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by Ryan Tuccinardi

A sorcelled ring of Norse mythology, andvaranaut seeks out gold and was the possession of Andvari, until Loki stole it. Andvari hexed the ring and into gave bad luck and pain to all who beheld it. Loki gave the ring, which he regretted stealing by now, to King Hreidmar of the dwarves, as reparation for the murder of Otter, Hreidmar's son, accidentally. When Fafnir killed Hreidmar, he took the ring.

Wagner told the story of the ring in his famous operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, which charts the progression of the ring from Andvari to the end, showing the endless stream of misfortunes that befalls those who hold the beautiful ring.

Some have said that andvaranaut is the basis for the modern urban legend about the Hope diamond, which is also beautiful and worth a fortune, but is said to bring pain and misfortune to all who hold it.