Heroes and the Völsung legend
Sigurðr, Brynhildr, Guðrún and the other men and women of the heroic poems of the Edda.
Atli
King of the Huns, Buðli's son and Brynhildr's brother: he marries Guðrún, lures her brothers to their deaths for Fáfnir's gold, and is killed by her.
Brynhildr
Valkyrie, daughter of Buðli and sister of Atli, won for Gunnarr by Sigurðr's deception; she demands Sigurðr's death, then kills herself to follow him.
Grímhildr
Wife of Gjúki and mother of Gunnarr, Högni and Guðrún: a scheming queen whose potions bind Sigurðr to her family and force Guðrún to marry Atli.
Grípir
Sigurðr's maternal uncle, the wisest and most far-seeing of men, who foretells the whole of Sigurðr's life in Grípisspá and hesitates before revealing its end.
Guðrún
Daughter of Gjúki, wife of Sigurðr, then of Atli, then of Jónakr: the grieving widow who kills her own sons to avenge her brothers and sends her last sons to die.
Gunnarr
Gjúki's son, king of the Niflungs: he wins Brynhildr through Sigurðr's deception, has Sigurðr killed, and dies in Atli's snake-pit rather than reveal where the Rhine gold lies.
Hamðir and Sörli Hamðir ok Sörli
Guðrún's last sons, sent to avenge their sister Svanhildr on King Jörmunrekkr; they kill their brother Erpr on the way, maim the king and are stoned to death.
Helgi Hjörvarðsson
A silent, nameless prince named by the valkyrie Sváva, who wins a sword, kills the giant Hati, and dies in battle after his brother vows to take his bride.
Helgi Hundingsbane Helgi Hundingsbani
Son of Sigmundr and Borghildr who kills King Hunding, wins the valkyrie Sigrún against her family's will, is killed by her brother and returns from his burial mound for one night.
Högni
Gunnarr's brother: in some poems he opposes Sigurðr's murder, in others he helps; at Atli's court he laughs while his heart is cut out.
Hreiðmarr
Father of Otr, Fáfnir and Reginn, who makes the gods pay a gold ransom for his son's death and is killed by his own son for it.
Jörmunrekkr
King of the Goths who has his young wife Svanhildr trampled by horses and his son Randvér hanged; Guðrún's sons cut off his hands and feet.
Oddrún
Atli's sister and Gunnarr's secret lover, who tells her story in Oddrúnargrátr: she heard Gunnarr's harp from the snake-pit and came too late to save him.
Reginn
Hreiðmarr's son, a dwarfish smith who fosters Sigurðr, forges his sword and sends him against his brother Fáfnir, then plots to betray him and is beheaded.
Sigmundr
Son of Völsungr and father of Sinfjötli, Helgi and Sigurðr: a king so hardy that poison could not hurt him, who fell in battle against the sons of Hunding.
Sigrún
Valkyrie daughter of King Högni who chooses Helgi Hundingsbane over the man she was promised to, loses father and husband to the feud, and lies with Helgi in his grave-mound.
Sigurðr
The Völsung dragon-slayer of the heroic poems: he kills Fáfnir, wakes a sleeping valkyrie, marries Guðrún and is murdered by his sworn brothers, the Gjúkungs.
Sinfjötli
Sigmundr's eldest son, a wolf-like warrior who trades insults before battle in the Helgi poems and dies of poison given by his stepmother Borghildr.
Svanhildr
Daughter of Sigurðr and Guðrún, married to the Gothic king Jörmunrekkr and trampled to death by horses on a false charge; her brothers die avenging her.
Svipdagr and Menglöð Svipdagr ok Menglöð
The young man who wakes his dead mother for protective charms, then talks his way past the giant guard Fjölsviðr to the maiden Menglöð, who has waited for him.
Völundr
The master smith, 'lord of elves', whom King Níðuðr hamstrings and imprisons; he kills the king's sons, rapes his daughter and escapes through the air.