Tales of Valhalla

by Martyn Whittock

  In many ways, they act as something of a bridge between the myths and the non-supernatural world of politics, family quarrels and ambitions, travel and revenge that we find in the so-called ‘family-sagas’ for which Iceland is famous. These family-sagas, we should recall, are also works of literature and should not be read as straight historical accounts, but they can seem to have that characteristic in their accessible and credible tales of the lives of men and women. They certainly feel ‘historical’ and are definitely not ‘myths’ recounting the worlds of the gods.

  The writings that form the basis for this ‘legendary section’ – even though some have the word ‘saga’ in their title – are of a different order to these family-sagas. As we shall see, in The Saga of the Volsungs, for example, the human world and echoes of real fourth- and fifth-century events are present but, very noticeably, they are intermingled with mythological features; and this gives them a character that reminds us of the myths that we have explored so far. They are mythologically informed ‘Norse legends’. The reforging of the sword once-broken is reminiscent of a similar motif in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The stories of the otter-pelt covered with gold, Fafnir and Sigurd also appear in Chapter 11.

  The journeys to Vinland that we explore finally in this section are not mythological, but they are still included because they explain the past through the adventures of larger-than-life characters and it will be seen that they still contain supernatural features. In short, they are rather less mundane in their focus than the ‘historical’ family-sagas and have something of that ‘explaining how things have come to pass’ quality of the myths and other legends.

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  How Sigi became king of the Huns

  There was once a man named Sigi and it was said that he was the son of Odin. One day he went out hunting with a slave named Bredi. This Bredi was the slave of the goddess Skadi (who was once wife of the Vanir god, Niord). At the end of the day, Sigi compared his hunting kills with Bredi and was angry and embarrassed to find that Bredi’s kills were more impressive. In fact, Sigi was so angry that he murdered Bredi and buried his body in a snowdrift. When Sigi returned home, he told Skadi that Bredi had ridden off and left him and he had no idea where he had gone.

  Now Skadi did not believe him and sent men out to search for Bredi. Eventually they found his body buried in the snowdrift. From that day onwards, people have called deep snowdrifts ‘Bredi’s drift’ in memory of that terrible event. Because it was clear that Sigi had murdered the slave he was declared an outlaw, a ‘wolf against the sacred’. As a result, he had to leave home and flee for his life.

  Now, Odin guided Sigi on his long journeying; he and the warriors that had gone with him. Eventually they reached the coast and turned to a life of raiding, at which they were very successful. In time, he became so successful that he gained a kingdom (that of the Huns) and a noble wife. His son was named Rerir and the son grew tall and strong.

  In time the brothers of Sigi’s wife grew jealous of Sigi. They plotted against him and laid an ambush for him, which succeeded in killing him and all his bodyguards. He was succeeded by Rerir, his son, and when Rerir was strong enough he gathered an army and slaughtered those relatives on his mother’s side who had been responsible for the death of his father. After this act of vengeance, Rerir grew to be a wealthy and powerful king. But he had no heir to succeed to the kingdom of the Huns after him. Of the location of that Hunnic kingdom, some say it lay among the Franks by the River Rhine, others that it lay far to the east.

  Odin grants King Rerir a son: Volsung

  King Rerir and his wife prayed to the gods for a child and their pleas were heard by Frigg. She, in turn, relayed their request to Odin. On hearing this, he summoned one of his chosen maidens (a valkyrie) and she dropped an apple into Rerir’s lap. Although Rerir did not understand the nature of this gift, he soon found that his wife was pregnant.

  However, things did not go well with the royal family. Firstly, the king died while on campaign. Secondly, the queen did not give birth in the normal timespan and her pregnancy lasted for six years! In the end, she realised that she would not live long enough to give birth and ordered that the child should be cut from her body. This was done and that was how Volsung, who became king of the Huns in place of Rerir, his father, was born. He became a famous warrior who was renowned for his victories in battle. He built a great hall and in the centre of that royal palace a huge tree grew; it stretched up to the roof and its branches grew through the roof and its blossom spread over the top of the roof. The tree was named Barnstock, which means ‘Child-tree’ or, some say, ‘Hearth-tree’.

  In time Volsung married the valkyrie who had dropped the apple in his father’s lap. Her name was Hljod and she was the daughter of a giant named Hrimnir. Together they had no less than ten sons and a daughter. Their eldest son was named Sigmund. He was one of twins and his twin was the daughter and her name was Signy. In time, Signy’s hand was requested in marriage by King Siggeir of Gotland, in southern Sweden. This was the land of the Goths or, as they are also known, the Geats. Signy was not in favour of the match but her father decided that it should go ahead. As a consequence, King Siggeir of Gotland came to the hall of King Volsung to celebrate the royal wedding.

  A hooded one-eyed stranger and a magical sword

  While the feasting was underway a stranger entered the hall. He was tall and wore a hooded cape that overshadowed his features. But it could still be seen that he had only one eye and that his hair was grey with age; and he entered the hall barefoot. In his hand he carried a sword, which he plunged into the great tree that stood in the centre of the hall. Then to the astonished assembly he declared that whosoever could draw the sword from the trunk would have it as a gift and could own no better sword. Then, as all eyes were fixed on him, he turned and left.

  All tried and failed – starting with the noblest there – to pull out the blade. Then, at last, Sigmund, the son of King Volsung, came forward. He clutched the hilt and easily drew out the sword where others had utterly failed.

  At the sight of this, King Siggeir of Gotland offered him three times the sword’s weight in gold if Sigmund would give it to him. To which Sigmund replied that if Siggeir had been meant to have the sword then he would have been able to pull it from the tree!

  Siggeir was angry and felt slighted by the reply but resolved to have his revenge by stealth. And in this decision is the measurement of this man. In the morning, King Siggeir announced that he was returning to Gotland with his new wife. All who heard this were astonished for it was a discourtesy to leave so soon after a royal wedding. On hearing of his intention, Signy (who was now his queen) begged her father to end the marriage for she was unhappy with her new husband and feared that only tragedy would result from the match. But Volsung said that he could not do this, for it would be a great insult to the king of Gotland and it would cause conflict between their two nations. So, King Siggeir of Gotland left with Signy and travelled north, back to his kingdom.

  King Volsung is betrayed and Sigmund alone survives the attacks of a terrible she-wolf

  Three months later, King Volsung and his sons set off in three ships to visit King Siggeir in Gotland. They arrived off the coast one evening. That night Signy warned him that disaster awaited him if he stepped on shore and begged him to return home. But King Volsung would have none of it, for he feared neither fire nor iron. And so the next day he and his sons went ashore. There they were attacked by King Siggeir and, though they resisted with tremendous courage, Volsung was killed and his sons taken prisoner.

  Signy pleaded with her husband not to kill her brothers but instead to imprison them in stocks made from a tree trunk. This, at last, he consented to do. But that night at midnight a terrible she-wolf came and killed and devoured one of the brothers. This happened every night at midnight until only Sigmund, the twin brother of Signy, was left alive.

  Then Signy sent one of her servants to smear honey on Sigmund’s face and put h
oney in his mouth. That night when the she-wolf padded up to him, she smelled the honey and licked it from his face. Then she pushed her tongue into his mouth to eat what was held there. At this, Sigmund clamped down on the wolf’s tongue with clenched teeth. The she-wolf leapt backward and as she did so her tongue was wrenched from her mouth and she died. At the same time, as she pushed her paws against the stocks, she broke them apart and Sigmund was set free. It is said by some that the terrible she-wolf was none other than the mother of King Siggeir and that she had taken on this form through magic.

  Then Signy hid her brother in the woods and there Sigmund lived in hiding for some time, since King Siggeir thought that he was dead. Eventually Signy sent her eldest son by King Siggeir to be Sigmund’s companion. But Sigmund found the boy to be timid and afraid to knead dough that seemed to have something living in it, and so Sigmund told his sister that he had no wish to have the boy as a companion in the woods. To which Signy said that he should kill the lad. And so he did. The next winter, Signy sent her youngest son by King Siggeir and the same thing happened and Sigmund killed him too, on the advice of Signy.

  Signy has another son, who becomes the companion of Sigmund in the woods

  One day, a sorceress visited Signy and Signy reached an agreement with her: the two would change shape and the sorceress would sleep with King Siggeir in place of Signy. And so this is what they did. The sorceress slept with King Siggeir and Signy went to visit her brother in the woods. She asked him for shelter and Sigmund agreed. That night he asked her to share his bed, because she was an attractive woman and, in her changed shape, he did not recognise her. This she did for three nights.

  After this, she returned to Siggeir’s hall and there she gave birth to a son. He had the look of the Volsungs and she named him Sinfjotli. As with her other sons, she tested his manliness by stitching his garments to his hands but whereas they had cried out in pain, Sinfjotli made no sound. When the boy came to Sigmund in the woods, he too was told to knead the dough and this he did although there was a poisonous snake within the flour! It did not bother him one bit.

  Sigmund took him as a companion but decided to toughen him up before seeking vengeance against King Siggeir. So through the summers they wandered the forest and killed men for what they could take from them. And all the time Sinfjotli reminded Sigmund of his debt of honour that called for the death of King Siggeir. But Sigmund did not fully trust him because he thought that he was King Siggeir’s son.

  During their time in the woods they came on two sleeping men that magic had turned into wolves but who, every tenth night, could shed their wolfskins. So Sigmund and Sinfjotli took the skins and put them on, becoming wolves and unable to resist the magic. In this form they roamed the woods, killing men. In time, they fought and Sigmund injured Sinfjotli in the throat but brought healing to the wound because he saw a weasel do the same to an injured companion with a certain leaf.

  Thinking that Sinfjotli was finally hardened enough for vengeance, Sigmund took him to the hall of Siggeir. They hid in an outer room but were discovered by Siggeir’s two little sons. On Signy’s instructions, Sinfjotli killed the children, but Sigmund refused to do so. Then Sinfjotli threw the bodies into the hall in full view of Siggeir. A great fight ensued and Sigmund and Sinfjotli were captured and chained.

  The revenge of Sigmund and Sinfjotli

  King Siggeir determined that the manner of their deaths would be slow and painful and so he resolved to bury them alive in a cairn of stones that was covered with earth and turf. They were chained either side of a great rock within the cairn so that they would be denied any comfort in each other’s company. In this manner, they were left to starve to death. However, Signy ordered her slaves to pile straw into the mound and within this she had hidden a joint of pork and also Sigmund’s magical sword. With that sword Sigmund cut their chains and together they used the sword to saw through the rocks of the cairn.

  Once free they made their way to the hall of King Siggeir and set it ablaze. Signy came out and declared to her brother that she too had striven to take revenge for the death of Volsung, their father; when her sons by King Siggeir had been slow to avenge their grandfather’s murder she had told Sigmund to kill them; and then she explained how Sinfjotli was their son and so a Volsung by both his parents.

  Then, declining Sigmund’s offer of freedom and honour, she walked back into the flames to die with her husband, King Siggeir.

  After this, Sigmund and Sinfjotli returned to their country and deposed the man who had ruled it since the death of King Volsung. Sigmund became a famous and wealthy ruler. He married a woman named Borghild and they had a son named Helgi. Norns (the female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men) came at his birth and declared he would be the most famous of kings. Helgi went to war when he was only fifteen years old and was a great warrior.

  King Helgi finds a warrior-wife

  One day, while returning from battle, King Helgi came upon a group of beautiful noblewomen. The most beautiful was named Sigrun. When Helgi discovered that she was on her way to marry a king that she did not love, he resolved to defeat that king so that he could marry her himself. And the king they set out to fight was named Hodbrodd.

  Then Helgi summoned his warriors and a great fleet and they sailed to Gnipalund (in Denmark) along with Helgi’s half-brother, Sinfjotli. And there Sinfjotli entered into a battle of insults with the brother of Hodbrodd who was named Granmar.

  First, Granmar accused Sinfjotli of killing family members and sucking blood from corpses . . .

  Then Sinfjotli replied by saying that Granmar had acted like a woman to be the passive sexual partner of a man and, while living as a valkyrie, he had given birth to nine wolves . . .

  Next, Granmar accused Sinfjotli of being castrated by a giant’s daughter and living in the forest with wolves . . .

  Then Sinfjotli retorted that Granmar was the mare that the stallion, Grani, mated with and that after that he was a herder of goats . . .

  After this battle of insults was over, the two armies eventually fought and King Helgi killed Hodbrodd. As he did so, Sigrun and her female companions arrived, like valkyries at the battlefield. So Helgi married Sigrun.

  Sigmund: his wives and his death at the hands of Odin

  Now, Sigmund was married to Borghild but her brother was killed by Sigmund’s son, Sinfjotli, for they were rivals in love for the same woman. At his funeral feast, Borghild came to Sinfjotli three times with a poisoned drink (in revenge on her stepson for her brother’s death). But twice Sinfjotli suspected her and, instead, Sigmund took the drink; for no poison could harm him. The third time that Borghild brought a drink to Sinfjotli, Sigmund was too drunk to help his son and advised him to filter the drink through his moustache! This Sinfjotli did but the poison killed him. And for this act, Borghild was driven from the kingdom.

  Sinfjotli’s body was carried by Sigmund to the fjord where a ferryman offered to carry the body across the water. But once the body was placed in the boat, the ferryman and the boat vanished with the body of Sinfjotli.

  After this, Sigmund sought the hand of another woman. Her name was Hjordis. He travelled from the kingdom of the Huns to seek his bride. And though he had a younger rival, Hjordis chose Sigmund for he was the most famous warrior of the two.

  As a consequence, the rejected suitor – who was named King Lyngvi – came against Sigmund with a great army, but in the battle that ensued, Sigmund was shielded by the norns who decide the fates of men. And so he conquered and his arms were covered in the blood of the men that he killed.

  Then it was that a stranger appeared on the battlefield. He was cloaked and wore a broad-brimmed hat but still it could be seen that he had but one eye . . . And he raised his spear against Sigmund. When Sigmund struck at him with his mighty sword, the blade snapped against the spear. It was then that the battle turned against Sigmund and he was mortally wounded. As a result, King Lyngvi prevailed over him.

  That night Sigmund’s wif
e, Hjordis, tended him on the battlefield for it was clear that Odin willed his death in battle. Before he died, he gave the broken pieces of his sword to Hjordis and told her to give them to their son when he was born (for she was carrying a child). The sword – when reforged – would be called Gram (meaning ‘wrath’).

  In the morning, a Viking fleet landed and the warriors from it searched the field of carnage for wealth and precious things lying among the slain. When they sailed again they took with them Hjordis and her maid-servant, although the two had exchanged roles. In time, the true identity of Hjordis was discovered and she married the Viking king, who was named Alf. After this marriage the warrior Sigurd, Sigmund’s son, was born. He was to become the most famous of warriors and his name is still spoken of among the poets of the northern world.

  The beginning of the adventures of Sigurd

  Sigurd’s foster-father was a man named Regin. (Among Norse nobles it was common for young men to be raised in the household of allies and become foster-children, to strengthen the bonds of loyalty among the warrior families.) Regin taught Sigurd the use of runes; how to write poetry and play chess; and the speech of several languages. But Regin also tried to make Sigurd dissatisfied with his lot. He questioned the wealth allotted to the young man by the king and said that he should ask for a horse. To this Sigurd replied that he would do so when he was ready. And when he finally did so, the king said that he could take any horse of his choosing from the herds.