Gripisspo / Gripir's Prophecy
本页收录 Henry Adams Bellows 1923 年英译本。Bellows 译本已进入公有领域；本站保留其诗篇导言、英译正文和注释，不收现代中译或现代校勘文本。
Bellows 1923 英译
GRIPIR’S PROPHECY
Bellows Introductory Note
The Gripisspo immediately follows the prose Fra Dautha Sinfjotla in the
Codex Regius, and is contained in no other early manuscript. It is
unquestionably one of the latest of the poems in the Eddic collection;
most critics agree in calling it the latest of all, dating it not much
before the year 1200. Its author (for in this instance the word may be
correctly used) was not only familiar with the other poems of the
Sigurth cycle, but seems to have had actual written copies of them
before him; it has, indeed, been suggested, and not without
plausibility, that the Gripisspo may have been written by the very man
who compiled and annotated the collection of poems preserved in the
Codex Regius.
In form the poem is a dialogue between the youthful Sigurth and his
uncle, Gripir, but in substance it is a condensed outline of Sigurth’s
whole career as told piecemeal in the older poems. The writer was
sufficiently skillful in the handling of verse, but he was utterly
without inspiration; his characters are devoid of vitality, and their
speeches are full of conventional phrases, with little force or
incisiveness. At the same time, the poem is of considerable interest as
giving, in brief form, a summary of the story of Sigurth as it existed
in Iceland (for the Gripisspo is almost certainly Icelandic) in the
latter half of the twelfth century.
It is not desirable here to go in detail into the immensely complex
question of the origin, growth, and spread of the story of Sigurth
(Siegfried). The volume of critical literature on the subject is
enormous, and although some of the more patently absurd theories have
been eliminated, there are still wide divergencies of opinion regarding
many important points. At the same time, a brief review of the chief
facts is necessary in order to promote a clearer understanding of the
poems which follow, and which make up more than a third of the Eddic
collection.
That the story of Sigurth reached the North from Germany, having
previously developed among the Franks of the Rhine country, is now
universally recognized. How and when it spread from northwestern
Germany into Scandinavia are less certainly known. It spread, indeed,
in every direction, so that traces of it are found wherever Frankish
influence was extensively felt; but it was clearly better known and
more popular in Norway, and in the settlements established by
Norwegians, than anywhere else. We have historical proof that there was
considerable contact, commercial and otherwise, between the Franks of
northwestern Germany and the Norwegians (but not the Swedes or the
Danes) throughout the period from 600 to 800; coins of Charlemagne have
been found in Norway, and there is other evidence showing a fairly
extensive interchange of ideas as well as of goods. Presumably, then,
the story of the Frankish hero found its way into Norway in the seventh
century. While, at this stage of its development, it may conceivably
have included a certain amount of verse, it is altogether probable that
the story as it came into Norway in the seventh century was told
largely in prose, and that, even after the poets had got hold of it,
the legend continued to live among the people in the form of oral prose
saga.
The complete lack of contemporary material makes it impossible for us
to speak with certainty regarding the character and content of the
Sigurth legend as it existed in the Rhine country in the seventh
century. It is, however, important to remember the often overlooked
fact that any popular traditional hero became a magnet for originally
unrelated stories of every kind. It must also be remembered that in the
early Middle Ages there existed no such distinction between fiction and
history as we now make; a saga, for instance, might be anything from
the most meticulously accurate history to the wildest of fairy tales,
and a single saga might (and sometimes did) combine both elements. This
was equally true of the Frankish traditions, and the two principles
just stated account for most of the puzzling phenomena in the growth of
the Sigurth story.
Of the origin of Sigurth himself we know absolutely nothing. No
historical analogy can be made to fit in the slightest degree. If one
believes in the possibility of resolving hero stories into nature
myths, he may be explained in that fashion, but such a solution is not
necessary. The fact remains that from very early days Sigurth (Sifrit)
was a great traditional hero among the Franks. The tales of his
strength and valor, of his winning of a great treasure, of his wooing a
more or less supernatural bride, and of his death at the hands of his
kinsmen, probably were early features of this legend.
The next step was the blending of this story with one which had a clear
basis in history. In the year 437 the Burgundians, under their king,
Gundicarius (so the Latin histories call him), were practically
annihilated by the Huns. The story of this great battle soon became one
of the foremost of Rhineland traditions; and though Attila was
presumably not present in person, he was quite naturally introduced as
the famous ruler of the invading hordes. The dramatic story of Attila’s
death in the year 453 was likewise added to the tradition, and during
the sixth century the chain was completed by linking together the
stories of Sigurth and those of the Burgundian slaughter. Gundicarius
becomes the Gunther of the Nibelungenlied and the Gunnar of the Eddic
poems; Attila becomes Etzel and Atli. A still further development came
through the addition of another, and totally unrelated, set of
historical traditions based on the career of Ermanarich, king of the
Goths, who died about the year 376. Ermanarich figures largely in many
stories unconnected with the Sigurth cycle, but, with the zeal of the
medieval story-tellers for connecting their heroes, he was introduced
as the husband of Sigurth’s daughter, Svanhild, herself originally part
of a separate narrative group, and as Jormunrek he plays a considerable
part in a few of the Eddic poems.
Such, briefly, appears to have been the development of the legend
before it came into Norway. Here it underwent many changes, though the
clear marks of its southern origin were never obliterated. The names
were given Scandinavian forms, and in some cases were completely
changed (e.g., Kriemhild becomes Guthrun). New figures, mostly of
secondary importance, were introduced, and a large amount of purely
Northern local color was added. Above all, the earlier part of the
story was linked with Northern mythology in a way which seems to have
had no counterpart among the southern Germanic peoples. The Volsungs
become direct descendants of Othin; the gods are closely concerned with
Fafnir’s treasure, and so on. Above all, the Norse story-tellers and
poets changed the figure of Brynhild. In making her a Valkyrie,
sleeping on the flame-girt rock, they were never completely successful,
as she persisted in remaining, to a considerable extent, the entirely
human daughter of Buthli whom Sigurth woos for Gunnar. This confusion,
intensified by a mixing of names (cf. Sigrdrifumol, introductory note),
and much resembling that which existed in the parallel cases of Svava
and Sigrun in the Helgi tradition, created difficulties which the Norse
poets and story-tellers were never able to smooth out, and which have
perplexed commentators ever since.
Those who read the Sigurth poems in the Edda, or the story told in the
Volsungasaga, expecting to find a critically accurate biography of the
hero, will, of course, be disappointed. If, however, they will
constantly keep in mind the general manner in which the legend grew,
its accretions ranging all the way from the Danube to Iceland, they
will find that most of the difficulties are simply the natural results
of conflicting traditions. Just as the Danish Helgi had to be “reborn”
twice in order to enable three different men to kill him, so the story
of Sigurth, as told in the Eddic poems, involves here and there
inconsistencies explicable only when the historical development of the
story is taken into consideration.
Gripir was the name of Eylimi’s son, the brother of Hjordis; he ruled
over lands and was of all men the wisest and most forward-seeing.
Sigurth once was riding alone and came to Gripir’s hall. Sigurth was
easy to recognize; he found out in front of the hall a man whose name
was Geitir. Then Sigurth questioned him and asked:
1. “Who is it has | this dwelling here,
Or what do men call | the people’s king?”
Geitir spake:
“Gripir the name | of the chieftain good
Who holds the folk | and the firm-ruled land.”
Sigurth spake:
2. “Is the king all-knowing | now within,
Will the monarch come | with me to speak?
A man unknown | his counsel needs,
And Gripir fain | I soon would find.”
Geitir spake:
3. “The ruler glad | of Geitir will ask
Who seeks with Gripir | speech to have.”
Sigurth spake:
“Sigurth am I, | and Sigmund’s son,
And Hjordis the name | of the hero’s mother.”
4. Then Geitir went | and to Gripir spake:
“A stranger comes | and stands without;
Lofty he is | to look upon,
And, prince, thyself | he fain would see.”
5. From the hall the ruler | of heroes went,
And greeted well | the warrior come:
“Sigurth, welcome | long since had been thine;
Now, Geitir, shalt thou | Grani take.”
6. Then of many | things they talked,
When thus the men | so wise had met.
Sigurth spake:
“To me, if thou knowest, | my mother’s brother,
Say what life | will Sigurth’s be.”
Gripir spake:
7. “Of men thou shalt be | on earth the mightiest,
And higher famed | than all the heroes;
Free of gold-giving, | slow to flee,
Noble to see, | and sage in speech.”
Sigurth spake:
8. “Monarch wise, | now more I ask;
To Sigurth say, | if thou thinkest to see,
What first will chance | of my fortune fair,
When hence I go | from out thy home?”
Gripir spake:
9. “First shalt thou, prince, | thy father avenge,
And Eylimi, | their ills requiting;
The hardy sons | of Hunding thou
Soon shalt fell, | and victory find.”
Sigurth spake:
10. “Noble king, | my kinsman, say
Thy meaning true, | for our minds we speak:
For Sigurth mighty | deeds dost see,
The highest beneath | the heavens all?”
Gripir spake:
11. “The fiery dragon | alone thou shalt fight
That greedy lies | at Gnitaheith;
Thou shalt be of Regin | and Fafnir both
The slayer; truth | doth Gripir tell thee.”
Sigurth spake:
12. “Rich shall I be | if battles I win
With such as these, | as now thou sayest;
Forward look, | and further tell:
What the life | that I shall lead?”
Gripir spake:
13. “Fafnir’s den | thou then shalt find,
And all his treasure | fair shalt take;
Gold shalt heap | on Grani’s back,
And, proved in fight, | to Gjuki fare.”
Sigurth spake:
14. “To the warrior now | in words so wise,
Monarch noble, | more shalt tell;
I am Gjuki’s guest, | and thence I go:
What the life | that I shall lead?”
Gripir spake:
15. “On the rocks there sleeps | the ruler’s daughter,
Fair in armor, | since Helgi fell;
Thou shalt cut | with keen-edged sword,
And cleave the byrnie | with Fafnir’s killer.”
Sigurth spake:
16. “The mail-coat is broken, | the maiden speaks,
The woman who | from sleep has wakened;
What says the maid | to Sigurth then
That happy fate | to the hero brings?”
Gripir spake:
17. “Runes to the warrior | will she tell,
All that men | may ever seek,
And teach thee to speak | in all men’s tongues,
And life with health; | thou’rt happy, king!”
Sigurth spake:
18. “Now is it ended, | the knowledge is won,
And ready I am | forth thence to ride;
Forward look | and further tell:
What the life | that I shall lead?”
Gripir spake:
19. “Then to Heimir’s | home thou comest,
And glad shalt be | the guest of the king;
Ended, Sigurth, | is all I see,
No further aught | of Gripir ask.”
Sigurth spake:
20. “Sorrow brings me | the word thou sayest,
For, monarch, forward | further thou seest;
Sad the grief | for Sigurth thou knowest,
Yet nought to me, Gripir, | known wilt make.”
Gripir spake:
21. “Before me lay | in clearest light
All of thy youth | for mine eyes to see;
Not rightly can I | wise be called,
Nor forward-seeing; | my wisdom is fled.”
Sigurth spake:
22. “No man, Gripir, | on earth I know
Who sees the future | as far as thou;
Hide thou nought, | though hard it be,
And base the deeds | that I shall do.”
Gripir spake:
23. “With baseness never | thy life is burdened,
Hero noble, | hold that sure;
Lofty as long | as the world shall live,
Battle-bringer, | thy name shall be.”
Sigurth spake:
24. “Nought could seem worse, | but now must part
The prince and Sigurth, | since so it is;
My road I ask,— | the future lies open,—
Mighty one, speak, | my mother’s brother.”
Gripir spake:
25. “Now to Sigurth | all shall I say,
For to this the warrior | bends my will;
Thou knowest well | that I will not lie,—
A day there is | when thy death is doomed.”
Sigurth spake:
26. “No scorn I know | for the noble king,
But counsel good | from Gripir I seek;
Well will I know, | though evil awaits,
What Sigurth may | before him see.”
Gripir spake:
27. “A maid in Heimir’s | home there dwells,
Brynhild her name | to men is known,
Daughter of Buthli, | the doughty king,
And Heimir fosters | the fearless maid.”
Sigurth spake:
28. “What is it to me, | though the maiden be
So fair, and of Heimir | the fosterling is?
Gripir, truth | to me shalt tell,
For all of fate | before me thou seest.”
Gripir spake:
29. “Of many a joy | the maiden robs thee,
Fair to see, | whom Heimir fosters;
Sleep thou shalt find not, | feuds thou shalt end not,
Nor seek out men, | if the maid thou seest not.”
Sigurth spake:
30. “What may be had | for Sigurth’s healing?
Say now, Gripir, | if see thou canst;
May I buy the maid | with the marriage-price,
The daughter fair | of the chieftain famed?”
Gripir spake:
31. “Ye twain shall all | the oaths then swear
That bind full fast; | few shall ye keep;
One night when Gjuki’s | guest thou hast been,
Will Heimir’s fosterling | fade from thy mind.”
Sigurth spake:
32. “What sayst thou, Gripir? | give me the truth,
Does fickleness hide | in the hero’s heart?
Can it be that troth | I break with the maid,
With her I believed | I loved so dear?”
Gripir spake:
33. “Tricked by another, | prince, thou art,
And the price of Grimhild’s | wiles thou must pay;
Fain of thee | for the fair-haired maid,
Her daughter, she is, | and she drags thee down.”
Sigurth spake:
34. “Might I with Gunnar | kinship make,
And Guthrun win | to be my wife,
Well the hero | wedded would be,
If my treacherous deed | would trouble me not.”
Gripir spake:
35. “Wholly Grimhild | thy heart deceives,
She will bid thee go | and Brynhild woo
For Gunnar’s wife, | the lord of the Goths;
And the prince’s mother | thy promise shall win.”
Sigurth spake:
36. “Evil waits me, | well I see it,
And gone is Sigurth’s | wisdom good,
If I shall woo | for another to win
The maiden fair | that so fondly I loved.”
Gripir spake:
37. “Ye three shall all | the oaths then take,
Gunnar and Hogni, | and, hero, thou;
Your forms ye shall change, | as forth ye fare,
Gunnar and thou; | for Gripir lies not.”
Sigurth spake:
38. “How meanest thou? | Why make we the change
Of shape and form | as forth we fare?
There must follow | another falsehood
Grim in all ways; | speak on, Gripir!”
Gripir spake:
39. “The form of Gunnar | and shape thou gettest,
But mind and voice | thine own remain;
The hand of the fosterling | noble of Heimir
Now dost thou win, | and none can prevent.”
Sigurth spake:
40. “Most evil it seems, | and men will say
Base is Sigurth | that so he did;
Not of my will | shall I cheat with wiles
The heroes’ maiden | whom noblest I hold.”
Gripir spake:
41. “Thou dwellest, leader | lofty of men,
With the maid as if | thy mother she were;
Lofty as long | as the world shall live,
Ruler of men, | thy name shall remain.”
Sigurth spake:
42. “Shall Gunnar have | a goodly wife,
Famed among men,— | speak forth now, Gripir!
Although at my side | three nights she slept,
The warrior’s bride? | Such ne’er has been.”
Gripir spake:
43. “The marriage draught | will be drunk for both,
For Sigurth and Gunnar, | in Gjuki’s hall;
Your forms ye change, | when home ye fare,
But the mind of each | to himself remains.”
Sigurth spake:
44. “Shall the kinship new | thereafter come
To good among us? | Tell me, Gripir!
To Gunnar joy | shall it later give,
Or happiness send | for me myself?”
Gripir spake:
45. “Thine oaths remembering, | silent thou art,
And dwellest with Guthrun | in wedlock good;
But Brynhild shall deem | she is badly mated,
And wiles she seeks, | herself to avenge.”
Sigurth spake:
46. “What may for the bride | requital be,
The wife we won | with subtle wiles?
From me she has | the oaths I made,
And kept not long; | they gladdened her little.”
Gripir spake:
47. “To Gunnar soon | his bride will say
That ill didst thou | thine oath fulfill,
When the goodly king, | the son of Gjuki,
With all his heart | the hero trusted.”
Sigurth spake:
48. “What sayst thou, Gripir? | give me the truth!
Am I guilty so | as now is said,
Or lies does the far-famed | queen put forth
Of me and herself? | Yet further speak.”
Gripir spake:
49. “In wrath and grief | full little good
The noble bride | shall work thee now;
No shame thou gavest | the goodly one,
Though the monarch’s wife | with wiles didst cheat.”
Sigurth spake:
50. “Shall Gunnar the wise | to the woman’s words,
And Gotthorm and Hogni, | then give heed?
Shall Gjuki’s sons, | now tell me, Gripir,
Redden their blades | with their kinsman’s blood?”
Gripir spake:
51. “Heavy it lies | on Guthrun’s heart,
When her brothers all | shall bring thee death;
Never again | shall she happiness know,
The woman so fair; | ’tis Grimhild’s work.”
Sigurth spake:
52. “Now fare thee well! | our fates we shun not;
And well has Gripir | answered my wish;
More of joy | to me wouldst tell
Of my life to come | if so thou couldst.”
Gripir spake:
53. “Ever remember, | ruler of men,
That fortune lies | in the hero’s life;
A nobler man | shall never live
Beneath the sun | than Sigurth shall seem.”
Bellows Notes
Prose. The manuscript gives the poem no title. Gripir: this uncle of
Sigurth’s was probably a pure invention of the poet’s. The Volsungasaga
mentions him, but presumably only because of his appearance here. On
Eylimi and Hjordis see Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note. Geitir, the
serving-man, is likewise apparently an invention of the poet’s.
1. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers anywhere in the poem.
Some editors have made separate stanzas out of the two-line speeches in
stanzas 1, 3 and 6.
3. Sigurth: a few editions use in the verse the older form of this
name, “Sigvorth,” though the manuscript here keeps to the form used in
this translation. The Old High German “Sigifrid” (“Peace-Bringer
through Victory”) became the Norse “Sigvorth” (“Victory-Guarder”),
this, in turn, becoming “Sigurth.”
4. Bugge thinks a stanza has been lost after stanza 4, in which Geitir
tells Gripir who Sigurth is.
5. Grani: Sigurth’s horse. According to the Volsungasaga his father was
Sleipnir, Othin’s eight-legged horse, and Othin himself gave him to
Sigurth. The introductory note to the Reginsmol tells a different
story.
9. Thy father: on the death of Sigmund and Eylimi at the hands of
Hunting’s sons see Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note.
11. The dragon: Fafnir, brother of the dwarf Regin, who turns himself
into a dragon to guard Andvari’s hoard; cf. Reginsmol and Fafnismol.
Gnitaheith: a relic of the German tradition; it has been identified as
lying south of Paderborn.
13. Gjuki: the Norse form of the name Gibeche (“The Giver”). Gjuki is
the father of Gunnar, Hogni, and Guthrun, the family which reflects
most directly the Burgundian part of the tradition (cf. Introductory
Note). The statement that Sigurth is to go direct from the slaying of
Fafnir to Gjuki’s hall involves one of the confusions resulting from
the dual personality of Brynhild. In the older (and the original South
Germanic) story, Sigurth becomes a guest of the Gjukungs before he has
ever heard of Brynhild, and first sees her when, having changed forms
with Gunnar, he goes to woo her for the latter. In another version he
finds Brynhild before he visits the Gjukungs, only to forget her as the
result of the magic draught administered by Guthrun’s mother. Both
these versions are represented in the poems of which the author of the
Gripisspo made use, and he tried, rather clumsily, to combine them, by
having Sigurth go to Gjuki’s house, then find the unnamed Valkyrie, and
then return to Gjuki, the false wooing following this second visit.
15. Basing his story on the Sigrdrifumol, the poet here tells of
Sigurth’s finding of the Valkyrie, whom he does not identify with
Brynhild, daughter of Buthli (stanza 27), at all. His error in this
respect is not surprising, in view of Brynhild’s dual identity (cf.
Introductory Note, and Fafnismol, 44 and note). Helgi: according to
Helreith Brynhildar (stanza 8), with which the author of the Gripisspo
was almost certainly familiar, the hero for whose death Brynhild was
punished was named Hjalmgunnar. Is Helgi here identical with
Hjalmgunnar, or did the author make a mistake? Finnur Jonsson thinks
the author regarded Sigurth’s Valkyrie as a fourth incarnation of
Svava-Sigrun-Kara, and wrote Helgi’s name in deliberately. Many
editors, following Bugge, have tried to reconstruct line 2 so as to get
rid of Helgi’s name.
19. Heimir: the Volsungasaga says that Heimir was the husband of
Brynhild’s sister, Bekkhild. Brynhild’s family connections involve a
queer mixture of northern and southern legend. Heimir and Bekkhild are
purely of northern invention; neither of them is mentioned in any of
the earlier poems, though Brynhild speaks of her “foster-father” in
Helreith Brynhildar. In the older Norse poems Brynhild is a sister of
Atli (Attila), a relationship wholly foreign to the southern stories,
and the father of this strangely assorted pair is Buthli, who in the
Nibelungenlied is apparently Etzel’s grandfather. Add to this her role
of Valkyrie, and it is small wonder that the annotator himself was
puzzled.
27. Brynhild (“Armed Warrior”): on her and her family see Introductory
Note and note to stanza 19.
33. Most editions have no comma after line 3, and change the meaning to
“Fain of thee | the fair-haired one / For her daughter is.”
Grimhild: in the northern form of the story Kriemhild, Gunther’s sister
and Siegfried’s wife, becomes Grimhild, mother of Gunnar and Guthrun,
the latter taking Kriemhild’s place. The Volsungasaga tells how
Grimhild gave Sigurth a magic draught which made him utterly forget
Brynhild. Edzardi thinks two stanzas have been lost after stanza 33,
their remains appearing in stanza 37.
35. In the Volsungasaga Grimhild merely advises Gunnar to seek Brynhild
for his wife, and to have Sigurth ride with him. Goths: the historical
Gunnar (Gundicarius, cf. Introductory Note) was not a Goth, but a
Burgundian, but the word “Goth” was applied in the North without much
discrimination to the southern Germanic peoples.
37. In the Nibelungenlied Siegfried merely makes himself invisible in
order to lend Gunther his strength for the feats which must be
performed in order to win the redoubtable bride. In the northern
version Sigurth and Gunnar change forms, “as Grimhild had taught them
how to do.” The Volsungasaga tells how Sigurth and Gunnar came to
Heimir, who told them that to win Brynhild one must ride through the
ring of fire which surrounded her hall (cf. the hall of Mengloth in
Svipdagsmol). Gunnar tries it, but his horse balks; then he mounts
Grani, but Grani will not stir for him. So they change forms, and
Sigurth rides Grani through the flames. Oaths: the blood-brotherhood
sworn by Sigurth, Gunnar, and Hogni makes it impossible for the
brothers to kill him themselves, but they finally get around the
difficulty by inducing their half-brother, Gotthorm (cf. Hyndluljoth,
27 and note) to do it.
39. The last half of line 4 is obscure, and the reading is conjectural.
41. Something is clearly wrong with stanzas 41–43. In the manuscript
the order is 41, 43, 42, which brings two of Gripir’s answers together,
followed by two of Sigurth’s questions. Some editors have arranged the
stanzas as in this translation, while others have interchanged 41 and
43. In any case, Sigurth in stanza 42 asks about the “three nights”
which Gripir has never mentioned. I suspect that lines 3–4 of stanza
41, which are practically identical with lines 3–4 of stanza 23, got in
here by mistake, replacing two lines which may have run thus: “With thy
sword between, | three nights thou sleepest / With her thou winnest
| for Gunnar’s wife.” The subsequent poems tell how Sigurth laid his
sword Gram between himself and Brynhild.
43. The simultaneous weddings of Sigurth and Gunnar form a memorable
feature of the German tradition as it appears in the Nibelungenlied,
but in the Volsungasaga Sigurth marries Guthrun before he sets off with
Gunnar to win Brynhild.
45. According to the Volsungasaga, Sigurth remembers his oaths to
Brynhild almost immediately after his return to Gunnar’s house.
Brynhild, on the other hand, knows nothing until the famous quarrel
between herself and Guthrun at the bath (another reminiscence of the
German story), when she taunts Guthrun with Sigurth’s inferiority to
Gunnar, and Guthrun retorts with the statement that it was Sigurth, and
not Gunnar, who rode through the flames.
47. Brynhild tells Gunnar that Sigurth really possessed her during the
three nights when he slept by her in Gunnar’s form, thus violating his
oath. Here again there is a confusion of two traditions. If Sigurth did
not meet Brynhild until after his oath to Gunnar (cf. note on stanza
13), Brynhild’s charge is entirely false, as she herself admits in
Helreith Brynhildar. On the other hand, according to the version in
which Sigurth finds Brynhild before he meets Gjuki’s sons, their union
was not only completed, but she had by him a daughter, Aslaug, whom she
leaves in Heimir’s charge before going to become Gunnar’s wife. This is
the Volsungasaga version, and thus the statement Brynhild makes to
Gunnar, as a result of which Sigurth is slain, is quite true.
50. Gotthorm: Gunnar’s half-brother, and slayer of Sigurth.
52. The manuscript has stanzas 52 and 53 in inverse order.