Poetic EddaNorse MythologyAncient Myth / ComparativeOld NorseSharePoetic Edda 71Bellows - 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 71ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1It 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. 2The 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. 3An 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). 4In 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. 5King Thjothrek was with Atli, and had lost most of his men. Thjothrek and Guthrun lamented their griefs together. She spoke to him, saying: 61. 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. 72. 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. 83. 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. 94. 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. 105. 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. 116. Long I waited | and pondered well Ere ever the king | for tidings I asked. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . 127. His head bowed Gunnar, | but Hogni told The news full sore | of Sigurth slain: “Hewed to death | at our hands he lies, Gotthorm’s slayer, | given to wolves. 138. “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.” 149. “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.” 1510. 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.” 1611. From him who spake | I turned me soon, In the woods to find | what the wolves had left; Tears I had not, | nor wrung my hands, Nor wailing went, | as other women, (When by Sigurth | slain I sat). 1712. Never so black | had seemed the night As when in sorrow | by Sigurth I sat; The wolves . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . 1813. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . Best of all | methought ’twould be If I my life | could only lose, Or like to birch-wood | burned might be. 1914. 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. 2015. With gold she broidered, | to bring me joy, Southern halls | and Danish swans; On the tapestry wove we | warrior’s deeds, And the hero’s thanes | on our handiwork; (Flashing shields | and fighters armed, Sword-throng, helm-throng, | the host of the king). 2116. 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. 2217. Then Grimhild asked, | the Gothic queen, Whether willingly | would I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . 2318. Her needlework cast she | aside, and called Her sons to ask, | with stern resolve, Who amends to their sister | would make for her son, Or the wife requite | for her husband killed. 2419. Ready was Gunnar | gold to give, Amends for my hurt, | and Hogni too; Then would she know | who now would go, The horse to saddle, | the wagon to harness, (The horse to ride, | the hawk to fly, And shafts from bows | of yew to shoot). 2520. (Valdar, king | of the Danes, was come, With Jarizleif, Eymoth, | and Jarizskar). In like princes | came they all, The long-beard men, | with mantles red, Short their mail-coats, | mighty their helms, Swords at their belts, | and brown their hair. 2621. 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. 2722. 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. 2823. 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. 2924. 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. 3025. Then I forgot, | when the draught they gave me, There in the hall, | my husband’s slaying; On their knees the kings | all three did kneel, Ere she herself | to speak began: 3126. “Guthrun, gold | to thee I give, The wealth that once | thy father’s was, Rings to have, | and Hlothver’s halls, And the hangings all | that the monarch had. 3227. “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.” 3328. “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.” 3429. “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.” 3530. “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.” 3631. “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.” 3732. “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.” 3833. Weeping Grimhild | heard the words That fate full sore | for her sons foretold, (And mighty woe | for them should work;) “Lands I give thee, | with all that live there, (Vinbjorg is thine, | and Valbjorg too,) Have them forever, | but hear me, daughter.” 3934. 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. 4035. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . I could not rest | till of life I had robbed The warrior bold, | the maker of battles. 4136. Soon on horseback | each hero was, And the foreign women | in wagons faring; A week through lands | so cold we went, And a second week | the waves we smote, (And a third through lands | that water lacked). 4237. The warders now | on the lofty walls Opened the gates, | and in we rode. 4338. Atli woke me, | for ever I seemed Of bitterness full | for my brothers’ death. 4439. “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.” 4540. “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.” 4641. “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. 4742. “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. 4843. “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.” 4944. “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.” 5045. “On my bed I sank, | nor slumber sought, Weary with woe,— | full well I remember.” . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . ‹Previous chapterPoetic Edda 70Next chapterPoetic Edda 72›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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