The Poetic Edda
Page 22
who’s egged you on.
She’s made you think about
causing such cruel sorrow.
She won’t stand for Guthrun
to have such a man as Sigurth—
and she grows impatient
of life with you.”
[4] They cooked wolf-meat,
they chopped up snake-meat,
they gave wolf-meat
to Gotthorm.
And thus they made the
young man thirst for violence,
made him dare to lay hands
on the wise Sigurth.
[5] Guthrun, Gjuki’s daughter,
stood outside,
and seeing her brothers return,
she asked them:
“Where is Sigurth?
Where is my king,
{262} who rode out
before you, brothers?”
[6] Only Hogni
dared give her an answer:
“We cut Sigurth
apart with swords.
Now his gray horse
stays near the man’s body.”
[7] Brynhild, Buthli’s daughter,
said this to them:
“You brothers shall take joy
in your weapons and lands.
Sigurth would have taken
it all for himself,
if you’d allowed him to live
even a little longer.
[8] “It would have been unwise
if you allowed Sigurth
to take your father Gjuki’s lands
and rule the Goths,
when Gjuki has
five sons,
five princes,
all of them fierce fighters.”
[9] Then Brynhild laughed—
all the walls echoed—
it was the only time she laughed
with a whole heart:
“You brothers will enjoy
your lives and lands a long time,
now that you have slain
that bold lord of warriors.”
[10] Guthrun, daughter of Gjuki,
said this to her:
“You speak so many
wretched words, Brynhild.
{263} Woe awaits Gunnar,
the killer of Sigurth—
my husband’s brave heart
will be avenged.
[11] “Sigurth was killed
south of the Rhine;
but a raven screamed
in the trees up above:
‘Attila will bloody
his weapons in you;
your broken oaths
will destroy you.’”
[12] The evening wore on,
and there was much drinking.
Everything was discussed
that had happened that day,
then everyone retreated to bed
and fell asleep.
[13] Gunnar alone was awake
longer than the others.
His feet stirred restlessly,
his mind stirred restlessly;
the warrior
was remembering
what the birds said
in the woods—
what the raven had said,
and an eagle, when they rode home.
[14] Brynhild, the Valkyrie,
Buthli’s daughter,
woke up a little
before the sun, and said:
“Am I angered or soothed?
I don’t know, but I’m troubled.
I must speak it aloud,
or let it be.”
{264} [15] Everyone was silent
when Brynhild spoke up;
few could understand
her intentions
when Brynhild wept,
and began to speak
about the killing
she had asked them to commit:
[16] “Gunnar, I had
a nightmare last night:
everyone in this hall died,
and I slept in a cold bed.
But you, fierce warrior,
kept walking sadly on,
tied up in chains,
you entered an enemy’s camp.
I foresee
that all you Niflungs
will lose your power—
you cursed oathbreakers.
[17] “Did you forget, Gunnar,
when you and Sigurth both
blended your blood
in a pledge of brotherhood?
Now you have repaid
all his good with your evil—
Sigurth, who let you
be the foremost.
[18] “I tested him
when that bold man
rode to woo me
in the circle of flame—
I remember
how faithfully
that noble young man
kept his promises.
{265} [19] “That wealthy king
laid a sword between us,
a killer’s tool
decorated with gold.
That sword’s blade
was hardened in flame
and tempered
in drops of poison.”
Concerning the Death of Sigurth: This poem tells of the death of Sigurth, and in this version it is told that he was murdered outdoors, but some people say that he was killed in his own bed. But the Germans say that they killed Sigurth out in the forest, and in Guthrunarkvitha II it says that Sigurth and the sons of Gjuki had ridden to a council when Sigurth was killed. But everyone agrees that Gjuki’s sons betrayed his trust, and that Sigurth was killed while unsuspecting and unarmed.
{266} Guthrunarkvitha I (The First Poem of Guthrun)
Guthrunarkvitha I (“The First Poem of Guthrun”) provides a compelling picture of mourning, as Guthrun, confronted with the death of her husband Sigurth, is too shocked to weep. Many men and women attempt to comfort her by telling her of their own sorrows, but eventually she is only able to weep when she embraces her dead husband’s body.
Guthrunarkvitha I
Guthrun sat by her dead husband Sigurth. She did not cry, as other women do, but she was nearly bursting with sorrow. Both men and women came to her to comfort her, but it was not easy to do. People say that Guthrun ate some of the dragon Fafnir’s heart, and from doing so, she learned how to understand the language of birds. What follows is also composed about Guthrun:
[1] GUTHRUN WAS READY
for death, long ago,
when she sat in sorrow
next to Sigurth’s corpse.
She did not weep,
she did not wring her hands,
she did not scream
like other women do.
[2] Wise noblemen
came to her.
They tried to offer
some comfort to her.
But Guthrun could not
find the comfort of weeping,
and her chest was nearly
bursting with sorrow.
[3] The wives of these nobles,
born to high families,
sat next to Guthrun,
{267} decorated in gold.
Each one of them
told of her life’s sorrows,
each one told of
the worst she had endured.
[4] Then Gjaflaug,
Guthrun’s aunt, spoke:
“I live with less joy
than anyone else on earth.
I have endured
the deaths of five husbands,
two daughters,
three sisters,
and eight brothers,
and only I survive.”
[5] But Guthrun could not
find the comfort of weeping.
She was too miserable
over the death of her son,
too miserable
at the sight of her dead husband.
[6] Then Herborg,
queen of Hunland, spoke:
“I have a worse pain
to tell about.
All seven of my sons,
together with my husband,
fell in battle
south of here.
[7] “My father and mother,
and four of my brothers,
they all died
in a windstorm at sea,
the hard waves
came over the ship’s side.
{268} [8] “I had to dress their bodies,
I had to dig their graves,
I had to handle
their funerals myself.
I endured all of this
within less than half a year,
and not a single person
said a word to comfort me.
[9] “And within six months,
I was taken prisoner,
made a captive,
led into slavery.
I was forced to dress
and tie the shoes
of my lord’s wife
every morning.
[10] “She hated me
from jealousy,
she beat me
savagely.
I have never known
a better lord,
I have never known
a worse lady.”
[11] But Guthrun could not
find the comfort of weeping.
She was too miserable
over the death of her son,
too miserable
at the sight of her dead husband.
[12] Gullrond, Guthrun’s sister,
said to Gjaflaug:
“Foster-mother,
although you’re wise,
you don’t know how
to comfort a young widow.”
{269} She advised them not
to cover the dead man’s body.
[13] She lifted the bedcloths
from Sigurth’s body
and laid his head
on Guthrun’s knees:
“Look at your beloved!
Put your mouth to his,
embrace your husband
as you did when he lived.”
[14] Guthrun cast
a single glance on him,
she saw her husband’s hair
dripping with blood,
she saw the fire
in his eyes dimmed,
she saw her beloved’s chest
split by a sword-wound.
[15] Guthrun sank back
upon her pillow,
her hair shaking loose,
her cheeks turning red,
and a long rain of tears
fell on her knees.
[16] Then Guthrun,
daughter of Gjuki, wept.
She wept, the tears
poured from her eyes,
and the flock of geese
which she kept outside
screamed loudly
in response.
[17] Then Gullrond,
daughter of Gjuki, spoke:
“I think the love
between the two of you
{270} was the greatest
of all couples’ on the earth.
You had no joy,
whether at home
or outside,
unless he was by your side.”
[18] Guthrun said, “My Sigurth
was, next to my brothers,
like a garlic stalk
towering above the grass.
He was like a bright jewel
set in a crown,
a precious stone
to mark a king’s forehead.
[19] “Even kings agreed
that I, as Sigurd’s wife, was better,
higher than all the Valkyries
who serve Odin.
But I’ve become
as little as
a leaf in the forest,
now that Sigurth has fallen.
[20] “I looked in the hall,
I looked in our bed
for my beloved,
but it was the sons of Gjuki,
my brothers,
who caused my pain,
it is they who caused
their sister to weep so bitterly.
[21] “You, my brothers,
you will be just as bad at ruling
your lands as you were
at keeping your oaths.
And you, Gunnar,
you’ll never enjoy the treasure.
Those rings
{271} will be your death,
because you swore
false oaths to Sigurth.
[22] “There was once
so much joy in our garden,
when my beloved Sigurth
saddled Grani,
and the two of you
went to woo Brynhild,
that wretched creature
with her evil luck.”
[23] Then Brynhild,
Buthli’s daughter, spoke:
“Let me also lose
my husband
and my children!
I am the one who
made you weep,
made you talk like this.”
[24] Then Gullrond,
daughter of Gjuki, spoke:
“Silence, you curse on this people!
No more of these words.
You have always caused
misery for our noble family.
Everyone wishes you
a bad end;
you have been the sorrow
of seven kings,
and the betrayer
of all women.”
[25] Then Brynhild,
daughter of Buthli, spoke:
“Attila, alone,
causes all this distress,
he is my brother,
born to my father Buthli.
{272} [26] “It began when we two,
brother and sister,
looked upon Sigurth,
loaded with Fafnir’s gold.
I have paid
for that vision now,
that vision of wealth
which thrills me still.”
[27] Brynhild,
daughter of Buthli,
leaned on the wall,
she summoned her strength,
but fire burned in her eyes
and she snorted venomously
when she saw the wounds
of Sigurth.
Guthrun then departed for the forests in the wilderness, and walked all the way to Denmark, where she stayed with Thora, daughter of Hakon, for three and a half years. Brynhild did not wish to survive Sigurth, and she ordered eight of her slaves and five of her slavewomen killed. Then she stabbed herself with Sigurth’s sword, as is told in Sigurtharkvitha en skamma.
{273} Sigurtharkvitha en skamma (A Short Poem of Sigurth)
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma (“A Short Poem of Sigurth”) is one of the longest poems preserved in the Codex Regius, and it is probably among the younger poems in the Poetic Edda. Its length is in spite of its title, which implies that the surviving Brot af Sigurtharkvithu must be the remains of a narrative poem that was very long. This poem gives us an abbreviated version of the tale of Sigurth’s marriage to Guthrun, of his life with her and her brothers (Gunnar, Hogni, and Gotthorm), and of Sigurth’s death at the hands of Gotthorm. In the version of the tale told in this poem, Brynhild’s motivation for wanting Sigurth dead appears to be simple jealousy, although she hints that Sigurth disguised himself as Gunnar when wooing her (st. 36), and that this must be avenged. Indeed, the largest constituent part of the poem (st. 50–70) comprises Brynhild’s regrets at not being married to Sigurth, her warnings to Gunnar and Guthrun about their own dark future, and her commandments for the lavish funeral that she orders for Sigurth and for herself.
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma
[1] IT WAS LONG AGO
when Sigurth visited Gjuki—
that young Volsung
had killed a dragon.
He and Gjuki’s sons,
Gunnar and Hogn
i,
became blood brothers—
those bold men swore oaths.
[2] They offered him a wife
and abundant treasure.
It was Guthrun they offered,
their sister—
for many days
young Sigurth
drank and talked
with the sons of Gjuki.
{274} [3] Then they departed
to woo Brynhild,
and Sigurth came along
with them on that journey;
it was young Sigurth
who showed them the way.
That bride should have been his,
but that was not his fate.
[4] Sigurth, that famous Hun,
laid a naked sword,
his sharp weapon,
between them in the bed.
He never did
kiss that woman,
he never did
hold her in his arms.
Sigurth remembered
she was promised to Gunnar.
[5] That lady had never
known sorrow,
her life had contained
not a hint of sadness.
That innocent girl
suspected no wrongdoing,
but the cruel Norns
intended otherwise for her.
[6] She sat alone
in the evening of that day,
and she spoke
openly, plainly:
“I will have Sigurth—
I will hold that young lord
in my arms,
or I will starve.
[7] “Well, so I’ve spoken,
but now I regret those words.
He is married to Guthrun,
{275} I am married to Gunnar;
the cruel Norns will make us
suffer forever.”
[8] Later, Brynhild
would often take walks,
lonely, sorrowing,
over ice and snow,
every evening,
thinking of Guthrun
in bed with Sigurth, thinking
of Sigurth beneath the sheets,
the Hunnish prince
making love to another wife.
[9] “I am deprived
of that man, and of all joy.
I must seek my comfort
in cruel thoughts.”
[10] She took her hatred
and encouraged murder:
“Gunnar! You will lose
your lands, and even me,
to Sigurth. And how could I
ever love that man?
[11] “I will go home
to where I dwelled before,
I will go back to be
among my own family,
and go again into long sleep,
unless you kill Sigurth
and prove yourself better
than all other kings.
[12] “And let the wolf-pup
follow the wolf to Hel!
You shouldn’t be so foolish
as to nourish his son.
You won’t have to worry
{276} so much about vengeance,
if you kill the son
together with the father.”