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Men: Atli and his advisers, with whom he planned the death of the sons of Gjuki, Gunnar and Hogni. The poet’s reference to the story as well known explains the abruptness of his introduction, without the mention of Atli’s name, and his reference to Guthrun in stanza 3 simply as “the woman” (“husfreyja,” goddess of the house). 22. Princes: Atli, Gunnar, and Hogni. Bulwark: Atli’s slaying of his wife’s brothers, who were ready to support and defend him in his greatness, was the cause of his own death. 33. The woman: Guthrun, concerning whose marriage to Atli cf. Guthrunarkvitha II. The sea: a late and essentially Greenland variation of the geography of the Atli story. Even the Atlakvitha, perhaps half a century earlier, separates Atli’s land from that of the Gjukungs only by a forest. 44. Runes: on the two versions of Guthrun’s warning, and also on the name of the messenger (here Vingi), cf. Drap Niflunga and note. Limafjord: probably the Limfjord of northern Jutland, an important point in the wars of the eleventh century. The name was derived from “Eylimafjǫrþ,” i.e., Eylimi’s fjord. The poet may really have thought that the kingdom of the Burgundians was in Jutland, or he may simply have taken a well-known name for the sake of vividness. 55. Some editors assume a gap after this stanza. 66. Some editions place this stanza between stanzas 7 and 8. Kostbera (“The Giver of Food”) and Glaumvor (“The Merry”): presumably creations of the poet. Both: Atli’s two emissaries, Vingi and the one here unnamed (Knefröth?). 77. It is altogether probable that a stanza has been lost between stanzas 6 and 7, in which Gunnar is first invited, and replies doubtfully. Made promise: many editions emend the text to read “promised the journey.” The text of line 4 is obscure; the manuscript reads “nitti” (“refused”), which many editors have changed to “hlitti,” which means exactly the opposite. 88. No gap is indicated in the manuscript; Bugge adds (line 3): “Then the warriors rose, | and to slumber made ready.” The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 1–2. Others suggest the loss of a line after line 4. 99. The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as the beginning of a stanza; cf. note on stanza 8. 1010. Some editions combine this stanza with lines 1–2 of stanza 11. The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig adds (line 2): “But sleep to the woman | so wise came little.” 1111. Some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 1–2, or combine them with stanza 10, and combine lines 3–4 with stanza 12 (either lines 1–4 or 1–2). The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. 1212. Line 5 may be spurious, or else all that is left of a lost stanza. The manuscript marks it as the beginning of a new stanza, which, as the text stands, is clearly impossible. 1313. The manuscript, followed by some editions, has “Hogni spake” in the middle of line 1. Ill: the manuscript and many editions have “this.” The king: Atli. 1414. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue between Kostbera and Hogni (stanzas 14–19). Two lines may possibly have been lost after line 2, filling out stanza 14 and making stanza 15 (then consisting of lines 3–4 of stanza 14 and lines 1–2 of stanza 15) the account of Kostbera’s first dream. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. In any case, the lost lines cannot materially have altered the meaning. 1515. Saw I: the manuscript here, as also in stanzas 16, 18, 21, 22, and 24, has “methought,” which involves a metrical error. Some editors regard lines 3–4 as the remains of a four-line stanza. Regarding Kostbera’s warning dreams, and Hogni’s matter-of-fact interpretations of them, cf. Guthrunarkvitha II, 39–44. 1616. The meaning of the first half of line 3 in the original is obscure. 1717. Two lines may have been lost after line 2, but the Volsungasaga paraphrase gives no clue. Ice-bear: polar bears, common in Greenland, are very rarely found in Iceland, and never in Norway, a fact which substantiates the manuscript’s reference to Greenland as the home of the poem. 1818. The manuscript indicates no gap, but most editors assume the loss of a line after line 1 or 2; Grundtvig adds, after line 1: “Black were his feathers, | with blood was he covered.” Atli’s spirit: the poet’s folk-lore seems here a bit weak. Presumably he means such a female following-spirit (“fylgja”) as appears in Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, prose following stanza 34 (cf. note thereon), but the word he uses, “hamr” (masculine) means “skin,” “shape.” He may, however, imply that Atli had assumed the shape of an eagle for this occasion. 1919. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza. 2020. The manuscript indicates no gap, but none of the many attempted emendations have made sense out of the words as they stand. The proper location for the missing words is sheer guesswork. Two roads: probably the meaning is that their way (i.e., their success) would be doubtful. 2121. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue (stanzas 21–26). No gap is indicated after line 2. Most editors assume the loss of two lines or of a full stanza after stanza 21 giving Gunnar’s interpretation of Glaumvor’s dream, but the Volsungasaga gives no clue, as it does not mention this first dream at all. Grundtvig suggests as Gunnar’s answer: “Banners are gleaming, | since of gallows didst dream, / And wealth it must mean | that thou serpents didst watch.” Gods’ doom: an odd, and apparently mistaken, use of the phrase “ragna rök” (cf. Voluspo, introductory note). 2223. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2. Possibly the concluding phrase of line 2 should be “bloody spears,” as in the Volsungasaga paraphrase. 2324. Again Gunnar’s interpretation is missing, and most editors either assume a gap or construct two Malahattr lines out of the Volsungasaga prose paraphrase, which runs: “The grain shall flow, since thou hast dreamed of rivers, and when we go to the fields, often the chaff rises above our feet.” 2425. The meaning of line 4 is uncertain, but apparently it refers to the guardian spirits or lesser Norns (cf. Fafnismol, 12–13 and notes). 2526. Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza. 2627. Five: Gunnar, Hogni, and the three mentioned in stanza 28. 2728. Perhaps a line has been lost before line 1; Grundtvig supplies: “Gunnar and Hogni, | the heirs twain of Gjuki.” Snævar (the manuscript here has “Snevar”), Solar and Orkning appear only in this poem and in the prose narratives based on it. Lines 2–3 may have been expanded out of one line, or possibly line 3 is spurious. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza out of lines 4–5, many of them assuming the loss of two lines. Shield-tree: warrior (Orkning), here identified as Kostbera’s brother. Fair-decked ones: women, i.e., Glaumvor and Kostbera. Fjord: perhaps specifically the Limafjord mentioned in stanza 4. 2830. The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig inserts (line 2): “The evil was clear | when his words he uttered.” 2931. Bera: Kostbera; the first element in compound feminine proper names was not infrequently omitted; cf. Hild for Brynhild (Helreith Brynhildar, 6). The manuscript indicates no gap; Grundtvig inserts (line 2): “And clear was her cry | to her kinsmen dear.” 3032. Hogni’s method of cheering his wife and sister-in-law is somewhat unusual, for the meaning of lines 3–4 is that good wishes and blessings are of little use in warding off danger. 3133. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2; Grundtvig supplies: “Then weeping did Glaumvor | go to her rest-bed, / And sadly did Bera | her spinning wheel seek.” 3234. Keel, etc.: in the Nibelungenlied, and presumably in the older German tradition, Hagene breaks his oar steering the Burgundians across the Danube (stanza 1564), and, after all have landed, splinters the boat (stanza 1581) in order that there may be no retreating. The poet here seems to have confused the story, connecting the breaking of the ship’s keel with the violence of the rowing, but echoing the older legend in the last line, wherein the ship is allowed to drift away after the travellers have landed. Oar-loops: the thongs by which the oars in a Norse boat were made fast to the thole-pins, the combination taking the place of the modern oarlock. 3335. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions combine it with stanza 36, some of them assuming the loss of a line from stanza 35. In the Volsungasaga paraphrase the second half of line 4 is made a part of Vingi’s speech: “Better had ye left this undone.” 3436. Cf. note on preceding stanza; the manuscript does not indicate line 1 as beginning a stanza. Line 3 may be spurious. 3537. In the Volsungasaga paraphrase the second half of line 1 and the first half of line 2 are included in Hogni’s speech. 3638. Possibly two lines have been lost after line 2. 3739. It is probable that a considerable passage has been lost between stanzas 39 and 40, for the Volsungasaga paraphrase includes a dialogue at this point. The manuscript indicates no gap, and most editions combine stanzas 39 and 40 as a single stanza. The prose passage, indicating the substance of what, if anything, is lost, runs as follows: “‘Be welcome among us, and give me that store of gold which is ours by right, the gold that Sigurth had, and that now belongs to Guthrun.’ Gunnar said: ‘Never shalt thou get that gold, and men of might shalt thou find here, ere we give up our lives, if it is battle thou dost offer us; in truth it seems that thou hast prepared this feast in kingly fashion, and with little grudging toward eagle and wolf.’” The demand for the treasure likewise appears in the Nibelungenlied. 3840. These two lines, which most editions combine with stanza 39, may be the first or last two of a four-line stanza. The Volsungasaga gives Atli’s speech very much as it appears here. 3941. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker; Grundtvig adds as a first line: “Then Hogni laughed loud | where the slain Vingi lay.” Many editors assume the loss of a line somewhere in the stanza. Unarmed: Hogni does not see Atli’s armed followers, who are on the other side of the courtyard (stanza 39). One: Vingi. 4042. Most editors assume the loss of one line, after either line 1 or line 3. 4143. The manuscript reading of lines 1–2, involving a metrical error, is: “In the house came the word | of the warring without, / Loud in front of the hall | they heard a thrall shouting.” Some editors assume a gap of two lines after line 2, the missing passage giving the words of the thrall. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–5, some of them assuming the loss of a line after line 3. With the stanza as here given, line 5 may well be spurious. 4244. Niflungs: regarding the application of this term to the Burgundians cf. Atlakvitha, 11, and Brot, 17, and notes. The manuscript here spells the name with an initial N, as elsewhere, but in stanza 83 the son of Hogni appears with the name “Hniflung.” In consequence, some editors change the form in this stanza to “Hniflungs,” while others omit the initial H in both cases. I have followed the manuscript, though admittedly its spelling is illogical. 4346. The warlike deeds of Guthrun represent an odd transformation of the German tradition. Kriemhild, although she did no actual fighting in the Nibelungenlied, was famed from early times for her cruelty and fierceness of heart, and this seems to have inspired the poet of the Atlamol to make his Guthrun into a warrior outdoing Brynhild herself. Kriemhild’s ferocity, of course, was directed against Gunther and especially Hagene, for whose slaying she rather than Etzel was responsible; here, on the other hand, Guthrun’s is devoted to the defense of her brothers. 4447. Line 3 is very likely an interpolation. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza of lines 4–5. Atli’s brother: doubtless a reminiscence of the early tradition represented in the Nibelungenlied by the slaying of Etzel’s brother, Blœdelin (the historical Bleda), by Dancwart. 4548. Line 3 may well be spurious, for it implies that Gunnar and Hogni were killed in battle, whereas they were taken prisoners. Some editors, in an effort to smooth out the inconsistency, change “themselves” in this line to “sound.” Line 5 has also been questioned as possibly interpolated. Niflungs: on the spelling of this name in the manuscript and the various editions cf. note on stanza 44. 4649. Line 2 is probably an interpolation, and the original apparently lacks a word. There is some obscurity as to the exact meaning of lines 4–5. The two sons of Bera: Snævar and Solar; her brother is Orkning; cf. stanza 28. 4750. The warrior: Atli. Thirty: perhaps an echo of the “thirty warriors” of Thjothrek (cf. Guthrunarkvitha III, 5). Subtracting the eighteen killed by Snævar, Solar and Orkning (stanza 49), and Vingi, killed by the whole company (stanza 38), we have eleven left, as Atli says, but this does not allow much for the exploits of Gunnar and Hogni, who, by this reckoning, seem to have killed nobody. The explanation probably is that lines 4–5 of stanza 49 are in bad shape. 4851. Five brothers: the Volsungasaga speaks of four (not five) sons of Buthli, but names only Atli. Regarding the death of the first two brothers cf. stanza 91 and note. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a stanza, and many editions combine lines 3–4 with stanza 52. Some insert lines 2–3 of stanza 52 ahead of lines 3–4 of stanza 51. 4952. Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza, which is impossible unless something has been lost. Gold: the meaning of this half line is somewhat doubtful, but apparently Atli refers to Sigurth’s treasure, which should have been his as Brynhild’s brother. Sister: Brynhild; regarding Guthrun’s indirect responsibility for Brynhild’s death cf. Gripisspo, 45 and note. 5053. The manuscript does not name the speaker. The Volsungasaga gives the speech, in somewhat altered form, to Hogni: “Why speakest thou so? Thou wast the first to break peace; thou didst take my kinswoman and starved her in a prison, and murdered her and took her wealth; that was not kinglike; and laughable does it seem to me that thou talkest of thy sorrow, and good shall I find it that all goes ill with thee.” This presumably represents the correct form of the stanza, for nowhere else is it intimated that Atli killed Guthrun’s mother, Grimhild, nor is the niece elsewhere mentioned. Some editions make a separate stanza of lines 4–5, Grundtvig adding a line after line 3 and two more after line 5. Other editors are doubtful about the authenticity of either line 3 or line 5. 5154. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. 5256. The text of the first half of line 3 is somewhat uncertain, but the general meaning of it is clear enough. 5357. Beiti: not elsewhere mentioned. The Atlakvitha version of this episode (stanzas 23–25) does not mention Beiti, and in the Volsungasaga the advice to cut out Hjalli’s heart instead of Hogni’s is given by an unnamed “counsellor of Atli.” In the Atlakvitha Hjalli is actually killed; the Volsungasaga combines the two versions by having Hjalli first let off at Hogni’s intercession and then seized a second time and killed, thus introducing the Atlakvitha episode of the quaking heart (stanza 24). The text of the first half of line 3 is obscure, and there are many and widely varying suggestions as to the word here rendered “sluggard.” 5458. Some editions mark line 5 as probably interpolated. 5559. Cook: the original word is doubtful. The Volsungasaga does not paraphrase lines 3–5; the passage may be a later addition, and line 5 is almost certainly so. 5661. It is probable that a stanza describing the casting of Gunnar into the serpents’ den has been lost after this stanza. Sons of day: the phrase means no more than “men.” 5762. Regarding Gunnar’s harp-playing, and his death, cf. Oddrunargratr, 27–30 and notes, and Atlakvitha, 34. Toes (literally “sole-twigs”): the Volsungasaga explains that Gunnar’s hands were bound. Rafters: thus literally, and probably correctly; Gering has an ingenious but unlikely theory that the word means “harp.” 5863. There is some doubt as to the exact meaning of line 2. After this line two lines may have been lost; Grundtvig adds: “Few braver shall ever | be found on the earth, / Or loftier men | in the world ever live.” 5964. Wise one: Guthrun. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. 6065. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. 6166. The manuscript does not name the speaker. The negative in the first half of line 1 is uncertain, and most editions make the clause read “Of this guilt I can free myself.” The fairest, etc.: i.e., I have often failed to do the wise thing. 6267. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Requital, etc.: it is not clear just to what Guthrun refers; perhaps she is thinking of Sigurth’s death, or possibly the poet had in mind his reference to the slaying of her mother in stanza 53. 6368. Line 5 is very probably a later addition, though some editors question line 3 instead. 6469. Guthrun suddenly changes her tone in order to make Atli believe that she is submissive to his will, and thus to gain time for her vengeance. Line 2 in the original is thoroughly obscure; it runs literally: “On the knee goes the fist | if the twigs are taken off.” Perhaps the word meaning “fist” may also have meant “tree-top,” as Gering suggests, or perhaps the line is an illogical blending of the ideas contained in lines 1 and 3. 6570. The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a new stanza. Two shields, etc.: i.e., Guthrun concealed her hostility (symbolized by a red shield, cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 34) by a show of friendliness (a white shield). 6671. Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 1–2, some of them suggesting the loss of two lines, and combine lines 3–4 with lines 1–2 of stanza 72. The manuscript marks both lines 1 and 3 as beginning stanzas. 6772. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza; some editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–5, while others combine them with lines 1–2 of stanza 73. Line 2 in the original is clearly defective, the verb being omitted. The meaning of line 3 is uncertain; the Volsungasaga paraphrase has: “At evening she took the sons of King Atli (Erp and Eitil) where they were playing with a block of wood.” Probably the text of the line as we have it is faulty. Lines 4–5 may possibly have been expanded out of a single line, or line 5 may be spurious. 6873. The manuscript does not name the speakers. It indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza, in which it is followed by many editions. The Volsungasaga paraphrases line 4 thus: “But it is shameful for thee to do this.” Either the text of the line has been changed or the Volsungasaga compilers misunderstood it. The angry one: Atli. 6974. The manuscript indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza. 7075. The manuscript does not name the speaker. 7176. Morning: Guthrun refers to Atli’s taunt in stanza 64. 7277. The manuscript indicates no gap (lines 1–2), and most editions make a single line, despite the defective meter: “Thy sons hast thou lost | as thou never shouldst lose them.” The second part of line 2 is in the original identical with the second half of line 3 of stanza 80, and may perhaps have been inserted here by mistake. Skulls: it is possible that line 3 was borrowed from a poem belonging to the Völund tradition (cf. Völundarkvitha, 25 and 37), and the idea doubtless came from some such source, but probably the poet inserted it in a line of his own composition to give an added touch of horror. The Volsungasaga follows the Atlamol in including this incident. 7378. Some editions add lines 3–4 to stanza 79; Finnur Jonsson marks them as probably spurious. 7479. Perhaps these two lines should form part of stanza 78, or perhaps they, rather than lines 3–4 of stanza 78, are a later addition. A gap of two lines after line 1 has also been conjectured. 7580. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. 7681. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Lines 1–2 may be the remains of a separate stanza; Grundtvig adds: “Thou wast foolish, Atli, | when wise thou didst feel, / Ever the whole | of thy race did I hate.” The Volsungasaga paraphrase, however, indicates no gap. Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–6, which, in the Volsungasaga, are paraphrased as a speech of Atli’s. Lines 5–6 may be spurious. 7782. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers. Many editions make two separate stanzas of the four lines. Another light: a fairly clear indication of the influence of Christianity; cf. Introductory Note. 7883. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a new stanza. Hniflung: the Volsungasaga says that “Hogni had a son who was called Hniflung,” but the name appears to be nothing more than the familiar “Niflung” applied in general to the sons of Gjuki and their people. On the spelling cf. note on stanza 44. This son of Hogni appears in later versions of the story. In the Thithrekssaga he is called Aldrian, and is begotten by Hogni the night before his death. Aldrian grows up and finally shuts Attila in a cave where he starves to death. The poet here has incorporated the idea, which finds no parallel in the Atlakvitha, without troubling himself to straighten out the chronology. 7984. Line 4 may be in Fornyrthislag, and from another poem. 8085. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. The Volsungasaga makes line 2 part of Atli’s speech. 8186. The manuscript does not name the speakers. It marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and many editions follow this arrangement, in most cases making a stanza of lines 4–5 and line 1 of stanza 87. However, line 1 may well have been interpolated here from stanza 75. Grundtvig adds after line 3: “His father he avenged, | and his kinsmen fully.” Some editors assume the loss of one or two lines after line 5. 8287. The manuscript marks line 2 as beginning a new stanza, and some editions make a stanza out of lines 2–4 and line 1 of stanza 88. 8388. The manuscript marks line 2 as the beginning of a stanza, and many editions make a stanza out of lines 2–4, or combine them with stanza 89. Some question the genuineness of line 4. 8489. Many editions assume a gap of one line after line 3; Grundtvig adds: “Bit-champing horses | and wheel-wagons bright.” Line 4 may be spurious. Greater: i.e., the silver which Atli gave Guthrun was of greater value even than the honor of receiving such royal gifts. 8590. Some editions mark line 3 as spurious or defective. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza. The land, etc.: there is much obscurity as to the significance of this line. Some editors omit or question “me,” in which case Atli is apparently reproaching Guthrun for having incited him to fight with his brothers to win for himself the whole of Buthli’s land. In stanza 91 Guthrun denies that she was to blame for Atli’s quarrels with his brothers. The Volsungasaga reading supports this interpretation. The historical Attila did actually have his brother, Bleda, killed in order to have the sole rule. The treasure: Sigurth’s hoard, which Atli claimed as the brother of Brynhild and husband of Guthrun, Sigurth’s widow, but which Gunnar and Hogni kept for themselves, with, as Atli here charges, Guthrun’s connivance. My mother: the only other reference to Atli’s mother is in Oddrunargratr, 30, wherein she appears as the adder who stings Gunnar to death, and in the prose passages based on that stanza. 8691. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. It marks both lines 4 and 5 as beginning new stanzas, but line 5 is presumably an interpolation. The text of the second half of line 2 is obscure, and many emendations have been suggested. Ye brothers: cf. note on stanza 90. Half: i.e., two of Atli’s brothers were killed, the other two dying in the battle with Gunnar and Hogni; cf. stanza 51. 8792. From the land: this maritime expedition of Guthrun and her two brothers, Gunnar and Hogni (the poet seems to know nothing of her half-brother, Gotthorm), with Sigurth seems to have been a pure invention of the poet’s, inserted for the benefit of his Greenland hearers. Nothing further is reported concerning it. 8893. The forest: i.e., men who were outlawed in the conquered land were restored to their rights—another purely Norse touch. 8994. Hun-king: Sigurth, though most illogically so called; cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 4 and note. The Volsungasaga paraphrase of line 2 is so remote as to be puzzling: “It was little to bear the name of widow.” Perhaps, however, the word “not” fell out between “was” and “little.” 9095. Thing, etc.: here the poet makes Atli into a typical Norse land-owner, going to the “Thing,” or general law council, to settle his disputes. Even the compilers of the Volsungasaga could not accept this, and in their paraphrase changed “Thing” to “battle.” The text of the second half of line 2 is uncertain. The manuscript leaves a blank to indicate the gap in line 4; Grundtvig adds: “as beseems not a king.” 9197. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Many editors assume a gap either before or after line 1. A ship: the burial of Norse chiefs in ships was of frequent occurrence, but the Greenland poet’s application of the custom to Atli is somewhat grotesque. 9298. Heirs, etc.: merely a stock phrase, here quite meaningless, as Atli’s heirs had all been killed. Long: cf. Guthrunarhvot, introductory prose. ‹Previous chapterPoetic Edda 79Next chapterPoetic Edda 81›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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