Sigurd kills the dragon

In this illustration for The Ring of the Nibelungen, Stassen depicts a famous scene that earned Sigurd the nickname Fáfnisbani [killer of the dragon Fafnir]. Sigurd's account appears in several sources, the main ones being the Prose Edda, the Völsunga Saga, (which is classified as a legendary saga), several poems in the Poetic Edda, and, for the Germanic version, in The Song of the Nibelungen. It is also found on a number of runic stones.
According to the Edda poem Fáfnismál, Fafnir was originally a dwarf, having taken the form of a dragon, who watches over his treasure. To rid himself of it, Sigurd digs a ditch in which he hides and waits for the dragon to pass by and strike from beneath with his sword in order to pierce its heart.