K38f3. Strike from a hole with a sword. 29.31.

To kill the dragon, the hero digs a hole and hides in it. When a dragon crawls nearby or above a hole, the hero strikes him fatally with a sword.

Kabardian people, "Elder Edda", "Younger Edda", "The Wölsung Saga".

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kabardian people [killed old people; Kaza's three sons hid him in a coffin; the dragon wants to seize the source of the river; K. tests sons; only the youngest Khatokshuko cut the crossbar in the house with a sword; father : "You can kill a dragon. Go quietly dig a hole, and the dragon won't hear: he's deaf. Hide in the hole. When the dragon crawls past that hole, go up quickly and punch the dragon in the neck. Just don't get excited, be calm. If you hit it properly, my old sword will remove the dragon's head. My sword is maize {high quality steel}"; the next day H. did as his father ordered; the dragon was killed; H. came to the village and said that he followed his father's instructions; since then, old people have not been killed]: Sokolov, Broydo 1936:106-108.

Baltoscandia. Elder Edda (The Speeches of Fafnir) ["Sigurd and Regin went to Gnitaheid and found the trail of Fafnir he left when he crawled to the watering hole. Sigurd dug a large hole near the trail and sat in it. And when Fafnir crawled from the treasure, he spewed poison, and the poison fell on Sigurd's head. And as Fafnir crawled over the hole, Sigurd stabbed his sword into his heart. Fafnir started shaking and started hitting his head and tail. Sigurd jumped out of the hole and they saw each other"; F. asked S. about his origins; S. did not give his name; R., who returned, carved F.'s heart; S. began to fry it on a stick; then touched it he burned himself and put his finger to his mouth; when blood from his heart hit his tongue, he began to understand birds' speech; after overhearing what the tits were talking about, he cut off R.'s head; then he tasted F.'s heart, found his lair and treasures] : Elder Edda 1963:104-108 {comment by MI Steblin-Kamensky (Elder Edda 1963:238) on Regina's Speeches, Fafnir's Speeches and Sigrdriva's Speeches: "These tales are of South German origin <... > By- Apparently, all three songs contain elements from various antiquities (from the 10th to the 12th century)"}; Younger Edda (The Language of Poetry) ["Then Sigurd and Regin went to Gnitaheid Pole. Sigurd dug a hole on Fafnir's trail and settled in it. And when Fafnir crawled to the water and found himself above that hole, Sigurd pierced him with his sword, and Fafnir died. Regin then came up and said that Sigurd had killed his brother and demanded that he take out Fafnir's heart and fry it on fire. And Regin bent down and, after drinking Fafnir's blood, went to bed. And Sigurd began to fry his heart and, thinking that it was right, it was fried, touched his finger to see if it was tough. And when the foam from the heart hit his finger, he burned himself and put his finger in his mouth. As soon as blood from his heart got into his tongue, he understood the bird's speech and understood what the tits sitting on the tree were talking about"; the first says that she would consider S. wise if he ate F.'s heart; the second that R. had planned evil against S.; "Sigurd went up to Regin and killed him, and then got on his Edge's horse and drove until he reached Fafnir's lair, took all the gold and, baling it, loaded Grani, sat down himself and I went my own way"]: Younger Edda 1970:75; The Völsung Saga (compiled in Norway around the middle of the 13th century by an Icelandic; sources include a manuscript of Edda) [Sigurd and Regin they go to the path that Faffney used to crawl along when he went to the watering hole; "Regin said: "Dig a hole and sit in it, and when the serpent crawls to the water, hit him in the heart and so put him to death; you will get it with this great glory." Sigurd said, "What should I do if the serpent's blood fills me?" Regin replies: "You don't have any advice if you're scared of everything and you don't look like your relatives." Sigurd dug a hole; while he was busy doing it, an old man with a long beard came to him and asked him what he was doing, and Sigurd told him. The old man answers him: "This is bad advice: dig more holes so that the blood flows there, and you sit in one and hit the snake in the heart." Then the old man disappeared, and Sigurd dug holes, as he said. And when the serpent crawled to the water, the whole neighborhood trembled, as if the ground shook and sprayed poison from his nostrils all the way, but Sigurd was neither afraid nor afraid of the noise. And when the serpent crawled over that hole, Sigurd plunged his sword under his left collarbone, so that the blade went over the handle. Then Sigurd jumps out of that hole and pulls his sword towards him, and his hands are covered in blood up to his shoulders. And when that huge serpent sensed a mortal wound, it hit its head and tail, crushing everything that came under attack. And when Faffney was mortally wounded, he asked, "Who are you and who is your father and what kind of family are you, why would you want to put a gun on me?" ; S. gives an evasive answer, F. dies]: Yarho 1934:150-154 (English translation in Byock 1990:63-65).