The Saga of the Volsungs
Chapter 29

Of Brynhild's great Grief and Mourning

"What didst thou with that ring that I gave thee, even the one which King Budli gave me at our last parting, when thou and King Giuki came to him and threatened fire and the sword, unless ye had me to wife? Yea, at that time he led me apart, and asked me which I had chosen of those who were come; but I prayed him that I might abide to ward the land and be chief over the third part of his men; then were there two choices for me to deal betwixt either that I should be wedded to him whom he would, or lose all my weal and friendship at his hands; and he said withal that his friendship would be better to me than his wrath: then I bethought me whether I should yield to his will, or slay many a man; and therewithal I deemed that it would avail little to strive with him, and so it fell out, that I promised to wed whomsoever should ride the horse Grani with Fafnir's Hoard, and ride through my flaming fire, and slay those men whom I called on him to slay, and now so it was, that none durst ride, save Sigurd only, because he lacked no heart thereto; yea, and the Worm he flew, and Regin, and five kings beside; but thou, Gunnar, durst do naught; as pale as a dead man didst thou wax, and no king thou art, and no champion; so whereas I made a vow unto my father, that him alone would I love who was the noblest man alive, and that this is none save Sigurd, lo, now have I broken my oath and brought it to naught, since he is none of mine, and for this cause shall I compass thy death; and a great reward of evil things have I wherewith to reward Grimhild; -- never, I wot, has woman lived eviler or of lesser heart than she."

Gunnar answered in such wise that few might hear him, "Many a vile word hast thou spoken, and an evil-hearted woman art thou, whereas thou revilest a woman far better than thou; never would she curse her life as thou dost; nay, nor has she tormented dead folk, or murdered any; but lives her life well praised of all."

Brynhild answered, "Never have I dwelt with evil things privily, or done loathsome deeds; -- yet most fain I am to slay thee."

And therewith would she slay King Gunnar, but Hogni laid her in fetters; but then Gunnar spake withal --

"Nay, I will not that she abide in fetters."

Then said she, "Heed it not! For never again seest thou me glad in thine hall, never drinking, never at the chess-play, never speaking the words of kindness, never over-laying the fair cloths with gold, never giving thee good counsel; -- ah, my sorrow of heart that I might not get Sigurd to me!"

Then she sat up and smote her needlework, and rent it asunder, and bade set open her bower doors, that far away might the wailings of her sorrow be heard; then great mourning and lamentation there was, so that folk heard far and wide through that abode.

Now Gudrun asked her bower-maidens why they sat so joyless and downcast. "What has come to you, that ye fare ye as witless women, or what unheard-of wonders have befallen you?"

Then answered a waiting lady, hight Swaflod, "An untimely, an evil day it is, and our hall is fulfilled of lamentation."

Then spake Gudrun to one of her handmaids, "Arise, for we have slept long; go, wake Brynhild, and let us fall to our needlework and be merry."

"Nay, nay," she says, "nowise may I wake her, or talk with her; for many days has she drunk neither mead nor wine; surely the wrath of the Gods has fallen upon her."

Then spake Gudrun to Gunnar, "Go and see her," she says, "and bid her know that I am grieved with her grief."

"Nay," says Gunnar, "I am forbid to go see her or to share her weal."

Nevertheless he went unto her, and strives in many wise to have speech of her, but gets no answer whatsoever; therefore he gets him gone and finds Hogni, and bids him go see her: he said he was loth thereto, but went, and gat no more of her.

Then they go and find Sigurd, and pray him to visit her; he answered naught thereto, and so matters abode for that night.

But the next day, when he came home from hunting, Sigurd went to Gudrun, and spake --

"In such wise do matters show to me, as though great and evil things will betide from this trouble and upheaving; and that Brynhild will surely die."

Gudrun answers, "O my lord, by great wonders is she encompassed, seven days and seven nights has she slept, and none has dared wake her."

"Nay, she sleeps not," said Sigurd, "her heart is dealing rather with dreadful intent against me."

Then said Gudrun, weeping, "Woe worth the while for thy death! Go and see her; and wot if her fury may not be abated; give her gold, and smother up her grief and anger therewith!"

Then Sigurd went out, and found the door of Brynhild's chamber open; he deemed she slept, and drew the clothes from off her, and said --

"Awake, Brynhild! The sun shineth now over all the house, and thou hast slept enough; cast off grief from thee, and take up gladness!"

She said, "And how then hast thou dared to come to me? In this treason none was worse to me than thou."

Said Sigurd, "Why wilt thou not speak to folk? For what cause sorrowest thou?"

Brynhild answers, "Ah, to thee will I tell of my wrath!"

Sigurd said, "As one under a spell art thou, if thou deemest that there is aught cruel in my heart against thee; but thou hast him for husband whom thou didst choose."

"Ah, nay," she said, "never did Gunnar ride through the fire to me, nor did he give me to dower the host of the slain: I wondered at the man who came into my hall; for I deemed indeed that I knew thine eyes; but I might not see clearly, or divide the good from the evil, because of the veil that lay heavy on my fortune."

Says Sigurd, "No nobler men are there than the sons of Giuki, they slew the king of the Danes, and that great chief, the brother of King Budli."

Brynhild answered, "Surely for many an ill-deed must I reward them; mind me not of my griefs against them! But thou, Sigurd, slewest the Worm, and rodest the fire through; yea, and for my sake, and not one of the sons of King Giuki."

Sigurd answers, "I am not thy husband, and thou art not my wife; yet did a farfamed king pay dower to thee."

Says Brynhild, "Never looked I at Gunnar in such a wise that my heart smiled on him; and hard and fell am I to him, though I hide it from others."

"A marvellous thing," says Sigurd, "not to love such a king; what angers thee most? For surely his love should be better to thee than gold."

"This is the sorest sorrow to me," she said, "that the bitter sword is not reddened in thy blood."

"Have no fear thereof!" says he, "no long while to wait or the bitter sword stand deep in my heart; and no worse needest thou to pray for thyself, for thou wilt not live when I am dead; the days of our two lives shall be few enough from henceforth."

Brynhild answers, "Enough and to spare of bale is in thy speech, since thou betrayedst me, and didst twin  me and all bliss; -- naught do I heed my life or death."

Sigurd answers, "Ah, live, and love King Gunnar and me withal! And all my wealth will I give thee if thou die not."

Brynhild answers, "Thou knowest me not, nor the heart that is in me; for thou art the first and best of all men, and I am become the most loathsome of all woman to thee."

"This is truer," says Sigurd, "that I loved thee better than myself, though I fell into the wiles from whence our lives may not escape; for whenso my own heart and mind availed me, then I sorrowed sore that thou wert not my wife; but as I might I put my trouble from me, for in a king's dwelling was I; and withal and in spite of all I was well content that we were all together. Well may it be, that that shall come to pass which is foretold; neither shall I fear the fulfilment thereof."

Brynhild answered, and said, "Too late thou tellest me that my grief grieved thee: little pity shall I find now."

Sigurd said, "This my heart would, that thou and I should go into one bed together; even so wouldst thou be my wife."

Said Brynhild, "Such words may nowise be spoken, nor will I have two kings in one hall; I will lay my life down rather than beguile Gunnar the King."

And therewith she call to mind how they met, they two, on the mountain, and swore oath each to each.

"But now is all changed and I will not live."

"I might not call to mind thy name," said Sigurd, "or know time again, before the time of thy wedding; the greatest of all griefs is that."

Then said Brynhild, "I swore an oath to wed the man who should ride my flaming fire, and that oath will I hold to, or die."

"Rather than thou die, I will wed thee, and put away Gudrun." said Sigurd.

But therewithal so swelled the heart betwixt the sides of him, that the rings of his byrny burst asunder.

"I will not have thee," says Brynhild, "nay, nor any other!"

Then Sigurd got him gone.

So saith the song of Sigurd --

 "Out then went Sigurd,
 The great kings' well-loved,
 From the speech and the sorrow,
 Sore drooping, so grieving,
 That the shirt round about him
 Of iron tings woven,
 From the sides brake asunder
 Of the brave in the battle."

"I will not live," says Brynhild, "for Sigurd has betrayed me, yea, and thee no less, whereas thou didst suffer him to come into my bed: lo thou, two men in one dwelling I will not have; and this shall be Sigurd's death, or thy death, or my death; -- for now has he told Gudrun all, and she is mocking me even now!"

Chapter 30

Of the Slaying of Sigurd Fafnir's-bane

But therewith came Gunnar to her yet again, and Brynhild spake, "Thou shalt lose both realm and wealth, and thy life and me, for I shall fare home to my kin, and abide there in sorrow, unless thou slayest Sigurd and his son; never nourish thou a wolfcub."

Gunnar grew sick at heart thereat, and might nowise see what fearful thing lay beneath it all; he was bound to Sigurd by oath, and this way and that way swung the heart within him; but at the last he bethought him of the measureless shame if his wife went from him, and he said within himself, "Brynhild is better to me than all things else, and the fairest woman of all women, and I will lay down my life rather than lose the love of her." And herewith he called to him his brother and spake, --

"Trouble is heavy on me," and he tells him that he must needs slay Sigurd, for that he has failed him where in he trusted him; "so let us be lords of the gold and the realm withal."

Hogni answers, "Ill it behoves us to break our oaths with wrack and wrong, and withal great aid we have in him; no kings shall be as great as we, if so be the King of the Hun-folk may live; such another brother-in-law never may we get again; bethink thee how good it is to have such a brother-in-law, and such sons to our sister! But well I see how things stand, for this has Brynhild stirred thee up to, and surely shall her counsel drag us into huge shame and scathe."

Gunnar says, "Yet shall it be brought about: and, lo, a rede thereto; -- let us egg on our brother Guttorm to the deed; he is young, and of little knowledge, and is clean out of all the oaths moreover."

"Ah, set about in ill wise," says Hogni, "and though indeed it may well be compassed, a due reward shall we gain for the betrayal of such a man as is Sigurd."

Gunnar says, "Sigurd shall die, or I shall die."

And therewith he bids Brynhild arise and be glad at heart: so she arose, and still ever she said that Gunnar should come no more into her bed till the deed was done.

So the brothers fall to talk, and Gunnar says that it is a deed well worthy of death, that taking of Brynhild's maidenhead; "So come now, let us prick on Guttorm to do the deed."

Therewith they call him to them, and offer him gold and great dominion, as they well have might to do. Yea, and they took a certain worm and somewhat of wolf's flesh and let seethe them together, and gave him to eat of the same, even as the singer sings --

 "Fish of the wild-wood,
 Worm smooth crawling,
 With wolf-meat mingled,
 They minced for Guttorm;
 Then in the beaker,
 In the wine his mouth knew,
 They set it, still doing
 More deeds of wizards.

But of these evil wiles naught at all knew Sigurd, for he might not deal with his shapen fate, nor the measure of his life-days, neither deemed he that he was worthy such things at their hands.

So Guttorm went in to Sigurd the next morning as he lay upon his bed, yet durst he not do aught against him, but shrank back out again; yea, and even so he fared a second time, for so bright and eager were the eyes of Sigurd that few durst look upon him. But the third time he went in, and there lay Sigurd asleep; then Guttorm drew his sword and thrust Sigurd through in such wise that the sword point smote into the bed beneath him; then Sigurd awoke with that wound, and Guttorm gat him unto the door; but therewith Sigurd caught up the sword Gram, and cast it after him, and it smote him on the back, and struck him asunder in the midst, so that the feet of him fell one way, and the head and hands back into the chamber.

Now Gudrun lay asleep on Sigurd's bosom, but she woke up unto woe that may not be told of, all swimming in the blood of him, and in such wise did she bewail her with weeping and words of sorrow, that Sigurd rose up on the bolster, and spake.

"Weep not," said he, "for thy brothers live for thy delight; but a young son have I, too young to be ware of his foes; and an ill turn have these played against their own fortune; for never will they get a mightier brother-in-law to ride abroad with them; nay, nor a better son to their sister, than this one, if he may grow to man's estate. Lo, now is that come to pass which was foretold me long ago, but from mine eyes has it been hidden, for none may fight against his fate and prevail. Behold this has Brynhild brought to pass, even she who loves me before all men; but this may I swear, that never have I wrought ill to Gunnar, but rather have ever held fast to my oath with him, nor was I ever too much a friend to his wife. And now if I had been forewarned, and had been afoot with my weapons, then should many a man have lost his life or ever I had fallen, and all those brethren should have been slain, and a harder work would the slaying of me have been than the slaying of the mightiest bull or the mightiest boar of the wild-wood."

And even therewithal life left the King; but Gudrun moaned and drew a weary breath, and Brynhild heard it and laughed when she heard her moaning.

Then said Gunnar, "Thou laughest not because thy heart-roots are gladdened, or else why doth thy visage wax so wan? Sure an evil creature thou art; most like thou art nigh to thy death! Lo now, how meet would it be for thee to behold thy brother Atli slain before thine eyes, and that thou shouldst stand over him dead; whereas we must needs now stand over our brother-in-law in such a case our brother-in-law and our brother's bane."

She answered, "None need mock at the measure of slaughter being unfulfilled; yet heedeth not Atli your wrath or your threats; yea, he shall live longer than ye, and be a mightier man."

Hogni spake and said, "Now hath come to pass the soothsaying of Brynhild; an ill work not to be atoned for."

And Gudrun said, "My kinsmen have slain my husband; but ye, when ye next ride to the war and are come into the battle, then shall ye look about and see that Sigurd is neither on the right hand nor the left, and ye shall know that he was your good-hap and your strength; and if he had lived and had sons, then should ye have been strengthened by his offspring and his kin."

Chapter 31

Of the Lamentation of Gudrun over
Sigurd's dead, as it is told in ancient Songs 

 Gudrun of old days
 Drew near to dying
 As she sat in sorrow
 Over Sigurd;
 Yet she sighed not
 Nor smote hand on hand,
 Nor wailed she aught
 As other women.

 Then went earls to her.
 Full of all wisdom,
 Fain help to deal
 To her dreadful heart:
 Hushed was Gudrun
 Of wail, or greeting,
 But with a heavy woe
 Was her heart a-breaking.

 Bright and fair
 Sat the great earls' brides,
 Gold arrayed
 Before Gudrun;
 Each told the tale
 Of her great trouble,
 The bitterest bale
 She erst abode.

 Then spake Giaflaug,
 Giuki's sister:
 "Lo upon earth
 I live most loveless
 Who of five mates
 Must see the ending,
 Of daughters twain
 And three sisters,
 Of brethren eight,
 And abide behind lonely."

 Naught gat Gudrun
 Of wail and greeting,
 So heavy was she
 For her dead husband,
 So dreadful-hearted
 For the King laid dead there.

 Then spake Herborg
 Queen of Hunland --
 "Crueller tale
 Have I to tell of,
 Of my seven sons
 Down in the Southlands,
 And the eighth man, my mate,
 Felled in the death-mead.

 "Father and mother,
 And four brothers,
 On the wide sea
 The winds and death played with;
 The billows beat
 On the bulwark boards.

 "Alone must I sing o'er them,
 Alone must I array them,
 Alone must my hands deal with
 Their departing;
 And all this was
 In one season's wearing,
 And none was left
 For love or solace.

 "Then was I bound
 A prey of the battle,
 When that same season
 Wore to its ending;
 As a tiring may
 Must I bind the shoon
 Of the duke's high dame,
 Every day at dawning.

 "From her jealous hate
 Gat I heavy mocking,
 Cruel lashes
 She laid upon me,
 Never met I
 Better master
 Or mistress worser
 In all the wide world."

 Naught gat Gudrun
 Of wail or greeting,
 So heavy was she
 For her dead husband,
 So dreadful-hearted
 For the King laid dead there.

 Then spake Gullrond,
 Giuki's daughter --
 "O foster-mother,
 Wise as thou mayst be,
 Naught canst thou better
 The young wife's bale."
 And she bade uncover
 The dead King's corpse.

 She swept the sheet
 Away from Sigurd,
 And turned his cheek
 Towards his wife's knees --
 "Look on thy loved one
 Lay lips to his lips,
 E'en as thou wert clinging
 To thy king alive yet!"

 Once looked Gudrun --
 One look only,
 And saw her lord's locks
 Lying all bloody,
 The great man's eyes
 Glazed and deadly,
 And his heart's bulwark
 Broken by sword-edge.

 Back then sank Gudrun,
 Back on the bolster,
 Loosed was her head array,
 Red did her cheeks grow,
 And the rain-drops ran
 Down over her knees.

 Then wept Gudrun,
 Giuki's daughter,
 So that the tears flowed
 Through the pillow;
 As the geese withal
 That were in the homefield,
 The fair fowls the may owned,
 Fell a-screaming.

 Then spake Gullrond,
 Giuki's daughter --
 "Surely knew I
 No love like your love
 Among all men,
 On the mould abiding;
 Naught wouldst thou joy in
 Without or within doors,
 O my sister,
 Save beside Sigurd."

 Then spake Gudrun,
 Giuki's daughter --
 "Such was my Sigurd
 Among the sons of Giuki,
 As is the king leek
 O'er the low grass waxing,
 Or a bright stone
 Strung on band,
 Or a pearl of price
 On a prince's brow.

 "Once was I counted
 By the king's warriors
 Higher than any
 Of Herjan's mays;
 Now am I as little
 As the leaf may be,
 Amid wind-swept wood
 Now when dead he lieth.

 I miss from my seat,
 I miss from my bed,
 My darling of sweet speech.
 Wrought the sons of Giuki,
 Wrought the sons of Giuki,
 This sore sorrow,
 Yea, for their sister,
 Most sore sorrow.

 "So may your lands
 Lie waste on all sides,
 As ye have broken
 Your bounden oaths!
 Ne'er shalt thou, Gunnar,
 The gold have joy of;
 The dear-bought rings
 Shall drag thee to death,
 Whereon thou swarest
 Oath unto Sigurd.

 Ah, in the days by-gone
 Great mirth in the homefield
 When my Sigurd
 Set saddle on Grani,
 And they went their ways
 For the wooing of Brynhild!
 An ill day, an ill woman,
 And most ill hap!"

 Then spake Brynhild,
 Budli's daughter --
 "May the woman lack
 Both love and children,
 Who gained greeting
 For thee, O Gudrun!
 Who gave thee this morning
 Many words!"

 Then spake Gullrond,
 Giuki's daughter --
 "Hold peace of such words
 Thou hated of all folk!
 The bane of brave men
 Hast thou been ever,
 All waves of ill
 Wash over thy mind,
 To seven great kings
 Hast thou been a sore sorrow,
 And the death of good will
 To wives and women."

 Then spake Brynhild,
 Budli's daughter --
 "None but Atli
 Brought bale upon us,
 My very brother
 Born of Budli.

 When we saw in the hall
 Of the Hunnish people
 The gold a-gleaming
 On the kingly Giukings;
 I have paid for that faring
 Oft and Full,
 And for the sight
 That then I saw."

 By a pillar she stood
 And strained its wood to her;
 From the eyes of Brynhild,
 Budli's daughter,
 Flashed out fire,
 And she snorted forth venom,
 As the sore wounds she gazed on
 Of the dead-slain Sigurd.

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