The Great Lacuna is a lacuna

Lacuna (manuscripts)

A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...

 of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse poetry

Old Norse poetry

Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...

 in the Codex Regius

Codex Regius

Cōdex Rēgius is an Icelandic manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing...

. The gap would have contained the last part of Sigrdrífumál

Sigrdrífumál

Sigrdrífumál is the conventional title given to a section of the Poetic Edda text in Codex Regius....

and most of Sigurðarkviða. What remains of the last poem consists of 22 stanzas called Brot af Sigurðarkviðu

Brot af Sigurðarkviðu

Brot af Sigurðarkviðu is the remaining 22 stanzas of a heroic Old Norse poem in the Poetic Edda. In the Codex Regius, there is a gap of eight leaves where the first part of the poem would have been found, and also the last part of the Sigrdrífumál. Luckily, the missing narrative is preserved in the...

, but according to Henry Adams Bellows

Henry Adams Bellows

Henry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...

, the original size of Sigurðarkviða should have been more than 250 stanzas.

The missing original narrative is preserved in the Völsunga saga

Volsunga saga

The Völsungasaga is a legendary saga, a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan . It is largely based on epic poetry...

in prose form with four stanzas of poetry. The first two stanzas that are preserved through the saga deal with how Sigurd

Sigurd

Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...

 returns to Brynhildr

Brynhildr

Brynhildr is a shieldmaiden and a valkyrie in Norse mythology, where she appears as a main character in the Völsunga saga and some Eddic poems treating the same events. Under the name Brünnhilde she appears in the Nibelungenlied and therefore also in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des...

 leaping through the flames on Grani

Grani

In Norse mythology, Grani is a horse owned by the hero Sigurd. He is the horse that Sigurd receives through advice from an old man . Grani is a descendant of Odin's own steed, Sleipnir.-Attestations:...

 after Gunnar

Gunther

Gunther is the German name of a semi-legendary king of Burgundy of the early 5th century...

 had failed:

"Eldr nam at æsast, en jörð at skjálfa ok hár logi við himni gnæfa. Fár treystist þar fylkis rekka eld at ríða né yfir stíga. - Sigurðr Grana sverði keyrði. Eldr slokknaði fyr öðlingi, logi allr lægðist fyr lofgjörnum. Bliku reiði, er Reginn átti."

The fire raged, the earth was rocked, The flames leaped high to heaven itself; Few were the hardy heroes would dare To ride or leap the raging flames. - Sigurth urged Grani then with his sword, The fire slackened before the hero, The flames sank low for the greedy of fame, The armor flashed that Regin Regin Reginn, often Anglicized as Regin, in Norse mythology, was the son of Hreiðmarr and foster father of Sigurd. His brothers are Fafnir and Ótr. When Loki mistakenly kills Ótr, Hreiðmarr demands to be repaid with the amount of gold it takes to fill Ótr's skin and cover the outside. Loki takes this...  had fashioned.

Sigurd had, however, been given a potion

Potion

A potion is a consumable medicine or poison.In mythology and literature, a potion is usually made by a magician, sorcerer, dragon, fairy or witch and has magical properties. It might be used to heal, bewitch or poison people...

 of forgetfulness and so he had forgotten all about Brynhildr before returning to her. Moreover, he arrived to her disguised as Gunnar, and so Brynhildr was married to Gunnar instead. After the wedding, Brynhildr argues with her sister-in-law Gudrun

Gudrun

Gudrun is a major figure in the early Germanic literature centered on the hero Sigurd, son of Sigmund. She appears as Kriemhild in the Nibelungenlied and as Gutrune in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.-Norse mythology:...

, who is Sigurd's spouse, and Gudrun reveals to Brynhildr that it was Sigurd who saved her from her prison. Brynhildr who grasps the extent of the treachery of her in-laws (the Gjukungs) against her and Sigurd, speaks out her heart about Gunnar, in the third preserved stanza:

"Sigurðr vá at ormi, en þat síðan mun engum fyrnast, meðal öld lifir. En hlýri þinn hvárki þorði eld at ríða né yfir stíga."

Sigurth the dragon slew, and that Will men recall while the world remains; But little boldness thy brother had To ride or leap the raging flames.

Brynhildr is furious and so Gunnar and Sigurd talk to her trying to calm her down. Sigurd and Brynhildr have a conversation about the treachery of their mutual in-laws, and understanding how deceived he has been, Sigurd leaves Brynhildr with a heavy heart:

"Út gekk Sigurðr andspjalli frá, hollvinr lofða ok hnipnaði, svá at ganga nam gunnarfúsum sundr of síður serkr járnofinn."

Forth went Sigurth, and speech he sought not, The friend of heroes, his head bowed down; Such was his grief that asunder burst His mail-coat all of iron wrought.

Brynhild's fury would soon lead to the death of both her and Sigurd and to the end of the Gjukung clan.

J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

 tried to reconstruct the lost stanzas and produced the poems Sigurðarkvida en nyja and Guðrunarkviða en nyja, now published as The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún is a narrative poem composed by J. R. R. Tolkien. The book was released worldwide on May 5, 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HarperCollins....

.