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EveryJaadu

Helm of Awe

In its own language: Ǿgishjalmr

Old Norse œgir, from agi, 'awe, fear and reverence', with hjálmr, 'helmet'

A feared helm of Norse myth, and a name for an Icelandic stave

Legendary

The Helm of Awe, or Helm of Terror, belongs to Norse mythology, where it is tied to the hoard that the worm Fáfnir guards and is taken by Sigurðr in Völsunga saga. In Iceland the same name, Ægishjálmur, belongs to a magical stave of modern times.

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  • An object of Norse myth, tied to the hoard that the worm Fáfnir guards.
  • In Völsunga saga, Sigurðr takes a helm called Ægishjálmur from Fáfnir's hoard.
  • Reginsmál gives the helm to Fáfnir and says all living creatures feared it.
  • Fáfnismál, in the Poetic Edda, names the object the Fear-helm.
  • Ægishjálmur is also the Icelandic name of a magical stave of modern times.

What it is

The Helm of Awe, also called the Helm of Terror, belongs to Norse mythology. In the stories it is bound up with the hoard that the worm Fáfnir guards, and Völsunga saga places a physical helm of this name among the items Sigurðr takes after killing the worm. Reginsmál gives the helm to Fáfnir and says that every living creature feared it. Fáfnismál, part of the Poetic Edda, calls it the Fear-helm. The same name, Ægishjálmur in Icelandic, is also that of a magical stave known in modern Iceland.

Where it comes from

The helm appears in three medieval texts. Völsunga saga tells how Sigurðr takes the helm from the hoard of the worm Fáfnir after killing him. The prose of Reginsmál gives the helm to Fáfnir. Fáfnismál, in the Poetic Edda, calls the object the Fear-helm and returns to it in later stanzas. The word later named a magical stave in Iceland, a use of the name that belongs to modern times.

Helm of Awe, drawn and placed

Emblem With the eye shape. Drawn from this page, not a photograph.
  1. Living
  2. Revived
  3. Fading
  4. Historical
  5. Legendary
  6. Performed
Standing: Legendary Known from myth, story and legend rather than from recorded practice. This says whether people still do it, not whether it works.
An eye: in this guide it stands for protection against envy and the evil eye, a belief found from the Mediterranean to South Asia.
Lineage
Norse mythology
Where it sits The tradition it belongs to, and when it is done.

How scholars and sceptics see it

Alessia Bauer and Alexandra Pesch record that the compound is commonly read as a helmet of awe, or of terror. The first element, œgir, is glossed as 'one who frightens' and traced to agi, meaning awe, fear and reverence. The second, hjálmr, means helmet. Beyond the name, discussion rests on the medieval texts that mention the object: Völsunga saga, Reginsmál and Fáfnismál.

Compare and confuse

Two things carry this name. One is the helm of Norse myth, listed among the treasures of Fáfnir's hoard. The other is a magical stave of modern Iceland. The Old Norse form of the word is Ǿgishjalmr and the Icelandic form is Ægishjálmur; the Fáfnismál rendering in English is Fear-helm. It is also called the Helm of Terror.

Rites that involve Helm of Awe

Icelandic galdrastafir

Questions people ask about Helm of Awe

What is the Helm of Awe?

It is a helm of Norse mythology, bound to the hoard that the worm Fáfnir guards. In Völsunga saga, Sigurðr carries it off after killing the worm. The same word names a magical stave used in Iceland in modern times.

Where does it come from?

It is known from three medieval texts: Völsunga saga, Reginsmál and Fáfnismál, the last part of the Poetic Edda. The word is Old Norse, and the modern stave that shares the name is Icelandic.

What does the name mean?

Old Norse œgir, which is traced to agi, carries the sense of awe, fear and reverence; hjálmr means helmet. Alessia Bauer and Alexandra Pesch record that the compound is commonly read as a helmet of awe, or of terror.

Whose helm is it in the myth?

In the prose of Reginsmál the helm belongs to Fáfnir, and all living creatures are said to have feared it. In Völsunga saga it is one of the items Sigurðr takes from the worm's hoard.

Is it the same as the Icelandic stave?

Two things share one name. One is the helm of Norse myth, taken from Fáfnir's hoard; the other is a magical stave used in Iceland in modern times, called Ægishjálmur.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Helm of Awe", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryJaadu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Names and customs differ from one community to the next, and some knowledge is closed to outsiders and left out here. This page describes belief and practice. It does not say that any of it works, it is not a how-to, and it is not medical advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.

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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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