The Poetic Edda on Helgi
The > Volume Ii > Introductory Note
relationship: Helgi is the offspring of Hjorvarth.
"In the two lays of Helgi Hundingsbane the relationship is established only by the statement that Helgi was the son of Sigmund and Borghild; Sigurth is not mentioned, and in the lay of Helgi the son of Hjorvarth there is no connection at all."
relationship: Helgi is the offspring of Hjorvarth.
"The first of the three Helgi poems, the lay of Helgi the son of Hjorvarth, is a somewhat distant cousin of the other two."
attestation: The passage describes violence or death involving Helgi.
"The whole matter is so complex and so important in the history of Old Norse literature, and any intelligent reading of the Helgi poems is so dependent on an understanding of the conditions under which they have come down to us, that I have here discussed the question more extensively than the scope of a mere introductory note to a single poem would warrant."
attestation: The stanza references wealth or gifts involving Helgi.
"8. Helgi he named him, | and Hringstathir gave him, Solfjoll, Snæfjoll, | and Sigarsvoll, Hringstoth, Hotun, | and Himinvangar, And a blood-snake bedecked | to Sinfjotli's brother."
attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi.
"20. "Yet the hero will come | a few nights hence, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . Unless thou dost bid him | the battle-ground seek, Or takest the maid | from the warrior mighty."
Helgi spake:"
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"20. "Yet the hero will come | a few nights hence, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . Unless thou dost bid him | the battle-ground seek, Or takest the maid | from the warrior mighty."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: Helgi is characterized by power in the verse.
"20. "Yet the hero will come | a few nights hence, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . Unless thou dost bid him | the battle-ground seek, Or takest the maid | from the warrior mighty."
Helgi spake:"
attestation: The stanza describes cosmological elements involving Helgi.
"30. Helgi bade higher | hoist the sails, Nor did the ships'-folk | shun the waves, Though dreadfully | did Ægir's daughters Seek the steeds | of the sea to sink."
attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"46. "Sooner would I | at Frekastein Feed the ravens | with flesh of thine Than send your bitches | to seek their swill, Or feed the swine; | may the fiends take you!"
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: Helgi is characterized by age in the verse.
"52. "At anchor lying | off Gnipalund Are fire-beasts black, | all fitted with gold; There wait most | of the foeman's men, Nor will Helgi long | the battle delay."
Hothbrodd spake:"
attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Hunding.
"55. Swift as a storm | there smote together The flashing blades | at Frekastein; Ever was Helgi, | Hunding's slayer, First in the throng | where warriors fought; (Fierce in battle, | slow to fly,"
attestation: Helgi is characterized by ferocity in the verse.
"55. Swift as a storm | there smote together The flashing blades | at Frekastein; Ever was Helgi, | Hunding's slayer, First in the throng | where warriors fought; (Fierce in battle, | slow to fly,"
attestation: The passage describes violence or death involving Helgi.
"Section VI (stanzas 28–37) gives Dag's speech to his sister, Sigrun, telling of Helgi's death, her curse on her brother and her lament for her slain husband."
attestation: The passage describes violence or death involving Helgi.
"Certainly the story of how Sinfjotli and Sigmund died was current in oral prose tradition, and this story the compiler set forth in the short prose passage entitled Of Sinfjotli's Death which, in Regius, immediately follows the second lay of Helgi Hundingsbane."
The > Volume Ii > (Ii)
- attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi.
"6. "Late wilt thou, Helgi, | have hoard of rings, Thou battle-tree fierce, | or of shining fields,— The eagle screams soon,— | if never thou speakest, Though, hero, hard | thy heart may cry."
Helgi spake:"
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"6. "Late wilt thou, Helgi, | have hoard of rings, Thou battle-tree fierce, | or of shining fields,— The eagle screams soon,— | if never thou speakest, Though, hero, hard | thy heart may cry."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: Helgi is characterized by ferocity in the verse.
"6. "Late wilt thou, Helgi, | have hoard of rings, Thou battle-tree fierce, | or of shining fields,— The eagle screams soon,— | if never thou speakest, Though, hero, hard | thy heart may cry."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: The stanza references wealth or gifts involving Helgi.
"6. "Late wilt thou, Helgi, | have hoard of rings, Thou battle-tree fierce, | or of shining fields,— The eagle screams soon,— | if never thou speakest, Though, hero, hard | thy heart may cry."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi.
"5. "Who rules the ship | by the shore so steep? Where is the home | ye warriors have? Why do ye bide | in Brunavagar, Or what the way | that ye wish to try?"
Helgi spake:"
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"5. "Who rules the ship | by the shore so steep? Where is the home | ye warriors have? Why do ye bide | in Brunavagar, Or what the way | that ye wish to try?"
Helgi spake:"
The > Volume Ii > (Iii)
- attestation: The stanza references wealth or gifts involving Helgi.
"13. "Helgi his name, | and never thou mayst Harm to the hero bring; With iron is fitted | the prince's fleet, Nor can witches work us ill."
Hrimgerth spake:"
- attestation: The stanza references rulership or authority involving Helgi.
"13. "Helgi his name, | and never thou mayst Harm to the hero bring; With iron is fitted | the prince's fleet, Nor can witches work us ill."
Hrimgerth spake:"
- attestation: The stanza describes death or destruction involving Helgi.
"24. "Awake now, Helgi, | and Hrimgerth requite, That Hati to death thou didst hew; If a single night | she can sleep by the prince, Then requited are all her ills."
Helgi spake:"
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"24. "Awake now, Helgi, | and Hrimgerth requite, That Hati to death thou didst hew; If a single night | she can sleep by the prince, Then requited are all her ills."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Hrimgerth.
"29. "Look eastward, Hrimgerth, | for Helgi has struck thee Down with the runes of death; Safe in harbor floats | the prince's fleet, And safe are the monarch's men."
Helgi spake:"
attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Sigrun.
"13. Sigrun the joyful | chieftain sought, Forthwith Helgi's | hand she took; She greeted the hero | helmed and kissed him, The warrior's heart | to the woman turned."
attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"15. "At the meeting to Hothbrodd | mated I was, But another hero | I fain would have; Though, king, the wrath | of my kin I fear, Since I broke my father's | fairest wish."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: Helgi is characterized by beauty in the verse.
"15. "At the meeting to Hothbrodd | mated I was, But another hero | I fain would have; Though, king, the wrath | of my kin I fear, Since I broke my father's | fairest wish."
Helgi spake:"
The > Volume Ii > (Iv)
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"32. "A deed more evil | I have done Than, brother mine, | thou e'er canst mend; For I have chosen | the child of the king, Thy bride, for mine | at the monarch's toast."
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: The stanza references rulership or authority involving Helgi.
"32. "A deed more evil | I have done Than, brother mine, | thou e'er canst mend; For I have chosen | the child of the king, Thy bride, for mine | at the monarch's toast."
Helgi spake:"
relationship: Helgi is identified as the offspring of Hrothmar.
"34. "Thou saidst once, Helgi, | that Hethin was A friend full good, | and gifts didst give him; More seemly it were | thy sword to redden, Than friendship thus | to thy foe to give." "
attestation: The stanza describes death or destruction involving Helgi.
"39. "In the morn he fell | at Frekastein, The king who was noblest | beneath the sun; Alf has the joy | of victory all, Though need therefor | is never his."
Helgi spake:"
attestation: Helgi is characterized by nobility in the verse.
"43. "Kiss me, Svava, | I come not back, Rogheim to see, | or Rothulsfjoll, Till vengeance I have | for the son of Hjorvarth, The king who was noblest | beneath the sun." "
attestation: Helgi is characterized by greatness in the verse.
"Helgi then assembled a great sea-host and went to Frekastein. On the sea he met a perilous storm; lightning flashed overhead and the bolts struck the ship. They saw in the air that nine Valkyries were riding,"
attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Sigrun.
"20. "On the ground full low | the slain are lying, Most are there | of the men of thy race; Nought hast thou won, | for thy fate it was Brave men to bring | to the battle-field."
Then Sigrun wept. | Helgi said:"
- attestation: The stanza references wealth or gifts involving Helgi.
"20. "On the ground full low | the slain are lying, Most are there | of the men of thy race; Nought hast thou won, | for thy fate it was Brave men to bring | to the battle-field."
Then Sigrun wept. | Helgi said:"
The > Volume Ii > Notes
attestation: Helgi was so silent from birth that he would answer to no name, resulting in having none until a Valkyrie named him
"No name, etc.: this probably means that Helgi had always been so silent that he would answer to no name, with the result that he had none"
attestation: Duels were commonly fought on islands to guard against treacherous interference, called 'isle-going'
"duels were commonly fought on islands, probably to guard against treacherous interference, whence the usual name for a duel was "isle-going.""
attestation: Reckoning time by nights instead of days was common practice throughout Germanic and Scandinavian peoples
"Reckoning the lapse of time by nights instead of days was a common practice throughout the German and Scandinavian peoples"
attestation: Helgi was reborn multiple times according to tradition to accommodate his many deaths in different stories
"there were so many Helgi stories current, and the hero died in so many irreconcilable ways, that tradition had to have him born over again, not once only but several times, to accommodate his many deaths"
attestation: The reborn Helgi Hjorvarthsson was Helgi Hundingsbane, and Svava became Sigrun according to the annotator
"Gering thinks the reborn Helgi Hjorvarthsson was Helgi Hundingsbane, while Svava, according to the annotator himself, became Sigrun"
attestation: The screaming of eagles and water pouring from heaven were portents of the birth of a hero
"Eagles, etc.: the screaming of eagles and water pouring from heaven were portents of the birth of a hero"
attestation: A Norwegian or Icelandic boy became 'of age' at twelve until the early eleventh century; Helgi killed Hunding at fifteen
"Fifteen: until early in the eleventh century a Norwegian or Icelandic boy became "of age" at twelve, and Maurer cites this passage as added proof of the poem's lateness. Hunding"
attestation: Breaking of rings was the customary form of distributing gold, hence 'breaker of rings' means generous prince
"Breaker of rings: generous prince, because the breaking of rings was the customary form of distributing gold"
attestation: Norse ships of war were called dragons because of their shape and carved stems, as distinct from merchant vessels
"The Norse ships of war, as distinguished from merchant vessels, were often called dragons because of their shape and the carving of their stems"
attestation: Helgi and Sinfjotli are called Volsungs as sons of Sigmund Volsungsson, the first time the poet uses this family name
"Volsungs: here for the first time the poet gives Helgi and Sinfjotli the family name to which, as sons of Sigmund Volsungsson, they are entitled"
attestation: Helgi Hundingsbane II was named after Helgi Hjorvarthsson according to the annotator, a naive attempt to reconcile the two Helgi story cycles
"the annotator's explanation that the child was named after Helgi Hjorvarthsson is a naive way of getting around the difficulties created by the two sets of Helgi stories."
attestation: Helgi disguised himself under the name Hamal while staying with Hunding
"Helgi appears to have stayed with Hunding under the name of Hamal, but now, thinking himself safe, he sends word of who he really is."
attestation: Stanzas 1-4 may derive from the lost Karuljoth (Lay of Kara), where Helgi appears as Helgi Haddingjaskati
"If stanzas 1–4 are a fragment of the Karuljoth (Lay of Kara), this latter suggestion is quite reasonable, for in that poem, which we do not possess, but which supplied material for the compilers of the Hromundar saga Greipssonar, Helgi appears as Helgi Haddingjaskati"
attestation: Fjoturlund ('Fetter-Wood') is mentioned only in connection with Helgi's death at the hands of Dag, Sigrun's brother
"Here begins a new section of the poem, dealing with Helgi's death at the hands of Dag, Sigrun's brother."
attestation: Helgi shares Odin's rule in Valhalla according to the annotator, though this idea likely never appeared in the earlier Helgi poems
"there is no indication as to where the annotator got this notion of Helgi's sharing Othin's rule. It is most unlikely that such an idea ever found place in any of the Helgi poems, or at least in the earlier ones; probably it was a late development of the tradition in a period when Othin was no longer taken seriously."
attestation: The annotator expresses contempt for belief in rebirth, calling it 'old wives' folly'
"The attitude of the annotator is clearly revealed by his contempt for those who put any faith in such "old wives' folly" as the idea that men and women could be reborn."
attestation: Helgi accidentally kills Kara with his sword during his fight with Hromund, after which Hromund beheads him
"in his fight with Hromund he swings his sword so high that he accidentally gives Kara a mortal wound, whereupon Hromund cuts off his head."
attestation: Helgi dies three recorded times: once at the hands of Alf, once by Dag, and finally fighting Hromund
"As this makes the third recorded death of Helgi (once at the hands of Alf, once at those of Dag, and finally in the fight with Hromund)"
attestation: Helgi son of Hjorvarth, Helgi son of Sigmund, and Helgi the Haddings'-Hero all derive from a common origin as one original Helgi from early Danish tradition
"Helgi the son of Hjorvarth, Helgi the son of Sigmund and Helgi the Haddings'-Hero (not to mention various other Helgis who probably figured in songs and stories now lost) were all originally the same Helgi who appears in the early traditions of Denmark."
The > Volume Ii > (V)
- attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Gothmund.
"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:"
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech 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:"
The > Volume Ii > (Vi)
attestation: Helgi is characterized by age in the verse.
"29. "Now may every | oath thee bite That with Helgi | sworn thou hast, By the water | bright of Leipt, And the ice-cold | stone of Uth."
attestation: Helgi is characterized by nobility in the verse.
"37. "Helgi rose | above heroes all Like the lofty ash | above lowly thorns, Or the noble stag, | with dew besprinkled, Bearing his head | above all beasts, (And his horns gleam bright | to heaven itself.)" "
attestation: The stanza references creatures or animals in connection with Helgi.
"36. "Such the fear | that Helgi's foes Ever felt, | and all their kin, As makes the goats | with terror mad Run from the wolf | among the rocks."
The > Volume Ii > (Viii)
attestation: The stanza describes travel or movement involving Helgi.
"One of Sigrun's maidens went one evening to Helgi's hill, and saw that Helgi rode to the hill with many men. The maiden said:"
attestation: The stanza describes death or destruction involving Helgi.
"39. "Is this a dream | that methinks I see, Or the doom of the gods, | that dead men ride, And hither spurring | urge your steeds, Or is home-coming now | to the heroes granted?"
Helgi spake:"
- attribution: Helgi delivers a speech in the verse.
"39. "Is this a dream | that methinks I see, Or the doom of the gods, | that dead men ride, And hither spurring | urge your steeds, Or is home-coming now | to the heroes granted?"
Helgi spake:"
- attestation: The stanza references wealth or gifts involving Helgi.
"39. "Is this a dream | that methinks I see, Or the doom of the gods, | that dead men ride, And hither spurring | urge your steeds, Or is home-coming now | to the heroes granted?"
Helgi spake:"
attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Sigrun.
"41. "Go forth, Sigrun, | from Sevafjoll, If fain the lord | of the folk wouldst find; (The hill is open, | Helgi is come;) The sword-tracks bleed; | the monarch bade That thou his wounds | shouldst now make well." "
attestation: The stanza references rulership or authority involving Helgi.
"41. "Go forth, Sigrun, | from Sevafjoll, If fain the lord | of the folk wouldst find; (The hill is open, | Helgi is come;) The sword-tracks bleed; | the monarch bade That thou his wounds | shouldst now make well." "
attestation: Helgi is characterized by age in the verse.
"43. "First will I kiss | the lifeless king, Ere off the bloody | byrnie thou cast; With frost thy hair | is heavy, Helgi, And damp thou art | with the dew of death; (Ice-cold hands | has Hogni's kinsman,"
attestation: The stanza describes an act of creation involving Helgi.
"46. "Here a bed | I have made for thee, Helgi, To rest thee from care, | thou kin of the Ylfings; I will make thee sink | to sleep in my arms, As once I lay | with the living king."
Helgi spake:"
The > part in a few of the Eddic poems.
- attestation: The stanza describes death or destruction involving Helgi.
"15. "On the rocks there sleeps | the ruler's daughter, Fair in armor, | since Helgi fell; Thou shalt cut | with keen-edged sword, And cleave the byrnie | with Fafnir's killer."
Sigurth spake:"
- attestation: The stanza describes warfare or combat involving Helgi, Fafnir.
"15. "On the rocks there sleeps | the ruler's daughter, Fair in armor, | since Helgi fell; Thou shalt cut | with keen-edged sword, And cleave the byrnie | with Fafnir's killer."
Sigurth spake:"
- attestation: Helgi is characterized by beauty in the verse.
"15. "On the rocks there sleeps | the ruler's daughter, Fair in armor, | since Helgi fell; Thou shalt cut | with keen-edged sword, And cleave the byrnie | with Fafnir's killer."
Sigurth spake:"
- attestation: The stanza references rulership or authority involving Helgi.
"15. "On the rocks there sleeps | the ruler's daughter, Fair in armor, | since Helgi fell; Thou shalt cut | with keen-edged sword, And cleave the byrnie | with Fafnir's killer."
Sigurth spake:"
The > part in a few of the Eddic poems. > Pronouncing Index
- relationship: Helgi is a son of Sigmund
"Helg′-i, son of Sigmund"