Sigurðarkviða hin skamma

"Sigurðarkviða hin skamma" or the "Short Lay of Sigurd" is an Old Norse poem belonging to the heroic poetry of the "Poetic Edda". It is one of the longest eddic poems and its name derives from the fact that there was once a longer "Sigurðarkviða", but this poem only survives as the fragment "Brot af Sigurðarkviðu" (see the Great Lacuna).

According to Henry Adams Bellows, the poem was mainly composed for "vivid and powerful characterization" and not for the telling of a story with which most of the listeners of his time were already quite familiar. Bellows notes that the story telling is closer to the German tradition (found in the "Nibelungenlied") than it is to the Scandinavian tradition, and that this is due to the fact that the matter of Sigurd existed in many and varied forms in Northern Europe c. 1100 when the poem was probably composed.

ynopsis

The poem begins with the victorious young Sigurd the Völsung's arrival at the court of Gjúki and it informs that he swore oaths together with the two brothers (Gjúki's sons Gunnarr and Högni). [They swear to be blood-brothers. According to Bellows, this version belongs to the older Continental Germanic version in which Sigurd met the Gjukungs before he met Brynhildr, and he only meets her disguised as Gunnar. In a different version, he meets Brynhildr first before he meets the Gjukungs and he forgets her when Guðrún's mother Grimhild has given him a potion of forgetfulness. Both versions are present in "Grípisspá".] The two brothers gave him many jewels and their sister Guðrún for wife, and they spent time together drinking and talking. Then the two brothers departed to woo Brynhildr and Sigurd joined them. [Sigurd and Gunnar changed appearance, something that Grimhild had taught them. The "Völsunga saga" tells how Sigurd and Gunnar met Heimir who told them that they had to cross the circle of fire to win Brynhildr. When Gunnar failed to do so, Sigurd took his form and crossed the wall of fire on Grani.] The poet then jumps to the moment when Sigurd shared bed with Brynhildr by putting his sword between them. He never held her in his arms and gave her to Gjúki's son (Gunnar).

Then the poem dwells on Brynhildr and informs that she had never known either ill or sorrow. She was without blame and could not dream that she would have it, but fate would have it differently. [Bellows suggests that this stanza may only mean that she lived happily with Gunnar until she had her quarrel with Guðrún. It may also refer to the version in which she lived with her brother Atli until he was attacked by Sigurd and Gunnar and he had to buy them off with Brynhildr, without her consent. This last version is referred to later in this poem and in "Guðrúnarkviða I".] Brynhildr decided that it was she who should have Sigurd and not Guðrún: [Bellows comments that she has discovered that she has been deceived. In this poem, she has loved Sigurd from the beginning, but this does not fit the version of their first meeting that appears in this poem. However, it fits the other version in which she met Sigurd before he met Gjúki, Gunnar and Högni.]

Guðrún who was lying beside Sigurd woke up and discovered that she was lying in his blood:

Brynhildr then told Gunnarr that his troubles were not ended, and she began to tell a prophecy about Guðrún. She would be given to Atli in an unhappy marriage, and she would bring woe to many warriors. She would also have a daughter named Svanhildr: [Bellows comments that Svanhildr ("swan maiden warrior") is a very old legendary figure, who was incorporated with the matter of Sigurd to combine two sets of legends.]

Brynhildr said the she remembered how they deceived her, and continued by telling that Gunnarr would desire Oddrún [Oddrún is mainly known from "Oddrúnargrátr", and Bellows suggests that she is a late addition to the cycle.] for wife and they would love each other secretly because Atli would not allow them to marry. Then Gunnarr would suffer like she had suffered. Later, Atli would throw Gunnarr into a den of snakes, [Compare "Dráp Niflunga", "Atlamál" and "Atlakviða".] but Atli would lose both fortune and his two sons, and he would die pierced in bed with a sword by Guðrún.

Brynhildr said that Guðrún would then do best to follow her husband by killing herself, if she followed good advice or had a similar heart to Brynhild's. Instead, Guðrún would go across the waves to the kingdom of Jónakr, [Bellows notes that Jónakr only appears in "Hamðismál" and in sources that are based on it. He states that the name is apparently Slavic in origin, and he appears only as the third husband of Guðrún and as the father of Hamðir, Sörli and Erpr.] with whom she would have sons. However, her and Sigurd's daughter Svanhildr would go far away, and due to Bikki's words, Jörmunrekkr would slay Svanhhildr in wrath. [Bellows adds that Svanhildr married the Gothic king Ermanaric but, his follower Bikki suggested that she was unfaithful with Ermanaric's son Randver. The angry king then hanged his son and tore Svanhildr to pieces between horses. According to Bellows, Ermanaric's cruel actions were familiar traditions long before becoming part of the Sigurd cycle.] This would be the end of Sigurd's line and this would increase the sorrow of Guðrún.

Brynhild's last wish was that Sigurd's pyre be built wide enough for both her and Sigurd. The pyre would be covered with shields, carpets and killed slaves. She requested that the slaves should burn fully decked beside Sigurd. Two were to be at his feet and two at his head. [Bellows adds that the burning of slaves together with their master was a general custom in northern Europe. The number of slaves, however, does not agree with the earlier part of the poem.] There were also to be a brace of dogs and a pair of hawks. Between Sigurd and Brynhildr they were to put the sword that lay between them when formerly they were sleeping together and they were called wedded mates. [See "Grípisspá".]

With her last words, Brynhildr added that when Sigurd entered the afterlife, the door should not shut behind him but remain open until his retinue had entered the hall.

Notes

References

* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe28.htm The Short Lay of Sigurth] Henry Adams Bellows' translation and commentary
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/029_01.php The Third Lay of Sigurd Fafnicide] Benjamin Thorpe's translation
* [http://www.angelfire.com/on/Wodensharrow/sigurtharkvidha.html The Short Lay of Sigurd] Translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson
* [http://etext.old.no/Bugge/sigskamm.html Sigurðarkviða hin skamma] Sophus Bugge's edition of the manuscript text
* [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/edda/sigurdarkvidainskamma.php Sigurðarkviða in skamma] Guðni Jónsson's edition with normalized spelling