Atli Talks to Birds

Idmund was the name of his earl. Atli was his son and he went to ask for Sigrlinn on the king’s behalf. He spent the whole winter with King Svafnir. There was an earl called Franmar, Sigrlinn’s foster-father; his daughter was called Alof. The earl advised that the girl not be betrothed and Atli went home.

Atli, the earl’s son, was standing one day in a certain grove; there was a bird sitting in the branches up above him and it had heard that his men were saying that the most beautiful women were those married to Hiorvard. The bird squawked; Atli listened to what it said. It said:

1 ‘Have you seen Sigrlinn, daughter of Svafnir,
the loveliest girl in Munarheim?
even if the wives of Hiorvard seem pleasing
to men in Glasilund.’

Atli said:
2 ‘Will you speak further, bird so wise-minded,
to Atli, Idmund’s son?’

The bird said:
‘I will, if the chieftain will sacrifice to me,
and I may choose what I wish from the king’s court.’

Atli said:
3 ‘Don’t choose Hiorvard, nor his sons,
nor the lovely brides of the king,
nor the brides who belong to the ruler;
let’s make a good bargain, that’s the hallmark of friends.’

The bird said:
4 ‘I’ll choose a temple with many sanctuaries,
gold-horned cattle from the prince’s farm,
if Sigrlinn sleeps in his arms
and willingly goes with the prince.’

This was before Atli set off, and when he got home and the king asked him for news, he said:

5 ‘We’ve had difficulties, not achieved our mission,
exhausted our horses on mighty mountains,
then we had to ford the Sæmorn;
Svafnir’s daughter was refused us,
the ring-adorned girl whom we wished to have.’

The king commanded them to go a second time and he himself went. And when they came up on top of the mountain, in Svavaland they saw the country all on fire and dust-clouds from horses’ hoofs. The king rode on down the mountain and encamped for the night by a river. Atli kept watch and went over the river. He found a house. A great bird was sitting on the house, keeping watch, but it had fallen asleep. Atli hurled a spear at the bird and killed it, and in the house he found Sigrlinn, the king’s daughter, and Alof, the earl’s daughter, and took them away with him.


- Poetic Edda, Helgakvida Hiorvardssonar