Loki tarried a little while, and said to Hreidmar and his sons:

"By your greediness and falsehood you have won for yourselves the Curse
of the Earth, which lies before you. It shall be your bane. It shall
be the bane of everyone who holds it. It shall kindle strife between
father and son, between brother and brother. It shall make you mean,
selfish, beastly. It shall transform you into monsters. The noblest
king among men folk shall feel its curse. Such is gold, and such it
shall ever be to its worshippers. And the ring which you have gotten
shall impart to its possessor its own nature. Grasping, snaky, cold,
unfeeling, shall he live; and death through treachery shall be his
doom."

Then he turned away, delighted that he had thus left the curse of
Andvari with Hreidmar and his sons, and hastened northward toward the
sea; for he wished to redeem the promise that he had made to the
Ocean-queen, to bring back her magic net, and to decoy the richly laden
ship into her clutches.

No sooner were the strange huntsmen well out of sight than Fafnir and
Regin began to ask their father to divide the glittering hoard with
them.

"By our strength and through our advice," said they, "this great store
has come into your hands. Let us place it in three equal heaps, and
then let each take his share and go his way."

At this the farmer waxed very angry; and he loudly declared that he
would keep all the treasure for himself, and that his sons should not
have any portion of it whatever. So Fafnir and Regin, nursing their