Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar / The Lay of Helgi the Son of Hjorvarth
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
THE LAY OF HELGI THE SON OF HJORVARTH
Bellows Introductory Note
The three Helgi lays, all found in the Codex Regius, have been the
subjects of a vast amount of discussion, in spite of which many of the
facts regarding them are still very far from settled. It is, indeed,
scarcely possible to make any unqualified statement regarding these
three poems for which a flat contradiction cannot be found in the
writings of some scholar of distinction. The origin of the Helgi
tradition, its connection with that of Sigurth, the authorship, date
and home of the poems, the degree to which they have been altered from
their original forms, the status of the composer of the copious prose
notes: these and many other allied questions have been and probably
always will be matters of dispute among students of the Edda’s history.
Without attempting to enter into the discussion in detail, certain
theories should be noted. Helgi appears originally to have been a
Danish popular hero, the son of King Halfdan. Saxo Grammaticus has a
good deal to say about him in that capacity, and it has been pointed
out that many of the place names in the Helgi lays can be pretty
clearly identified with parts of Denmark and neighboring stretches of
the Baltic. The Danish Helgi, according to Saxo, was famed as the
conqueror of Hunding and Hothbrodd, the latter as the result of a naval
expedition at the head of a considerable fleet.
From Denmark the story appears to have spread northward into Norway and
westward into the Norse settlements among the islands. Not many of its
original features remained, and new ones were added here and there,
particularly with regard to Helgi’s love affair with Sigrun. The
victories over Hunding and Hothbrodd, however, were generally retained,
and out of material relating to these two fights, and to the
Helgi-Sigrun story, were fashioned the two lays of Helgi Hundingsbane.
How the Helgi legend became involved with that of the Volsungs is an
open question. Both stories travelled from the South, and presumably
about the same time, so it is not unnatural that some confusion should
have arisen. At no time, however, was the connection particularly close
so far as the actual episodes of the two stories were concerned. In the
two lays of Helgi Hundingsbane the relationship is established only by
the statement that Helgi was the son of Sigmund and Borghild; Sigurth
is not mentioned, and in the lay of Helgi the son of Hjorvarth there is
no connection at all. On the other hand, Helgi does not appear in any
of the Eddic poems dealing directly with the Volsung stories, although
in one passage of doubtful authenticity (cf. Reginsmol, introductory
note) his traditional enemy, Hunding, does, represented by his sons. In
the Volsungasaga the story of Helgi, including the fights with Hunding
and Hothbrodd and the love affair with Sigrun, is told in chapters 8
and 9 without otherwise affecting the course of the narrative. Here, as
in the Helgi lays, Helgi is the son of Sigmund Volsungsson and
Borghild; Sigurth, on the other hand, is the son of Sigmund and
Hjordis, the latter being the daughter of King Eylimi. Still another
son, who complicates both stories somewhat, is Sinfjotli, son of
Sigmund and his own sister, Signy. Sinfjotli appears in both of the
Helgi Hundingsbane lays and in the Volsungasaga, but not in any of the
Eddic poems belonging to the Volsung cycle (cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla
and note).
There is a certain amount of resemblance between the story of Helgi and
Sigrun and that of Sigurth and Brynhild, particularly as the annotator
responsible for the prose notes insists that Sigrun was a Valkyrie.
Whether this resemblance was the cause of bringing the two stories
together, or whether the identification of Helgi as Sigmund’s son
resulted in alterations of the love story in the Helgi poems, cannot be
determined.
The first of the three Helgi poems, the lay of Helgi the son of
Hjorvarth, is a somewhat distant cousin of the other two. The Helgi in
question is apparently the same traditional figure, and he leads a
naval expedition, but he is not the son of Sigmund, there is no
connection with the Volsung cycle, and his wife is Svava, not Sigrun.
At the same time, the points of general resemblance with the two Helgi
Hundingsbane lays are such as to indicate a common origin, provided one
goes far enough back. The annotator brings the stories together by the
naive expedient of having Helgi “born again,” and not once only, but
twice.
The first Helgi lay is manifestly in bad shape, and includes at least
two distinct poems, differentiated not only by subject-matter but by
metrical form. Although the question is debatable, the longer of these
poems (stanzas 1–11 and 31–43) seems in turn to have been compounded
out of fragments of two or more Helgi poems. The first five stanzas are
a dialogue between a bird and Atli, one of Hjorvarth’s followers,
concerning the winning of Sigrlin, who is destined to be Hjorvarth’s
wife and Helgi’s mother. Stanzas 6–11 are a dialogue between Helgi and
a Valkyrie (the accompanying prose so calls her, and identifies her as
Svava, but there is nothing in the verse to prove this). Stanzas 12–30
form a fairly consecutive unit, in which Atli, on guard over Helgi’s
ship, has a vigorous argument with a giantess, Hrimgerth, whence this
section has sometimes been called the Hrimgertharmol (Lay of
Hrimgerth). The last section, stanzas 31–43, is again fairly
consecutive, and tells of the death of Helgi following the rash oath of
his brother, Hethin, to win Svava for himself.
Parts I, II, and IV may all have come from the same poem or they may
not; it is quite impossible to tell surely. All of them are generally
dated by commentators not later than the first half of the tenth
century, whereas the Hrimgertharmol (section III) is placed
considerably later. When and by whom these fragments were pieced
together is another vexed question, and this involves a consideration
of the prose notes and links, of which the Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar
has a larger amount than any other poem in the Edda. These prose links
contain practically all the narrative, the verse being almost
exclusively dialogue. Whoever composed them seems to have been
consciously trying to bring his chaotic verse material into some
semblance of unity, but he did his work pretty clumsily, with manifest
blunders and contradictions. Bugge has advanced the theory that these
prose passages are to be regarded as an original and necessary part of
the work, but this hardly squares with the evidence.
It seems probable, rather, that as the Helgi tradition spread from its
native Denmark through the Norse regions of the North and West, and
became gradually interwoven, although not in essentials, with the other
great hero cycle from the South, that of the Volsungs, a considerable
number of poems dealing with Helgi were composed, at different times
and in different places, reflecting varied forms of the story. Many
generations afterwards, when Iceland’s literary period had arrived,
some zealous scribe committed to writing such poems or fragments of
poems as he knew, piecing them together and annotating them on the
basis of information which had reached him through other channels. The
prose notes to Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II frankly admit this patchwork
process: a section of four stanzas (13–16) is introduced with the
phrase, “as is said in the Old Volsung Lay”; the final prose note cites
an incident “told in the Karuljoth (Lay of Kara),” and a two-line
speech is quoted “as it was written before in the Helgakvitha.”
The whole problem of the origin, character and home of the Helgi poems
has been discussed in great detail by Bugge in his Helge-Digtene i den
Ældre Edda, Deres Hjem og Forbindelser, which, as translated by W. H.
Schofield under the title The Home of the Eddic Poems, is available for
readers of English. This study is exceedingly valuable, if not in all
respects convincing. The whole matter is so complex and so important in
the history of Old Norse literature, and any intelligent reading of the
Helgi poems is so dependent on an understanding of the conditions under
which they have come down to us, that I have here discussed the
question more extensively than the scope of a mere introductory note to
a single poem would warrant.
(I)
OF HJORVARTH AND SIGRLIN
Hjorvarth was the name of a king, who had four wives: one was called
Alfhild, and their son was named Hethin; the second was called Særeith,
and their son was named Humlung; the third was called Sinrjoth, and
their son was named Hymling. King Hjorvarth had made a great vow to
have as wife whatsoever woman he knew was fairest. He learned that King
Svafnir had a daughter fairer than all others, whose name was Sigrlin.
Ithmund was the name of one of his jarls; he had a son called Atli, who
went to woo Sigrlin on behalf of the king. He dwelt the winter long
with King Svafnir. There was a jarl called Franmar, Sigrlin’s
foster-father; his daughter was named Alof. The jarl told him that the
maiden’s hand was denied, and Atli went home. Atli, the jarl’s son,
stood one day in a certain wood; a bird sat in the branches up over
him, and it had heard that his men called Hjorvarth’s wives the fairest
of women. The bird twittered, and Atli hearkened to what it spoke. It
said:
1. “Sawest thou Sigrlin, | Svafnir’s daughter,
The fairest maid | in her home-land found?
Though Hjorvarth’s wives | by men are held
Goodly to see | in Glasir’s wood.”
Atli spake:
2. “Now with Atli, | Ithmund’s son,
Wilt thou say more, | thou bird so wise?”
The bird spake:
“I may if the prince | an offering makes,
And I have what I will | from the house of the king.”
Atli spake:
3. “Choose not Hjorvarth, | nor sons of his,
Nor the wives so fair | of the famous chief;
Ask not the brides | that the prince’s are;
Fair let us deal | in friendly wise.”
The bird spake:
4. “A fane will I ask, | and altars many,
Gold-horned cattle | the prince shall give me,
If Sigrlin yet | shall sleep in his arms,
Or free of will | the hero shall follow.”
This was before Atli went on his journey; but when he came home, and
the king asked his tidings, he said:
5. “Trouble we had, | but tidings none,
Our horses failed | in the mountains high,
The waters of Sæmorn | we needs must wade;
Svafnir’s daughter, | with rings bedecked,
She whom we sought, | was still denied us.”
The king bade that they should go another time, and he went with them
himself. But when they came up on the mountain, they saw Svavaland
burning and mighty dust-clouds from many steeds. The king rode from the
mountain forward into the land, and made a night’s stay hard by a
stream. Atli kept watch and went over the stream; he found there a
house. A great bird sat on the housetop to guard it, but he was asleep.
Atli hurled his spear at the bird and slew it, and in the house he
found Sigrlin the king’s daughter and Alof the jarl’s daughter, and he
brought them both thence with him. Jarl Franmar had changed himself
into the likeness of an eagle, and guarded them from the enemy host by
magic. Hrothmar was the name of a king, a wooer of Sigrlin; he slew the
king of Svavaland and had plundered and burned his land. King Hjorvarth
took Sigrlin, and Atli took Alof.
(II)
Hjorvarth and Sigrlin had a son, mighty and of noble stature; he was a
silent man, and no name stuck fast to him. He sat on a hill, and saw
nine Valkyries riding; one of them was the fairest of all. She spake:
6. “Late wilt thou, Helgi, | have hoard of rings,
Thou battle-tree fierce, | or of shining fields,—
The eagle screams soon,— | if never thou speakest,
Though, hero, hard | thy heart may cry.”
Helgi spake:
7. “What gift shall I have | with Helgi’s name,
Glorious maid, | for the giving is thine?
All thy words | shall I think on well,
But I want them not | if I win not thee.”
The Valkyrie spake:
8. “Swords I know lying | in Sigarsholm,
Fifty there are | save only four;
One there is | that is best of all,
The shield-destroyer, | with gold it shines.
9. “In the hilt is fame, | in the haft is courage,
In the point is fear, | for its owner’s foes;
On the blade there lies | a blood-flecked snake,
And a serpent’s tail | round the flat is twisted.”
Eylimi was the name of a king, whose daughter was Svava; she was a
Valkyrie, and rode air and sea. She gave Helgi this name, and shielded
him oft thereafter in battle. Helgi spake:
10. “Hjorvarth, king, | unwholesome thy counsels,
Though famed thou art | in leading the folk,
Letting fire the homes | of heroes eat,
Who evil deed | had never done thee.
11. “Yet Hrothmar still | the hoard doth hold,
The wealth that once | our kinsmen wielded;
Full seldom care | the king disturbs,
Heir to dead men | he deems himself.”
Hjorvarth answered that he would give Helgi a following if he fain
would avenge his mother’s father. Then Helgi got the sword that Svava
had told him of. So he went, and Atli with him, and they slew Hrothmar,
and they did many great deeds.
(III)
He slew the giant Hati, whom he found sitting on a certain mountain.
Helgi and Atli lay with their ships in Hatafjord. Atli kept watch
during the first part of the night. Hrimgerth, Hati’s daughter, spake:
12. “Who are the heroes | in Hatafjord?
The ships are covered with shields;
Bravely ye look, | and little ye fear,
The name of the king would I know.”
Atli spake:
13. “Helgi his name, | and never thou mayst
Harm to the hero bring;
With iron is fitted | the prince’s fleet,
Nor can witches work us ill.”
Hrimgerth spake:
14. “Who now, thou mighty | man, art thou?
By what name art thou known to men?
He trusts thee well, | the prince who wills
That thou stand at the stem of his ship.”
Atli spake:
15. “Atli am I, | and ill shalt thou find me,
Great hate for witches I have;
Oft have I been | in the dripping bows,
And to dusk-riders death have brought.
16. “Corpse-hungry giantess, | how art thou called?
Say, witch, who thy father was!
Nine miles deeper | down mayst thou sink,
And a tree grow tall on thy bosom.”
Hrimgerth spake:
17. “Hrimgerth am I, | my father was Hati,
Of giants the most in might;
Many a woman | he won from her home,
Ere Helgi hewed him down.”
Atli spake:
18. “Witch, in front | of the ship thou wast,
And lay before the fjord;
To Ron wouldst have given | the ruler’s men,
If a spear had not stuck in thy flesh.”
Hrimgerth spake:
19. “Dull art thou, Atli, | thou dreamest, methinks,
The lids lie over thine eyes;
By the leader’s ships | my mother lay,
Hlothvarth’s sons on the sea I slew.
20. “Thou wouldst neigh, Atli, | but gelded thou art,
See, Hrimgerth hoists her tail;
In thy hinder end | is thy heart, methinks,
Though thy speech is a stallion’s cry.”
Atli spake:
21. “A stallion I seem | if thou seekest to try me,
And I leap to land from the sea;
I shall smite thee to bits, | if so I will,
And heavy sinks Hrimgerth’s tail.”
Hrimgerth spake:
22. “Go ashore then, Atli, | if sure of thy might,
Let us come to Varin’s cove;
Straight shall thy rounded | ribs be made
If thou comest within my claws.”
Atli spake:
23. “I will not go | till the warriors wake,
Again their chief to guard;
I should wonder not, | foul witch, if up
From beneath our keel thou shouldst come.”
Hrimgerth spake:
24. “Awake now, Helgi, | and Hrimgerth requite,
That Hati to death thou didst hew;
If a single night | she can sleep by the prince,
Then requited are all her ills.”
Helgi spake:
25. “’Tis Lothin shall have thee,— | thou’rt loathsome to men,—
His home in Tholley he has;
Of the wild-dwellers worst | is the giant wise,
He is meet as a mate for thee.”
Hrimgerth spake:
26. “More thou lovest her | who scanned the harbor,
Last night among the men;
(The gold-decked maid | bore magic, methinks,
When the land from the sea she sought,
And fast she kept your fleet;)
She alone is to blame | that I may not bring
Death to the monarch’s men.”
Helgi spake:
27. “Hrimgerth, mark, | if thy hurts I requite,
Tell now the truth to the king;
Was there one who the ships | of the warrior warded,
Or did many together go?”
Hrimgerth spake:
28. “Thrice nine there were, | but one rode first,
A helmed maid white of hue;
Their horses quivered, | there came from their manes
Dew in the dales so deep,
(Hail on the woods so high,
Thence men their harvest have,
But ill was the sight I saw.)”
Atli spake:
29. “Look eastward, Hrimgerth, | for Helgi has struck thee
Down with the runes of death;
Safe in harbor floats | the prince’s fleet,
And safe are the monarch’s men.”
Helgi spake:
30. “It is day, Hrimgerth, | for Atli held thee
Till now thy life thou must lose;
As a harbor mark | men shall mock at thee,
Where in stone thou shalt ever stand.”
(IV)
King Helgi was a mighty warrior. He came to King Eylimi and sought the
hand of his daughter, Svava. Then Helgi and Svava exchanged vows, and
greatly they loved each other. Svava was at home with her father, while
Helgi was in the field; Svava was still a Valkyrie as before.
Hethin was at home with his father, King Hjorvarth, in Norway. Hethin
was coming home alone from the forest one Yule-eve, and found a
troll-woman; she rode on a wolf, and had snakes in place of a bridle.
She asked Hethin for his company. “Nay,” said he. She said, “Thou shalt
pay for this at the king’s toast.” That evening the great vows were
taken; the sacred boar was brought in, the men laid their hands
thereon, and took their vows at the king’s toast. Hethin vowed that he
would have Svava, Eylimi’s daughter, the beloved of his brother Helgi;
then such great grief seized him that he went forth on wild paths
southward over the land, and found Helgi, his brother. Helgi said:
31. “Welcome, Hethin! | what hast thou to tell
Of tidings new | that from Norway come?
Wherefore didst leave | thy land, O prince,
And fared alone | to find us here?”
Hethin spake:
32. “A deed more evil | I have done
Than, brother mine, | thou e’er canst mend;
For I have chosen | the child of the king,
Thy bride, for mine | at the monarch’s toast.”
Helgi spake:
33. “Grieve not, Hethin, | for true shall hold
The words we both | by the beer have sworn;
To the isle a warrior | wills that I go,
(There shall I come | the third night hence;)
And doubtful must be | my coming back,
(So may all be well, | if fate so wills.)”
Hethin spake:
34. “Thou saidst once, Helgi, | that Hethin was
A friend full good, | and gifts didst give him;
More seemly it were | thy sword to redden,
Than friendship thus | to thy foe to give.”
Helgi spoke thus because he foresaw his death, for his
following-spirits had met Hethin when he saw the woman riding on the
wolf. Alf was the name of a king, the son of Hrothmar, who had marked
out a battle-place with Helgi at Sigarsvoll after a stay of three
nights. Then Helgi spake:
35. “On a wolf there rode, | when dusk it was,
A woman who fain | would have him follow;
Well she knew | that now would fall
Sigrlin’s son | at Sigarsvoll.”
There was a great battle, and there Helgi got a mortal wound.
36. Sigar riding | did Helgi send
To seek out Eylimi’s | only daughter:
“Bid her swiftly | ready to be,
If her lover | alive she would find.”
Sigar spake:
37. “Hither now | has Helgi sent me,
With thee, Svava, | thyself to speak;
The hero said | he fain would see thee
Ere life the nobly | born should leave.”
Svava spake:
38. “What chanced with Helgi, | Hjorvarth’s son?
Hard to me | is harm now come;
If the sea smote him, | or sword bit him,
Ill shall I bring | to all his foes.”
Sigar spake:
39. “In the morn he fell | at Frekastein,
The king who was noblest | beneath the sun;
Alf has the joy | of victory all,
Though need therefor | is never his.”
Helgi spake:
40. “Hail to thee, Svava! | thy sorrow rule,
Our meeting last | in life is this;
Hard the wounds | of the hero bleed,
And close to my heart | the sword has come.
41. “I bid thee, Svava,— | weep not, bride,—
If thou wilt hearken | to these my words,
The bed for Hethin | have thou ready,
And yield thy love | to the hero young.”
Svava spake:
42. “A vow I had | in my dear-loved home,
When Helgi sought | with rings to have me,
That not of my will, | if the warrior died,
Would I fold in my arms | a man unfamed.”
Hethin spake:
43. “Kiss me, Svava, | I come not back,
Rogheim to see, | or Rothulsfjoll,
Till vengeance I have | for the son of Hjorvarth,
The king who was noblest | beneath the sun.”
Of Helgi and Svava it is said that they were born again.
Bellows Notes
Prose: In the manuscript the sub-title, “Of Hjorvarth and Sigrlin,”
stands as the title for the whole poem, though it clearly applies only
to the first five stanzas. Most editions employ the title here given.
Hjorvarth: the name is a not uncommon one; there are two men of that
name mentioned in the mythical-heroic genealogies of the Hyndluljoth
(stanzas 23 and 28), and Hjorvarth appears in Helgakvitha Hundingsbana
I (stanza 14) and II (prose after stanza 12) as a son of Hunding. This
particular Hjorvarth is called by the annotator, but not directly so in
the verse, a king of Norway. The name means “Sword-Guardian.” Four
wives: polygamy, while very infrequent, appears occasionally in the
Norse sagas. Alfhild: “Elf-Warrior.” Hethin: “Fur-Clothed” (?).
Særeith: “Sea-Rider.” Sinrjoth: “Ever-Red.” The fourth wife, not here
named, may be Sigrlin. It has been suggested that Særeith and Sinrjoth
may be northern and southern forms of the same name, as also Humlung
and Hymling, their sons. Svafnir: the annotator calls him king of
Svavaland, apparently a place on the mainland which could be reached
from Norway either by land or by sea. Sigrlin: “The Conquering
Serpent.” Atli: Norse form of the Gothic Attila (Etzel). Alof: perhaps
a feminine form of Olaf. A bird: compare the counsel given by the birds
to Sigurth after the slaying of Fafnir (Fafnismol, stanzas 32–38). This
is one of the many curious resemblances between the Helgi and the
Sigurth stories.
1. Glasir’s wood: Snorri in the Skaldskaparmal quotes a half stanza to
the effect that “Glasir stands with golden leaves before Othin’s hall,”
and calls it “the fairest wood among gods and men.” The phrase as used
here seems to mean little.
4. The bird’s demands would indicate that it is in reality one of the
gods. Gold-horned cattle: cf. Thrymskvitha, 23. There are other
references to gilding the horns of cattle, particularly for sacrificial
purposes.
Prose. The annotator contradicts himself here, as he had already stated
that Atli was on his way home.
5. Possibly the remains of two stanzas, or perhaps a line has been
added. Sæmorn: this river is nowhere else mentioned.
Prose. Sigrlin and Alof, protected by the latter’s father, Franmar,
have fled before the ravaging army of Sigrlin’s rejected suitor,
Hrothmar. The beginning of a new section (II) is indicated in the
manuscript only by the unusually large capital letter with which
“Hjorvarth” begins. No name, etc.: this probably means that Helgi had
always been so silent that he would answer to no name, with the result
that he had none. Valkyries: cf. Voluspo, 31 and note. The annotator
insists here and in the prose after stanza 9 that Svava was a Valkyrie,
but there is nothing in the verse to prove it, or, indeed, to identify
the Svava of the last section of the poem with the person who gave
Helgi his name. In the Volsungasaga Sigmund himself names his son
Helgi, and gives him a sword, following Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I.
6. Battle-tree: poetic phrase for “warrior.” Shining fields: the words
in the manuscript may form a proper name, Rothulsvoll, having this
meaning.
7. Gift: not only was it customary to give gifts with the naming of a
child, but the practice frequently obtained when a permanent epithet
was added to the name of an adult.
8. Sigarsholm (“Isle of Sigar”): a place not identified, but probably
related to the Sigarsvoll where Helgi was slain (stanza 35).
9. The sword is carved with magic runes and with snakes. Fame: the
original word is uncertain.
Prose. Eylimi: this name is another link with the Sigurth story, as it
is likewise the name of the father of Sigurth’s mother, Hjordis.
10. With this stanza begins a new episode, that of Helgi’s victory over
King Hrothmar, who had killed his mother’s father (cf. prose after
stanza 5). It has been suggested, in consequence, that stanzas 10–11
may be a separate fragment. The verse tells nothing of the battle,
merely giving Helgi’s reproaches to his father for having left
Svafnir’s death and the burning of Svavaland unavenged.
Prose. The manuscript does not indicate any break, but the episode
which forms the basis of the Hrimgertharmol (stanzas 12–30) clearly
begins with the slaying of the giant Hati (“The Hateful”). Hatafjord:
“Hati’s Fjord.” Hrimgerth: “Frost-Shrouded” (?).
13. Iron: the keels of Norse ships were sometimes fitted with iron
“shoes” at bow and stern, but it is not certain that this practice much
antedated the year 1000, and thus this line has raised some question as
to the antiquity of this stanza, if not of the entire Hrimgertharmol,
which may have been composed as late as the eleventh century.
15. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. The pun on “Atli” and
“atall” (meaning “ill”) is untranslatable.
17. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.
18. From this point to the end the manuscript does not indicate the
speakers. Ron: wife of the sea-god Ægir, who draws drowning men into
the sea with her net. There is no other reference to the wounding of
Hrimgerth.
19. Apparently both Hrimgerth and her mother, Hati’s wife, had sought
to destroy Helgi’s ships, and had actually killed some of his
companions, the sons of Hlothvarth, concerning whom nothing more is
known. Many editors assume that a stanza containing a speech by Atli
has been lost after stanza 19.
20. Apparently Hrimgerth has assumed the form of a mare.
22. Varin’s cove: the name of Varin appears twice in place names in
Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I (stanzas 27 and 39). The sagas mention a
mythical King Varin who lived at Skorustrond in Rogaland (Norway).
25. Of the giant Lothin (“The Shaggy”) and his home in Tholley (“Pine
Island”) nothing is known. Cf. Skirnismol, 35.
26. Something is clearly wrong with this stanza, and the manuscript
indicates line 6 as the beginning of a new one. Perhaps a line (between
lines 4 and 5) has been lost, or perhaps the lines in parenthesis are
interpolations. Hrimgerth here refers to Svava, or to the protectress
with whom the annotator has identified her, as having saved Helgi and
his ships from the vengeance of the giantesses. In the original line 1
includes Helgi’s name, which makes it metrically incorrect.
28. Again something is clearly wrong, and the last three lines look
like interpolations, though some editors have tried to reconstruct two
full stanzas. The passage suggests the identification of the Valkyries
with the clouds.
29. Some editions give this speech to Helgi. Eastward: Atli and Helgi
have held Hrimgerth in talk till sunrise, and the sun’s rays turn her
into stone. But dwarfs rather than giants were the victims of sunlight;
cf. Alvissmol, stanzas 16 and 35.
30. Most editions give this stanza to Atli. With this the
Hrimgertharmol ends, and after the next prose passage the meter reverts
to that of the earlier sections.
Prose. The manuscript does not indicate a new section of the poem.
Eylimi: cf. note on prose after stanza 9. Valkyrie: here, as before,
the annotator has apparently nothing but his own imagination on which
to base his statement. Svava in the ensuing stanzas certainly does not
behave like a Valkyrie. Norway: the annotator doubtless based this
statement on the reference to Norway in line 2 of stanza 31. Yule-eve:
the Yule feast, marking the new year, was a great event in the heathen
North. It was a time of feasting and merrymaking, vows (“New Year’s
resolutions”), ghosts and witches; the spirits had their greatest power
on Yule-eve. The king’s toast: vows made at the passing of the king’s
cup at the Yule feast were particularly sacred. Sacred boar: a boar
consecrated to Freyr, an integral part of the Yule rites. Hethin’s vow,
which is, of course, the vengeance of the troll-woman, is too sacred to
be broken, but he immediately realizes the horror of his oath.
31. From Norway: Bugge uses this phrase as evidence that the poem was
composed in one of the Icelandic settlements of the western islands,
but as the annotator himself seems to have thought that Hethin came to
Helgi by land (“on wild paths southward”), this argument does not
appear to have much weight.
32. The second line is conjectural; a line has clearly been lost from
this stanza, and various emendations have been suggested.
33. Perhaps this is the remnant of two stanzas, or perhaps two lines
(probably the ones in parenthesis) have been interpolated. The isle:
duels were commonly fought on islands, probably to guard against
treacherous interference, whence the usual name for a duel was
“isle-going.” A duel was generally fought three days after the
challenge. Reckoning the lapse of time by nights instead of days was a
common practice throughout the German and Scandinavian peoples.
Prose. Some editors place all or part of this prose passage after
stanza 35. Following-spirits: the “fylgja” was a female guardian spirit
whose appearance generally betokened death. The belief was common
throughout the North, and has come down to recent times in Scottish and
Irish folk-lore. Individuals and sometimes whole families had these
following-spirits, but it was most unusual for a person to have more
than one of them. Alf: son of the Hrothmar who killed Helgi’s
grandfather, and who was in turn later killed by Helgi. Sigarsvoll
(“Sigar’s Field”): cf. stanza 8 and note; the Sigar in question may be
the man who appears as Helgi’s messenger in stanzas 36–39.
36. Sigar (“The Victorious”): cf. the foregoing note.
39. Frekastein (“Wolf-Crag”): the name appears several times in the
Helgi lays applied to battlefields; cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 46
and 55, and II, 18 and 24. Need: i.e., Alf deserves no credit for the
victory, which was due to the troll-woman’s magic.
41. One or two editors ascribe this stanza to Hethin.
43. A few editions make the extraordinary blunder of ascribing this
speech to the dying Helgi. The point, of course, is that Hethin will
satisfy Svava’s vow by becoming famous as the slayer of Alf. Rogheim
(“Home of Battle”) and Rothulsfjoll (“Sun-Mountain”): nowhere else
mentioned; Hethin means simply that he will not come back to Svava till
he has won fame.
Prose. Regarding this extraordinary bit see the prose note at the end
of Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II. Gering thinks the reborn Helgi
Hjorvarthsson was Helgi Hundingsbane, while Svava, according to the
annotator himself, became Sigrun. The point seems to be simply that
there were so many Helgi stories current, and the hero died in so many
irreconcilable ways, that tradition had to have him born over again,
not once only but several times, to accommodate his many deaths, and to
avoid splitting him up into several Helgis. Needless to say, the poems
themselves know nothing of this rebirth, and we owe the suggestion
entirely to the annotator, who probably got it from current tradition.