goblet fashioned from the skull to a woman, probably the king’s daughter, Bodvild. The second female figure is either an attendant or Bodvild again.

The male figure on the right side is either Wayland or one of his brothers. He is strangling geese to collect feathers for a flying machine.

## Cite This Work

### APA
Museum, T. T. o. t. B. (2021, February 26). Wayland the Smith. *World History Encyclopedia*. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/13487/wayland-the-smith/>
### Chicago
Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Wayland the Smith." *World History Encyclopedia*, February 26, 2021. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/13487/wayland-the-smith/>.
### MLA
Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Wayland the Smith." *World History Encyclopedia*, 26 Feb 2021, <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/13487/wayland-the-smith/>.

## License & Copyright

The British Museum has released this image under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International ([CC BY-NC-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)) license. You can read more about the British Museum and Creative Commons [here](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/terms_of_use/copyright_and_permissions.aspx). [Original image](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1867-0120-1) by [**The Trustees of the British Museum**](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1867-0120-1). Submitted by [Irina-Maria Manea](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/irinamaria.manea/ "User Page: Irina-Maria Manea"), published on 26 February 2021. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.