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[P1]
King Thjothrek2 was with Atli, and had
lost most of his men. Thjothrek and Guthrun lamented their griefs together. She
spoke to him, saying:
1. A maid
of maids
my
mother bore me,
Bright
in my bower,
my
brothers I loved,
Till
Gjuki dowered
me with
gold,
Dowered
with gold,
and to
Sigurth gave me.
2. So
Sigurth rose
o'er
Gjuki's sons
As the
leek grows green
above
the grass,3
Or the
stag o'er all
the
beasts doth stand,
Or as glow-red gold
above silver gray.
3. Till my
brothers let me
no
longer have
The best
of heroes
my
husband to be;
Sleep
they could not,
or
quarrels settle,
Till
Sigurth they
at last
had slain.
4. From
the Thing ran Grani4
with
thundering feet,
But
thence did Sigurth
himself
come never;
Covered
with sweat
was the
saddle-bearer,
Wont the
warrior's
weight
to bear.
5. Weeping
I sought
with
Grani to speak,
With
tear-wet cheeks
for the
tale I asked;
The head
of Grani
was
bowed to the grass,
The
steed knew well
his master
was slain.
6. Long I
waited
and
pondered well
Ere ever
the king
for
tidings I asked.5
7. His
head bowed Gunnar,
but
Hogni told
The news
full sore
of
Sigurth slain:
"Hewed
to death
at our
hands he lies,
Gotthorm's
slayer,6
given to
wolves.
8.
"On the southern road
thou
shalt Sigurth see,
Where
hear thou canst
the
ravens cry;
The
eagles cry
as food
they crave,
And
about thy husband
wolves
are howling."
9.
"Why dost thou, Hogni,
such a
horror
Let me
hear,
all
joyless left?
Ravens
yet
thy
heart shall rend
In a
land that never
thou
hast known."
10. Few the
words
of Hogni
were,
Bitter
his heart
from
heavy sorrow:
"Greater,
Guthrun,
thy
grief shall be
If the
ravens so
my heart
shall rend."
11. From
him who spake
I turned
me soon,
In the
woods to find
what the
wolves had left;
Tears I
had not,
nor
wrung my bands,
Nor
wailing went,
as other
women,
(When by
Sigurth
slain I
sat).7
12. Never
so black
had
seemed the night
As when
in sorrow
by
Sigurth I sat;
The
wolves [were howling
on all
the ways,
The
eagles cried as their food they craved.]8
13. [Long
did I bide,
my
brothers awaiting.]9
Best of all
methought 'twould be
If I my
life
could
only lose,
Or like
to birch-wood
burned
might be.
14. From
the mountain forth
five
days I fared,
Till
Hoalf's hall
so high
I saw;
10Seven
half-years
with
Thora I stayed,
Hokon's
daughter,
in
Denmark then.11
15. With
gold she broidered,
to bring
me joy,
Southern
halls
and
Danish swans;
On the
tapestry wove we
warrior's
deeds,
And the
hero's thanes
on our
handiwork;
(Flashing
shields
and
fighters armed,
Sword-throng,
helm-throng,
the host
of the king).12
16.
Sigmund's13 ship
by the
land was sailing,
Golden
the figure-head,
gay the
beaks;
14On board
we wove
the
warriors faring,
Sigar
and Siggeir,15
south to
Fjon.16
17. Then
Grimhild asked,
the
Gothic17 queen,
Whether
willingly would I . . . . .18
18. Her
needlework cast she
aside,
and called
Her sons
to ask,
with
stern resolve,
19Who
amends to their sister
would
make for her son,
Or the
wife requite
for her
husband killed.20
19. Ready
was Gunnar
gold to
give,
Amends
for my hurt,
and
Hogni too;
Then
would she know
who now
would go,
The
horse to saddle,
the
wagon to harness,
(The
horse to ride,
the hawk
to fly,
And
shafts from bows
of yew
to shoot).21
20.
(Valdar, king
of the
Danes, was come,
With
Jarizleif, Eymoth,
and
Jarizskar).22
In like
princes
came
they all,
The
long-beard men,23
with
mantles red,
Short
their mail-coats,
mighty
their helms,
24Swords
at their belts,
and
brown their hair.
21. Each25 to give me
gifts
was fain,
Gifts to
give,
and
goodly speech,
Comfort
so
for my
sorrows great
To bring
they tried,
but I
trusted them not.
22. 26A draught did Grimhild
give me
to drink,
Bitter
and cold;
I forgot
my cares;
For
mingled therein was magic earth,
Ice-cold sea, and the blood of swine.27
23. 28In the cup were runes of every kind,
Written
and reddened, I could not read them;
A
heather-fish29 from the Haddings' land,30
An ear
uncut, and the entrails of beasts.
24. Much
evil was brewed within the beer,
Blossoms
of trees, and acorns burned,
Dew of
the hearth,31 and holy entrails,
The
liver of swine,—all grief to allay.
25. Then I
forgot,32 when the draught they gave me,
There in
the hall, my husband's slaying;33
On their
knees the kings all three34 did kneel,
Ere she
herself to speak began:35
26.
"Guthrun, gold
to thee
I give,
The
wealth that once
thy
father's36 was,
Rings to
have,
and
Hlothver's37 halls,
And the
hangings all
that the
monarch had.
27.
"Hunnish women,
skilled
in weaving,
Who gold
make fair
to give
thee joy,
And the
wealth of Buthli
thine
shall be,
Gold-decked
one,
as
Atli's wife."38
Guthrun
spake:39
28. "A
husband now
I will
not have,
Nor wife
of Brynhild's
brother
be;
It
beseems me not
with
Buthli's son
Happy to
be,
and
heirs to bear."
Grimhild
spake:
29.
"Seek not on men
to
avenge thy sorrows,
Though
the blame at first
with us
hath been;
Happy
shalt be
as if
both still lived,
Sigurth
and Sigmund,40
if sons
thou bearest."
Guthrun
spake:
30.
"Grimhild, I may not
gladness
find,
Nor hold
forth hopes
to
heroes now,
Since
once the raven
and
ravening wolf41
Sigurth's
heart's-blood
hungrily
lapped."42
Grimhild
spake:
31.
"Noblest of birth
is the
ruler now
I have
found for thee,
and
foremost of all;
Him
shalt thou have
while
life thou hast,
Or
husbandless be
if him
thou wilt choose not."
Guthrun
spake:
32. "Seek not
so eagerly
me to send
To be a
bride
of yon
baneful race;
On
Gunnar first
his
wrath shall fall,
And the
heart will he tear
from
Hogni's breast."43
33. Weeping
Grimhild
heard
the words
That
fate full sore
for her
sons foretold,
(And
mighty woe
for them
should work;)44
"Lands
I give thee,
with all
that live there,
(Vinbjorg
is thine,
and
Valbjorg too,)45
Have
them forever,
but hear
me, daughter."
34. So must
I do
as the
kings46 besought,
And
against my will
for my
kinsmen wed,
Ne'er
with my husband
joy I
had,
And my
sons47 by my brothers'
fate
were saved not.
35. 48I could not rest
till of
life I had robbed
The
warrior49 bold,
the
maker of battles.
36. 50Soon on horseback
each
hero was,
And the
foreign women51
in
wagons faring;
A week
through lands
so cold
we went,
And a
second week
the
waves we smote,
(And a third
through lands
that
water lacked).52
37. The
warders now
on the
lofty walls
Opened
the gates,
and in
we rode.
* * * *
* * 53
38. Atli
woke me,
forever
I seemed
Of
bitterness full
for my
brothers' death.
Atli
spake:54
39.
"Now from sleep
the Norns
have waked me
With
visions of terror,—
to thee
will I tell them;
55Methought
thou, Guthrun,
Gjuki's
daughter,
With
poisoned blade
didst
pierce my body."
Guthrun
spake:
40. "Fire
a dream
of steel
shall follow
And
willful pride
one of
woman's wrath;
A
baneful sore
I shall
burn from thee,
And tend
and heal thee,
though
hated thou am."56
Atli
spake:
41. 57"Of plants I dreamed,
in the
garden drooping,
That
fain would I have
full
high to grow;
Plucked
by the roots,
and red
with blood,
They brought them hither,
and bade me eat.
42. "I
dreamed my hawks
from my
hand had flown,
Eager
for food,
to an
evil house;
I
dreamed their hearts
with
honey I ate,
Soaked
in blood,
and
heavy my sorrow.
43.
"Hounds I dreamed
from my
hand I loosed,
Loud in
hunger
and pain
they howled;
Their
flesh methought
was
eagles' food,
And
their bodies now
I needs
must eat."
Guthrun
spake:
44.
"Men shall soon
of
sacrifice speak,
And off
the heads
of
beasts shall hew
Die they
shall
ere day
has dawned,
A few
nights hence,
and the
folk shall have them."58
Atli
spake:
45.
"On my bed I sank,
nor
slumber sought,
Weary
with woe,—
full
well I remember.
. . . . . . . . . .59
1 By Henry Adams Bellows (1885-1939), 1936.
2 Thjothrek: the famous Theoderich, king of the Ostrogoths, who
became renowned in German story as Dietrich von Bern. The German tradition
early accepted the anachronism of bringing together Attila (Etzel, Atli), who
died in 453, and Theoderich. who was born about 455, and adding thereto
Ermanarich (Jormunrek), king of the Goths, who died about 376. Ermanarich, in
German tradition, replaced Theoderich's actual enemy, Odovakar, and it was in
battle with Jormunrek (i. e., Odovakar) that Thjothrek is here said to have
lost most of his men. The annotator found the material for this note in Guthrunarkvitha
III, in which Guthrun is accused of having Thjothrek as her lover. At the
time when Guthrunarkvitha II was composed (early tenth century) it is
probable that the story of Theoderich had not reached the North at all, and the
annotator is consequently wrong in giving the poem its setting.
3 Cf. Guthrunarkvitha I, 17.
4 Regarding the varying accounts of the manner of Sigurth's death
cf. Brot, concluding prose and note. Grani: cf. Brot, 7.
5 No gap indicated in the manuscript. Some editions combine these
two lines with either stanza 5 or stanza 7.
6 Gotthorm: from this it appears that in both versions of the death
of Sigurth the mortally wounded hero killed his murderer, the younger brother
of Gunnar and Hogni. The story of how Gotthorm was slain after killing Sigurth
in his bed is told in Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 22-23, and in the Volsungasaga.
7 On lines 3-4 cf. Guthrunarkvitha I, 1. Line 5 is probably
spurious.
8 Many editions make one stanza of stanzas 12 and 13, reconstructing
line 3; the manuscript shows no gap. Bugge fills out the stanza as given in
brackets.
9 Cf. note on preceding stanza. Grundtvig suggests as a first line
that given in brackets. Many editors reject line 4.
10 The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a stanza, and many
editions combine lines 3-4 with lines 1-2 of stanza 15.
11 Hoalf (or Half): Gering thinks this Danish king may be identical
with Alf, son of King Hjalprek, and second husband of Hjordis, Sigurth's mother
(cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note), but the name was a common one.
Thora and Hokon have not been identified (cf. Guthrunarkvitha I,
concluding prose, which is clearly based on this stanza). A Thora appears in Hyndluljoth,
18, as the wife of Dag, one of the sons of Halfdan the Old, the most famous of
Denmark's mythical kings, and one of her sons is Alf (Hoalf?).
12 The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza. Some
editors combine lines 5-6 with lines 1-2 of stanza 16, while others mark them
as interpolated.
13 Sigmund: Sigurth's father, who here appears as a sea-rover in
Guthrun's tapestry.
14 Some editions combine lines 3-4 with stanza 17.
15 Sigar: named in Fornaldar sogur II, 10, as the father of
Siggeir, the latter being the husband of Sigmund's twin sister, Signy (cf. Fra
Dautha Sinfjotla).
16 Fjon: this name, referring to the Danish island of Funen, is taken
from the Volsungasaga paraphrase as better fitting the Danish setting of
the stanza than the name in Regius, which is "Fife"
(Scotland).
17 Gothic: the term "Goth" was used in the North without
much discrimination to apply to all south-Germanic peoples. In Gripisspo,
35, Gunnar, Grimhild's son, appears as "lord of the Goths."
18 No gap is indicated in the manuscript, and most editions combine
these two lines either with lines 3-4 of stanza 16, with lines 1-2 of stanza
18, or with the whole of stanza 18. Line 2 has been filled out in various ways.
The Volsungasaga paraphrase indicates that these two lines are the
remains of a full stanza, the prose passage running: "Now Guthrun was
somewhat comforted of her sorrows. Then Grimhild learned where Guthrun was now
dwelling." The first two lines may be the ones missing.
19 The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza.
20 Grimhild is eager to have amends made to Guthrun for the slaying
of Sigurth and their son, Sigmund, because Atli has threatened war if he cannot
have Guthrun for his wife.
21 Lines 5-6 are almost certainly interpolations, made by a scribe
with a very vague understanding of the meaning of the stanza, which refers
simply to the journey of the Gjukungs to bring their sister home from Denmark.
22 Lines 1-2 are probably interpolated, though the Volsungasaga includes
the names. Someone apparently attempted to supply the names of Atli's
messengers, the "long-beard men" of line 4, who have come to ask for
Guthrun's hand. Some commentators assume, as the Volsungasaga does, that
these messengers went with the Gjukungs to Denmark in search of Guthrun, but it
seems more likely that a transitional stanza has dropped out after stanza 19,
and that Guthrun received Atli's emissaries in her brothers' home.
23 Long-beards: the word may actually mean Langobards or Lombards,
but, if it does, it is presumably without any specific significance here.
Certainly the names in the interpolated two lines do not fit either Lombards or
Huns, for Valdar is identified as a Dane, and Jarizleif and Jarizskar are
apparently Slavic.
24 The manuscript indicates line 5 as beginning a new stanza.
25 Each: the reference is presumably to Gunnar and Hogni, and perhaps
also Grimhild, I suspect that this stanza belongs before stanza 20.
26 Stanzas 22-25 describe the draught of forgetfulness which Grimhild
gives Guthrun, just as she gave one to Sigurth (in one version of the story) to
make him forget Brynhild. The draught does not seem to work despite Guthrun's
statement in stanza 25 (cf. stanza 30), for which reason Vigfusson, not
unwisely, places stanzas 22-25 after stanza 34.
27 Blood of swine: cf. Hyndluljoth, 39 and note.
28 The Volsungasaga quotes stanzas 23-24.
29 Heather-fish: a snake.
30 Haddings' land: the world of the dead, so called because,
according to Saxo Grammaticus, the Danish king Hadingus once visited it. It is
possible that the comma should follow "heather fish," making the
"ear uncut" (of grain) come from the world of the dead.
31 Dew of the hearth: soot.
32 I forgot: this emendation is doubtful, in view of stanza 30, but
cf. note to stanza 22.
33 In the manuscript, and in some editions, the first line is in the
third person plural: "Then they forgot, when the draught they had
drunk." The second line in the original is manifestly in bad shape, and
has been variously emended.
34 The kings all three: probably Atli's emissaries, though the
interpolated lines of stanza 20 name four of them.
35 I suspect that line 4 is wrong, and should read: "Ere he
himself (Atli) to speak began." Certainly stanzas 26-27 fit Atli much
better than they do Grimhild, and there is nothing unreasonable in Atli's
having come in person, along with his tributary kings, to seek Guthrun's hand.
However, the "three kings" may not be Atli's followers at all, but
Gunnar, Hogni, and the unnamed third brother possibly referred to in Sigurtharkvitha
en skamma, 18.
36 Thy father's: So the manuscript, in which case the reference is
obviously to Gjuki. But some editions omit the "thy," and if Atli,
and not Grimhild, is speaking (cf. note on stanza 25), the reference may be, as
in line 3 of stanza 27, to the wealth of Atli's father, Buthli.
37 Hlothver: the northern form of the Frankish name Chlodowech
(Ludwig), but who this Hlothver was, beyond the fact that he was evidently a
Frankish king, is uncertain. If Atli is speaking, he is presumably a Frankish
ruler whose land Atli and his Huns have conquered.
38 Cf. note on stanza 25 as to the probable speaker.
39 In stanzas 28-32 the dialogue, in alternate stanzas, is clearly
between Guthrun and her mother, Grimhild, though the manuscript does not
indicate the speakers.
40 Sigmund: son of Sigurth and Guthrun, killed at Brynhild's behest.
41 Raven, etc.: the original is somewhat obscure, and the line may
refer simply to the "corpse-eating raven."
42 This stanza presents a strong argument for transposing the
description of the draught of forgetfulness (stanzas 22-24 and lines 1-2 of
stanza 25) to follow stanza 33.
43 In the manuscript this stanza is immediately followed by the two
lines which here, following Bugge's suggestion, appear as stanza 35. In lines
3-4 Guthrun foretells what will (and actually does) happen if she is forced to
become Atli's wife. If stanza 35 really belongs here, it continues the prophesy
to the effect that Guthrun will have no rest till she has avenged her brothers'
death.
44 Very likely the remains of two stanzas; the manuscript marks line
4 as beginning a new stanza. On the other hand, lines 3 and 5 may be
interpolations.
45 Vinbjorg and Valbjorg: apparently imaginary place-names.
46 The kings: presumably Gunnar and Hogni.
47 My sons: regarding Guthrun's slaying of her two sons by Atli, Erp
and Eitil, cf. Drap Niflunga, note.
48 In the manuscript this stanza follows stanza 32. The loss of two
lines, to the effect that "Ill was that marriage for my brothers, and ill
for Atli himself," and the transposition of the remaining two lines to
this point, are indicated in a number of editions.
49 The warrior, etc.: Atli, whom Guthrun kills.
50 The stanza describes the journey to Atli's home, and sundry
unsuccessful efforts have been made to follow the travellers through Germany
and down the Danube.
51 Foreign women: slaves.
52 Line 5, which the manuscript marks as beginning a stanza, is
probably spurious.
53 After these two lines there appears to be a considerable gap, the
lost stanzas giving Guthrun's story of the slaying of her brothers. It is
possible that stanzas 38-45 came originally from another poem, dealing with
Atli's dream, and were here substituted for the original conclusion of
Guthrun's lament. Many editions combine stanzas 37 and 38, or combine stanza 38
(the manuscript marks line 1 as beginning a stanza) with lines 1-2 of stanza
39.
54 The manuscript and most editions do not indicate the speakers in
this and the following stanzas.
55 The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a stanza.
56 Guthrun, somewhat obscurely, interprets Atli's first dream (stanza
39) to mean that she will cure him of an abscess by cauterizing it. Her
interpretation is, of course, intended merely to blind him to her purpose.
57 In stanzas 41-43 Atli's dreams forecast the death of his two sons,
whose flesh Guthrun gives him to eat (cf. Atlakvitha, 39, and Atlamol,
78).
58 This stanza is evidently Guthrun's intentionally cryptic
interpretation of Atli's dreams, but the meaning of the original is more than
doubtful. The word here rendered "sacrifice" may mean
"sea-catch," and the one rendered "beasts" may mean
"whales." None of the attempted emendations have rendered the stanza
really intelligible, but it appears to mean that Atli will soon make a
sacrifice of beasts at night, and give their bodies to the people. Guthrun of
course has in mind the slaying of his two sons.
59 With these two lines the poem abruptly ends; some editors assign
the speech to Atli (I think rightly), others to Guthrun. Ettmuller combines the
lines with stanza 38. Whether stanzas 38-45 originally belonged to Guthrun's
lament, or were interpolated here in place of the lost conclusion of that poem
from another one dealing with Atli's dreams (cf. note on stanza 37), it is
clear that the end has been lost.
