Sigrun

Helgi got away onto a warship. He killed King Hunding and after that was called Helgi Hundings-killer. With his army he lay in Bruna-bay and there they butchered cattle on the beach and ate them up raw. Hogni was the name of a king. His daughter was Sigrun; she was a valkyrie and rode through air and over the sea; she was Svava reincarnated. Sigrun rode to Helgi’s ships and said:

5 ‘Who has brought these ships to anchor by the steep shore,
where, warriors, do you come from?
What are you waiting for in Bruna-bay,
which way do you set your course?’

6 ‘Hamal has brought these ships to anchor by the steep shore;
we come from Hlesey;
we’re waiting for a breeze in Bruna-bay,
to the east we wish to set our course.’

7 ‘Where have you, prince, stirred up war
or fed the goslings of Gunn’s sisters?*
Why is your corslet spattered with blood,
why must you eat raw meat, men wearing helmets?’

8 ‘The Ylfings’ descendant fought most recently
west of the sea, if you wish to know,
where I was hunting bears in Bragalund*
and sated with sword-points the eagle’s race.

9 ‘Now I’ve told you, girl, where battle came about;
and so by the sea we’re eating meat scarcely roasted.’

10 ‘A killing you declare; King Hunding
fell on the field before Helgi;
it came to battle, in revenge for a relative,
blood streamed along the sword-edges.’

11 ‘How could you know, wise lady,
that we avenged our relative on them?
There are many keen prince’s sons,
who look like us kinsmen.’

12 ‘I was not far away, battle-leader,
yesterday morning, when the prince lost his life;
though I reckon that Sigmund’s clever son
gives battle-news in secret slaughter-runes.

13 ‘I glimpsed you once before on the longships,
where you were at the ship’s bloody bow;
cold and wet the waves were playing.
Now the prince wants to hide himself from me
but Hogni’s girl recognizes Helgi.’

Granmar was the name of a powerful king who lived at Svarinshaug. He had many sons: Hodbrodd, the second, Gudmund, the third, Starkad. Hodbrodd was at a meeting of kings; he betrothed himself to Sigrun, Hogni’s daughter. But when she heard that, she rode with her valkyries through air and over sea to find Helgi.

Helgi was at Logafell and had fought with the sons of Hunding. There he struck down Alf and Eyiolf, Hiorvard and Hervard; he was exhausted from battle and he was resting below Arastein. There Sigrun found him and flung her arms around his neck and kissed him and told him what her errand was, as it says in the ‘Old Poem of the Volsungs’:*

14 Sigrun went to see the cheerful prince,
she caught Helgi by the hand;
she kissed and greeted the king in his helmet,
then the king began to love the woman.

15 She said she’d already loved with all her heart
Sigmund’s son before she’d seen him.

16 ‘I have been betrothed to Hodbrodd among the fighters,
but another prince I wished to have;
though, lord, I fear the anger of kinsmen,
I’ve destroyed my father’s favoured design.’

17 Hogni’s girl did not dissemble,
she said she wanted Helgi’s protection.

18 ‘Don’t worry about Hogni’s anger,
nor the wrath of your kinsmen.
Young girl, you will live with me;
I’ve no fear, good lady, of your family.’

Helgi assembled a great fleet and went to Frekastein, and on the ocean they ran into a terribly dangerous storm. Lightning flashed above them and the ships were struck. They saw nine valkyries riding up in the air, and recognized Sigrun among them. Then the storm abated and they got safely to land. The sons of Granmar were sitting up on a cliff, when the ships sailed to land. Gudmund leapt on his horse and rode down to a cliff near the harbour to reconnoitre. The Volsungs lowered their sails. Then Gudmund Granmarsson said, as is written above in the ‘Poem of Helgi’:

‘Who is that lord who leads the troop,
who’s brought the dangerous men to shore?’

19 ‘Who is the prince who steers the ships,
and has a golden war banner at his prow?
Peace, it seems to me, is not at the forefront of your journey;
a red battle-glow hangs over the vikings.’

Sinfiotli said:
20 ‘Here Hodbrodd may recognize Helgi,
the fighter who does not flee, in the midst of the fleet;
the homeland of your kin,
the Fiorsungs’ inheritance, he has conquered.’

[Gudmund said:]
21 ‘Thus we should at Frekastein
meet together, settle the matter;
Hodbrodd, it’s a case for taking revenge,
where we have long had to take the lower part.’

[Sinfiotli said:]
22 ‘Rather, Gudmund, you’ll be herding goats
and clambering down the rocky clefts,
in your hand you’ll have a hazel switch;
for you that’s jollier than the judgement of swords.’

[Helgi said:]
23 ‘For you, Sinfiotli, it would be more fitting
to draw up for battle and make the eagles glad,
than to be bandying useless words,
even if chieftains have strife to settle.

24 ‘I don’t like the look of Granmar’s sons,
though it befits princes to tell the truth;
they have proved at Moinsheim,
that they have the temperament for wielding swords;
the princes are far too bold.’

Sinfiotli, Sigmund’s son, answered, as is also written. Gudmund rode home with the news of invasion. Then Granmar’s sons assembled an army. Many kings came to join them. There was Hogni, Sigrun’s father, and his sons, Bragi and Dag. There was a great battle and all of Granmar’s sons were killed and all of the princes, except for Dag, Hogni’s son, who obtained a truce and swore oaths to the Volsungs. Sigrun went among the slaughtered and found Hodbrodd on the point of death. She said:

25 ‘Sigrun from Sefafell
will not sink into your arms, King Hodbrodd;
ebbing is the life—often the troll-woman’s grey horse-herd*
gets the corpses—of Granmar’s sons.’

Then she met Helgi and was extremely joyful. He said:

26 ‘It was not all good fortune for you, strange creature,*
though I reckon the norns had some part in it;*
this morning at Frekastein
Bragi and Hogni were killed, I was their slayer.

27 ‘And at Styr-cleft King Starkad,
and at Hlebiorg the sons of Hrollaug;
I saw that fiercest-minded of kings
defending his trunk—his head was gone.

28 ‘All the rest of your kinsmen
were lying on the ground, corpses they’d become;
you did not stop the battle, it was fated for you
that you’d be cause of strife among powerful men.’

Then Sigrun wept. He said:

29 ‘Be comforted Sigrun! You’ve been our battle-goddess;
the princes could not struggle against fate.’
‘I’d choose now that those who are gone might live again
and that I could still hold you in my arms.’

Helgi married Sigrun and they had sons. Helgi did not live to old age. Dag, Hogni’s son, sacrificed to Odin for revenge for his father. Odin lent Dag his spear. Dag encountered Helgi, his brother-in-law, at a place called Fetter-grove. He pierced Helgi with the spear and Helgi fell there. And Dag rode to the mountains and told this news to Sigrun:

30 ‘Sister, I am reluctant to tell you of grief,
for I am forced to make my kinswoman weep:
there fell this morning below Fetter-grove
the lord who was the best in the world
and who stood on the necks of chieftains.’

31 ‘May all the oaths which you swore
to Helgi rebound upon you,
by the bright water of Leift
and the cold, wet stone of Unn.

32 ‘May the ship you sail on not go forward,*
though the wind you need has sprung up behind;
may the horse you ride on not go forward,
though you need to escape your enemies.

33 ‘May the sword that you wield never bite for you,
unless it’s whistling above your own head.
Helgi’s death would be avenged on you,
if you were a wolf out in the forest
deprived of wealth and all well-being
and of food, except when you glutted yourself on corpses.’

Dag said:
34 ‘You’re mad, sister! you’re out of your wits,
that you wish this evil fate on your brother;
Odin alone caused all the misfortune,
for he cast hostile runes between kinsmen.

35 ‘Your brother offers you red-gold rings,
all Vandilsve and Vigdal;
take half of our homeland to pay for your loss,
ring-adorned woman, you and your sons.’

36 ‘I shall not sit so happily at Sefafell,
neither early nor at night-time, that I’ll desire to live on;
unless light should shine on the prince’s company,
unless Vigblær should gallop here under the chieftain,
tamed to his gold bridle, and I could welcome the warrior.

37 ‘Helgi so terrified
all his enemies and their kin,
just as panicking goats run before the wolf
down from the mountain filled with fear.

38 ‘So Helgi surpassed the soldiers
like the bright-growing ash beside the thorn-bush
and the young stag, drenched in dew,
who towers above all other animals
and whose horns glow right up to the sky.’

A burial-mound was made for Helgi. And when he came to Valhall Odin asked him to rule over everything with him. Helgi said:

39 ‘Hunding, you shall fetch the foot-bath*
for every man and kindle the fire,
tie up the dogs, watch the horses,
give the pigs slops before you go to sleep.’

One evening Sigrun’s maid went past Helgi’s mound and saw Helgi riding into the mound with a large number of men. The maid said:

40 ‘Are these just delusions, that I think I can see
dead men riding, or is it Ragnarok?
where do you spur your horses onward,
or are the fighters allowed to come home?’

Helgi said:
41 ‘These are not delusions that you think you see,
nor the end of mankind, though you gaze upon us,
though we spur our horses onwards,
nor are the fighters allowed to come home.’

The maid went home and told Sigrun:

42 ‘Go outside, Sigrun from Sefafell,
if you want to meet the army-leader;
the mound has opened, Helgi has come!
his wounds are bleeding, the prince asks you
to staunch his injuries.’

Sigrun went into the mound to Helgi and said:

43 ‘Now I am so glad, at our meeting,
as are the greedy hawks of Odin*
when they know of slaughter, steaming flesh,
or, dew-gleaming, they see the dawn.

44 ‘First I want to kiss the lifeless king,
before you throw off your bloody mail-coat;
your hair, Helgi, is thick with hoar-frost,
the prince is all soaked in slaughter-dew,*
Hogni’s son-in-law has clammy hands.
How, ruler, can I find a remedy for this?’

45 ‘You alone, Sigrun from Sefafell,
cause Helgi to be soaked in sorrow-dew;
you weep, gold-adorned lady, bitter tears,
sun-bright southern girl, before you go to sleep;
each falls bloody on the breast of the prince,
cold and wet, burning into me, thick with grief.

46 ‘We ought to drink precious liquors,*
though we have lost our love and our lands;
no man should sing a lament for me,
though on my breast wounds can be seen;
now the lady is enclosed in the mound,
a human woman with us, the departed.’

Sigrun made up a bed in the mound.

47 ‘Here I’ve made you, Helgi, a bed all ready;
descendant of the Ylfings, now free from care
in your arms, lord, I’ll sleep,
as I would with the prince, when he was living.’

48 ‘I declare nothing else could be less expected,
neither early nor late at Sefafell,
that you should sleep in the dead man’s arms,
white lady, in the tomb, Hogni’s daughter,
and you alive, and royally born.

49 ‘It is time for me to ride along the blood-red roads,
to set the pale horse treading the path through the sky;
I must cross the wind-vault’s bridge in the west,
before Salgofnir awakens the victorious people.’*

Helgi and his men rode away, and the women went back to the house. The next evening Sigrun had the maid keep watch by the mound. And at dusk, when Sigrun came to the mound, she said:

50 ‘He would have come by now, if he meant to come,
Sigmund’s son, from Odin’s halls;
I declare that hopes of the prince coming here are fading,
now the eagles roost on the ash-branches
and all the household head for the dream-assembly.’*

51 ‘Do not be so mad as to go alone,
high-born lady, into the home of ghosts;
much more powerful at night, lady, are all
dangerous dead creatures, than by the light of day.’

Sigrun did not live long from sorrow and grief. There was a belief in pagan times, which we now reckon an old wives’ tale, that people could be reincarnated. Helgi and Sigrun were thought to have been reborn. He was called Helgi Haddingia-damager, and she was Kara, Halfdan’s daughter, as is told in the ‘Song of Kara’,* and she was a valkyrie.


- Poetic Edda, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II