Introductory Note
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Bellows, Henry Adams
Woe to my kin | unwilling I worked;
In the morn there fell | at Fjoturlund
The noblest prince | the world has known,
(And his heel he set | on the heroes’ necks.)”
Sigrun spake:
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.
[324]
30. “The ship shall sail not | in which thou sailest,
Though a favoring wind | shall follow after;
The horse shall run not | whereon thou ridest,
Though fain thou art | thy foe to flee.
31. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“The sword shall bite not | which thou bearest,
Till thy head itself | it sings about.
32. “Vengeance were mine | for Helgi’s murder,
Wert thou a wolf | in the woods without,
Possessing nought | and knowing no joy,
Having no food | save corpses to feed on.”
Dag spake:
33. “Mad art thou, sister, | and wild of mind,
Such a curse | on thy brother to cast;
Othin is ruler | of every ill,
Who sunders kin | with runes of spite.
34. “Thy brother rings | so red will give thee,
All Vandilsve | and Vigdalir; [325]
Take half my land | to pay the harm,
Ring-decked maid, | and as meed for thy sons.”
Sigrun spake:
35. “I shall sit not happy | at Sevafjoll,
Early or late, | my life to love,
If the light cannot show, | in the leader’s band,
Vigblær bearing him | back to his home,
(The golden-bitted; | I shall greet him never.)
36. “Such the fear | that Helgi’s foes
Ever felt, | and all their kin,
As makes the goats | with terror mad