" They came to the treasure chest,
they asked for the keys.
They realized Volund’s skill
when they peered inside.
The boys saw
many ornaments,
all of them made
of gold and gems.
Volund said, “Come back alone,
just you two, the day after tomorrow.
I will give all this
gold to you if you do.
Don’t tell the ladies,
don’t tell the men—
don’t tell anyone at all
that you’re meeting with me.
Early on the appointed day,
one boy said to the other:
“Let’s go see the rings.”
So the two boys came
and asked for the keys.
They realized Volund’s skill
when they peered inside.
He cut off the heads
of those young boys,
he hid their bodies
under his bellows.
But he took their skulls
and scalped them,
set them with silver,
and sent them as cups to Nithuth.
And from the eyes
of those young boys
he made jewels for
their mother. "
― , The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes