Sigurðarkviða in skamma

"Of old did Sigurth

Gjuki seek,

The Volsung young,

in battles victor;

Well he trusted

the brothers twain,

With mighty oaths

among them sworn."

"A maid they gave him,

and jewels many,

Guthrun the young,

the daughter of Gjuki;

They drank and spake

full many a day,

Sigurth the young

and Gjuki's sons."

"Thereafter went they

Brynhild to woo,

And so with them

did Sigurth ride,

The Volsung young,

in battle valiant,

Himself would have had her

if all he had seen."

"The southern hero

his naked sword,

Fair-flashing, let

between them lie;

(Nor would he come

the maid to kiss;)

The Hunnish king

in his arms ne'er held

The maiden he gave

to Gjuki's sons."

"Ill she had known not

in all her life,

And nought of the sorrows

of men she knew;

Blame she had not,

nor dreamed she should bear it,

But cruel the fates

that among them came."

By herself at the end

of day she sat,

And in open words

her heart she uttered:

"I shall Sigurth have,

the hero young,

E'en though within

my arms he die."

"The word I have spoken;

soon shall I rue it,

His wife is Guthrun,

and Gunnar's am I;

Ill Norns set for me

long desire."

"Oft did she go

with grieving heart

On the glacier's ice

at even-tide,

When Guthrun then

to her bed was gone,

And the bedclothes Sigurth

about her laid.

And the Hunnish king

with his wife is happy;"

"(Now Gjuki's child

to her lover goes,)

Joyless I am

and mateless ever,

Till cries from my heavy

heart burst forth."

In her wrath to battle

she roused herself:

"Gunnar, now

thou needs must lose

Lands of mine

and me myself,

No joy shall I have

with the hero ever."

"Back shall I fare

where first I dwelt,

Among the kin

that come of my race,

To wait there, sleeping

my life away,

If Sigurth's death

thou shalt not dare,

(And best of heroes

thou shalt not be.)"

"The son shall fare

with his father hence,

And let not long

the wolf-cub live;

Lighter to pay

is the vengeance-price

After the deed

if the son is dead."

"Sad was Gunnar,

and bowed with grief,

Deep in thought

the whole day through;

Yet from his heart

it was ever hid

What deed most fitting

he should find,

(Or what thing best

for him should be,

Or if he should seek

the Volsung to slay,

For with mighty longing

Sigurth he loved.)"

"Much he pondered

for many an hour;

Never before

was the wonder known

That a queen should thus

her kingdom leave;

In counsel then

did he Hogni call,

(For him in truest

trust he held.)"

"More than all

to me is Brynhild,

Buthli's child,

the best of women;

My very life

would I sooner lose

Than yield the love

of yonder maid."

"Wilt thou the hero

for wealth betray?

Twere good to have

the gold of the Rhine,

And all the hoard

in peace to hold,

And waiting fortune

thus to win."

Few the words

of Hogni were:

"Us it beseems not

so to do,

To cleave with swords

the oaths we swore,

The oaths we swore

and all our vows."

"We know no mightier

men on earth

The while we four

o'er the folk hold sway,

And while the Hunnish

hero lives,

Nor higher kinship

the world doth hold.

If sons we five

shall soon beget,

Great, methinks,

our race shall grow;"

"Well I see

whence lead the ways;

Too bitter far

is Brynhild's hate."

Gunnar spake:

"Gotthorm to wrath

we needs must rouse,

Our younger brother,

in rashness blind;

He entered not

in the oaths we swore,

The oaths we swore

and all our vows."

"It was easy to rouse

the reckless one.

*********

The sword in the heart

of Sigurth stood."

"In vengeance the hero

rose in the hall,

And hurled his sword

at the slayer bold;

At Gotthorm flew

the glittering steel

Of Gram full hard

from the hand of the king."

"The foeman cleft

asunder fell,

Forward hands

and head did sink,

And legs and feet

did backward fall."

"Guthrun soft

in her bed had slept,

Safe from care

at Sigurth's side;

She woke to find

her joy had fled,

In the blood of the friend

of Freyr she lay."

So hard she smote

her hands together

That the hero rose up,

iron-hearted:

"Weep not, Guthrun,

grievous tears,

Bride so young,

for thy brothers live."

"Too young, methinks,

is my son as yet,

He cannot flee

from the home of his foes;

Fearful and deadly

the plan they found,

The counsel new

that now they have heeded."

"No son will ride,

though seven thou hast,

To the Thing as the son

of their sister rides;

Well I see

who the ill has worked,

On Brynhild alone

lies the blame for all."

"Above all men

the maiden loved me,

Yet false to Gunnar

I ne'er was found;

I kept the oaths

and the kinship I swore;

Of his queen the lover

none may call me."

"In a swoon she sank

when Sigurth died;

So hard she smote

her hands together

That all the cups

in the cupboard rang,

And loud in the courtyard

cried the geese."

"Then Brynhild, daughter

of Buthli, laughed,

Only once,

with all her heart,

When as she lay

full loud she heard

The grievous wail

of Gjuki's daughter."

Then Gunnar, monarch

of men, spake forth:

"Thou dost not laugh,

thou lover of hate,

In gladness there,

or for aught of good;

Why has thy face

so white a hue,

Mother of ill?

Foredoomed thou art."

"A worthier woman

wouldst thou have been

If before thine eyes

we had Atli slain;

If thy brother's bleeding

body hadst seen

And the bloody wounds

that thou shouldst End."

Brynhild spake:

"None mock thee, Gunnar!

thou hast mightily fought,

But thy hatred little

doth Atli heed;

Longer than thou,

methinks, shall he live,

And greater in might

shall he ever remain."

"To thee I say,

and thyself thou knowest,

That all these ills

thou didst early shape;

No bonds I knew,

nor sorrow bore,

And wealth I had

in my brother's home."

"Never a husband

sought I to have,

Before the Gjukungs

fared to our land;

Three were the kings

on steeds that came,

Need of their journey

never there was."

"To the hero great

my troth I gave

Who gold-decked sat

on Grani's back;

Not like to thine

was the light of his eyes,

(Nor like in form

and face are ye,)

Though kingly both

ye seemed to be."

"And so to me

did Atli say

That share in our wealth

I should not have,

Of gold or lands,

if my hand I gave not;

(More evil yet,

the wealth I should yield,)

The gold that he

in my childhood gave me,

(The wealth from him

in my youth I had.)"

"Oft in my mind

I pondered much

If still I should fight,

and warriors fell,

Brave in my byrnie,

my brother defying;

That would wide

in the world be known,

And sorrow for many

a man would make."

"But the bond at last

I let be made,

For more the hoard

I longed to have,

The rings that the son

of Sigmund won;

No other's treasure

e'er I sought."

"One-alone

of all I loved,

Nor changing heart

I ever had;

All in the end

shall Atli know,

When he hears I have gone

on the death-road hence."

"Never a wife

of fickle will

Yet to another

man should yield.

*********

So vengence for all

my ills shall come."

"Up rose Gunnar,

the people's ruler,

And flung his arms

round her neck so fair;

And all who came,

of every kind,

Sought to hold her

with all their hearts."

"But back she cast

all those who came,

Nor from the long road

let them hold her."

In counsel then

did he Hogni call:

"Of wisdom now

full great is our need.

Let the warriors here

in the hall come forth,

Thine and mine,

for the need is mighty,

If haply the queen

from death they may hold,

Till her fearful thoughts

with time shall fade."

(Few the words

of Hogni were:)

"From the long road now

shall ye hold her not,

That born again

she may never be!

Foul she came

from her mother forth,

And born she was

for wicked deeds,

(Sorrow to many

a man to bring.)"

"From the speaker gloomily

Gunnar turned,

For the jewel-bearer

her gems was dividing;"

"On all her wealth

her eyes were gazing,

On the bond-women slain

and the slaughtered slaves.

Her byrnie of gold

she donned, and grim."

"Was her heart ere the point

of her sword had pierced it;

On the pillow at last

her head she laid,

And, wounded, her plan

she pondered o'er."

"Hither I will

that my women come

Who gold are fain

from me to get;

Necklaces fashioned

fair to each

Shall I give, and cloth,

and garments bright."

Silent were all

as so she spake,

And all together

answer made:

"Slain are enough;

we seek to live,

Not thus thy women

shall honor win."

Long the woman,

linen-decked, pondered,

Young she was,

and weighed her words:

"For my sake now

shall none unwilling

Or loath to die

her life lay down."

"But little of gems

to gleam on your limbs

Ye then shall find

when forth ye fare

To follow me,

or of Menja's wealth."

Sit now, Gunnar!

for I shall speak:

"Of thy bride so fair

and so fain to die;

Thy ship in harbor

home thou hast not,

Although my life

I now have lost."

"Thou shalt Guthrun requite

more quick than thou thinkest,

Though sadly mourns

the maiden wise

Who dwells with the king,

o'er her husband dead."

"A maid shall then

the mother bear;

Brighter far

than the fairest day

Svanhild shall be,

or the beams of the sun."

"Guthrun a noble

husband thou givest,

Yet to many a warrior

woe will she bring,

Not happily wedded

she holds herself;

Her shall Atli

hither seek,

(Buthli's son,

and brother of mine.)"

"Well I remember

how me ye treated

When ye betrayed me

with treacherous wiles;

Lost was my joy

as long as I lived."

"Oddrun as wife

thou fain wouldst win,

But Atli this

from thee withholds;

Yet in secret tryst

ye twain shall love;

She shall hold thee dear,

as I had done

If kindly fate

to us had fallen."

"Ill to thee

shall Atli bring,

When he casts thee down

in the den of snakes."

"But soon thereafter

Atli too

His life, methinks,

as thou shalt lose,

(His fortune lose

and the lives of his sons;)

Him shall Guthrun,

grim of heart,

With the biting blade

in his bed destroy."

"It would better beseem

thy sister fair

To follow her husband

first in death,

If counsel good

to her were given,

Or a heart akin

to mine she had."

"Slowly I speak,

but for my sake

Her life, methinks,

she shall not lose;

She shall wander over

the tossing waves,

To where Jonak rules

his father's realm."

"Sons to him

she soon shall bear,

Heirs therewith

of Jonak's wealth;

But Svanhild far

away is sent,

The child she bore

to Sigurth brave."

"Bikki's word

her death shall be,

For dreadful the wrath

of Jormunrek;

So slain is all

of Sigurth's race,

And greater the woe

of Guthrun grows"

"Yet one boon

I beg of thee,

The last of boons

in my life it is:

Let the pyre be built

so broad in the field

That room for us all

will ample be,

(For us who slain

with Sigurth are.)"

"With shields and carpets

cover the pyre,

Shrouds full fair,

and fallen slaves,

And besides the Hunnish

hero burn me."

"Besides the Hunnish

hero there

Slaves shall burn,

full bravely decked,

Two at his head

and two at his feet,

A brace of hounds

and a pair of hawks,

For so shall all

be seemly done."

"Let between us

lie once more

The steel so keen,

as so it lay

When both within

one bed we were,

And wedded mates

by men were called."

"The door of the hall

shall strike not the heel

Of the hero fair

with flashing rings,

If hence my following

goes with him;

Not mean our faring

forth shall be."

"Bond-women five

shall follow him,

And eight of my thralls,

well-born are they,

Children with me,

and mine they were

As gifts that Buthli

his daughter gave."

"Much have I told thee,

and more would say

If fate more space

for speech had given;

My voice grows weak,

my wounds are swelling;

Truth I have said,

and so I die."