The Whetting of Gudrun
¶GUDRUN went down unto the sea whenas she had slain-Atli, and she cast herself therein, for she was fain to endher life: but nowise might she drown. She drave over thefirths to the land of King Jonakr, and he wedded her, and theirsons were Sorli, and Erp, and Hamdir, and there was Swanhild,Sigurd's daughter, nourished: and she was given to Jormunrek theMighty. Now Bikki was a man of his, and gave such counsel toRandver, the king's son, as that he should take her; and with thatcounsel were the young folk well content.Then Bikki told the king, and the king let hang Randver, butbade Swanhild be trodden under horses' feet. But when Gudrunheard thereof, she spake to her sons—
¶Words of strife heard I,Huger than any,Woeful words spoken,Sprung from all sorrow,When Gudrun fierce-heartedWith the grimmest of wordsWhetted her sonsUnto the slaying.
¶"Why are ye sitting here?Why sleep ye life away?Why doth it grieve you nought?Glad words to speak,Now when your sister—Young of years was she—Has Jormunrek troddenWith the treading of horses?—"Black horses and whiteIn the highway of warriors:Grey horses that knowThe roads of the Goths.—[419]"Little like are ye grownTo that Gunnar of old days!Nought are your heartsAs the heart of Hogni!Well would ye seekVengeance to winIf your mood were in aughtAs the mood of my brethren,Or the hardy heartsOf the Kings of the Huns!"
¶Then spake Hamdir,The high-hearted—"Little didst thouPraise Hogni's doings,When Sigurd wokeFrom out of sleep,And the blue-white bed-gearUpon thy bedGrew red with man's blood—With the blood of thy mate!
¶"Too baleful vengeanceWroughtest thou for thy brethrenMost sore and evilWhen thy sons thou slewedst,Else all we togetherOn JormunrekHad wrought sore vengeanceFor that our sister.
¶"Come, bring forth quicklyThe Hun kings' bright gear,Since thou hast urged usUnto the sword-Thing!"
¶Laughing went GudrunTo the bower of good gear,Kings' crested helmsFrom chests she drew,And wide-wrought byrnies[420]Bore to her sons:Then on their horsesLoad laid the heroes.
¶Then spake Hamdir,The high-hearted—"Never cometh againHis mother to seeThe spear-god laid lowIn the land of the Goths.That one arvel mayst thouFor all of us drinkFor sister Swanhild,And us thy sons."
¶Greeted Gudrun,Giuki's daughter;Sorrowing she wentIn the forecourt to sit,That she might tell,With cheeks tear-furrowed,Her weary wailIn many a wise.
¶"Three fires I knew,Three hearths I knew,To three husbands' housesHave I been carried;And better than allHad been Sigurd alone,He whom my brethrenBrought to his bane.
¶"Such sore grief as thatMethought never should be,Yet more indeedWas left for my tormentThen, when the great onesGave me to Adi.[421]"My fair bright boysI bade unto speech,Nor yet might I winWeregild for my bale,Ere I had hewn offThose Niblungs' heads.
¶"To the sea-strand I wentWith the Norns sorely wroth,For I would thrust from meThe storm of their torment;But the high billowsWould not drown, but bore meForth, till I stepped a-landLonger to live.
¶"Then I went a-bed——Ah, better in the old days,This was the third time!—To a king of the people;Offspring I brought forth,Props of a fair house,Props of a fair house,Jonakr's fair sons.
¶"But around SwanhildBond-maidens sat,Her, that of all mineMost to my heart was;Such was my Swanhild,In my hall's midmost,As is the sunbeamFair to behold.
¶"In gold I arrayed her,And goodly raiment,Or ever I gave herTo the folk of the Goths.That was the hardestOf my heavy woes,[422]When the bright hair,—O the bright hair of Swanhild!—In the mire was troddenBy the treading of horses.
¶"This was the sorest,When my love, my Sigurd,Reft of gloryIn his bed gat ending:But this the grimmestWhen glittering wormsTore their wayThrough the heart of Gunnar.
¶"But this the keenestWhen they cut to the quickOf the hardy heartOf the unfeared Hogni.Of much of bale I mind me,Of many griefs I mind me;Why should I sit abidingYet more bale and more?
¶"Thy coal-black horse,O Sigurd, bridle,The swift on the highway!O let him speed hither!Here sitteth no longerSon or daughter,More good giftsTo give to Gudrun!
¶"Mindst thou not, Sigurd,Of the speech betwixt us,When on one bedWe both sat together,0 my great king—That thou wouldst come to meE'en from the hall of Hell,I to thee from the fair earth?[423]"Pile high, O earls,The oaken pile,Let it be the highestThat ever queen had!Let the fire burn swift,My breast with woe laden,And thaw all my heart,Hard, heavy with sorrow!"
¶Now may all earlsBe bettered in mind,May the grief of all maidensEver be minished,For this tale of sorrowSo told to its ending.
The Lay of Hamdir
¶REAT deeds of baleIn the garth began,At the sad dawningThe tide of Elves' sorrowWhen day is a-waxingAnd man's grief awaketh,And the sorrow of each oneThe early day quickeneth.
¶Not now, not now,Nor yesterday,But long agoHas that day worn by,That ancientest time,The first time to tell of,Then, whenas Gudrun,Born of Giuki,Whetted her sonsTo Swanhild's avenging.
¶"Your sister's nameWas naught but Swanhild,Whom JormunrekWith horses has trodden!—White horses and blackOn the war-beaten way,Grey horses that goOn the roads of the Goths.
¶"All alone am I nowAs in holt is the aspen;As the fir-tree of boughs,So of kin am I bare;As bare of things longed for[425]As the willow of leavesWhen the bough-breaking windThe warm day endeth.
¶"Ah, naught are ye grownAs that Gunnar of old days;Naught are your heartsAs the heart of Hogni!Well would ye seekVengeance to winIf your hearts were in aughtAs the hearts of my brethren!"
¶Then spake HamdirThe high-hearted:"Naught hadst thou to praiseThe doings of Hogni,When they woke up SigurdFrom out of slumber,And in bed thou sat'st up'Mid the banes-men's laughter.
¶"Then when thy bed-gear,Blue-white, well wovenBy art of craftsmenAll swam with thy king's blood;Then Sigurd died,O'er his dead corpse thou sattest,Not heeding aught gladsome,Since Gunnar so willed it.
¶"Great grief for AdiGatst thou by Erp's murder,And the end of thine Eitil,But worse grief for thyself.[426]Good to use swordFor the slaying of othersIn such wise that its edgeShall not turn on ourselves!"
¶Then well spake SorliFrom a heart full of wisdom:"No words will IMake with my mother,Though both ye twainNeed words belike—What askest thou, Gudrun,To let thee go greeting?
¶"Weep for thy brethren,Weep for thy sweet sons,And thy nighest kinsfolkLaid by the fight-side!Yea, and thou Gudrun,May'st greet for us twainSitting fey on our steedsDoomed in far lands to die."
¶From the garth forth they wentWith hearts full of fury,Sorli and Hamdir,The sons of Gudrun,And they met on the wayThe wise in all wiles:"And thou little Erp,What helping from thee?"
¶He of alien wombSpake out in such wise:"Good help for my kin,Such as foot gives to foot,Or flesh-covered handGives unto hand!"
¶"What helping for footThat help that foot giveth,[427]Or for flesh-covered handThe helping of hand?"
¶Then spake ErpYet once againMock spake the princeAs he sat on his steed:"Fool's deed to showThe way to a dastard!""Bold beyond measure,"Quoth they, "is the base-born!"
¶Out from the sheathDrew they the sheath-steel,And the glaives' edges playedFor the pleasure of hell;By the third part they minishedThe might that they had,Their young kin they let lieA-cold on the earth.
¶Then their fur-cloaks they shookAnd bound fast their swords,In webs goodly wovenThose great ones were clad;Young they went o'er the fellsWhere the dew was new-fallenSwift, on steeds of the Huns,Heavy vengeance to wreak.
¶Forth stretched the ways,And an ill way they found,Yea, their sister's son 1Hanging slain upon tree—Wolf-trees by the wind made coldAt the town's westwardLoud with cranes' clatter—111 abiding there long!
¶Din in the king's hallOf men merry with drink,Randver, the son of their sister's husband.[428]And none might hearkenThe horses' trampingOr ever the wardersTheir great horn winded.
¶Then men went forthTo JormunrekTo tell of the heedingOf men under helm:"Give ye good counsel!Great ones are come hither,For the wrong of men mightyWas the may to death trodden."
¶Loud Jormunrek laughed,And laid hand to his beard,Nor bade bring his byrny,But with the wine fighting,Shook his red locks,On his white shield sat staring,And in his handSwung the gold cup on high.
¶"Sweet sight for meThose twain to set eyes on,Sorli and Hamdir,Here in my hall!Then with bowstringsWould I bind them,And hang the good GiukingsAloft on the gallows!"
¶Then spake HrothglodFrom off the high steps,Spake the slim-fingeredUnto her son,——For a threat was cast forthOf what ne'er should fall—[429]"Shall two men aloneTwo hundred GothfolkBind or bear downIn the midst of their burg?"
¶Strife and din in the hall,Cups smitten asunderMen lay low in bloodFrom the breasts of Goths flowing.
¶Then spake Hamdir,The high-hearted:"Thou cravedst, O king,For the coming of us,The sons of one mother,Amidmost thine hall—Look on these hands of thine,Look on these feet of thine,Cast by us, Jormunrek,On to the flame 1"
¶Then cried aloudThe high Gods' kinsman, 2Bold under byrny,—Roared he as bears roar;"Stones to the stout onesThat the spears bite not,Nor the edges of steel,These sons of Jonakr!"
Quoth Sorli
¶"Bale, brother, wroughtst thouBy that bag's 3 opening,Oft from that bagRede of bale cometh![430]Heart hast thou, Hamdir,If thou hadst heart's wisdomGreat lack in a manWho lacks wisdom and lore!"
Hamdir Said
¶"Yea, off were the headif Erp were alive yet,Our brother the boldWhom we slew by the way;The far-famed through the world.—Ah, the fates drave me on,And the man war made holy,There must I slay!"
Sorli Said
¶"Unmeet we should doAs the doings of wolves are,Raising wrong each 'gainst otherAs the dogs of the Norns,The greedy ones nourishedIn waste steads of the world.
¶"In strong wise have we fought,On Goths' corpses we stand,Beat down by our edges,E'en as ernes on the bough.Great fame our might winneth,Die we now, or to-morrow,—No man lives till eveWhom the fates doom at morning."At the hall's gable-endFell Sorli to earth,But Hamdir lay lowAt the back of the houses.
¶Now this is called the Ancient Lay of Hamdir.
The Lament of Oddrun
¶HERE was a king hight Heidrik, and his daughter wasTcalled Borgny, and the name of her lover was Vilmund.Now she might nowise be made lighter of a child shetravailed with, before Oddrun, Atli's sister, came to her,—she whohad been the love of Gunnar, Giuki's son. But of their speechtogether has this been sung:
¶I have heard tellIn ancient talesHow a may there cameTo Morna-land,Because no manOn mould abidingFor Heidrik's daughterMight win healing.
¶All that heard Oddrun,Atli's sister,How that the damselHad heavy sickness,So she led from stallHer bridled steed,And on the swart oneLaid the saddle.
¶She made her horse wendO'er smooth ways of earth,Until to a high-builtHall she came;Then the saddle she hadFrom the hungry horse,And her ways wendedIn along the wide hall,And this word firstSpake forth therewith:[432]"What is most famed,Afield in Hunland,Or what may beBlithest in Hunland?"
Quoth the Handmaid
Oddrun Said
The Handmaid Said
¶"He is hight Vilmund,Friend of hawk-bearers,He wrapped the damselIn the warm bed-gearFive winters longWithout her father's wotting."
¶No more than thisThey spake methinks;Kind sat she downBy the damsel's knee;Mightily sang Oddrun,Eagerly sang Oddrun,Sharp piercing songsBy Borgny's side:
¶Till a maid and a boyMight tread on the world's ways,Blithe babes and sweetOf Hogni's bane:Then the damsel foreweariedThe word took up,[433]The first word of allThat had won from her:
¶"So may help theeAll helpful things,Fey and Freyia,And all the fair Gods,As thou hast thrustThis torment from me!"
Oddrun Said
¶"Yet no heart had IFor thy helping,Since never wert thouWorthy of helping,But my word I held to,That of old was spokenWhen the high lordsDealt out the heritage,That every soulI would ever help."
Borgny Said
¶"Right mad art thou, Oddrun,And reft of thy wits,Whereas thou speakestHard words to meThy fellow everUpon the earthAs of brothers twain,We had been born."
Oddrun Said
¶"Well I mind me yet,What thou saidst that evening,Whenas I bore forthFair drink for Gunnar;Such a thing, saidst thou,Should fall out never,For any maySave for me alone."[434]Mind had the damselOf the weary dayWhenas the high lordsDealt out the heritage,And she sat her down,The sorrowful woman,To tell of the bale,And the heavy trouble.
¶"Nourished was IIn the hall of kings—Most folk were glad—'Mid the council of great ones:In fair life lived I,And the wealth of my fatherFor five winters only,While yet he had life.
¶"Such were the last wordsThat ever he spake,The king forewearied,Ere his ways he went;For he bade folk give meThe gold red-gleaming,And give me in SouthlandsTo the son of Grimhild.
¶"But Brynhild he badeTo the helm to betake her,And said that Death-chooserShe should become;And that no betterMight ever be bornInto the world,If fate would not spoil it.
¶"Brynhild in bowerSewed at her broidery,Folk she hadAnd fair lands about her;[435]Earth lay a-sleeping,Slept the heavens aloftWhen Fafnir's-baneThe burg first saw.
¶"Then was war wagedWith the Welsh-wrought swordAnd the burg all brokenThat Brynhild owned;Nor wore long space,E'en as well might be,Ere all those wilesFull well she knew.
¶"Hard and dreadfulWas the vengeance she drew down,So that all weHave woe enow.Through all lands of the worldShall that story fare forthHow she did her to deathFor the death of Sigurd.
¶"But therewithal GunnarThe gold-scattererDid I fall to lovingAnd she should have loved him.Rings of red goldWould they give to Atli,Would give to my brotherThings goodly and great.
¶"Yea, fifteen steadsWould they give for me,And the load of GraniTo have as a gift;But then spake Atli,That such was his will,Never gift to takeFrom the sons of Giuki.[436]"But we in nowiseMight love withstand,And mine head must I layOn my love, the ring-breaker;And many there wereAmong my kin,Who said that theyHad seen us together.
¶"Then Atli saidThat I surely neverWould fall to crimeOr shameful folly:But now let no oneFor any other,That shame denyWhere love has dealing.
¶"For Adi sentHis serving-folkWide through the murkwoodProof to win of me,And thither they cameWhere they ne'er should haveWhere one bed we twainHad dight betwixt us.
¶"To those men had we givenRings of red gold,Naught to tellThereof to Atli,But straight they hastenedHome to the house,And all the taleTo Adi told.
¶"Whereas from GudrunWell they hid it,Though better by halfHad she have known it.[437]"Din was there to hearOf the hoofs gold-shod,When into the garthRode the sons of Giuki.
¶"There from HogniThe heart they cut,But into the worm-closeCast the other.There the king, the wise-hearted,Swept his harp-strings,For the mighty kingHad ever mindThat I to his helpingSoon should come.
¶"But now was I goneYet once againUnto Geirmund,Good feast to make;Yet had I hearing,E'en out from Hlesey,How of sore troubleThe harp-strings sang.
¶"So I bade the bondmaidsBe ready swiftly,For I listed to saveThe life of the king,And we let our shipSwim over the sound,Till Atli's dwellingWe saw all clearly.
¶"Then came the wretch1Crawling out,E'en Adi's mother,All sorrow upon herl[438]A grave gat her stingIn the heart of Gunnar,So that no helpingWas left for my hero.
p. 438¶"O gold-clad woman,Full oft I wonderHow I my lifeStill hold thereafter,For methought I lovedThat light in battle,The swift with the sword,As my very self.
¶"Thou hast sat and hearkenedAs I have told theeOf many an ill-fate,Mine and theirs—Each man livethE'en as he may live—Now hath gone forthThe greeting of Oddrun."