The Poetic Edda (21/27)

39. Some editions combine this stanza with lines 4–5 of stanza 38, with lines 1–2 of stanza 40, or with the whole of stanza 40. The bond: Brynhild thought she was marrying Sigurth, owner of the treasure, whereas she was being tricked into marrying Gunnar.

41. At this point there seem to be several omissions. Brynhild’s statement in lines 1–2 seems to refer to the episode, not here mentioned but told in detail in the Volsungasaga, of Sigurth’s effort to repair the wrong that has been done her by himself giving up Guthrun in her favor, an offer which she refuses. The lacuna here suggested, which is not indicated in the manuscript, may be simply a single line (line 1) or a stanza or more. After line 2 there is almost certainly a gap of at least one stanza, and possibly more, in which Brynhild states her determination to die.

42. Hardly any two editions agree as to the arrangement of the lines in stanzas 42–44. I have followed the manuscript except in transposing line 4 of stanza 43 to this position from the place it holds in the manuscript after line 4 of stanza 44. All the other arrangements involve the rejection of two or more lines as spurious and the assumption of various gaps. Gering and Sijmons both arrange the lines thus: 42, 1–2; two-line gap; 43, 3 (marked probably spurious); 44, 1–4; 43–4 (marked probably spurious); 42, 3–4; 43, 1–2.

43. Cf. note on preceding stanza.

44. Cf. note on stanza 42.

45. Perhaps the remains of two stanzas; the manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and after line 4 an added line has been suggested: “She was ever known | for evil thoughts.” On the other hand, line 1, identical with line 1 of stanza 17, may well be a mere expansion of “Hogni spake,” and line 6 may have been introduced, with a slight variation, from line 5 of stanza 38. Born again: this looks like a trace of Christian influence (the poem was composed well after the coming of Christianity to Iceland) in the assumption that if Brynhild killed herself she could not be “born again” (cf. concluding prose to Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II).

46. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a stanza; some editions treat lines 1–2 as a separate stanza, and combine lines 3–4 with lines 1–2 of stanza 47. Jewel-bearer (literally “land of jewels”): woman, here Brynhild. Bond-women, etc.: in stanza 69 we learn that five female slaves and eight serfs were killed to be burned on the funeral pyre, and thus to follow Sigurth in death.

47. The manuscript marks line 3, and not line 1, as beginning a stanza, and some editions treat lines 3–4 as a separate stanza, or combine them with stanza 48.

48. Brynhild means, as stanzas 49–51 show, that those of her women who wish to win rewards must be ready to follow her in death. The word translated “women” in line 1 is conjectural, but the general meaning is clear enough.

49. In place of “as so she spake” in line 1 the manuscript has “of their plans they thought,” which involves a metrical error.

51. No gap indicated in the manuscript; many editions place it between lines 3 and 4. Menja’s wealth: gold; the story of the mill Grotti, whereby the giantesses Menja and Fenja ground gold for King Frothi, is told in the Grottasongr.

52. With this stanza begins Brynhild’s prophesy of what is to befall Gunnar, Guthrun, Atli, and the many others involved in their fate. Line 3 is a proverbial expression meaning simply “your troubles are not at an end.”

53. No gap is indicated in the manuscript; one suggestion for line 2 runs: “Grimhild shall make her | to laugh once more.” Gering suggests a loss of three lines, and joins lines 3–4 with stanza 54.

54. Probably a line has been lost from this stanza. Grundtvig adds as a new first line: “Her shalt thou find | in the hall of Half.” Some editions query line 3 as possibly spurious. Svanhild: the figure of Svanhild is exceedingly old. The name means “Swan-Maiden-Warrior,” applying to just such mixtures of swan-maiden and Valkyrie as appear in the Völundarkvitha. Originally part of a separate tradition, Svanhild appears first to have been incorporated in the Jormunrek (Ermanarich) story as the unhappy wife of that monarch, and much later to have been identified as the daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun, thus linking the two sets of legends.

55. Line 2 in the original is almost totally obscure. Line 4 should very possibly precede line 2, while line 5 looks like an unwarranted addition.

56. This stanza probably ought to follow stanza 52, as it refers solely to the winning of Brynhild by Gunnar and Sigurth. Müllenhoff regards stanzas 53–55 as interpolated. The manuscript indicates no gap after line 3.

57. Stanzas 57–58 seem to be the remains of two stanzas, but the Volsungasaga paraphrase follows closely the form here given. Line 3 may well be spurious; line 5 has likewise been questioned. Oddrun: this sister of Atli and Brynhild, known mainly through the Oddrunargratr, is a purely northern addition to the cycle, and apparently one of a relatively late date. She figures solely by reason of her love affair with Gunnar.

58. Possibly two lines have been lost; many editions combine the two remaining lines with lines 1–3 of stanza 59. Concerning the manner of Gunnar’s death cf. Drap Niflunga.

59. Line 3 may well be spurious, as it is largely repetition. The manuscript has “sofa” (“sleep”) in place of “sona” (“sons”), but the Volsungasaga paraphrase says clearly “sons.” The slaying of Atli by Guthrun in revenge for his killing of her brothers is told in the two Atli lays. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 4–5, or else combine them with stanza 60.

60. To follow in death: this phrase is not in Regius, but is included in late paper manuscripts, and has been added in most editions.

61. Jonak: this king, known only through the Hamthesmol and the stories which, like this one, are based thereon, is another purely northern addition to the legend. The name is apparently of Slavic origin. He appears solely as Guthrun’s third husband and the father of Hamther, Sorli, and Erp (cf. introductory prose to Guthrunarhvot).

62. Svanhild: cf. stanza 54 and note.

63. Bikki: Svanhild is married to the aged Jormunrek (Ermanarich), but Bikki, one of his followers, suggests that she is unduly intimate with Jormunrek’s son, Randver. Thereupon Jormunrek has Randver hanged, and Svanhild torn to pieces by wild horses. Ermanarich’s cruelty and his barbarous slaying of his wife and son were familiar traditions long before they became in any way connected with the Sigurth cycle (cf. introductory note to Gripisspo).

64. Line 5 is very probably spurious.

65. The manuscript indicates no gap; a suggested addition runs “Gold let there be, | and jewels bright.” Fallen slaves: cf. stanzas 66 and 69. Hunnish hero: cf. stanza 4 and note.

66. In place of lines 3–4 the manuscript has one line “Two at his head, and a pair of hawks”; the addition is made from the Volsungasaga paraphrase. The burning or burying of slaves or beasts to accompany their masters in death was a general custom in the North. The number of slaves indicated in this stanza does not tally with the one given in stanza 69, wherefore Vigfusson rejects most of this stanza.

67. Cf. Gripisspo, 41 and note. After line 1 the manuscript adds the phrase “bright, ring-decked,” referring to the sword, but it is metrically impossible, and many editions omit it.

68. The door: The gate of Hel’s domain, like that of Mengloth’s house (cf. Svipdagsmol, 26 and note), closes so fast as to catch any one attempting to pass through. Apparently the poet here assumes that the gate of Valhall does likewise, but that it will be kept open for Sigurth’s retinue.

69. Cf. stanza 66.

HELREITH BRYNHILDAR INTRODUCTORY NOTE The little Helreith Brynhildar immediately follows the “short” Sigurth lay in the Codex Regius, being linked to it by the brief prose note; the heading, “Brynhild’s Ride on Hel-Way,” stands just before the first stanza. The entire poem, with the exception of stanza 6, is likewise quoted in the Nornageststhattr. Outside of one stanza (No. 11), which is a fairly obvious interpolation, the poem possesses an extraordinary degree of dramatic unity, and, certain pedantic commentators notwithstanding, it is one of the most vivid and powerful in the whole collection. None the less, it has been extensively argued that parts of it belonged originally to the so-called Sigrdrifumol. That it stands in close relation to this poem is evident enough, but it is difficult to believe that such a masterpiece of dramatic poetry was ever the result of mere compilation. It seems more reasonable to regard the Helreith, with the exception of stanza 11 and allowing for the loss of two lines from stanza 6, as a complete and carefully constructed unit, based undoubtedly on older poems, but none the less an artistic creation in itself.

The poem is generally dated as late as the eleventh century, and the concluding stanza betrays Christian influence almost unmistakably. It shows the confusion of traditions manifest in all the later poems; for example, Brynhild is here not only a Valkyrie but also a swan-maiden. Only three stanzas have any reference to the Guthrun-Gunnar part of the story; otherwise the poem is concerned solely with the episode of Sigurth’s finding the sleeping Valkyrie. Late as it is, therefore, it is essentially a Norse creation, involving very few of the details of the German cycle (cf. introductory note to Gripisspo).

After the death of Brynhild there were made two bale-fires, the one for Sigurth, and that burned first, and on the other was Brynhild burned, and she was on a wagon which was covered with a rich cloth. Thus it is told, that Brynhild went in the wagon on Hel-way, and passed by a house where dwelt a certain giantess. The giantess spake: 1. “Thou shalt not further | forward fare, My dwelling ribbed | with rocks across; More seemly it were | at thy weaving to stay, Than another’s husband | here to follow.

2. “What wouldst thou have | from Valland here, Fickle of heart, | in this my house? Gold-goddess, now, | if thou wouldst know, Heroes’ blood | from thy hands hast washed.”

Brynhild spake: 3. “Chide me not, woman | from rocky walls, Though to battle once | I was wont to go; Better than thou | I shall seem to be, When men us two | shall truly know.”

The giantess spake: 4. “Thou wast, Brynhild, | Buthli’s daughter, For the worst of evils | born in the world; To death thou hast given | Gjuki’s children, And laid their lofty | house full low.”

Brynhild spake: 5. “Truth from the wagon | here I tell thee, Witless one, | if know thou wilt How the heirs of Gjuki | gave me to be Joyless ever, | a breaker of oaths.

8. “Next I let | the leader of Goths, Hjalmgunnar the old, | go down to hell, And victory brought | to Autha’s brother; For this was Othin’s | anger mighty.

9. “He beset me with shields | in Skatalund, Red and white, | their rims o’erlapped; He bade that my sleep | should broken be By him who fear | had nowhere found.

10. “He let round my hall, | that southward looked, The branches’ foe | high-leaping burn; Across it he bade | the hero come Who brought me the gold | that Fafnir guarded.

11. “On Grani rode | the giver of gold, Where my foster-father | ruled his folk; Best of all | he seemed to be, The prince of the Danes, | when the people met.

12. “Happy we slept, | one bed we had, As he my brother | born had been; Eight were the nights | when neither there Loving hand | on the other laid.

13. “Yet Guthrun reproached me, | Gjuki’s daughter, That I in Sigurth’s | arms had slept; Then did I hear | what I would were hid, That they had betrayed me | in taking a mate.

14. “Ever with grief | and all too long Are men and women | born in the world; But yet we shall live | our lives together, Sigurth and I. | Sink down, Giantess!”

NOTES Prose. The prose follows the last stanza of Sigurtharkvitha en skamma without break. Two bale-fires: this contradicts the statement made in the concluding stanzas of Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, that Sigurth and Brynhild were burned on the same pyre; there is no evidence that the annotator here had anything but his own mistaken imagination to go on.

2. Valland: this name (“Land of Slaughter”) is used elsewhere of mythical places; cf. Harbarthsljoth, 24, and prose introduction to Völundarkvitha; it may here not be a proper name at all. Gold-goddess: poetic circumlocution for “woman.”

6. In Regius these two lines stand after stanza 7, but most editions place them as here. They are not quoted in the Nornageststhattr. Presumably two lines, and perhaps more, have been lost. It has frequently been argued that all or part of the passage from stanza 6 through stanza 10 (6–10, 7–10 or 8–10) comes originally from the so-called Sigrdrifumol, where it would undoubtedly fit exceedingly well. Hild: a Valkyrie name meaning “Fighter” (cf. Voluspo, 31). In such compound names as Brynhild (“Fighter in Armor”) the first element was occasionally omitted. Hlymdalir (“Tumult-Dale”): a mythical name, merely signifying the place of battle as the home of Valkyries.

7. Regarding the identification of swan-maidens with Valkyries, and the manner in which men could get them in their power by stealing their swan-garments, cf. Völundarkvitha, introductory prose and note, where the same thing happens. The monarch: perhaps Agnar, brother of Autha, mentioned in Sigrdrifumol (prose and quoted verse following stanza 4) as the warrior for whose sake Brynhild defied Othin in slaying Hjalmgunnar. Eight: the Nornageststhattr manuscripts have “sisters of Atli” instead of “sisters eight.”

8. Hjalmgunnar: regarding this king of the Goths (the phrase means little) and his battle with Agnar, brother of Autha, cf. Sigrdrifumol, prose after stanza 4. One Nornageststhattr manuscript has “brother of the giantess” in place of “leader of Goths.”

9. Cf. Sigrdrifumol, prose introduction. Skatalund (“Warriors’ Grove”): a mythical name; elsewhere the place where Brynhild lay is called Hindarfjoll.

10. Branches’ foe: fire. Regarding the treasure cf. Fafnismol.

11. This stanza is presumably an interpolation, reflecting a different version of the story, wherein Sigurth meets Brynhild at the home of her brother-in-law and foster-father, Heimir (cf. Gripisspo, 19 and 27). Grani: Sigurth’s horse. Danes: nowhere else does Sigurth appear in this capacity. Perhaps this is a curious relic of the Helgi tradition.

12. Eight nights: elsewhere (cf. Gripisspo, 42) the time is stated as three nights, not eight. There is a confusion of traditions here, as in Gripisspo. In the version of the story wherein Sigurth met Brynhild before he encountered the Gjukungs, Sigurth was bound by no oaths, and the union was completed; it is only in the alternative version that the episode of the sword laid between the two occurs.

14. The idea apparently conveyed in the concluding lines, that Sigurth and Brynhild will be together in some future life, is utterly out of keeping with the Norse pagan traditions, and the whole stanza indicates the influence of Christianity.

DRAP NIFLUNGA THE SLAYING OF THE NIFLUNGS INTRODUCTORY NOTE It has been already pointed out (introductory note to Reginsmol) that the compiler of the Eddic collection had clearly undertaken to formulate a coherent narrative of the entire Sigurth cycle, piecing together the various poems by means of prose narrative links. To some extent these links were based on traditions existing outside of the lays themselves, but in the main the material was gathered from the contents of the poems. The short prose passage entitled Drap Niflunga, which in the Codex Regius immediately follows the Helreith Brynhildar, is just such a narrative link, and scarcely deserves a special heading, but as nearly all editions separate it from the preceding and following poems, I have followed their example.

With Sigurth and Brynhild both dead, the story turns to the slaying of the sons of Gjuki by Atli, Guthrun’s second husband, and to a few subsequent incidents, mostly late incorporations from other narrative cycles, including the tragic death of Svanhild, daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun and wife of Jormunrek (Ermanarich), and the exploits of Hamther, son of Guthrun and her third husband, Jonak. These stories are told, or outlined, in the two Atli lays, the second and third Guthrun lays, the Oddrunargratr, the Guthrunarhvot, and the Hamthesmol. Had the compiler seen fit to put the Atli lays immediately after the Helreith Brynhildar, he would have needed only a very brief transitional note to make the course of the story clear, but as the second Guthrun lay, the next poem in the collection, is a lament following the death of Guthrun’s brothers, some sort of a narrative bridge was manifestly needed.

Drap Niflunga is based entirely on the poems which follow it in the collection, with no use of extraneous material. The part of the story which it summarizes belongs to the semi-historical Burgundian tradition (cf. introductory note to Gripisspo), in many respects parallel to the familiar narrative of the Nibelungenlied, and, except in minor details, showing few essentially Northern additions. Sigurth is scarcely mentioned, and the outstanding episode is the slaying of Gunnar and Hogni, following their journey to Atli’s home.

Gunnar and Hogni then took all the gold that Fafnir had had. There was strife between the Gjukungs and Atli, for he held the Gjukungs guilty of Brynhild’s death. It was agreed that they should give him Guthrun as wife, and they gave her a draught of forgetfulness to drink before she would consent to be wedded to Atli. The sons of Atli were Erp and Eitil, and Svanhild was the daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun. King Atli invited Gunnar and Hogni to come to him, and sent as messenger Vingi or Knefröth. Guthrun was aware of treachery, and sent with him a message in runes that they should not come, and as a token she sent to Hogni the ring Andvaranaut and tied a wolf’s hair in it. Gunnar had sought Oddrun, Atli’s sister, for his wife, but had her not; then he married Glaumvor, and Hogni’s wife was Kostbera; their sons were Solar and Snævar and Gjuki. And when the Gjukungs came to Atli, then Guthrun besought her sons to plead for the lives of both the Gjukungs, but they would not do it. Hogni’s heart was cut out, and Gunnar was cast into the serpent’s den. He smote on the harp and put the serpents to sleep, but an adder stung him in the liver.

NOTE Prose. Niflungs: regarding the mistaken application of this name to the sons of Gjuki, who were Burgundians, cf. Brot, 17 and note. Draught of forgetfulness: according to the Volsungasaga Grimhild, Guthrun’s mother, administered this, just as she did the similar draught which made Sigurth forget Brynhild. Erp and Eitil: Guthrun kills her two sons by Atli as part of her revenge; the annotator here explains her act further by saying that Guthrun asked her sons to intercede with their father in favor of Guthrun’s brothers, but that they refused, a detail which he appears to have invented, as it is found nowhere else. Svanhild: cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 54 and note. Vingi or Knefröth: Atlakvitha (stanza 1) calls the messenger Knefröth; Atlamol (stanza 4) speaks of two messengers, but names only one of them, Vingi. The annotator has here tried, unsuccessfully, to combine the two accounts. Andvaranaut: regarding the origin of Andvari’s ring cf. Reginsmol, prose after stanzas 4 and 5 and notes; Sigurth gave the ring to Guthrun. Here again the annotator is combining two stories; in Atlakvitha (stanza 8) Guthrun sends a ring (not Andvaranaut) with a wolf’s hair; in Atlamol (stanza 4) she sends a message written in runes. The messenger obscures these runes, and Kostbera, Hogni’s wife, who attempts to decipher them, is not clear as to their meaning, though she suspects danger. Oddrun: cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 57 and note. Glaumvor: almost nothing is told of Gunnar’s second wife, though she appears frequently in the Atlamol. Kostbera (or Bera), Hogni’s wife, is known only as skilled in runes. Her brother was Orkning. The sons of Hogni and Kostbera, according to the Atlamol (stanza 28), were Solar and Snævar; the third son, Gjuki, named after his grandfather, seems to be an invention of the annotator’s. Adder: according to Oddrunargratr (stanza 30) Atli’s mother assumed this form in order to complete her son’s vengeance.

GUTHRUNARKVITHA II, EN FORNA THE SECOND, OR OLD, LAY OF GUTHRUN INTRODUCTORY NOTE It has already been pointed out (introductory note to Guthrunarkvitha I) that the tradition of Guthrun’s lament was known wherever the Sigurth story existed, and that this lament was probably one of the earliest parts of the legend to assume verse form. Whether it reached the North as verse cannot, of course, be determined, but it is at least possible that this was the case, and in any event it is clear that by the tenth and eleventh centuries there were a number of Norse poems with Guthrun’s lament as the central theme. Two of these are included in the Eddic collection, the second one being unquestionably much the older. It is evidently the poem referred to by the annotator in the prose note following the Brot as “the old Guthrun lay,” and its character and state of preservation have combined to lead most commentators to date it as early as the first half of the tenth century, whereas Guthrunarkvitha I belongs a hundred years later.

The poem has evidently been preserved in rather bad shape, with a number of serious omissions and some interpolations, but in just this form it lay before the compilers of the Volsungasaga, who paraphrased it faithfully, and quoted five of its stanzas. The interpolations are on the whole unimportant; the omissions, while they obscure the sense of certain passages, do not destroy the essential continuity of the poem, in which Guthrun reviews her sorrows from the death of Sigurth through the slaying of her brothers to Atli’s dreams foretelling the death of their sons. It is, indeed, the only Norse poem of the Sigurth cycle antedating the year 1000 which has come down to us in anything approaching complete form; the Reginsmol, Fafnismol, and Sigrdrifumol are all collections of fragments, only a short bit of the “long” Sigurth lay remains, and the others—Gripisspo, Guthrunarkvitha I and III, Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, Helreith Brynhildar, Oddrunargratr, Guthrunarhvot, Hamthesmol, and the two Atli lays—are all generally dated from the eleventh and even the twelfth centuries.

An added reason for believing that Guthrunarkvitha II traces its origin back to a lament which reached the North from Germany in verse form is the absence of most of the characteristic Norse additions to the narrative, except in minor details. Sigurth is slain in the forest, as “German men say” (cf. Brot, concluding prose); the urging of Guthrun by her mother and brothers to become Atli’s wife, the slaying of the Gjukungs (here only intimated, for at that point something seems to have been lost), and Guthrun’s prospective revenge on Atli, all belong directly to the German tradition (cf. introductory note to Gripisspo).

In the Codex Regius the poem is entitled simply Guthrunarkvitha; the numeral has been added in nearly all editions to distinguish this poem from the other two Guthrun lays, and the phrase “the old” is borrowed from the annotator’s comment in the prose note at the end of the Brot.

King Thjothrek was with Atli, and had lost most of his men. Thjothrek and Guthrun lamented their griefs together. She spoke to him, saying: 1. A maid of maids | my mother bore me, Bright in my bower, | my brothers I loved, Till Gjuki dowered | me with gold, Dowered with gold, | and to Sigurth gave me.

2. So Sigurth rose | o’er Gjuki’s sons As the leek grows green | above the grass, Or the stag o’er all | the beasts doth stand, Or as glow-red gold | above silver gray.

3. Till my brothers let me | no longer have The best of heroes | my husband to be; Sleep they could not, | or quarrels settle, Till Sigurth they | at last had slain.

4. From the Thing ran Grani | with thundering feet, But thence did Sigurth | himself come never; Covered with sweat | was the saddle-bearer, Wont the warrior’s | weight to bear.

5. Weeping I sought | with Grani to speak, With tear-wet cheeks | for the tale I asked; The head of Grani | was bowed to the grass, The steed knew well | his master was slain.

8. “On the southern road | thou shalt Sigurth see, Where hear thou canst | the ravens cry; The eagles cry | as food they crave, And about thy husband | wolves are howling.”

9. “Why dost thou, Hogni, | such a horror Let me hear, | all joyless left? Ravens yet | thy heart shall rend In a land that never | thou hast known.”

10. Few the words | of Hogni were, Bitter his heart | from heavy sorrow: “Greater, Guthrun, | thy grief shall be If the ravens so | my heart shall rend.”

14. From the mountain forth | five days I fared, Till Hoalf’s hall | so high I saw; Seven half-years | with Thora I stayed, Hokon’s daughter, | in Denmark then.

16. Sigmund’s ship | by the land was sailing, Golden the figure-head, | gay the beaks; On board we wove | the warriors faring, Sigar and Siggeir, | south to Fjon.

21. Each to give me | gifts was fain, Gifts to give, | and goodly speech, Comfort so | for my sorrows great To bring they tried, | but I trusted them not.

22. A draught did Grimhild | give me to drink, Bitter and cold; | I forgot my cares; For mingled therein | was magic earth, Ice-cold sea, | and the blood of swine.

23. In the cup were runes | of every kind, Written and reddened, | I could not read them; A heather-fish | from the Haddings’ land, An ear uncut, | and the entrails of beasts.

24. Much evil was brewed | within the beer, Blossoms of trees, | and acorns burned, Dew of the hearth, | and holy entrails, The liver of swine,— | all grief to allay.

27. “Hunnish women, | skilled in weaving, Who gold make fair | to give thee joy, And the wealth of Buthli | thine shall be, Gold-decked one, | as Atli’s wife.”

Guthrun spake: 28. “A husband now | I will not have, Nor wife of Brynhild’s | brother be; It beseems me not | with Buthli’s son Happy to be, | and heirs to bear.”

Grimhild spake: 29. “Seek not on men | to avenge thy sorrows, Though the blame at first | with us hath been; Happy shalt be | as if both still lived, Sigurth and Sigmund, | if sons thou bearest.”

Guthrun spake: 30. “Grimhild, I may not | gladness find, Nor hold forth hopes | to heroes now, Since once the raven | and ravening wolf Sigurth’s heart’s-blood | hungrily lapped.”

Grimhild spake: 31. “Noblest of birth | is the ruler now I have found for thee, | and foremost of all; Him shalt thou have | while life thou hast, Or husbandless be | if him thou wilt choose not.”

Guthrun spake: 32. “Seek not so eagerly | me to send To be a bride | of yon baneful race; On Gunnar first | his wrath shall fall, And the heart will he tear | from Hogni’s breast.”

34. So must I do | as the kings besought, And against my will | for my kinsmen wed; Ne’er with my husband | joy I had, And my sons by my brothers’ | fate were saved not.

35...|...I could not rest | till of life I had robbed The warrior bold, | the maker of battles.

37. The warders now | on the lofty walls Opened the gates, | and in we rode.

* * * * * * 38. Atli woke me, | for ever I seemed Of bitterness full | for my brothers’ death.

Atli spake: 39. “Now from sleep | the Norns have waked me With visions of terror,— | to thee will I tell them; Methought thou, Guthrun, | Gjuki’s daughter, With poisoned blade | didst pierce my body.”

Guthrun spake: 40. “Fire a dream | of steel shall follow And willful pride | one of woman’s wrath; A baneful sore | I shall burn from thee, And tend and heal thee, | though hated thou art.”

Atli spake: 41. “Of plants I dreamed, | in the garden drooping, That fain would I have | full high to grow; Plucked by the roots, | and red with blood, They brought them hither, | and bade me eat.

42. “I dreamed my hawks | from my hand had flown, Eager for food, | to an evil house; I dreamed their hearts | with honey I ate, Soaked in blood, | and heavy my sorrow.

43. “Hounds I dreamed | from my hand I loosed, Loud in hunger | and pain they howled; Their flesh methought | was eagles’ food, And their bodies now | I needs must eat.”

Guthrun spake: 44. “Men shall soon | of sacrifice speak, And off the heads | of beasts shall hew; Die they shall | ere day has dawned, A few nights hence, | and the folk shall have them.”

Atli spake: 45. “On my bed I sank, | nor slumber sought, Weary with woe,— | full well I remember.”...|...NOTES Prose. Thjothrek: the famous Theoderich, king of the Ostrogoths, who became renowned in German story as Dietrich von Bern. The German tradition early accepted the anachronism of bringing together Attila (Etzel, Atli), who died in 453, and Theoderich, who was born about 455, and adding thereto Ermanarich (Jormunrek), king of the Goths, who died about 376. Ermanarich, in German tradition, replaced Theoderich’s actual enemy, Odovakar, and it was in battle with Jormunrek (i.e., Odovakar) that Thjothrek is here said to have lost most of his men. The annotator found the material for this note in Guthrunarkvitha III, in which Guthrun is accused of having Thjothrek as her lover. At the time when Guthrunarkvitha II was composed (early tenth century) it is probable that the story of Theoderich had not reached the North at all, and the annotator is consequently wrong in giving the poem its setting.

4. Regarding the varying accounts of the manner of Sigurth’s death cf. Brot, concluding prose and note. Grani: cf. Brot, 7.

6. No gap indicated in the manuscript. Some editions combine these two lines with either stanza 5 or stanza 7.