Guthrunarhvot / Guthrun's Inciting
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
GUTHRUN’S INCITING
Bellows Introductory Note
The two concluding poems in the Codex Regius, the Guthrunarhvot
(Guthrun’s Inciting) and the Hamthesmol (The Ballad of Hamther), belong
to a narrative cycle connected with those of Sigurth, the Burgundians,
and Atli (cf. Gripisspo, introductory note) by only the slenderest of
threads. Of the three early historical kings who gradually assumed a
dominant place in Germanic legend, Ermanarich, king of the East Goths
in the middle of the fourth century, was actually the least important,
even though Jordanes, the sixth century author of De Rebus Getecis,
compared him to Alexander the Great. Memories of his cruelty and of his
tragic death, however, persisted along with the real glories of
Theoderich, a century and a half later, and of the conquests of Attila,
whose lifetime approximately bridged the gap between Ermanarich’s death
and Theoderich’s birth.
Chief among the popular tales of Ermanarich’s cruelty was one
concerning the death of a certain Sunilda or Sanielh, whom, according
to Jordanes, he caused to be torn asunder by wild horses because of her
husband’s treachery. Her brothers, Sarus and Ammius, seeking to avenge
her, wounded but failed to kill Ermanarich. In this story is the root
of the two Norse poems included in the Codex Regius. Sunilda easily
became the wife as well as the victim of the tyrant, and, by the
process of legend-blending so frequently observed, the story was
connected with the more famous one of the Nibelungs by making her the
daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun. To account for her brothers, a third
husband had to be found for Guthrun; the Sarus and Ammius of Jordanes
are obviously the Sorli and Hamther, sons of Guthrun and Jonak, of the
Norse poems. The blending of the Sigurth and Ermanarich legends
probably, though not certainly, took place before the story reached the
North, in other words before the end of the eighth century.
Regarding the exact status of the Guthrunarhvot and the Hamthesmol
there has been a great deal of discussion. That they are closely
related is obvious; indeed the first parts of the two poems are nearly
identical in content and occasionally so in actual diction. The
annotator, in his concluding prose note, refers to the second poem as
the “old” ballad of Hamther, wherefore it has been assumed by some
critics that the composer of the Guthrunarhvot used the Hamthesmol,
approximately as it now stands, as the source of part of his material.
The extant Hamthesmol, however, is almost certainly a patchwork; part
of it is in Fornyrthislag (cf. Introduction), including most of the
stanzas paralleled in the Guthrunarhvot, and likewise the stanza
followed directly by the reference to the “old” ballad, while the rest
is in Malahattr. The most reasonable theory, therefore, is that there
existed an old ballad of Hamther, all in Fornyrthislag, from which the
composer of the Guthrunarhvot borrowed a few stanzas as the
introduction for his poem, and which the composer of the extant, or
“new,” Hamthesmol likewise used, though far more clumsily.
The title “Guthrunarhvot,” which appears in the Codex Regius, really
applies only to stanzas 1–8, all presumably borrowed from the “old”
ballad of Hamther. The rest of the poem is simply another Guthrun
lament, following the tradition exemplified by the first and second
Guthrun lays; it is possible, indeed, that it is made up of fragments
of two separate laments, one (stanzas 9–18) involving the story of
Svanhild’s death, and the other (stanzas 19–21) coming from an
otherwise lost version of the story in which Guthrun closely follows
Sigurth and Brynhild in death. In any event the present title is really
a misnomer; the poet, who presumably was an eleventh century Icelander,
used the episode of Guthrun’s inciting her sons to vengeance for the
slaying of Svanhild simply as an introduction to his main subject, the
last lament of the unhappy queen.
The text of the poem in Regius is by no means in good shape, and
editorial emendations have been many and varied, particularly in
interchanging lines between the Guthrunarhvot and the Hamthesmol. The
Volsungasaga paraphrases the poem with such fidelity as to prove that
it lay before the compilers of the saga approximately in its present
form.
Guthrun went forth to the sea after she had slain Atli. She went out
into the sea and fain would drown herself, but she could not sink. The
waves bore her across the fjord to the land of King Jonak; he took her
as wife; their sons were Sorli and Erp and Hamther. There was brought
up Svanhild, Sigurth’s daughter; she was married to the mighty
Jormunrek. With him was Bikki, who counselled that Randver, the king’s
son, should have her. This Bikki told to the king. The king had Randver
hanged, and Svanhild trodden to death under horses’ feet. And when
Guthrun learned this, she spake with her sons.
1. A word-strife I learned, | most woeful of all,
A speech from the fullness | of sorrow spoken,
When fierce of heart | her sons to the fight
Did Guthrun whet | with words full grim.
2. “Why sit ye idle, | why sleep out your lives,
Why grieve ye not | in gladness to speak?
Since Jormunrek | your sister young
Beneath the hoofs | of horses hath trodden,
(White and black | on the battle-way,
Gray, road-wonted, | the steeds of the Goths.)
3. “Not like are ye | to Gunnar of yore,
Nor have ye hearts | such as Hogni’s was;
Vengeance for her | ye soon would have
If brave ye were | as my brothers of old,
Or hard your hearts | as the Hunnish kings’.”
4. Then Hamther spake, | the high of heart:
“Little the deed | of Hogni didst love,
When Sigurth they wakened | from his sleep;
Thy bed-covers white | were red with blood
Of thy husband, drenched | with gore from his heart.
5. “Bloody revenge | didst have for thy brothers,
Evil and sore, | when thy sons didst slay;
Else yet might we all | on Jormunrek
Together our sister’s | slaying avenge.
6. “. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The gear of the Hunnish | kings now give us!
Thou hast whetted us so | to the battle of swords.”
7. Laughing did Guthrun | go to her chamber,
The helms of the kings | from the cupboards she took,
And mail-coats broad, | to her sons she bore them;
On their horses’ backs | the heroes leaped.
8. Then Hamther spake, | the high of heart:
“Homeward no more | his mother to see
Comes the spear-god, fallen | mid Gothic folk;
One death-draught thou | for us all shalt drink,
For Svanhild then | and thy sons as well.”
9. Weeping Guthrun, | Gjuki’s daughter,
Went sadly before | the gate to sit,
And with tear-stained cheeks | to tell the tale
Of her mighty griefs, | so many in kind.
10. “Three home-fires knew I, | three hearths I knew,
Home was I brought | by husbands three;
But Sigurth only | of all was dear,
He whom my brothers | brought to his death.
11. “A greater sorrow | I saw not nor knew,
Yet more it seemed | I must suffer yet
When the princes great | to Atli gave me.
12. “The brave boys I summoned | to secret speech;
For my woes requital | I might not win
Till off the heads | of the Hniflungs I hewed.
13. “To the sea I went, | my heart full sore
For the Norns, whose wrath | I would now escape;
But the lofty billows | bore me undrowned,
Till to land I came, | so I longer must live.
14. “Then to the bed— | of old was it better!—
Of a King of the folk | a third time I came;
Boys I bore | his heirs to be,
Heirs so young, | the sons of Jonak.
15. “But round Svanhild | handmaidens sat,
She was dearest ever | of all my children;
So did Svanhild | seem in my hall
As the ray of the sun | is fair to see.
16. “Gold I gave her | and garments bright,
Ere I let her go | to the Gothic folk;
Of my heavy woes | the hardest it was
When Svanhild’s tresses | fair were trodden
In the mire by hoofs | of horses wild.
17. “The sorest it was | when Sigurth mine
On his couch, of victory | robbed, they killed;
And grimmest of all | when to Gunnar’s heart
There crept the bright-hued | crawling snakes.
18. “And keenest of all | when they cut the heart
From the living breast | of the king so brave;
Many woes I remember, | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
19. “Bridle, Sigurth, | thy steed so black,
Hither let run | thy swift-faring horse;
Here there sits not | son or daughter
Who yet to Guthrun | gifts shall give.
20. “Remember, Sigurth, | what once we said,
When together both | on the bed we sat,
That mightily thou | to me wouldst come
From hell and I | from earth to thee.
21. “Pile ye up, jarls, | the pyre of oak,
Make it the highest | a hero e’er had;
Let the fire burn | my grief-filled breast,
My sore-pressed heart, | till my sorrows melt.”
22. May nobles all | less sorrow know,
And less the woes | of women become,
Since the tale of this | lament is told.
Bellows Notes
Prose. In the manuscript the prose is headed “Of Guthrun,” the title
“Guthrunarhvot” preceding stanza 1. The prose introduction is used both
by Snorri (Skaldskaparmal, chapter 42) and in the Volsungasaga. It
would be interesting to know on what the annotator based this note, for
neither Bikki nor Randver is mentioned by name in either the
Guthrunarhvot or the Hamthesmol. On the prose notes in general, cf.
Reginsmol, introductory note. Guthrun: on the slaying of Atli by his
wife, Guthrun, Sigurth’s widow, cf. Atlamol, 83–86 and notes. Jonak: a
Northern addition to the legend, introduced to account for Svanhild’s
half-brothers; the name is apparently of Slavic origin. Sorli, Erp, and
Hamther: Sorli and Hamther are the Sarus and Ammius of the Jordanes
story (cf. introductory note). The Volsungasaga follows this note in
making Erp likewise a son of Guthrun, but in the Hamthesmol he is a son
of Jonak by another wife. Svanhild: cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 54
and note. Jormunrek (Ermanarich): cf. introductory note. Bikki: the
Sifka or Sibicho of the Gothic legends of Ermanarich, whose evil
counsel always brings trouble. Randver: in the Volsungasaga Jormunrek
sends his son Randver with Bikki to seek Svanhild’s hand. On the voyage
home Bikki says to Randver: “It were right for you to have so fair a
wife, and not such an old man.” Randver was much pleased with this
advice, “and he spake to her with gladness, and she to him.” Thus the
story becomes near of kin to those of Tristan and Iseult and Paolo and
Francesca. According to the Volsungasaga, Bikki told Ermanarich that a
guilty love existed between his son and his young wife, and presumably
the annotator here meant as much by his vague “this.”
1. The poet’s introduction of himself in this stanza is a fairly
certain indication of the relative lateness of the poem.
2. Idle: a guess; a word is obviously missing in the original. The
manuscript marks line 5 as beginning a new stanza, and lines 5–6 may
well have been inserted from another part of the “old” Hamthesmol (cf.
Hamthesmol, 3).
3. Gunnar and Hogni: cf. Drap Niflunga. Line 5 may be interpolated.
Hunnish: here used, as often, merely as a generic term for all South
Germanic peoples; the reference is to the Burgundian Gunnar and Hogni.
4. Hamther: some editions spell the name “Hamthir.” Sigurth, etc.: cf.
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 21–24, and Brot, concluding prose. This
stanza has been subjected to many conjectural rearrangements, some
editors adding two or three lines from the Hamthesmol.
5. Bloody: a guess; a word in the original is clearly missing, and the
same is true of all in line 3. Thy sons: i.e., by killing her sons Erp
and Eitil (cf. Atlamol, 72–74) Guthrun deprived Hamther, Sorli, and the
second Erp of valuable allies in avenging Svanhild’s death.
6. The manuscript indicates no gap, but most editors assume the loss of
one, two or even more lines before the two here given.
7. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza.
8. Line 1, identical with line 1 of stanza 4, may be interpolated here.
Spear-god: warrior, i.e., Hamther himself. With this stanza the
introductory hvot (“inciting”) ends, and stanza 9 introduces the lament
which forms the real body of the poem.
11. Line 1 in the original is of uncertain meaning. Many editors assume
the loss of a line after line 1, and some completely reconstruct line 1
on the basis of a hypothetical second line. Princes: Gunnar and Hogni.
12. Some editors assume the loss of one line, or more, before line 1.
Hniflungs: Erp and Eitil, the sons of Guthrun and Atli. On the
application of the name Niflung (or, as later spelt, Hniflung) to the
descendants of Gjuki, Guthrun’s father, cf. Brot, 17, note.
13. Norns: the fates; cf. Voluspo, 8 and note.
14. The manuscript omits the first half of line 4.
16. Some editors assume a gap of two lines after line 2, and make a
separate stanza of lines 3–5; Gering adds a sixth line of his own
coining, while Grundtvig inserts one between lines 3 and 4. The
manuscript indicates line 5 as beginning a new stanza.
17. The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as beginning a stanza (cf.
note on stanza 16). Stanzas 17 and 18 are very likely later
interpolations, although the compilers of the Volsungasaga knew them as
they stand here. The whole passage depends on the shades of difference
in the meanings of the various superlatives: harþastr, “hardest”;
sárastr, “sorest”; grimmastr, “grimmest,” and hvassastr, “keenest.”
Snakes: cf. Drap Niflunga.
18. The king: Hogni; cf. Atlakvitha, 25. The manuscript marks line 3 as
beginning a new stanza. Most editors agree that there is a more or less
extensive gap after stanza 18, and some of them contend that the
original ending of the poem is lost, stanzas 19–21 coming from a
different poem, probably a lament closely following Sigurth’s death.
19. The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as beginning a stanza, and
it immediately follows the fragmentary line 3 of stanza 18. The
resemblance between stanzas 19–21 and stanzas 64–69 of Sigurtharkvitha
en skamma suggests that, in some otherwise lost version of the story,
Guthrun, like Brynhild, sought to die soon after Sigurth’s death. Thy
steed: Guthrun’s appeal to the dead Sigurth to ride back to earth to
meet her is reminiscent of the episode related in Helgakvitha
Hundingsbana II, 39–48. The promise mentioned in stanza 20 is spoken of
elsewhere only in the Volsungasaga paraphrase of this passage.
21. Perhaps something has been lost between stanzas 20 and 21, or
possibly stanza 21, while belonging originally to the same poem as
stanzas 19 and 20, did not directly follow them. Sore-pressed: a guess;
a word seems to have been omitted in the original.
22. Words of the poet’s, like stanza 1, and perhaps constituting a
later addition. Many editors assume the loss of a line after line 3.
The meaning, of course, is that the poet hopes the story of Guthrun’s
woes will make all other troubles seem light by comparison.