The poetic Edda

[371]

Prose. The prose follows the concluding prose passage of the Reginsmol without any interruption; the heading “Of Fafnir’s Death” is written in the manuscript very faintly just before stanza 1. Gnitaheith: cf. Gripisspo, 11 and note. Fafnir: Regin’s brother: cf. Reginsmol, prose after stanza 14. Venom: in the Volsungasaga [372]it was the blood, and not the venom, that poured down on Sigurth’s head. Sigurth was much worried about this danger, and before he dug the trench asked Regin what would happen if the dragon’s blood overcame him. Regin thereupon taunted him with cowardice (Sigurth refers to this taunt in stanza 30, but the stanza embodying it has disappeared). After Sigurth had dug his trench, an old man (Othin, of course) appeared and advised him to dig other trenches to carry off the blood, which he did, thereby escaping harm.

1. The first line in the original, as here, is unusually long, but dramatically very effective on that account.

3. The names of the speakers do not appear in the manuscript, though they seem originally to have been indicated in the [373]margin for stanzas 3–30. The last two lines of stanza 3 are missing in the manuscript, with no gap indicated, but the Volsungasaga prose paraphrase indicates that something was omitted, and the lines here given are conjecturally reconstructed from this paraphrase.

4. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza.

5. Line 4, utterly obscure in the manuscript, is guesswork. [374]

7. Fafnir here refers to the fact that Hjordis, mother of the still unborn Sigurth, was captured by Alf after Sigmund’s death; cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla, note.

11. Stanzas 11–15 are probably interpolated, and come from [375]a poem similar to Vafthruthnismol. The headland: Fafnir is apparently quoting proverbs; this one seems to mean that disaster (“the fate of the Norns”) awaits when one rounds the first headland (i.e., at the beginning of life’s voyage, in youth). The third line is a commentary on obstinate rashness. The Volsungasaga paraphrases stanzas 11–15 throughout.

12.Norns: cf. stanza 13 and note. Sigurth has no possible interest in knowing what Norns are helpful in childbirth, but interpolations were seldom logical.

13. Snorri quotes this stanza. There were minor Norns, or fates, in addition to the three great Norns, regarding whom cf. Voluspo, 20. Dvalin: chief of the dwarfs; cf. Voluspo, 14. [376]

14.Surt: ruler of the fire world; the reference is to the last great battle. Sword-sweat: blood.

15.Oskopnir (“Not-Made”): apparently another name for Vigrith, which is named in Vafthruthnismol, 18, as the final battle-ground. Bilrost (or Bifrost): the rainbow bridge which breaks beneath Surt’s followers; cf. Grimnismol, 29 and note.

16. With this stanza Fafnir returns to the situation. Fear-helm: regarding the “ægis-hjalmr” cf. Reginsmol, prose after stanza 14 and note. [377]

18. Lines 3–4 do not appear in the manuscript, and no gap is indicated; they are here conjecturally paraphrased from the prose passage in the Volsungasaga.

20. It has been suggested that this stanza is spurious, and that stanza 21 ought to follow stanza 22. Lines 3–4, abbreviated in the manuscript, are identical with lines 3–4 of stanza 9. The Volsungasaga paraphrase in place of these two lines makes [378]Fafnir say: “For it often happens that he who gets a deadly wound yet avenges himself.” It is quite likely that two stanzas have been lost.

22. The Volsungasaga places its paraphrase of this stanza between those of stanzas 15 and 16.

24. Line 2 is probably spurious, but it is a phrase typical of such poems as Grimnismol or Vafthruthnismol.

25.Gram: Sigurth’s sword; cf. Reginsmol, prose after 14. [379]

26. In the manuscript stanzas 26–29 stand after stanza 31, which fails to make clear sense; they are here rearranged in accordance with the Volsungasaga paraphrase.

28–29. Almost certainly interpolated from some such poem as the Hovamol. Even the faithful Volsungasaga fails to paraphrase stanza 29. [380]

30. Something has evidently been lost before this stanza. Sigurth clearly refers to Regin’s reproach when he was digging the trench (cf. note on introductory prose), but the poem does not give such a passage.

Prose.Rithil (“Swift-Moving”): Snorri calls the sword Refil (“Serpent”).

32. That the birds’ stanzas come from more than one source [381]is fairly apparent, but whether from two or from three or more is uncertain. It is also far from clear how many birds are speaking. The manuscript numbers II, III, and IV in the margin with numerals; the Volsungasaga makes a different bird speak each time. There are almost as many guesses as there are editions. I suspect that in the original poem there was one bird, speaking stanzas 34 and 37. Stanza 38 is little more than a repetition of stanza 34, and may well have been a later addition. As for the stanzas in Fornyrthislag (32–33 and 35–36), they apparently come from another poem, in which several birds speak (cf. “we sisters” in stanza 35). This may be the same poem from which stanzas 40–44 were taken, as well as some of the Fornyrthislag stanzas in the Sigrdrifumol.

34. Some editions turn this speech from the third person into the second, but the manuscript is clear enough. [382]

35.Wolf, etc.: the phrase is nearly equivalent to “there must be fire where there is smoke.” The proverb appears elsewhere in Old Norse.

36.Tree of battle: warrior.

37. Here, as in stanza 34, some editions turn the speech from the third person into the second.

38.Giant: Regin was certainly not a frost-giant, and the whole stanza looks like some copyist’s blundering reproduction of stanza 34. [383]

40. Neither the manuscript nor any of the editions suggest the existence of more than one bird in stanzas 40–44. It seems to me, however, that there are not only two birds, but two distinct stories. Stanzas 40–41 apply solely to Guthrun, and suggest that Sigurth will go straight to Gunnar’s hall. Stanzas 42–44, on the other hand, apply solely to Brynhild, and indicate that Sigurth will find her before he visits the Gjukungs. The confusion which existed between these two versions of the story, and which involved a fundamental difference in the final working out of Brynhild’s revenge, is commented on in the note on Gripisspo, 13. In the present passage it is possible that two birds are speaking, each reflecting one version of the story; it seems even more likely that one speech or the other (40–41 or 42–44) reflects the original form of the narrative, the other having been added, either later or from another poem. In the Volsungasaga the whole passage is condensed into a few words by one bird: “Wiser were it if he should then ride up on Hindarfjoll, where Brynhild sleeps, and there would he get much wisdom.” The Guthrun-bird does not appear at all.

41.Gjuki: father of Gunnar and Guthrun: cf. Gripisspo, 13 and note. [384]

42.Hindarfjoll: “Mountain of the Hind.” Light of the flood: gold; cf. Reginsmol, 1 and note.

43.Battle-maid: Brynhild, here clearly defined as a Valkyrie. Bane of the wood: fire. Ygg: Othin; cf. Grimnismol, 53. The thorn: a prose note in Sigrdrifumol calls it “sleep-thorn.” The fighter: the story of the reason for Brynhild’s punishment is told in the prose following stanza 4 of Sigrdrifumol.

44.Vingskornir: Brynhild’s horse, not elsewhere mentioned. Victory-bringer: the word thus translated is in the original “sigrdrifa.” The compiler of the collection, not being familiar with this word, assumed that it was a proper name, and in the prose following stanza 4 of the Sigrdrifumol he specifically states that this was the Valkyrie’s name. Editors, until recently, [385]have followed him in this error, failing to recognize that “sigrdrifa” was simply an epithet for Brynhild. It is from this blunder that the so-called Sigrdrifumol takes its name. Brynhild’s dual personality as a Valkyrie and as the daughter of Buthli has made plenty of trouble, but the addition of a second Valkyrie in the person of the supposed “Sigrdrifa” has made still more.

Prose. There is no break in the manuscript between the end of this prose passage and the beginning of the one introducing the Sigrdrifumol: some editors include the entire prose passage with one poem or the other. Hrotti; “Thruster.” [386]