The Poetic Edda on Gothmund

The > Volume Ii > Introductory Note

• relationship: Gothmund is identified as the offspring of Sigmund.

  "The general subject of the Helgi lays is considered in the introduction to Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, and it is needless here to repeat the statements there made. The first lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is"

• attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Gothmund.

  "33. Then Gothmund asked, | goodly of birth, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . "Who is the monarch | who guides the host, And to the land | the warriors leads?""

• attribution: Gothmund delivers a speech in the verse.

  "36. "There will Hothbrodd | Helgi find, In the midst of the fleet, | and flight he scorns; Often has he | the eagles gorged, Whilst thou at the quern | wert slave-girls kissing."

Gothmund spake:"

• attribution: Gothmund delivers a speech in the verse.

  "41. ". . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . Nine did we | in Sogunes Of wolf-cubs have; | I their father was."

Gothmund spake:"

The > Volume Ii > Notes

• attestation: The dialogue between Gothmund and Sinfjotli forms a long flyting (verbal contest) in stanzas 33-48

  "Here begins the long dialogue between Gothmund, one of Granmar's sons, and Sinfjotli, Helgi's half-brother"

• attestation: Turning the hand mill (quern) was the task of slaves throughout antiquity

  "Quern: turning the hand mill was, throughout antiquity, the task of slaves"

• attestation: Gothmund's insults have a basis in Sinfjotli's actual history while Sinfjotli draws on imagination for his taunts

  "it looks as though Sinfjotli were drawing solely on his imagination for his taunts, whereas Gothmund's insults have a basis in Sinfjotli's previous life"

• attestation: The dispute between Gothmund and Sinfjotli appears in a longer form in Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, stanzas 33-48

  "With this stanza begins the dispute between Gothmund and Sinfjotli which, together with Helgi's rebuke to his half-brother, appears at much greater length in Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 33–48."

• attestation: The version of the Gothmund-Sinfjotli dispute in this poem is almost certainly older than the one in Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I

  "The version here given is almost certainly the older of the two"

The > Volume Ii > (V)

• relationship: Gothmund is identified as the offspring of Granmar.

  "This Gothmund the son of Granmar spoke:"

• attribution: Gothmund delivers a speech in the verse.

  "23. "Here may Hothbrodd | Helgi find, The hater of flight, | in the midst of the fleet; The home of all | thy race he has, And over the realm | of the fishes he rules."

Gothmund spake:"

• attestation: Gothmund is characterized by age in the verse.

  "25. "Better, Gothmund, | to tend the goats, And climb the rocks | of the mountain cliffs; A hazel switch | to hold in thy hand More seemly were | than the hilt of a sword."

Helgi spake:"