The Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas on Sigurd
Contents > Chapter Xxvi: The Sigurd Saga
attestation: The second part of the Elder Edda consists of heroic lays about the Volsung family, especially Sigurd, the chief hero of the Norse tradition; these lays supplied material for the Nibelungenlied and Wagner's operas.
"the second part comprises a series of heroic lays describing the exploits of the Volsung family, and especially of their chief representative, Sigurd, the favourite hero of the North... These lays form the basis of the great Scandinavian epic, the Volsunga Saga, and have supplied not only the materials for the Nibelungenlied, the German epic, and for countless folk tales, but also for Wagner's celebrated operas, The Rhinegold, Valkyr, Siegfried, and The Dusk of the Gods."
attestation: Sigurd was born and sprinkled with water (a naming ceremony) by King Elf, who had married his mother Hjordis; Sigurd's education was entrusted to Regin, wisest of men.
"When the child was born Elf himself sprinkled him with water--a ceremony which our pagan ancestors scrupulously observed--and bestowed upon him the name of Sigurd. As he grew up he was treated as the king's own son, and his education was entrusted to Regin, the wisest of men"
attestation: Regin knew from prophecy that he would fall by the hand of a youth; he was ancient and wizened in appearance, with skill in blacksmithing and all crafts.
"his education was entrusted to Regin, the wisest of men, who knew all things, his own fate not even excepted, for it had been revealed to him that he would fall by the hand of a youth."
attestation: Sigurd chose his horse Grane (Greyfell) from a herd by testing them in a river; the horse was a descendant of Odin's Sleipnir.
"One of the number, after crossing, raced round the opposite meadow; and, plunging again into the river, returned to his former pasture without showing any signs of fatigue. Sigurd therefore did not hesitate to select this horse, and he gave him the name of Grane or Greyfell. The steed was a descendant of Odin's eight-footed horse Sleipnir"
attestation: Regin told Sigurd the story of Hreidmar and his sons: Fafnir (fearless and strong), Otter (shapeshifter), and Regin himself (wise and dexterous); Fafnir guarded Hreidmar's gold-lined palace with his Aegis helmet.
"Hreidmar, king of the dwarf folk, was the father of three sons. Fafnir, the eldest, was gifted with a fearless soul and a powerful arm; Otter, the second, with snare and net, and the power of changing his form at will; and Regin, the youngest, with all wisdom and deftness of hand."
attestation: After slaying Fafnir, Sigurd burned his fingers tasting the roasting heart and sucked them, gaining the power to understand bird speech which warned him of Regin's treachery.
"After an interval Sigurd touched the roast to ascertain whether it were tender, but burning his fingers severely, he instinctively thrust them into his mouth to allay the smart. No sooner had Fafnir's blood thus touched his lips than he discovered, to his utter surprise, that he could understand the songs of the birds"
attestation: The birds told Sigurd that Regin was plotting to kill him; Sigurd therefore slew Regin, took Fafnir's heart, and claimed the dragon's gold.
"he found that they were telling how Regin meditated treachery"
attestation: Sigurd rode through a wall of flame on the mountain Hindfell without hesitation; within the circle of flames he found the sleeping armored figure of Brunhild.
"Sigurd turns in his saddle, and the hilt of the Wrath he shifts... and crieth aloud to Greyfell, and rides at the wildfire's heart; But the white wall wavers before him and the flame-flood rusheth apart... The white flame licks his raiment and sweeps through Greyfell's mane... But nought his raiment dusketh or dims his glittering gear"
attestation: Sigurd placed the ring Andvaranaut on Brunhild's finger as a token of betrothal and vowed to love only her; she told him where to find her at Lymdale.
"Sigurd placed the ring Andvaranaut upon her finger, in token of betrothal, swearing to love her alone as long as life endured."
attestation: Sigurd came to the land of the Niblungs (realm of mist) where Queen Grimhild gave him a magic potion to make him forget Brunhild and fall in love with her daughter Gudrun.
"Sigurd came to the land of the Niblungs, the land of continual mist, where Giuki and Grimhild were king and queen. The latter was specially to be feared, as she was well versed in magic lore... she brewed one of her magic potions, and when he had partaken of it at the hand of Gudrun, he utterly forgot Brunhild and his plighted troth"
attestation: The Niblungs king Giuki had three sons — Gunnar, Hogni, and Guttorm — and a daughter Gudrun; Sigurd married Gudrun and became their kinsman.
"The king and queen had three sons, Gunnar, Hógni, and Guttorm, who were brave young men, and one daughter, Gudrun, the gentlest as well as the most beautiful of maidens."
attestation: Gunnar's horse refused to enter Brunhild's fire wall; even Sigurd's horse Greyfell refused to carry Gunnar, though he would carry Sigurd.
"when on reaching the summit of the mountain he would have ridden into the fire, his steed drew back affrighted and he could not induce him to advance a step... although Greyfell allowed Gunnar to mount, he would not stir because his master was not on his back."
attestation: Sigurd used the Helm of Dread to take on Gunnar's appearance and rode through Brunhild's flames as Gunnar; neither he nor Brunhild recognized each other due to the spell.
"Sigurd mounted Greyfell in the semblance of his companion, and this time the steed showed not the least hesitation, but leaped into the flames at the first touch on his bridle, and soon brought his rider to the castle, where, in the great hall, sat Brunhild. Neither recognised the other: Sigurd because of the magic spell cast over him by Grimhild; Brunhild because of the altered appearance of her lover."
attestation: When Brunhild arrived at the Niblungs' court and saw Sigurd beside Gudrun, the spell was broken and he remembered everything; but both were bound by honor to their current spouses.
"The Volsung looked up at that moment and as he encountered Brunhild's reproachful eyes Grimhild's spell was broken and the past came back in a flood of bitter recollection. It was too late, however: both were in honour bound, he to Gudrun and she to Gunnar"
attestation: Brunhild persuaded Hogni's brother Guttorm, using a magic potion, to murder Sigurd; Guttorm stabbed Sigurd with a spear on the third attempt while he slept.
"she turned to Hógni for aid. He, too, did not wish to violate his oath, but he induced Guttorm, by means of much persuasion and one of Grimhild's potions, to undertake the dastardly deed... in the dead of night, Guttorm stole into Sigurd's chamber, weapon in hand... towards morning, stealing in for the third time, he found the hero asleep, and traitorously drove his spear through his back."
attestation: Mortally wounded, Sigurd threw his sword at the fleeing Guttorm and cut him in two, then died with a farewell to Gudrun.
"Although wounded unto death, Sigurd raised himself in bed, and seizing his renowned sword which hung beside him, he flung it with all his remaining strength at the flying murderer, cutting him in two as he reached the door. Then, with a last whispered farewell to the terrified Gudrun, Sigurd sank back and breathed his last."
attestation: Brunhild stabbed herself to die beside Sigurd's funeral pyre, asking that Gunnar lay her with her unsheathed sword between her body and Sigurd's, as it had lain when he wooed her.
"she donned her richest array, and stabbed herself as she lay stretched upon her bed. The tidings soon reached Gunnar, who came with all haste to his wife and just in time to receive her dying injunction to lay her beside the hero she loved, with the glittering, unsheathed sword between them"
attestation: Brunhild and Sigurd were burned together on the same funeral pyre; in Wagner's version Brunhild rode into the flames on horseback as when she led the valkyries.
"her body was burned with Sigurd's amid the lamentations of all the Niblungs. In Richard Wagner's story of "The Ring" Brunhild's end is more picturesque. Mounted on her steed, as when she led the battle-maidens at the command of Odin, she rode into the flames"
attestation: Gudrun was forced to marry Atli (Attila the Hun) after Sigurd's death; Atli coveted the Niblung gold and invited Gunnar and Hogni to his court with intent to slay them.
"Gudrun secretly detested her husband, whose avaricious tendencies were extremely repugnant to her... he was secretly planning some pretext for seizing it. Atli at last decided to send Knefrud or Wingi, one of his servants, to invite the Niblung princes to visit his court, intending to slay them when he should have them in his power"
attestation: In one version Gudrun tried to drown herself in the sea after Atli's death but the waves bore her to the land of King Jonakur, whom she married and bore sons Sorli, Hamdir, and Erp.
"According to a third and very different version, Gudrun was not drowned, but was borne by the waves to the land where Jonakur was king. There she became his wife, and the mother of three sons, Sórli, Hamdir, and Erp."
attestation: Swanhild, daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun, was trampled to death by wild horses at the order of King Ermenrich after being falsely accused by the traitor Sibich.
"Swanhild became affianced to Ermenrich, King of Gothland... Sibich was a traitor, and as part of a plan to compass the death of the royal family that he might claim the kingdom, he accused Randwer of having tried to win his young stepmother's affections... he ordered his son to be hanged, and Swanhild to be trampled to death under the feet of wild horses."
attestation: Swanhild's beauty was so great that the horses could not harm her until she was hidden under a blanket; she was a daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun.
"The beauty of this daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun was such, however, that even the wild steeds could not be induced to harm her until she had been hidden from their sight under a great blanket, when they trod her to death under their cruel hoofs."
attribution: The Volsung saga is interpreted as solar mythology: Sigi, Rerir, Volsung, Sigmund, and Sigurd each personify the sun in turn; Sigurd's sword represents sunbeams and Fafnir represents the cold-demon stealing summer's golden warmth.
"This story of the Volsungs is supposed by some authorities to be a series of sun myths, in which Sigi, Rerir, Volsung, Sigmund, and Sigurd in turn personify the glowing orb of day... The slaying of Fafnir symbolises the destruction of the demon of cold or darkness, who has stolen the golden hoard of summer or the yellow rays of the sun."
attribution: Other scholars interpret the Volsung saga as based in history: Atli represents Attila the Hun, and Gunnar represents the Burgundian king Gundicarius slain with his brothers by the Huns in 451 AD.
"According to other authorities, this Saga is based upon history. Atli is the cruel Attila, the "Scourge of God," while Gunnar is Gundicarius, a Burgundian monarch, whose kingdom was destroyed by the Huns, and who was slain with his brothers in 451."
comparison: Brunhild (in the solar myth interpretation) represents the dawn maiden whom the sun-hero Sigurd finds amid flames and loses when his career ends.
"Sigurd, like Balder, is beloved of all; he marries Brunhild, the dawn maiden, whom he finds in the midst of flames, the flush of morn, and parts from her only to find her again when his career is ended."
Contents > Chapter Xxix: Greek And Northern Mythologies
comparison: Gripir, the horse-trainer who instructs Sigurd and gives him prophecy, parallels Chiron the centaur who educated Greek heroes.
"Sigurd is instructed by Gripir, the horse-trainer, who is reminiscent of Chiron, the centaur. He is not only able to teach a young hero all he need know, and to give him good advice concerning his future conduct, but is also possessed of the gift of prophecy"
comparison: Sigurd's quest for Fafnir's golden hoard parallels the Greek heroes' quest for the golden fleece, both guarded by a dragon and requiring great effort to secure.
"Sigurd, like Theseus, Perseus, and Jason, seeks to avenge his father's wrongs ere he sets out in search of the golden hoard, the exact counterpart of the golden fleece, which is also guarded by a dragon, and is very hard to secure"
comparison: Sigurd's battle with Fafnir parallels Apollo's fight with Python; both represent a sun-hero slaying a serpent of darkness.
"His struggle with Fafnir reminds us of Apollo's fight with Python"
comparison: Sigurd's need for his magic sword to defeat Fafnir parallels the Greeks' need for Philoctetes' arrows to take Troy — both emblems of the all-conquering rays of the sun.
"Sigurd could not have conquered Fafnir without the magic sword, just as the Greeks failed to take Troy without the arrows of Philoctetes, which are also emblems of the all-conquering rays of the sun"