The Search for Gram Read Free

Smith?”
    “Wayland the Smith?” Calvin asked. “No, I can’t say I have.”
    The Aesir looked disappointed. “Has your race forgotten its savior so soon? We remember him, even if you do not. How about Beowulf and Grendel? Can I at least start there?”
    “I’ve heard of Beowulf,” replied Calvin. Captain Sheppard also nodded his head. “I had to read that book in high school. I don’t remember the story very well, but I think Beowulf was the hero of the story. Didn’t he kill Grendel for some Norse king?”
    “King Hrothgar of Denmark,” agreed the Aesir. “Go on.”
    “Umm...I’m kind of hazy after that,” Calvin said. “I think Grendel’s kid then came after him, and Beowulf killed the kid too. After that, Beowulf lived happily ever after. Is that close?”
    “Not really,” said the Aesir. “Beowulf actually killed Grendel’s mother in her underwater lair with a sword the legends say was ‘forged for a giant.’ After he killed the two monsters, the countryside was free again, and he retired to a life of luxury.”
    “OK,” said Calvin. “You obviously know more about him than I do. I didn’t even know he was a real person. I thought it was just a story. What does that have to do with Gram?”
    “Wayland the Smith made the armor worn by Beowulf,” said the Aesir, “and was responsible for re-forging the sword Beowulf used to kill Grendel’s mother. I know this to be a fact because Wayland and Beowulf were the same person. Wayland was an Aesir who lived on your planet. When he saw the need, he became the hero, Beowulf, in order to kill Grendel for King Hrothgar.”
    “What was Wayland or Beowulf, or whatever his name was, doing on our planet?” asked Captain Sheppard. “Was he watching out for us?”
    “No, nothing like that,” replied the Aesir. “He was one of our warriors, who retired to your planet after a life of combat. He had always been fascinated with the art of sword-making, so he retired to a planet as far away from society as he could in order to pursue that art. It was nothing more than serendipity that he was nearby when Grendel began terrorizing the local populace.”
    “Did he change his name to Gram afterward?” asked Calvin, still not seeing where the whole conversation was going.
    “No, he went back to being the sword-maker Wayland,” replied the Aesir. “In addition to the sword used to kill Grendel, Wayland made a number of other swords, including many named swords with famous histories. One of these was ‘Gram,’ which was the sword of Sigmund.”
    “So you need a sword?” asked Calvin.
    “Not exactly,” said the Aesir. “Gram had a long history, including being used by Sigmund's son Sigurd to slay the dragon Fafnir. We are once again beset by dragons, although I use the term ‘dragon’ not as a living creature, but as a metaphor for something so big and monstrous that it will take someone of supernatural abilities to defeat it. We need a new Gram to help us defeat our dragon. You are the new Gram we have been searching for.”
    “I’m your sword?” asked Calvin.
    “Metaphorically speaking, yes,” said the Aesir, happy to finally be making some progress. “The divination we conducted indicated we needed the reborn Gram.”
    “How exactly is a sword reborn?” Calvin asked. “You want me to reforge this sword?”
    “No,” said the Aesir, shaking his head. “We want you. When Wayland first forged his swords, he incorporated the essence of a hero into each. Over time, when the swords were broken, the life essences escaped them. We believe your essence is the same essence he used when he forged Gram.”
    Calvin barked out a laugh. “That’s not possible,” he said, looking at Steropes. “According to Steropes, I was too busy being Zeus to be hanging out in a sword...unless the Psiclopes were wrong.” 
    “Actually, that explains a lot,” said Steropes. “There was a period when we were unable to find the hero spirit that we believe