Grípir's Prophecy

Summary

A

Grípisspá functions as a prologue to the entire Sigurðr cycle. Sigurðr rides to his maternal uncle Grípir and asks him to prophesy his life. Grípir reluctantly reveals Sigurðr's complete fate: the vengeance for his father, the encounter with the smith Regin, the dragon-slaying on Gnitaheiðr.

Grípir tells of the valkyrie on Hindarfjall whom Sigurðr will wake from enchanted sleep, the wisdom-runes she will teach him, and his arrival at the Gjúkung court. There he will swear blood-brotherhood with Gunnarr.

Then comes the darkness: the memory-drink that makes Sigurðr forget the valkyrie, his wooing of Brynhildr on Gunnarr's behalf, Brynhildr's rage when the deception is uncovered, and her incitement of Sigurðr's death.

Grípir tries to halt before revealing Sigurðr's death, yet Sigurðr insists. The last thing revealed is the murder and Sigurðr's acceptance of his fate. He rides away to meet it. The poem demonstrates that the entire Sigurðr legend was known to the audience as a coherent narrative.

The story

Key concepts

• Sigurðr , the central hero of the Völsung cycle whose entire life-fate is prophesied in the poem
• Fáfnir , the dragon Sigurðr will slay on Gnitaheiðr
• Brynhildr , the valkyrie/shieldmaiden whose love and betrayal drive the tragic plot
• Gjúkungar , the royal dynasty (Gunnarr, Högni, Guðrún) Sigurðr joins and is betrayed by
• ljóðaháttr , the wisdom-metre befitting the poem's prophetic character

Interpretive traditions

A What we know

Grípisspá is preserved in Codex Regius, placed as the first poem in the Sigurðr cycle.

The poem's function as a summary of the entire Sigurðr legend is textually clear: each step of the narrative is prophesied in chronological order.

The ljóðaháttr metre links the poem to the wisdom and prophecy poetry tradition (cf. Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál).

The events Grípir foretells correspond well with the subsequent Sigurðr poems in Codex Regius, confirming that the editor knew the entire cycle.

B What we think we know

Grípisspá is generally considered one of the latest-composed Eddic poems, possibly 12th-13th century. Its summary character and lack of original mythological material suggest it presupposes the other Sigurðr poems.

Whether the poem was composed specifically for the Codex Regius collection's editorial framework or existed before the compilation is debated.

Grípir's reluctance to reveal Sigurðr's death has been interpreted as a narrative tension-building device and as a reflection of fate-belief ethics: knowing one's destiny and meeting it nonetheless.

C What we do not know

Grípir's identity outside this poem is unknown. Whether he reflects an older saga tradition or is a poetic construction to motivate the prophecy frame cannot be determined.

The exact relationship between Grípisspá and Völsunga saga (which contains the same narrative in prose) is unclear: whether the saga knew the poem or both draw on a common source is discussed.

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.