The Poetic Edda on Guthrun
The > part in a few of the Eddic poems. > Notes
attestation: The quarrel between Brynhild and Guthrun at the bath reveals the deception: Guthrun retorts that Sigurth, not Gunnar, rode through the flames
"Guthrun retorts with the statement that it was Sigurth, and not Gunnar, who rode through the flames."
attestation: Guthrun slew her two sons by Atli, named Erp and Eitil
"The kings: presumably Gunnar and Hogni. My sons: regarding Guthrun's slaying of her two sons by Atli, Erp and Eitil"
attestation: Guthrun killed Atli ('the warrior') in revenge for her brothers' deaths
"The warrior, etc.: Atli, whom Guthrun kills."
attestation: Guthrun deliberately misinterprets Atli's dreams to conceal her plan to slay his sons
"This stanza is evidently Guthrun's intentionally cryptic interpretation of Atli's dreams"
attestation: In the Volsungasaga, Guthrun gives Gunnar a harp with which he puts the serpents to sleep
"In the Volsungasaga Guthrun gives her brother the harp, with which he puts the serpents to sleep."
relationship: Guthrun married Atli at the instigation of her brothers Gunnar and Hogni
"On the marriage of Guthrun to Atli at the instigation of her brothers, Gunnar and Hogni"
attestation: Guthrun slew Atli and his two sons Erp and Eitil
"on the slaying of Atli and his two sons, Erp and Eitil"
attestation: Guthrun tells Atli about slaughtering 'young beasts,' by which she means his sons Erp and Eitil, though he thinks she refers to newly slaughtered animals
"Young beasts: Guthrun means Atli's sons, Erp and Eitil, but of course he thinks she refers to newly slaughtered beasts"
attestation: Guthrun did not weep at the killing, echoing the motif from earlier stanzas
"Wept not: cf. stanza 31 and note."
attestation: Guthrun distributes Atli's treasures among his followers to prevent their wrath at the slaying of Erp and Eitil
"Guthrun distributes Atli's treasures among his followers apparently to prevent their wrath at the slaying of Erp and Eitil from turning against her"
attestation: Guthrun allows the dogs and house-thralls, who had no part in Gunnar's death, to escape
"Guthrun allows the dogs and the house-thralls, who had no part in Gunnar's death"
attestation: Guthrun married Atli, and the sea-crossing geography is a late Greenland variation of the Atli story
"The sea: a late and essentially Greenland variation of the geography of the Atli story."
attribution: Guthrun is referred to as the 'wise one' in the narrative
"Wise one: Guthrun."
attestation: Guthrun changes her tone to make Atli believe she is submissive in order to gain time for her vengeance
"Guthrun suddenly changes her tone in order to make Atli believe that she is submissive to his will, and thus to gain time for her vengeance."
attestation: A red shield symbolizes hostility and a white shield symbolizes friendliness in the poetic tradition
"Two shields, etc.: i.e., Guthrun concealed her hostility (symbolized by a red shield, cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 34) by a show of friendliness (a white shield)."
attestation: In the Volsungasaga, Guthrun takes the sons of Atli (Erp and Eitil) where they were playing with a block of wood
"At evening she took the sons of King Atli (Erp and Eitil) where they were playing with a block of wood."
attestation: Guthrun made a maritime expedition with her brothers Gunnar and Hogni and with Sigurth, apparently invented by the poet for his Greenland audience
"this maritime expedition of Guthrun and her two brothers, Gunnar and Hogni (the poet seems to know nothing of her half-brother, Gotthorm), with Sigurth seems to have been a pure invention of the poet's, inserted for the benefit of his Greenland hearers."
comparison: Guthrun's appeal to the dead Sigurth to ride back to earth is reminiscent of Helgi's return in the second Helgi lay
"Guthrun's appeal to the dead Sigurth to ride back to earth to meet her is reminiscent of the episode related in Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II, 39–48."
relationship: Guthrun was daughter of Gjuki, sister of Gunnar and Hogni, and widow first of Sigurth and then of Atli
"Guthrun (daughter of Gjuki, sister of Gunnar and Hogni, and widow first of Sigurth and then of Atli)"
attestation: Guthrun slew her sons Erp and Eitil by Atli
"Erp and Eitil: regarding Guthrun's slaying of her sons by Atli"
attestation: In the Volsungasaga, Guthrun fashioned war-gear for Hamther and Sorli that iron could not bite into, and warned them against stones
"Guthrun at this point "had so fashioned their war-gear that iron would not bite into it, and she bade them to have nought to do with stones or other heavy things, and told them that it would be ill for them if they did not do as she said.""
The > part in a few of the Eddic poems. > Introductory Note
relationship: Guthrun is identified as the offspring of Gjuki.
"11. Then Guthrun spake, | the daughter of Gjuki: "Much thou speakest | in evil speech; Accursed be Gunnar, | Sigurth's killer, Vengeance shall come | for his cruel heart.""
relationship: Guthrun is identified as the offspring of Gjuki.
"15. Then Guthrun, daughter | of Gjuki, wept, And through her tresses | flowed the tears; And from the court | came the cry of geese, The birds so fair | of the hero's bride."
attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"16. Then Gollrond spake, | the daughter of Gjuki: "Never a greater | love I knew Than yours among | all men on earth; Nowhere wast happy, | at home or abroad, Sister mine, | with Sigurth away."
Guthrun spake:"
relationship: Guthrun is identified as the offspring of Gjuki.
"2. A maid they gave him, | and jewels many, Guthrun the young, | the daughter of Gjuki; They drank and spake | full many a day, Sigurth the young | and Gjuki's sons."
attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"27. "Hunnish women, | skilled in weaving, Who gold make fair | to give thee joy, And the wealth of Buthli | thine shall be, Gold-decked one, | as Atli's wife."
Guthrun spake:"
- attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"39. "Now from sleep | the Norns have waked me With visions of terror,— | to thee will I tell them; Methought thou, Guthrun, | Gjuki's daughter, With poisoned blade | didst pierce my body."
Guthrun spake:"
- attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"2. "It troubles me, Guthrun, | Gjuki's daughter, What Herkja here | in the hall hath told me, That thou in the bed | with Thjothrek liest, Beneath the linen | in lovers' guise."
Guthrun spake:"
- attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"31. On the long-maned Glaum | rode Atli the great, About him were warriors | . . . . . . . . But Guthrun, akin | to the gods of slaughter, Yielded not to her tears | in the hall of tumult.
Guthrun spake:"
- attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"52. We lay seldom together | since to me thou wast given, Now my kin all are gone, | of my gold am I robbed; Nay, and worst, thou didst send | my sister to hell."
Guthrun spake:"
attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"64. Full mighty seemed Atli | as o'er them he stood, The wise one he blamed, | and his words reproached her: "It is morning, Guthrun; | now thy dear ones dost miss, But the blame is part thine | that thus it has chanced." "
attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"72. Thus bitterly planned she, | and Buthli's race threatened, And terrible vengeance | on her husband would take; The little ones called she, | on a block she laid them;"
attribution: Guthrun delivers a threat in the verse.
"82. "With fire shall they burn thee, | and first shall they stone thee, So then hast thou earned | what thou ever hast sought for."
Guthrun spake:
"Such woes for thyself | shalt thou say in the morning,"
attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"85. Then the warrior spake, | as from slumber he wakened, Soon he knew for his wounds | would the bandage do nought: "Now the truth shalt thou say: | who has slain Buthli's son?"
attribution: Guthrun delivers a speech in the verse.
"96. "Thou liest now, Guthrun, | but little of good Will it bring to either, | for all have we lost; But, Guthrun, yet once | be thou kindly of will, For the honor of both, | when forth I am borne."
Guthrun spake:"
- relationship: Guthrun is identified as the offspring of Gjuki.
"2. Not now, nor yet | of yesterday was it, Long the time | that since hath lapsed, So that little there is | that is half as old, Since Guthrun, daughter | of Gjuki, whetted"
The > part in a few of the Eddic poems. > Pronouncing Index
- relationship: Guthrun is the wife of Sigurth in the Eddic heroic cycle
"Guth′-rūn, wife of Sigurth"