Poetic EddaNorse MythologyAncient Myth / ComparativeOld NorseSharePoetic Edda 67Bellows - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableBellowsLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Poetic Edda 1Poetic Edda 2Poetic Edda 3Poetic Edda 4Poetic Edda 5Poetic Edda 6Poetic Edda 7Poetic Edda 8Poetic Edda 9Poetic Edda 10Poetic Edda 11Poetic Edda 12Poetic Edda 13Poetic Edda 14Poetic Edda 15Poetic Edda 16Poetic Edda 17Poetic Edda 18Poetic Edda 19Poetic Edda 20Poetic Edda 21Poetic Edda 22Poetic Edda 23Poetic Edda 24Poetic Edda 25Poetic Edda 26Poetic Edda 27Poetic Edda 28Poetic Edda 29Poetic Edda 30Poetic Edda 31Poetic Edda 32Poetic Edda 33Poetic Edda 34Poetic Edda 35Poetic Edda 36Poetic Edda 37Poetic Edda 38Poetic Edda 39Poetic Edda 40Poetic Edda 41Poetic Edda 42Poetic Edda 43Poetic Edda 44Poetic Edda 45Poetic Edda 46Poetic Edda 47Poetic Edda 48Poetic Edda 49Poetic Edda 50Poetic Edda 51Poetic Edda 52Poetic Edda 53Poetic Edda 54Poetic Edda 55Poetic Edda 56Poetic Edda 57Poetic Edda 58Poetic Edda 59Poetic Edda 60Poetic Edda 61Poetic Edda 62Poetic Edda 63Poetic Edda 64Poetic Edda 65Poetic Edda 66Poetic Edda 67Poetic Edda 68Poetic Edda 69Poetic Edda 70Poetic Edda 71Poetic Edda 72Poetic Edda 73Poetic Edda 74Poetic Edda 75Poetic Edda 76Poetic Edda 77Poetic Edda 78Poetic Edda 79Poetic Edda 80Poetic Edda 81Poetic Edda 82Poetic Edda 83Poetic Edda 84Poetic Edda 85Poetic Edda 86›Introductory NotePoetic Edda 67ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1The 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. 2The 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). 3After 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: 41. “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. 52. “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.” 63. “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.” 74. “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.” 85. “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. 96. “Hild the helmed | in Hlymdalir They named me of old, | all they who knew me. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . 107. “The monarch bold | the swan-robes bore Of the sisters eight | beneath an oak; Twelve winters I was, | if know thou wilt, When oaths I yielded | the king so young. 118. “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. 129. “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. 1310. “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. 1411. “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. 1512. “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. 1613. “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. 1714. “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!” ‹Previous chapterPoetic Edda 66Next chapterPoetic Edda 68›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. 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