Sigurðarkviða hin skamma
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Sigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
is an Old Norse poem belonging to the heroic poetry of the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
. It is one of the longest eddic poems and its name derives from the fact that there was once a longer Sigurðarkviða, but this poem only survives as the fragment Brot af Sigurðarkviðu
Brot af Sigurðarkviðu
Brot af Sigurðarkviðu is the remaining 22 stanzas of a heroic Old Norse poem in the Poetic Edda. In the Codex Regius, there is a gap of eight leaves where the first part of the poem would have been found, and also the last part of the Sigrdrífumál. Luckily, the missing narrative is preserved in the...
(see the Great Lacuna
Great Lacuna
The Great Lacuna is a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse poetry in the Codex Regius. The gap would have contained the last part of Sigrdrífumál and most of Sigurðarkviða...
).
According to Henry Adams Bellows
Henry Adams Bellows
Henry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...
, the poem was mainly composed for "vivid and powerful characterization" and not for the telling of a story with which most of the listeners of his time were already quite familiar. Bellows notes that the story telling is closer to the German tradition (found in the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
) than it is to the Scandinavian tradition, and that this is because the matter of Sigurd existed in many and varied forms in Northern Europe c. 1100 when the poem was probably composed.
Synopsis
The poem begins with the victorious young Sigurd the VölsungVolsung
In Norse mythology, Völsung was the son of Rerir and the eponymous ancestor of the ill-fortuned Völsung clan , including the greatest of Norse heroes, Sigurð...
's arrival at the court of Gjúki
Gjúki
Gjúki was the King of the Burgundians in the late 4th century until his death in or around 407. He was the father of Gundomar I, Giselher, and Gunther....
and it informs that he swore oaths together with the two brothers (Gjúki's sons Gunnar
Gunnar
Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier and attacker . Gunder is a Danish variant, Günther is the modern German variant...
r and Högni
Hagen (legend)
Hagen or Högni is a Burgundian warrior in tales about the Burgundian kingdom at Worms. Hagen is often identified as a brother or half-brother of King Gunther .In the Nibelungenlied, he is called Hagen of Tronje...
). The two brothers gave him many jewels and their sister Guðrún
Gudrun
Gudrun is a major figure in the early Germanic literature centered on the hero Sigurd, son of Sigmund. She appears as Kriemhild in the Nibelungenlied and as Gutrune in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.-Norse mythology:...
for wife, and they spent time together drinking and talking. Then the two brothers departed to woo Brynhildr
Brynhildr
Brynhildr is a shieldmaiden and a valkyrie in Norse mythology, where she appears as a main character in the Völsunga saga and some Eddic poems treating the same events. Under the name Brünnhilde she appears in the Nibelungenlied and therefore also in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des...
and Sigurd joined them. The poet then jumps to the moment when Sigurd shared bed with Brynhildr by putting his sword between them. He never held her in his arms and gave her to Gjúki's son (Gunnar).
Then the poem dwells on Brynhildr and informs that she had never known either ill or sorrow. She was without blame and could not dream that she would have it, but fate would have it differently. Brynhildr decided that it was she who should have Sigurd and not Guðrún:
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She went to Gunnarr and told him that she would divorce him and that he would lose both her and her lands, unless he killed Sigurd and his son Sigmund. Gunnarr was grieving, because he loved both Sigurd and Brynhildr, and after many hours of reflection, he summoned his brother Högni, and asked him if he would betray their blood-brother Sigurd for his wealth:
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Högni responded that they were bound by oaths to Sigurd, and it would be to compromise the future of themselves and their descendants. Gunnarr then suggested that they incite their brother Guthormr
Gundomar I
Gundomar I was eldest son and successor of Gebicca, King of the Burgundians. He succeeded his father in 406 or 407 and reigned until 411...
who had not sworn any oaths to Sigurd. The poet then jumps to the moment when Gutthorm's sword was in Sigurd's heart. Sigurd, however, took his murderer with him:
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Guðrún who was lying beside Sigurd woke up and discovered that she was lying in his blood:
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Freyr Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"... she lay. |
She clasped her hands together so hard that Sigurd rose up and asked her not to weep, because her brothers were alive, but their son (Sigmund) was still too young to flee for his life. He said that it was Brynhildr who was to be blamed. Brynhildr had loved him above all other men, but he had been faithful to Gunnarr and kept his oaths. Then Sigurd died and Guðrún swooned. She had clasped her hands together so hard that the cups in the cupboard rang and the geese in the courtyard cried. Brynhildr who heard Guðrún's cries laughed with all her heart:
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Gunnarr told Brynhildr that she never laughed for good things and asked her why she was so pale. He told her that she would have been a worthier woman if she had seen her brother Atli killed. Brynhildr responded that her brother Atli was mightier and would outlive him. She had not desired to have a husband, before the three kings, Sigurd and the Gjukungs (Gunnar and Högni) had arrived. It had been to the gold-adorned hero Sigurd who was sitting on Grani
Grani
In Norse mythology, Grani is a horse owned by the hero Sigurd. He is the horse that Sigurd receives through advice from an old man . Grani is a descendant of Odin's own steed, Sleipnir.-Attestations:...
that she had given her vows. Although both Gunnarr and Sigurd were kingly, Gunnarr was not the like of Sigurd. Moreover, Atli had threatened her that she would loose her wealth, if she did not consent to marry. Brynhildr had pondered whether to fight and defy her brother, but the riches of Sigurd had prevailed on her. She would only love one man in her life.
Brynhildr then declared that she had decided to kill herself. Gunnarr tried to embrace her, but she pushed him away, and she pushed away everyone who tried to show her affection. In desperation, Gunnarr asked Högni what to do. Gunnar said that they should ask their warriors to watch over Brynhildr and restrain her from killing herself until she forgot about it. Högni only spoke a few words and he said that no one should restrain her because Brynhildr had been born for evil deeds and that she should not be born again.
Gunnarr turned away from Brynhildr who was dividing her gems while watching the killed slaves and bondwomen. Then she put on her golden byrnie and pierced her own heart with a sword. She put her head on her pillow and said that those of her women who wanted her gold must be prepared to follow her in death. The others answered that enough people had died and her women should not win honour that way. Brynhildr responded that no one should die for her sake unwillingly, but if they would not join her, they would have little gold to wear.
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Grottasöngr Grottasöngr or the Song of Grótti is an Old Norse poem, sometimes counted among the poems of the Poetic Edda as it appears in manuscripts that are later than the Codex Regius... 's wealth. |
Brynhildr then told Gunnarr that his troubles were not ended, and she began to tell a prophecy about Guðrún. She would be given to Atli in an unhappy marriage, and she would bring woe to many warriors. She would also have a daughter named Svanhildr:
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Brynhildr said the she remembered how they deceived her, and continued by telling that Gunnarr would desire Oddrún for wife and they would love each other secretly because Atli would not allow them to marry. Then Gunnarr would suffer like she had suffered. Later, Atli would throw Gunnarr into a den of snakes, but Atli would lose both fortune and his two sons, and he would die pierced in bed with a sword by Guðrún.
Brynhildr said that Guðrún would then do best to follow her husband by killing herself, if she followed good advice or had a similar heart to Brynhild's. Instead, Guðrún would go across the waves to the kingdom of Jónakr, with whom she would have sons. However, her and Sigurd's daughter Svanhildr would go far away, and due to Bikki's words, Jörmunrekkr
Ermanaric
Ermanaric was a Greuthungian Gothic King who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled an enormous area north of the Black Sea. Contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus recounts him as a "most warlike man" who "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions"...
would slay Svanhhildr in wrath. This would be the end of Sigurd's line and this would increase the sorrow of Guðrún.
Brynhild's last wish was that Sigurd's pyre be built wide enough for both her and Sigurd. The pyre would be covered with shields, carpets and killed slaves. She requested that the slaves should burn fully decked beside Sigurd. Two were to be at his feet and two at his head. There were also to be a brace of dogs and a pair of hawks. Between Sigurd and Brynhildr they were to put the sword that lay between them when formerly they were sleeping together and they were called wedded mates.
With her last words, Brynhildr added that when Sigurd entered the afterlife, the door should not shut behind him but remain open until his retinue had entered the hall.
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