Brot af Sigurðarkviðu

Fragment of a Sigurðr Lay

Brot av en Sigurdsdikt

19 stanzas (fragment)

Summary

A

Brot af Sigurðarkviðu ('Fragment of a Sigurðr Lay') begins mid-action after the great Codex Regius lacuna. The poem's opening is lost. The preserved fragment opens with Gunnarr and Högni's council on Sigurðr's fate.

Brynhildr has demanded Sigurðr's death. Gutthormr, the younger brother who is not oath-bound to Sigurðr, is chosen as the slayer. Sigurðr is killed in his bed. Guðrún wakes beside the dead Sigurðr.

Brynhildr laughs when she hears Guðrún's grief, yet then shifts to remorse and prophecy. She foretells Gunnarr's downfall and the future disasters of the Gjúkung dynasty.

The fragment is likely the oldest surviving poem about Sigurðr's death and presents a version where the murder occurs in the bed, unlike Sigurðarkviða hin skamma which places it in the forest.

The story

... hestr var Grana,gramr var Sigurðrof gram sialfan;hvárr þeira skyldihilmi ráða,ef vega skyldivígum dæmðr.

... the horse was Grani,mighty was Sigurðrover the lord himself;which of them shouldrule over the king,if it came to battleand doom fell to combat.

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti Gunnarr,gramr enna dýri:'Hvat mun okkr Högnihugr ráða?Gull er oss gott,ef vit Sigurð rœðim,ríkr er und Rínrauðr skatnamar.'

Thus spoke Gunnarr,the noble lord:'What does our heart counsel,Högni, for us?The gold is good to usif we strike down Sigurðr;mighty beneath the Rhineis the red lord of treasures.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti Högni,hugðisk vel at hyggja:'Slíkt er okkr ósamðigtsverðs at bíta,at vér bróðureiðabrjótum saman;varð okkr at vígivel of kveðinn.'

Thus spoke Högni,he considered it carefully:'Such a thing is unseemly for us,to strike with the sword,that we break togetherthe oaths of brotherhood;well-spoken was for usthat word at our sworn bond.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti Gunnarr,gramr enna dýri:'Guttormr mun gjarnagera þetta,ungr er hann ok œrr,við eiða bundinn;hann var þeira brœðraþriðja eigi.'

Thus spoke Gunnarr,the noble lord:'Gutthormr will willinglydo this deed,young is he and fierce,unbound by oaths;he was the thirdoutside the brothers' bond.'

English translation: own translation.

Ulfr var gefinnok ormar sleginnGuttormi at gangagegn Sigurði;þá er vargr of vannvega þann ríka,er dreyra drakkdróttins síns.

Wolf was given himand serpents stirred infor Gutthormr to eatbefore going against Sigurðr;then the wolf-fierce man succeededin striking that mighty one,he who drank the bloodof his own lord.

English translation: own translation.

Lagðisk at sofaSigurðr suðr á Rín;þá er varð vaskrveginn Sigurðr.Fellu fuglaraf fjalli niðr,kváðu þeir þettaþjóðkonungs fall.

Sigurðr laid himself to sleepsouth of the Rhine;then was slain the braveSigurðr.Birds fell downfrom the mountain,they proclaimedthe fall of the great king.

English translation: own translation.

Gríp þá Guðrún,gull ór beði,þá er hón vaknaðivið Vǫlsunga:hón sá blóð okbana ok sár,þar er lá þjóðkonungrþolinn dauða.

Then Guðrún graspedat the gold in the bed,when she awokebeside the Völsung;she saw blood andthe slayer and the wounds,where the great king laygiven over to death.

English translation: own translation.

Hon þá grétsvá at tár runnu,en Guðrúngól æ við þat;urðu fjarrifuglar at þegja,es Guðrún gólyfir Gjúka mǫg.

She wept sothat tears streamed down,and Guðrúnlamented endlessly beside him;the birds far offfell silent,when Guðrún keenedover Gjúki's son.

English translation: own translation.

Þá hló BrynhildrBuðla dóttireinu sinniaf ǫllu hjarta,þá er hón heyrðigrát Guðrúnar,dróttins sínsdolg um fallinn.

Then Brynhildr laughed,Buðli's daughter,once onlywith all her heart,when she heardGuðrún's weepingover her lord'sfallen enemy.

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti Gunnarr:'Þú gleðsk eigi,hvárt þér er hugrhvítr eða svartr;hvat tregnar þú,blóðugt andlit?Þér líkar lítt,leynt mínum vígi.'

Thus spoke Gunnarr:'You do not truly rejoice,whether your mind iswhite or black;why do you grieve,blood-flushed face?It pleases you little,my hidden deed.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti BrynhildrBuðla dóttir:'Gleðjak ekki,glaðr mun þú vera;þú hefir þó unnitþat er ungs manns er,þjóðkonungr felrþrjár ríki.'

Thus spoke Brynhildr,Buðli's daughter:'I rejoice not,you should be glad;you have yet achievedwhat belongs to a young man's deed,the great king's fallgives you three realms.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti Gunnarr,gramr enna dýri:'Þú mælir þverra,þar þú meirr mundir;Sigurðr þér svaraðisvá sem réttis,ok þér verðr aldriannarr slíkr.'

Thus spoke Gunnarr,the noble lord:'You speak with wavering tongue,where you wished for more;Sigurðr answered youas was right,and such another manyou will never have.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti BrynhildrBuðla dóttir:'Þú hefir, Gunnarr,glǫpum valdið;þér mun of aldriangr at verða,þú skalt ráðaskráðum mínum.'

Thus spoke Brynhildr,Buðli's daughter:'You have, Gunnarr,brought ruin upon us;sorrow shall follow youall your days,you shall be guidedby my counsel.'

English translation: own translation.

Gunnarr stóð upp,gekk of flet,rétti randirreiðr ok rauðr;þá er þat fannflestr maðr þar,at elsku þeiraendi kvámu.

Gunnarr stood up,strode across the floor,shields rattledin his anger and flushed fury;then most men thereunderstood,that the end of their lovehad come upon them.

English translation: own translation.

Þá kvað þat Högni,hugðisk vel at hyggja:'Látið Brynhildibíða hvílu,hón hefir vel unnitVǫlsunga ættar;þjóðkonungr fráþreytt at sinni.'

Then Högni spoke,he considered carefully:'Let Brynhildrrest in quiet,she has served wellthe line of the Völsungar;the great king is nowtormented by her doing.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti BrynhildrBuðla dóttir:'Vissa ek, Gunnarr,þat er verða mun:þú munt aldriauðar njóta,síðan er þú hefirSigurð veginn.'

Thus spoke Brynhildr,Buðli's daughter:'I know, Gunnarr,what will come to pass:you shall never againenjoy your wealth,since you haveslain Sigurðr.'

English translation: own translation.

Guðrún grét,gramr of fellinn,Gunnarr hugðiskglaðr at verða;þá er hón sásorg Guðrúnar,grét Brynhildr þáblóðugt tár.

Guðrún weptover the fallen lord,Gunnarr soughtto be glad;but when she sawGuðrún's grief,Brynhildr then wepttears of blood.

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti Gunnarr,gramr enna dýri:'Hvat tregnar þú,trega fullu,Brynhildr in bezta,Buðla dóttir?Þú bað sjálf tilSigurðar dauða.'

Thus spoke Gunnarr,the noble lord:'Why do you grieve,grieve still,Brynhildr the best,Buðli's daughter?You yourself demandedSigurðr's death.'

English translation: own translation.

Þat mælti BrynhildrBuðla dóttir:'Því tregak ek,trega fullu,at ek þér, Gunnarr,geyja munda,þá er Sigurðr rauðSvafnis blóð.'

Thus spoke Brynhildr,Buðli's daughter:'This is why I grieve,grieve to the full,that I, Gunnarr,would have driven you away,when Sigurðr was reddenedwith Svafnir's blood.'

English translation: own translation.

Key concepts

Sigurðr , the slain hero; the bed-murder belongs to the older version of the legend
Brynhildr , her laughter at Guðrún's weeping and subsequent remorse drive the poem's emotional core
Gjúkungar , Gunnarr, Högni, and Gutthormr; oath-breaking and fratricide within the dynasty

Interpretive traditions

A What we know

Brot af Sigurðarkviðu is preserved in Codex Regius as the first text after the great lacuna.

The version where Sigurðr is killed in his bed corresponds to Snorri's account in Skáldskaparmál and is considered by most scholars to be the older tradition.

Brynhildr's prophecy of the Gjúkung dynasty's ruin connects the poem to the subsequent Guðrún lays and Atli poems.

B What we think we know

Whether the fragment belongs to the same poem as the lost leaves before the lacuna, or whether the lacuna concealed an entirely different poem, is debated.

Brynhildr's shift from triumphant laughter to grief has been interpreted both psychologically and as a sign that the text conflates material from separate traditions.

C What we do not know

The lost poem's full extent cannot be established with current evidence. Estimates range from 20 to over 50 lost stanzas.

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Neckel, Gustav, och Hans Kuhn. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 5. uppl. Heidelberg: Winter.

Translations

Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). 1923. The Poetic Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation. (PD)
Larrington, Carolyne (trans.). 2014. The Poetic Edda. Rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Scholarly works

Lindow, John. 2001. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
de Vries, Jan. 1956–1957. Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 2 vols. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Turville-Petre, E. O. G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.