by Peter Archer
Sigurd said, “What offspring of our love can there be if we do not live together?”
She shook her head and said, “I shall look upon the hosts of kings, but you shall wed Gudrun, daughter of Giuki.”
Sigurd laughed and said, “You are mistaken. What king’s daughter lives to beguile me? I am not double-hearted, and I swear to you that I shall have you for my own and none other.” Then he gave her a golden ring, and he swore again his love for her.
Rings in Norse Mythology
Rings were extremely important to the Vikings, both as magical objects and as wealth in their own right. Large numbers of rings have been found in Viking hoards. Some few of them carried runic carvings, evidently of mystical import. Odin wore an arm ring, Draupnir. Another ring, the Andvaranaut, was the Ring of Nibelung.
Gudrun, Giuki’s Daughter
Sigurd rode to the hall of Giuki, who was a chief whose dwelling was south of the Rhine River. There Giuki welcomed him, and Sigurd noticed the beauty of Giuki’s daughter Gudrun.
Giuki’s wife Grimhild listened closely to Sigurd’s tale of his adventures, and she marked how he spoke of Brynhild and his love for her. She marked also the chests of gold he carried with him. And she thought it would be well if he forgot Brynhild and instead wed her daughter Gudrun. So she brewed an enchanted ale and brought it to him in a great horn, saying to him, “Great joy do you bring us by abiding here. Now drink from this horn.”
Sigurd drank a great draught, and as he did so, memory of Brynhild departed from him. And each night he drank, and each night Gudrun seemed more lovely to him. After five seasons dwelling in that place, he was well content, and Giuki said, “All things will we do for you as long as you abide here. And you shall have my daughter unasked for, though many men have demanded her hand and left disappointed.”
Sigurd thanked him heartily, and the two men swore brotherhood to one another. Sigurd and Gudrun were wedded, and so Brynhild’s prophecy was fulfilled. Sigurd gave his bride some of the dragon heart to eat, and so she became wise. They had a son whom they named Sigmund in memory of Sigurd’s father.
The Wooing of Brynhild
Now Grimhild went to her son Gunnar and advised him to woo Brynhild. Gunnar agreed and he and his followers rode to Hlymdale along with Sigurd. There Heimir gave them a good welcome. Gunnar told him of his errand, and Heimir said, “Brynhild shall not wed any that she herself has not chosen. But I will tell you this: Her hall is but a little way from here, and it is in the midst of a castle roofed with shields. But around the hall is a ring of fire. If you can pass through that fire and come to her, I believe she will have you.”
Gunnar and the others who had come with him traveled to Brynhild’s hall, and Gunnar spurred his horse, but the animal would not move.
“Why aren’t you going to her, Gunnar?” Sigurd asked.
“My horse will not approach the flames,” replied Gunnar. “Lend me your horse, Grani.”
“Certainly,” replied Sigurd. But even now, Grani would not move toward the fire.
Then Sigurd and Gunnar performed a magic and each assumed the likeness of the other. And disguised as Gunnar, Sigurd mounted Grani and rode toward the fire.
At first the fire rose with a great roar, deafening those who watched. But then it sank down and Sigurd passed through it without hurt.
Brynhild asked, “What man is it?”
“Gunnar, son of Giuki,” Sigurd replied. “You are awarded me as wife by the will and goodwill of your father, for I have ridden through the flames as you said the man must do who would win your hand.”
“I do not know what to answer,” she said.
“Answer yes, for this you have sworn to do.”
She agreed and led him to her chamber, where he remained for three nights. But he laid the sword Gram between them, and when she asked why he said he had sworn to do so.
She took off her ring, Andvaranaut, and gave it to him, and he gave her another ring from Fafnir’s hoard. Then he went back to his followers, and he and Gunnar restored their original shapes.
Brynhild went back to the hall of her father and there she confessed to her father than she saw past the deception and knew it was Sigurd, not Gunnar, who had come to her. But Heimir said things must proceed as fated. So Brynhild and Gunnar were married, and a great feast was held to celebrate the wedding.
Features of the Völsunga Saga
The story of Sigurd, his ancestry, his killing of the dragon Fafnir, and his love for and abandonment of Brynhild form the first part of the Völsunga. This is an Icelandic saga, but like practically all the literature of early Iceland it reflects much older traditions. Although Sigurd is the central character in the story, it is clear that as a whole, the saga reflects the fortunes of the Volsungs, a large and—one presumes—at one time important clan. The story illustrates many of the features of Viking literature: the capriciousness of fate (sadly, Brynhild knows from the beginning that her love for Sigurd and his for her is destined to be unfulfilled); the primacy of family honor (Signy is willing to destroy her own offspring to claim vengeance upon the man who slaughtered her father and her brothers); the unreliability of surface appearances (the shape-shifting Sigurd and Gunnar, as well as the strong possibility that the she-wolf who kills the imprisoned brothers is the mother of Siggeir). In addition there is the violence, an essential part of storytelling in a violent, brutal society. The dragon guarding its hoard bears some resemblance to the dragon slain by the Geatish hero Beowulf in his last deed as king (see Chapter 13).
Although the tale ends on a high note—the wedding of Brynhild and Gunnar—the Völsunga ends tragically. When Brynhild and Gudrun quarrel over who has the better husband, Gudrun tells Brynhild the truth of what happened and the deception that was played upon her. Brynhild has already guessed part of it, but now she confronts Sigurd and charges him with using her. In a rage, she kills his son by Gudrun, Sigmund. Gunnar and his brother plot to kill Sigurd, and they enchant their younger brother Guttorm to do the deed. Guttorm attacks Sigurd while the latter is in bed, and both men are killed, a sad end for the epic hero. It is revealed that the source of all this strife is the ring Andvaranaut, which, unbeknownst to Sigurd, was accursed and would cause dissension among any who possessed it. Finally Brynhild orders a funeral pyre be built for Sigurd, Guttorm, and Sigmund. As the flames are rising, she casts herself on the fire. She and Sigurd are united in death as they were not in life.
Elements of the story worked their way down through German literature. Sigurd became transformed to Siegfried, the hero of the epic Nibelung. This story retained elements of the Viking myth: Siegfried was the slayer of a dragon, but bathing in its blood had made him immortal. He wishes to marry the Kriemhild, sister of King Gunther of the Burgundians, and in return helps Gunther woo Brünhild by employing the same strategy used in the Völsunga’s account.
From there, matters fall out much as they did in the Völsunga: Brünhild and Kriemhild quarrel, the argument spills over to their husbands, and Siegfried is slain treacherously (he is speared in the back, the one place that the dragon’s blood did not cover and thus the only spot through which he is vulnerable). His gold is thrown into the Rhine River to prevent him from raising an army with it.
Wagner and The Ring of the Nibelung
Between 1848 and 1874, the composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) composed a cycle of four operas telling the story of Siegfried and Brünhild. Elements of the Viking myth have now been shifted further, although Germanized versions of the Norse gods appear as characters in the operas. The key to the tragedy lies in the Ring of Nibelung, forged by the dwarf Alberich from gold stolen from the Rhine maidens. The ring is cursed, just as is Andvaranaut, and brings ill luck and strife to any who hold it. Odin (called here Wotan) steals the ring from the dwarf with help from Loki (Loge) but must give it to the giants Fafner and Fasolt, who built Valhalla for the gods. Siegfried has become Odin’s grandson and is tasked with recovering the ring for the gods. This he does by slayin
g Fafner but is eventually killed through treachery. Finally, Brünhild is a Valkyrie and Odin’s daughter (which would seem to preclude her becoming the lover of his grandson, but never mind).
The four operas are:
The Rhinegold
The Valkyrie
Siegfried
The Twilight of the Gods
Wagner and the Nazis
Wagner’s operas were seen by the Germans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an expression of “Germanness,” especially since the Germans had only been united as a nation in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Added to the fact that Wagner was a confirmed anti-Semite, it was perhaps inevitable that his work should have become a favorite of Adolf Hitler. There is considerable irony, therefore, that as Russian armies crashed into Berlin in the spring of 1945 and the Thousand Year Reich of the Nazis was collapsing around them, the Berlin Philharmonic chose to stage a performance of the musical score from Götterdämmerüng—The Twilight of the Gods.
Chapter Thirteen
Beowulf
This tale of the north is among the most well known of Scandinavian myths. One can imagine a crowd of men sitting around a fire, faces shining in the yellow light, listening as a skald recites this tale of heroism and death.
Hrothgar, king of the Danes, was moved to build a great hall to show his power and wealth. So he erected the hall and named it Heorot.
A gabled mead hall fashioned by craftsmen
Which the sons of men should hear of forever,
And there within he would share out
Among young and old all God had given him,
Except common land and the lives of men.
So the hall was built and warriors gathered in it to celebrate with mugs of mead and to tell stories of war and victory and death. But that night, when all slept, a monster came creeping out of the marshes that surrounded Heorot. His name was Grendel, and he was outside the race of men, cast away and bitter. Into the great hall he crept and seized thirty of the slumbering nobles and fled back with them to his lair, where he slaughtered them and devoured their bodies.
So began Grendel’s attacks on Heorot, and Hrothgar and his followers were helpless to stop them. For twelve years they continued. And Hrothgar brooded on how to prevent the attacks and restore peace to his hall.
Across the sea, word of the attacks reached the ears of Beowulf, a thane of the Geats. He chose from among his followers the bravest and best, and in their longship they set off for Heorot.
The Battle with Grendel
A watchman on the shore, a retainer of Hrothgar, saw them land and greeted them. “Never have I seen such mighty men!” he said admiringly. “But assure me you’re not spies.”
Beowulf told him from whence they came. “We are come to the aid of Hrothgar,” he said. “For I have a plan to defeat the monster and restore Hrothgar to his seat in Heorot.”
Word was sent to Hrothgar, who said, “I knew this man when he was a boy. Ecgtheow was his sire. I would like to see what kind of man he has become.” And he bade Beowulf come in to his presence.
Beowulf made his obeisance to the king and said, “Dear lord, I have come to rid you of this scourge. I ask only that you allow me and my followers to contest with Grendel. The monster, it is said, carries no weapons, and neither shall I. I shall best him strength for strength or perish trying.”
Hrothgar had no choice but to agree. He ordered food and drink brought for his guests and joined them in feasting and merry-making. Then at last he and his people retired to their beds, and Beowulf and his men sat in the hall awaiting Grendel.
It was a long vigil, and one by one the men dropped off to sleep. At last, when all was silent, a shadow entered the hall: Grendel. He crept toward one of the sleeping men and reached out a hand to seize him. But Beowulf, who had only been pretending to sleep, sprang up and with a grip of iron clamped his hand around the monster’s.
Around and around the hall they wrestled. Beowulf’s men, wakened now, shouted encouragement and clashed sword upon shield, but none dared join the affray. Sometimes Beowulf had the upper hand, and sometimes Grendel almost bore him to the earth.
Grendel grew tired. This was like no foe he had ever faced before, and daylight was coming. He gave a great cry of despair and pain and Beowulf, with an effort, wrenched his arm and tore it from his shoulder. Then Grendel fled back shrieking to his lair to linger in pain and die.
Beowulf’s men crowded round, cheering their leader. The warrior himself found a rope and tied it around Grendel’s arm. He threw the end over one of the beams in the hall and as Hrothgar and his followers entered Heorot they found Beowulf pulling up Grendel’s arm to the ceiling as the rays of the morning sun shone down on him and turned his figure all to gold.
Grendel’s Mother
After celebrating the defeat of Grendel with many horns of sweet-tasting mead, Hrothgar, his men, and the visiting Geats settled down to what they hoped would be an unbroken night of sleep. But it was not to be. In the dark of the night, Grendel’s mother, mourning the loss of her son and herself a frightful monster, broke in upon them. She carried off Æschere, of all the Geats the most beloved of Beowulf.
Hrothgar told the grieving warrior that Grendel’s mother made her dwelling at the bottom of a deep pool.
Not a pleasant place!
Tearing waves start up from that spot,
Black against the sky, while the gloomy wind
Stirs awful storms till the air turned choking,
The heavens weep.
Together, Beowulf and his companions made their way to the mere wherein Grendel and his mother dwelt. A harsh place it was, ringed with swamps and foul-smelling air and stirred ever and again by winds. Then Unferth, who had dared to doubt Beowulf’s courage when they drank at Heorot together regretted of his hasty words. He offered Beowulf his sword, Hrunting, to combat the monster’s mother. So holding the sword, Beowulf sank beneath the waters, and his men sat and waited on the banks above.
Down, down Beowulf plunged, through the murky waters. At last he came to a deep grotto, many feet below the surface where his men waited anxiously. There, at last, he drew breath and plunged into the rocky cave, seeking his foe.
Foul was the air he breathed, and as he strode along the rocky corridors, dark and far from the world of men, he encountered the ghastly remains of the heroes slain by Grendel in his forays above ground. Here was an arm; there was a leg. All were bloody and torn.
Now at last he encountered more and more remains until the way opened before him and he found himself in a great cavern. There at last lay Grendel’s body, his arm wrenched from him by Beowulf’s might. The monster’s body was surrounded by more bodies, those whom he and his mother had slain. But Beowulf, unafraid, leaped into the cave, and from the shadows, Grendel’s mother sprang, seeking to avenge her son’s death.
Beowulf hewed great strokes upon her with Hrunting, but in vain for the sword could not pierce her flesh. Around and around the cave the two circled, striking ever and anon at one another. In fury Beowulf cast the useless sword from him and grappled with her, but she was stronger than her son and bested him. Then Beowulf gave a great cry and, seeing a sword resting by her, snatched it up and struck at her. Through her neck the sword sang, and she fell, lying by the side of her ill-begotten son. Beowulf, slayer of monsters, hero of the Geats, lifted the sword and struck off Grendel’s head as proof of his great deeds. Yet even as he did so, the sword he held failed in his hand and the blade sizzled and burned like a brand. In smoke it dissolved, so foul was the monster’s blood from which it drank.
Holding the hilt in one hand and Grendel’s head in the other, Beowulf plunged once more into the foul water of the mere. Up and up he swam until he saw above him the light of a brightening day. Then his head burst the surface and his despairing men gave a great shout of joy when they saw he was returned to them victorious.
The Battle with the Dragon
Beowulf and the Geats returned
to their own lands with the good will of Hrothgar and his people. For many years, Beowulf lived there until he rose to be king of the Geats.
After many years—half a century at least—a slave stole a cup from the massed hoard of a dragon who dwelt on the borders of the land. The dragon’s rage knew no bounds, and he laid waste to all the land around his lair. Beowulf and his trusty warriors left their mead hall and declared they would challenge the dragon. But Beowulf, last and best of heroes, declared to his companions that he alone would face the beast. He challenged the dragon, and the beast struck at him with claw and fire. Round and round he and the dragon struggled, and all his companions, fearing for their lives, fled. One alone stayed with him, Wiglaf the faithful, shield bearer. He remained with his liege lord, supporting him and at last he and Beowulf, mighty in war, slew the dragon and struck off its head to be a token of the valiant.
Cups and Thieves
It’s really impossible to read much in the way of Scandinavian mythology and not keep coming back to J.R.R. Tolkien. In this case, of course, there’s the story of the thief who steals a cup from a dragon hoard; anyone who’s read The Hobbit is already sitting up and saying, “Hello!”
But Beowulf was wounded unto the death and, as Wiglaf chanted in despair a song to the gods, Beowulf the mighty gave up his spirit and went to join his fathers in the halls of Valhalla.
Then the returning warriors, shamed by their actions, built a great pyre and placed upon it the body of their king, Beowulf, and burned him so that he might join his forefathers. From the sea there was still visible a barrow in which the remains of the king, mightiest of the Geats, is interred.