Tales of Valhalla

by Martyn Whittock

  The very next day Sigurd went out to choose a horse from the herds that grazed by the edge of the forest. As he approached the place where the herds grazed, he met an old man who had a long beard. Sigurd did not recognise the man but asked him for his advice in choosing a horse from the herd.

  The old man agreed to help him and said that they should drive the horses down to the Busiltjorn river. This they did and the horse-herd plunged into the deep water. At once, all the horses – but one – swam for the shore. But Sigurd chose the horse that stayed in the deep water. This horse was a handsome grey colour; it was young and a fine animal. The bearded old man told Sigurd that it was descended from Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of the god Odin. He advised Sigurd to raise the horse carefully because it was the finest of all horses. And then the old man vanished. It was Odin himself that Sigurd had met. Sigurd named the horse Grani.

  Sigurd was pleased with the horse that the king had allowed him to take for himself but still Regin encouraged him to be dissatisfied. To this end, he told Sigurd that there was fabulous wealth for the taking; it was guarded by a great serpent or dragon, named Fafnir. The treasure could be found on Gnitaheath and this was not far away.

  As Sigurd reflected on what Regin told him, he recalled how previously he had heard of Fafnir and his ferocity and strength. To which Regin replied that Fafnir was no greater than any other snake that might be found in the meadow. And that Sigurd’s Volsung ancestors would have willingly taken on such a beast and conquered it. To this, Sigurd asked why it was that Regin was so keen that he should face the dragon . . .

  Then Regin told him the story of Fafnir. It soon became clear why Regin was so keen to have Sigurd confront the dragon. For Fafnir was none other than the brother of Regin. And there was yet another brother, named Otter, who caught fish since he took on the form of an otter by day. He would lie on the bank with his eyes shut and there he would consume his catch. It was in this form and in such a state that the gods Odin, Loki and Haenir chanced upon him and Loki killed him with a stone. They took the dead otter to the hall of Hreidmar (who was father of Fafnir, Otter and Regin) who recognised his dead son and had the surviving two brothers seize the three gods and threatened them with destruction if they did not cover the otter-pelt with the finest red gold. Loki set out to do this and went to Andvari’s Waterfall to catch the famous pike that lived there. This pike was actually the dwarf Andvari, in fish form. And that dwarf was fabulously wealthy. Loki succeeded in netting the wily pike and forced the dwarf to hand over all his gold, down to his very last ring. Taking the gold back to Hreidmar they covered the otter-pelt with gold; the final whisker being covered by the ring that Loki took from Andvari. But later Fafnir killed his father and in so doing not only committed this horrendous crime but also robbed his brother, Regin, of his share of the compensation for the death of Otter, their brother.

  When he heard this account of the crimes of Fafnir, Sigurd at once offered to kill the dragon and asked Regin to fashion a sword that was capable of the deed, for Regin was a skilful worker in iron. So Regin fashioned a fine sword but it shattered when Sigurd struck the anvil with it. He made a second sword and it too shattered against the anvil. At last Sigurd went to his mother and asked her for the sword that had once belonged to King Sigmund, his father. That sword was named Gram and its pieces were taken by Sigurd to Regin with instructions that the skilful smith should make a new sword from the broken pieces. And so he made an incomparable sword. It was so strong that when Sigurd struck the anvil the blade sliced it in two; it was so sharp that when wool was carried by the current of a river against the blade then the wool parted in two. Sigurd was satisfied.

  Equipped with the sword, Sigurd went out to kill Fafnir and so fulfil the vow that he had made to Regin to do this brave deed.

  Sigurd’s fortune is foretold by Grithir and King Sigmund is avenged

  Sigurd’s mother had a brother named Grithir. He had the ability to see into the future. After the sword had been reforged, Sigurd went to meet him and ask if Grithir could see the shape of Sigurd’s life. Eventually Grithir told him what he saw; and Sigurd found that it all came to pass in time. Then Sigurd returned to Regin and said that before he killed Fafnir, he would kill those who had been responsible for the death of his father, King Sigmund. It was against King Lyngvi that Sigurd swore vengeance.

  So he set out and his fleet sailed before a fair wind. Even when a storm arose, Sigurd would not allow the sails to be shortened for he was in an urgent hurry to destroy those who had been responsible for his father’s death. When they reached that land, they spread fire and death before them until at last King Lyngvi raised an army and came against them. The battle was terrible and many men died, but at last Sigurd prevailed over King Lyngvi. With the reforged sword, Gram, he cleaved King Lyngvi through his helmet, head and body. And around King Lyngvi fell all those who had been party to the death of Sigmund.

  Sigurd slays Fafnir

  Regin and Sigurd rode out to where the dragon Fafnir was accustomed to go to drink. When they got there, Sigurd was astonished to see that the cliff was so high that Fafnir had to be huge in order to stoop down to drink from there. Furthermore, the tracks of the dragon were so large and deep that Sigurd realised the great size of the beast was more than Regin had told him. Regin advised him to dig a ditch and lie in it, in wait for Fafnir. When Sigurd asked how he should avoid the blood of the dragon, Regin chided him for lacking the courage that was associated with his ancestors. Then Sigurd rode onto the heath and Regin withdrew, for he was afraid.

  Sigurd began to dig a ditch and, as he did so, an old man with a long grey beard appeared and advised him to dig several ditches in order to channel away the blood of the dragon. This Sigurd did.

  At last Fafnir appeared. He slithered his great bulk towards the edge of the cliff and, as he did so, he breathed out poison ahead of himself. As he passed over the ditches, Sigurd plunged his sword upwards and into him and the wound was mortal. For Gram was a mighty sword. As Fafnir writhed in pain, he demanded to know the name of his assailant and Sigurd declared that he was the son of Sigmund. Then he declared that it was with determination, strength and a mighty sword that he had come against Fafnir and that this had carried him to his goal when others would have hung back in fear.

  As they spoke, Fafnir foresaw that the gold that Sigurd would win from him would be the cause of his death. But Fafnir declared that this death would not be caused by the sea so long as Sigurd bore in mind his advice to never travel that way unwarily. And there on the wild heath, Sigurd questioned Fafnir about the norns (of which some are of the Æsir, some of the elves and some are dwarfs). Then Fafnir told Sigurd that it was his own brother, Regin, who had caused his death and that Regin would be the cause of Sigurd’s death also. Finally, he advised Sigurd to ride away, lest he fall to the final blow that Fafnir laid on him as he died. But Sigurd knew no fear and said that he would go to Fafnir’s treasure store instead, and seize hold of all his gold, for he knew that all men die and so fear of death would not cause him to lose hold of such a treasure hoard!

  Sigurd drinks the blood of Fafnir and eats his heart

  With Fafnir dead, Regin returned and declared that Sigurd had won a great victory that would never be forgotten but that he, Regin, mourned the loss of his brother. Sigurd mocked Regin for running away and Regin replied that had it not been for the sword that he had forged, then Sigurd would never have had the victory. To which Sigurd declared that without a brave heart the sword would not have sufficed to kill the dragon.

  Then Sigurd cut the heart from Fafnir and Regin asked that he would roast it for him. This Sigurd did but, when he burned his finger, he put it in his mouth and, as soon as the dragon’s blood touched his tongue, he found that he could understand the speech of the nuthatches calling from a nearby tree. They warned him to kill Regin or else he would betray Sigurd and they spoke of how Sigurd should help himself to Fafnir’s gold-hoard. So this is what Sigurd did. He struck off Regin�
��s head with his sword. Then he rode to Fafnir’s lair and laid hands on the gold there and took it away. That gold-hoard was enormous. Afterwards, whenever anyone sought to measure courage or treasure, they would compare it to Sigurd of the Volsungs and the killing of Fafnir and the winning of the dragon’s treasure-hoard.

  Note: The life of Sigurd after he gained the gold of Fafnir

  The stories in this chapter form a large part of The Saga of the Volsungs. Some of this has already appeared, in part, in Chapter 11 because it also appears (in a shorter form) in The Prose Edda, in the part known as The Language of Poetry. However, The Saga of the Volsungs contains a great deal more detail in terms of the background to these events and how they form part of the mythical/legendary origins of the ‘heroic’ family of the Volsungs. After Sigurd’s victory over Fafnir, The Saga of the Volsungs goes on to give a more detailed version of his relationships with the women in his life and of the tensions, violence and revenge that flowed from these complex connections. To recount all of this would be to enter into too much repetition of Chapter 11 and so readers are referred to that chapter for the abridged version of the rest of the story (based on the evidence in the Prose Edda).

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  Legendary rulers of men

  FOUND IN THE Prose Edda and in The Language of Poetry are stories of heroic rulers of men and the lineages of heroic kings.

  The battle of the Hiadnings is a never-ending battle, which is documented in a number of sources including the Prose Edda and the Gesta Danorum (Deeds of the Danes, a twelfth-century history of Denmark by the Danish author Saxo Grammaticus). Battle scenes carved onto a stone at Stora Hammars (Stora Hammars I image stone) on Gotland, Sweden, have been interpreted as representing it, and there are allusions to it in the Old English poems Deor and Widsith.

  Hild is a valkyrie and has the power to raise the dead, using this power to prevent her loved ones from ever truly dying. Hild is a figure who appears elsewhere in Norse literature, including in the list of Valkyries in The Seeress’ Prophecy and other Old Norse poems. Identifying her, though, is not always straightforward as the word hildr in Old Norse means ‘battle’ so it is not always clear when the poets are referring to her specifically or when they are using the name as a personification of battle.

  King Hedin is described as the son of Hiarrand (hence ‘Hedin Hiarrandason’). Hiarrand is listed as one of the names of Odin in the Prose Edda. This adds additional mythological significance to the events described.

  Halfdan the Old is a legendary Norse king from whom, as outlined below, many legendary families and characters were descended. This includes some of those referred to in the previous chapter on the Volsungs.

  * * *

  The abduction of Hild by King Hedin Hiarrandason and the unending battle of the wolf-warrior Hiadnings

  There was once a king whose name was Hogni and he had a daughter by the name of Hild. While he was away at a meeting with other kings, his land was raided by King Hedin Hiarrandason and his daughter was abducted. When the news reached Hogni that his land had been attacked and his daughter seized, he set off in pursuit of King Hedin Hiarrandason. His scouts reported that King Hedin Hiarrandason had sailed north along the coast towards Norway. And so King Hogni set off in hot pursuit.

  When King Hogni’s fleet reached Norway, he discovered that King Hedin Hiarrandason had turned west and sailed out to sea towards the Orkney Islands. King Hogni followed him and eventually caught up with him at the island of Hoy. There he found the whole raiding army gathered. On his arrival, King Hedin Hiarrandason sent Hild to negotiate on his behalf with her father. She gave her father a very mixed message. On one hand, she conveyed to him how King Hedin Hiarrandason offered him a fine gold neck ring as compensation for the abduction of his daughter. On the other hand, Hild confided in her father that King Hedin Hiarrandason was in no mood for further negotiations and was prepared to do battle. On hearing this, King Hogni’s answer was short and to the point: there would be no settlement, so prepare to fight. So this is the message that Hild took back.

  Then both sides took up positions on the island and prepared to settle the matter with weapons. It was then that King Hedin Hiarrandason sent another message to King Hogni. He sent it as a son-in-law would to his father-in-law for he had abducted Hild to make her his wife. The message was one final chance to avoid bloodshed and reach an agreement. And in order to achieve this, King Hedin Hiarrandason offered him a huge amount of gold as compensation for what he had done.

  King Hogni’s reply was not designed for reconciliation. He declared that it was now too late to make amends, for he had drawn his great sword, which was named Dainsleif (that means ‘legacy of Dain’, who was a dwarf, although some say he was a king of elves). This sword was forged by the dwarfs and when drawn had to cause the death of an enemy before it could be sheathed once more. This is fitting because Dain’s name means ‘dead’. Furthermore, one sweep of that sword never failed to inflict a wound that would never heal. And that was the message that King Hogni gave to King Hedin Hiarrandason’s offer.

  Hearing this, King Hedin Hiarrandason replied that while the boast might hold true of the sword, it was no assurance of ultimate victory in a battle.

  And so the two armies closed to fight. The battle is known as Hiadnings’ battle. The Hiadnings were wolf-warriors, who went into battle wearing hoods of wolfskin. They were great warriors. All day long the two armies were locked in battle. At nightfall, the kings retired to their ships. But that night, while they slept, Hild walked the battlefield with its carpet of dead men and worked her magic on the slain, so that those who were dead revived. The next morning the two kings returned to the field and the battle recommenced. There on the battlefield and engaged in the fighting were all those who had died the previous day, alongside those who had survived. Day after day this took place: those who died were revived at night by Hild’s magic and the next day the battle was fought again. Those who died turned to stone as did their shields and weapons but at daybreak they returned to their former condition: men to men and weapons to weapons. And so it is said that these wolf-warriors will fight in this way until the end of the world, until the day of Ragnarok.

  Halfdan the Old and his sacrifice

  There was once a king named Halfdan the Old. He was a famous king and his deeds were well known. Once he held a great sacrifice at the time of midwinter, when days are short and cold. He sacrificed in the hope that he would reign for three hundred years. The reply he received from the gods was that this would not be granted but that, instead, for three hundred years all in his line of descent would be men of noble birth. There would not be a woman and there would not be a man below the rank of noble.

  This Halfdan was a warrior of great renown and he travelled far in the eastern lands. In those lands, he faced in single combat a king whose name was Sigtrygg. And in that single combat he killed him. In those eastern lands, he married a woman named Alvig the Wise. She was the daughter of King Emund of Novgorod in the Russian lands.

  Together they had eighteen sons. Nine of these sons were born at the same time. These nine were great warriors and since their deeds are so famous their names have become used as titles to be remembered by those who have come after them. So Gylfi means ‘roarer or sea-king’, Gram means ‘fierce’, Hilmir means ‘helmet’, Iofur means ‘prince’, Raesir means ‘ruler’, Thengil means ‘prince of men’, Tiggi means ‘noble’, Skuli means ‘protector’ and Herra means ‘lord’. None of these nine warriors had children and each died in battle.

  Halfdan and Alvig the Wise had nine further sons. These were: Hildir, from whom are descended the Hildings; Nefir, from whom are descended the Niflungs; Audi, from whom are descended the Odlings; Yngvi, from whom are descended the Ynglings; Dag, from whom are descended the Doglings; Bragi, from whom are descended the Bragnings; Budli, from whom are descended the Budlungs; Lofdi, from whom are descended the Lofdungs, one of whom was Sigurd who slew the serpent Fafnir, and his warband was called the Lo
fdar; finally there was Sigar, from whom are descended the Siklings and they are related to the Volsungs. These are families of great warriors. Other kings’ lines that descended from them are the Skioldungs in Denmark and the Volsungs among the Franks. Another – but in eastern lands – is the family of Skelfir (the Skilfings). These royal and noble families are so famous that their very names appear in poetry as titles of honour.

  Kings and kingdoms named after Odin

  There was once a Swedish king of the island of Gotland by the name of Goti. In fact, ‘Gotland’ is named after him, as is the tribe of the Gautar or Gotar, who live on this island. And he in turn was named from one of the names used by Odin. This name means ‘father’.

  In the same way, the name of Sweden itself is derived from Svidur, another name used by Odin. This name means ‘wise one’.

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  Ynglinga Saga and the ‘history’ of gods and kings

  YNGLINGA SAGA IS the first part of the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson’s history of the ancient Norwegian kings, which is called Heimskringla (Circle of the World). It is a legendary saga, which was originally written in Old Norse in about 1225. Ynglinga Saga covers the period from the mythical origins of Norwegian kingship, through legendary rulers and then into the historic period. It ends in 1177, with the death of Eystein Meyla, who was one of the rival kings of Norway during a period of civil war.

  The earliest part of the saga purports to deal with the ‘arrival’ of the Norse gods in Scandinavia. It explains how they originated in a part of Asia to the east of the Tana-kvísl river, which from Snorri’s explanation is what we now call the River Don. Snorri knew it as the Tanais river (Tanais being a settlement in the delta of the River Don). This river flows from south of Moscow to eventually reach the Sea of Azov, which is linked to the Black Sea. This region is now in southern Russia, east of Ukraine, and borders the Caucasus to the south. Here, according to Snorri, the original city of the gods was called Asagarth (Asgard in other myths) and it was the capital of an area known as Asaland (literally ‘Land of the Æsir’ or ‘Asia Land’).