Poetic Edda · heroic poems
Grípisspá
Gripir's Prophecy
Bellows's introduction
The Gripisspo immediately follows the prose Fra Dautha Sinfjotla in the Codex Regius, and is contained in no other early manuscript. It is unquestionably one of the latest of the poems in the Eddic collection; most critics agree in calling it the latest of all, dating it not much before the year 1200. Its author (for in this instance the word may be correctly used) was not only familiar with the other poems of the Sigurth cycle, but seems to have had actual written copies of them before him; it has, indeed, been suggested, and not without plausibility, that the Gripisspo may have been written by the very man who compiled and annotated the collection of poems preserved in the Codex Regius.
In form the poem is a dialogue between the youthful Sigurth and his uncle, Gripir, but in substance it is a condensed outline of Sigurth's whole career as told piecemeal in the older poems. The writer was sufficiently skillful in the handling of verse, but he was utterly without inspiration; his characters are devoid of vitality, and their speeches are full of conventional phrases, with little force or incisiveness. At the same time, the poem is of considerable interest as giving, in brief form, a summary of the story of Sigurth as it existed in Iceland (for the Gripisspo is almost certainly Icelandic) in the latter half of the twelfth century.
It is not desirable here to go in detail into the immensely complex question of the origin, growth, and spread of the story of Sigurth (Siegfried). The volume of critical literature on the subject is enormous, and although some of the more patently absurd theories have been eliminated, there are still wide divergencies of opinion regarding many important points. At the same time, a brief review of the chief facts is necessary in order to promote a clearer understanding of the poems which follow, and which make up more than a third of the Eddic collection.
That the story of Sigurth reached the North from Germany, having previously developed among the Franks of the Rhine country, is now universally recognized. How and when it spread from northwestern Germany into Scandinavia are less certainly known. It spread, indeed, in every direction, so that traces of it are found wherever Frankish influence was extensively felt; but it was clearly better known and more popular in Norway, and in the settlements established by Norwegians, than anywhere else. We have historical proof that there was considerable contact, commercial and otherwise, between the Franks of northwestern Germany and the Norwegians (but not the Swedes or the Danes) throughout the period from 600 to 800; coins of Charlemagne have been found in Norway, and there is other evidence showing a fairly extensive interchange of ideas as well as of goods. Presumably, then, the story of the Frankish hero found its way into Norway in the seventh century. While, at this stage of its development, it may conceivably have included a certain amount of verse, it is altogether probable that the story as it came into Norway in the seventh century was told largely in prose, and that, even after the poets had got hold of it, the legend continued to live among the people in the form of oral prose saga.
The complete lack of contemporary material makes it impossible for us to speak with certainty regarding the character and content of the Sigurth legend as it existed in the Rhine country in the seventh century. It is, however, important to remember the often overlooked fact that any popular traditional hero became a magnet for originally unrelated stories of every kind. It must also be remembered that in the early Middle Ages there existed no such distinction between fiction and history as we now make; a saga, for instance, might be anything from the most meticulously accurate history to the wildest of fairy tales, and a single saga might (and sometimes did) combine both elements. This was equally true of the Frankish traditions, and the two principles just stated account for most of the puzzling phenomena in the growth of the Sigurth story.
Of the origin of Sigurth himself we know absolutely nothing. No historical analogy can be made to fit in the slightest degree. If one believes in the possibility of resolving hero stories into nature myths, he may be explained in that fashion, but such a solution is not necessary. The fact remains that from very early days Sigurth (Sifrit) was a great traditional hero among the Franks. The tales of his strength and valor, of his winning of a great treasure, of his wooing a more or less supernatural bride, and of his death at the hands of his kinsmen, probably were early features of this legend.
The next step was the blending of this story with one which had a clear basis in history. In the year 437 the Burgundians, under their king, Gundicarius (so the Latin histories call him), were practically annihilated by the Huns. The story of this great battle soon became one of the foremost of Rhineland traditions; and though Attila was presumably not present in person, he was quite naturally introduced as the famous ruler of the invading hordes. The dramatic story of Attila's death in the year 453 was likewise added to the tradition, and during the sixth century the chain was completed by linking together the stories of Sigurth and those of the Burgundian slaughter. Gundicarius becomes the Gunther of the Nibelungenlied and the Gunnar of the Eddic poems; Attila becomes Etzel and Atli. A still further development came through the addition of another, and totally unrelated, set of historical traditions based on the career of Ermanarich, king of the Goths, who died about the year 376. Ermanarich figures largely in many stories unconnected with the Sigurth cycle, but, with the zeal of the medieval story-tellers for connecting their heroes, he was introduced as the husband of Sigurth's daughter, Svanhild, herself originally part of a separate narrative group, and as Jormunrek he plays a considerable part in a few of the Eddic poems.
Such, briefly, appears to have been the development of the legend before it came into Norway. Here it underwent many changes, though the clear marks of its southern origin were never obliterated. The names were given Scandinavian forms, and in some cases were completely changed (e.g., Kriemhild becomes Guthrun). New figures, mostly of secondary importance, were introduced, and a large amount of purely Northern local color was added. Above all, the earlier part of the story was linked with Northern mythology in a way which seems to have had no counterpart amoung the southern Germanic peoples. The Volsungs become direct descendants of Othin; the gods are closely concerned with Fafnir's treasure, and so on. Above all, the Norse story-tellers and poets changed the figure of Brynhild. In making her a Valkyrie, sleeping on the flame-girt rock, they were never completely successful, as she persisted in remaining, to a considerable extent, the entirely human daughter of Buthli whom Sigurth woos for Gunnar. This confusion, intensified by a mixing of names (cf. Sigrdrifumol, introductory note), and much resembling that which existed in the parallel cases of Svava and Sigrun in the Helgi tradition, created difficulties which the Norse poets and story-tellers were never able to smooth out, and which have perplexed commentators ever since.
Those who read the Sigurth poems in the Edda, or the story told in the Volsungasaga, expecting to find a critically accurate biography of the hero, will, of course, be disappointed. If, however, they will constantly keep in mind the general manner in which the legend grew, its accretions ranging all the way from the Danube to Iceland, they will find that most of the difficulties are simply the natural results of conflicting traditions. Just as the Danish Helgi had to be "reborn" twice in order to enable three different men to kill him, so the story of Sigurth, as told in the Eddic poems, involves here and there inconsistencies explicable only when the historical development of the story is taken into consideration.
Gripir was the name of Eylimi's son, the brother of Hjordis; he ruled over lands and was of all men the wisest and most forward-seeing. Sigurth once was riding alone and came to Gripir's hall. Sigurth was easy to recognize; he found out in front of the hall a man whose name was Geitir. Then Sigurth questioned him and asked:
Note
Prose. The manuscript gives the poem no title.
Gripir: this uncle of Sigurth's was probably a pure invention of the poet's. The Volsungasaga mentions him, but presumably only because of his appearance here.
On Eylimi and Hjordis see Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note.
On Eylimi and Hjordis see Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note.
Geitir, the serving-man, is likewise apparently an invention of the poet's.
Cited on Grípir
"Who is it hasthis dwelling here,Or what do men callthe people's king?"Geitir spake:"Gripir the nameof the chieftain goodWho holds the folkand the firm-ruled land."
Note
The manuscript does not indicate the speakers anywhere in the poem. Some editors have made separate stanzas out of the two-line speeches in stanzas 1, 3 and 6.
Sigurth spake:"Is the king all-knowingnow within,Will the monarch comewith me to speak?A man unknownhis counsel needs,And Gripir fainI soon would find."
Geitir spake:"The ruler gladof Geitir will askWho seeks with Gripirspeech to have."Sigurth spake:"Sigurth am I,and Sigmund's son,And Hjordis the nameof the hero's mother."
Note
Sigurth: a few editions use in the verse the older form of this name, "Sigvorth," though the manuscript here keeps to the form used in this translation. The Old High German "Sigifrid" ("Peace-Bringer through Victory") became the Norse "Sigvorth" ("Victory-Guarder"), this, in turn, becoming "Sigurth."
Then Geitir wentand to Gripir spake:"A stranger comesand stands without;Lofty he isto look upon,And, prince, thyselfhe fain would see."
Note
Bugge thinks a stanza has been lost after stanza 4, in which Geitir tells Gripir who Sigurth is.
From the hall the rulerof heroes went,And greeted wellthe warrior come:"Sigurth, welcomelong since had been thine;Now, Geitir, shalt thouGrani take."
Note
Grani: Sigurth's horse. According to the Volsungasaga his father was Sleipnir, Othin's eight-legged horse, and Othin himself gave him to Sigurth. The introductory note to the Reginsmol tells a different story.
Cited on Grani
Then of manythings they talked,When thus the menso wise had met.Sigurth spake:"To me, if thou knowest,my mother's brother,Say what lifewill Sigurth's be."
Cited on Grípir
Gripir spake:"Of men thou shalt beon earth the mightiest,And higher famedthan all the heroes;Free of gold-giving,slow to flee,Noble to see,and sage in speech."
Sigurth spake:"Monarch wise,now more I ask;To Sigurth say,if thou thinkest to see,What first will chanceof my fortune fair,When hence I gofrom out thy home?"
Gripir spake:"First shalt thou, prince,thy father avenge,And Eylimi,their ills requiting;The hardy sonsof Hunding thouSoon shalt fell,and victory find."
Note
Thy father: on the death of Sigmund and Eylimi at the hands of Hunding's sons see Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note.
Cited on Grípir
Sigurth spake:"Noble king,my kinsman, sayThy meaning true,for our minds we speak:For Sigurth mightydeeds dost see,The highest beneaththe heavens all?"
Gripir spake:"The fiery dragonalone thou shalt fightThat greedy liesat Gnitaheith;Thou shalt be of Reginand Fafnir bothThe slayer; truthdoth Gripir tell thee."
Note
The dragon: Fafnir, brother of the dwarf Regin, who turns himself into a dragon to guard Andvari's hoard; cf. Reginsmol and Fafnismol. Gnitaheith: a relic of the German tradition; it has been identified as lying south of Paderborn.
Sigurth spake:"Rich shall I beif battles I winWith such as these,as now thou sayest;Forward look,and further tell:What the lifethat I shall lead?"
Gripir spake:"Fafnir's denthou then shalt find,And all his treasurefair shalt take;Gold shalt heapon Grani's back,And, proved in fight,to Gjuki fare."
Note
Gjuki: the Norse form of the name Gibeche ("The Giver"). Gjuki is the father of Gunnar, Hogni, and Guthrun, the family which reflects most directly the Burgundian part the tradition (cf. Introductory Note). The statement that Sigurth is to go direct from the slaying of Fafnir to Gjuki's hall involves one of the confusions resulting from the dual personality of Brynhild. In the older (and the original South Germanic) story, Sigurth becomes a guest of the Gjukungs before he has ever heard of Brynhild, and first sees her when, having changed forms with Gunnar, he goes to woo her for the latter. In another version he finds Brynhild before he visits the Gjukungs, only to forget her as the result of the magic draught administered by Guthrun's mother. Both these versions are represented in the poems of which the author of the Gripisspo made use, and he tried, rather clumsily, to combine them, by having Sigurth go to Gjuki's house, then find the unnamed Valkyrie, and then return to Gjuki, the false wooing following this second visit.
Sigurth spake:"To the warrior nowin words so wise,Monarch noble,more shalt tell;I am Gjuki's guest,and thence I go:What the lifethat I shall lead?"
Gripir spake:"On the rocks there sleepsthe ruler's daughter,Fair in armor,since Helgi fell;Thou shalt cutwith keen-edged sword,And cleave the byrniewith Fafnir's killer."
Note
Basing his story on the Sigrdrifumol, the poet here tells of Sigurth's finding of the Valkyrie, whom he does not identify with Brynhild, daughter of Buthli (stanza 27), at all. His error in this respect is not surprising, in view of Brynhild's dual identity (cf. Introductory Note, and Fafnismol, 44 and note). Helgi: according to Helreith Brynhildar (stanza 8), with which the author of the Gripisspo was almost certainly familiar, the hero for whose death Brynhild was punished was named Hjalmgunnar. Is Helgi here identical with Hjalmgunnar, or did the author make a mistake? Finnur Jonsson thinks the author regarding Sigurth's Valkyrie as a fourth incarnation of Svava-Sigrun-Kara, and wrote Helgi's name in deliberately. Many editors, following Bugge, have tried to reconstruct line 2 so as to get rid of Helgi's name.
Cited on Brynhildr
Sigurth spake:"The mail-coat is broken,the maiden speaks,The woman whofrom sleep has wakened;What says the maidto Sigurth thenThat happy fateto the hero brings?"
Gripir spake:"Runes to the warriorwill she tell,All that menmay ever seek,And teach thee to speakin all men's tongues,And life with health;thou'rt happy, king!"
Sigurth spake:"Now is it ended,the knowledge is won,And ready I amforth thence to ride;Forward lookand further tell:What the lifethat I shall lead?"
Gripir spake:"Then to Heimir'shome thou comest,And glad shalt bethe guest of the king;Ended, Sigurth,is all I see,No further aughtof Gripir ask."
Note
Heimir: the Volsungasaga says that Heimir was the husband of Brynhild's sister, Bekkhild. Brynhild's family connections involve a queer mixture of northern and southern legend. Heimir and Bekkhild are purely of northern invention; neither of them is mentioned in any of the earlier poems, though Brynhild speaks of her "foster-father" in Helreith Brynhildar. In the older Norse poems Brynhild is a sister of Atli (Attila), a relationship wholly foreign to the southern stories, and the father of this strangely assorted pair is Buthli, who in the Nibelungenlied is apparently Etzel's grandfather. Add to this her role of Valkyrie, and it is small wonder that the annotator himself was puzzled.
Cited on Grípir
Sigurth spake:"Sorrow brings methe word thou sayest,For, monarch, forwardfurther thou seest;Sad the grieffor Sigurth thou knowest,Yet nought to me, Gripir,known wilt make."
Gripir spake:"Before me layin clearest lightAll of thy youthfor mine eyes to see;Not rightly can Iwise be called,Nor forward-seeing;my wisdom is fled."
Sigurth spake:"No man, Gripir,on earth I knowWho sees the futureas far as thou;Hide thou nought,though hard it be,And base the deedsthat I shall do."
Gripir spake:"With baseness neverthy life is burdened,Hero noble,hold that sure;Lofty as longas the world shall live,Battle-bringer,thy name shall be."
Cited on Grípir
Sigurth spake:"Nought could seem worse,but now must partThe prince and Sigurth,since so it is;My road I ask,—the future lies open,—Mighty one, speak,my mother's brother."
Gripir spake:"Now to Sigurthall shall I say,For to this the warriorbends my will;Thou knowest wellthat I will not lie,—A day there iswhen thy death is doomed."
Cited on Grípir
Sigurth spake:"No scorn I knowfor the noble king,But counsel goodfrom Gripir I seek;Well will I know,though evil awaits,What Sigurth maybefore him see."
Gripir spake:"A maid in Heimir'shome there dwells,Brynhild her nameto men is known,Daughter of Buthli,the doughty king,And Heimir fostersthe fearless maid."
Note
Brynhild ("Armed Warrior"): on her and her family see Introductory Note and note to stanza 19.
Cited on Brynhildr
Sigurth spake:"What is it to me,though the maiden beSo fair, and of Heimirthe fosterling is?Gripir, truthto me shalt tell,For all of fatebefore me thou seest."
Gripir spake:"Of many a joythe maiden robs thee,Fair to see,whom Heimir fosters;Sleep thou shalt find not,feuds thou shalt end not,Nor seek out men,if the maid thou seest not."
Sigurth spake:"What may be hadfor Sigurth's healing?Say now, Gripir,if see thou canst;May I buy the maidwith the marriage-price,The daughter fairof the chieftain famed?"
Gripir spake:"Ye twain shall allthe oaths then swearThat bind full fast;few shall ye keep;One night when Gjuki'sguest thou hast been,Will Heimir's fosterlingfade from thy mind."
Sigurth spake:"What sayst thou, Gripir?give me the truth,Does fickleness hidein the hero's heart?Can it be that trothI break with the maid,With her I believedI loved so dear?"
Gripir spake:"Tricked by another,prince, thou art,And the price of Grimhild'swiles thou must pay;Fain of theefor the fair-haired maid,Her daughter, she is,and she drags thee down."
Note
Most editions have no comma after line 3, and change the meaning to "Fain of thee the fair-haired one / For her daughter is." Grimhild: in the northern form of the story Kriemhild, Gunther's sister and Siegfried's wife, becomes Grimhild, mother of Gunnar and Guthrun, the latter taking Kriemhild's place. The Volsungasaga tells how Grimhild gave Sigurth a magic draught which made him utterly forget Brynhild. Edzardi thinks two stanzas have been lost after stanza 33, their remains appearing in stanza 37.
Cited on Grímhildr
Sigurth spake:"Might I with Gunnarkinship make,And Guthrun winto be my wife,Well the herowedded would be,If my treacherous deedwould trouble me not."
Gripir spake:"Wholly Grimhildthy heart deceives,She will bid thee goand Brynhild wooFor Gunnar's wife,the lord of the Goths;And the prince's motherthy promise shall win."
Note
In the Volsungasaga Grimhild merely advises Gunnar to seek Brynhild for his wife, and to have Sigurth ride with him. Goths: the historical Gunnar (Gundicarius, cf. Introductory Note) was not a Goth, but a Burgundian, but the word "Goth" was applied in the North without much discrimination to the southern Germanic peoples.
Sigurth spake:"Evil waits me,well I see it,And gone is Sigurth'swisdom good,If I shall woofor another to winThe maiden fairthat so fondly I loved."
Gripir spake:"Ye three shall allthe oaths then take,Gunnar and Hogni,and, hero, thou;Your forms ye shall change,as forth ye fare,Gunnar and thou;for Gripir lies not."
Note
In the Nibelungenlied Siegfried merely makes himself invisible in order to lend Gunther his strength for the feats which must be performed in order to win the redoubtable bride. In the northern version Sigurth and Gunnar change forms, "as Grimhild had taught them how to do." The Volsungasaga tells how Sigurth and Gunnar came to Heimir, who told them that to win Brynhild one must ride through the ring of fire which surrounded her hall (cf. the hall of Mengloth in Svipdagsmol). Gunnar tries it, but his horse balks; then he mounts Grani, but Grani will not stir for him. So they change forms, and Sigurth rides Grani through the flames. Oaths: the blood-brotherhood sworn by Sigurth, Gunnar, and Hogni makes it impossible for the brothers to kill him themselves, but they finally get around the difficulty by inducing their half-brother, Gotthorm (cf. Hyndluljoth, 27 and note) to do it.
Cited on Sigurðr
Sigurth spake:"How meanest thou?Why make we the changeOf shape and formas forth we fare?There must followanother falsehoodGrim in all ways;speak on, Gripir!"
Gripir spake:"The form of Gunnarand shape thou gettest,But mind and voicethine own remain;The hand of the fosterlingnoble of HeimirNow dost thou win,and none can prevent."
Note
The last half of line 4 is obscure, and the reading is conjectural.
Sigurth spake:"Most evil it seems,and men will sayBase is Sigurththat so he did;Not of my willshall I cheat with wilesThe heroes' maidenwhom noblest I hold."
Gripir spake:"Thou dwellest, leaderlofty of men,With the maid as ifthy mother she were;Lofty as longas the world shall live,Ruler of men,thy name shall remain."
Note
Something is clearly wrong with stanzas 41-43. In the manuscript the order is 41, 43, 42, which brings two of Gripir's answers together, followed by two of Sigurth's questions. Some editors have arranged the stanzas as in this translation, while others have interchanged 41 and 43. In any case, Sigurth in stanza 42 asks about the "three nights" which Gripir has never mentioned. I suspect that lines 3-4 of stanza 41, which are practically identical with lines 3-4 of stanza 23, got in here by mistake, replacing two lines which may have run thus: "With thy sword between, three nights thou sleepest / With her thou winnest for Gunnar's wife." The subsequent poems tell how Sigurth laid his sword Gram between himself and Brynhild.
Sigurth spake:"Shall Gunnar havea goodly wife,Famed among men,—speak forth now, Gripir!Although at my sidethree nights she slept,The warrior's bride?Such ne'er has been."
Cited on Brynhildr
Gripir spake:"The marriage draughtwill be drunk for both,For Sigurth and Gunnar,in Gjuki's hall;Your forms ye change,when home ye fare,But the mind of eachto himself remains."
Note
The simultaneous weddings of Sigurth and Gunnar form a memorable feature of the German tradition as it appears in the Nibelungenlied, but in the Volsungasaga Sigurth marries Guthrun before he sets off with Gunnar to win Brynhild.
Sigurth spake:"Shall the kinship newthereafter comeTo good among us?Tell me, Gripir!To Gunnar joyshall it later give,Or happiness sendfor me myself?"
Gripir spake:"Thine oaths remembering,silent thou art,And dwellest with Guthrunin wedlock good;But Brynhild shall deemshe is badly mated,And wiles she seeks,herself to avenge."
Note
According to the Volsungasaga, Sigurth remembers his oaths to Brynhild almost immediately after his return to Gunnar's house. Brynhild, on the other hand, knows nothing until the famous quarrel between herself and Guthrun at the bath (another reminiscence of the German story), when she taunts Guthrun with Sigurth's inferiority to Gunnar, and Guthrun retorts with the statement that it was Sigurth, and not Gunnar, who rode through the flames.
Sigurth spake:"What may for the briderequital be,The wife we wonwith subtle wiles?From me she hasthe oaths I made,And kept not long;they gladdened her little."
Gripir spake:"To Gunnar soonhis bride will sayThat ill didst thouthine oath fulfill,When the goodly king,the son of Gjuki,With all his heartthe hero trusted."
Note
Brynhild tells Gunnar that Sigurth really possessed her during the three nights when he slept by her in Gunnar's form, thus violating his oath. Here again there is a confusion of two traditions. If Sigurth did not meet Brynhild until after his oath to Gunnar (cf. note on stanza 13), Brynhild's charge is entirely false, as she herself admits in Helreith Brynhildar. On the other hand, according to the version in which Sigurth finds Brynhild before he meets Gjuki's sons, their union was not only completed, but she had by him a daughter, Aslaug, whome she leaves in Heimir's charge before going to become Gunnar's wife. This is the Volsungasaga version, and thus the statement Brynhild makes to Gunnar, as a result of which Sigurth is slain, is quite true.
Sigurth spake:"What sayst thou, Gripir?give me the truth!Am I guilty soas now is said,Or lies does the far-famedqueen put forthOf me and herself?Yet further speak."
Gripir spake:"In wrath and grieffull little goodThe noble brideshall work thee now;No shame thou gavestthe goodly one,Though the monarch's wifewith wiles didst cheat."
Sigurth spake:"Shall Gunnar the wiseto the woman's words,And Gotthorm and Hogni,then give heed?Shall Gjuki's sons,now tell me, Gripir,Redden their bladeswith their kinsman's blood?"
Note
Gotthorm: Gunnar's half-brother, and slayer of Sigurth.
Gripir spake:"Heavy it lieson Guthrun's heart,When her brothers allshall bring thee death;Never againshall she happiness know,The woman so fair;'tis Grimhild's work."
Cited on Grímhildr
Sigurth spake:"Now fare thee well!our fates we shun not;And well has Gripiranswered my wish;More of joyto me wouldst tellOf my life to comeif so thou couldst."
Note
The manuscript has stanzas 52 and 53 in inverse order.