Harping of Gunnar
Lost poem from the Volsung cycle, performed by Nornagest and retold in Volsunga Saga chapter 37.
The Harping of Gunnar is a lost poem from the Volsung cycle, attested in the Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks. In the Thattr of Nornagest, Nornagest performed several songs, and "what he rendered best was The Harping of Gunnar; and last of all he played the ancient Wiles of Guthrun, neither of which they had heard before" (Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks, Part I). A scholarly note identifies it as a lost poem whose legend is told in Volsunga Saga chapter 37 (Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks, Part II), connecting it to the episode in which Gunnar plays the harp with his toes while bound in the serpent pit.
The two citations present the Harping of Gunnar from complementary angles. The narrative passage from Part I preserves the moment of performance -- Nornagest singing the poem at court, with the audience hearing it for the first time (Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks, Part I). The editorial note from Part II identifies the specific legend behind the poem and its retelling in the Volsunga Saga (Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks, Part II). Together they attest to a poem that was known by reputation within the saga tradition itself, suggesting it was either already ancient or already lost by the time the Thattr was composed.
Appears in: Entities in Hervarar Saga ok Heiðreks, Norse Tradition, Works