Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
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Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in Volsunga saga and in two lays in the Poetic Edda named Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. The Poetic Edda relates that Helgi and his mistress Sigrún were Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváva of the Helgakviða...
is an Old Norse poem
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...
found in the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays together with Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
Völsungakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I or the First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda...
and Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar is a poem collected in the Poetic Edda, found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and precedes Helgakviða Hundingsbana II...
.
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...
maintains in his commentaries that it is patchwork of various poems that do not fit well together, but stanzas 28-37 and 39-50 are held to be among the finest in Old Norse poetry.
The feud with Hunding and his sons
The first section (containing stanzas 1 to 4) introduces Helgi as the son of SigmundSigmund
This article is about the mythological hero Sigmund; for other meanings see: Sigmund .In Norse mythology, Sigmund is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod...
, of the Ylfing and the Völsung
Volsung
In Norse mythology, Völsung was the son of Rerir and the eponymous ancestor of the ill-fortuned Völsung clan , including the greatest of Norse heroes, Sigurð...
clan, and Borghild
Borghild
In Norse mythology, Borghild was the first wife of Sigmund. She bore him two sons, Hamund and Helgi.She is the personification of the evening mist, or perhaps the moon, who kills the light of day.- Volsungasaga:...
. They resided at Brálund and they named their son after Helgi Hjörvarðsson. Their clan was in a bloody feud with Hunding and his many sons.
Helgi disguised himself and visited the home of Hunding's family where the only man present was Hunding's son Hæmingr (unknown in any other source). Hunding sent men to Helgi's foster-father Hagal to search for Helgi but Helgi hid by dressing as a female servant working with the mill.
Helgi managed to escape to a warship after which he killed Hunding and earned his name Hundingsbane.
Helgi meets Sigrún
In the second section (containing stanzas 5 to 12), Helgi lay with his war party at Brunarvagar and had slaughtered some rustled cattle on the beach and were eating the meat raw. Then SigrúnSigrún
Sigrún is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her story is related in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, in the Poetic Edda...
, who was Sváfa
Sváfa
In Norse mythology, Sváfa or Sváva is a valkyrie and the daughter of king Eylimi. Consequently she was probably the maternal aunt of Sigurd, the dragon slayer, although this is not explicitly mentioned in Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar where Sváfa's story appears.-Etymology:The etymology of the...
reborn appeared, and introduced herself as the daughter of king Högne
Högne
For other people named Högne, see Haguna.Högne was a king of Östergötland who appears in sources Norse mythology.-Heimskringla:Snorri Sturluson wrote that he was the king of Östergötland and that he had a son named Hildur and daughter Hilda who was married to Granmar, the king of Södermanland...
.
Helgi has to challenge Hothbrodd
In the third section (containing stanzas 13 to 20), which is called the Old Völsung Lay, Sigrún's father had promised her to Hothbrodd, the son of king GranmarGranmar
Granmar was a king of Södermanland, in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The same king also appears in the Volsunga saga.Granmar was married to Hilda, the daughter of the Geatish king Högne of East Götaland, and his son-in-law was the seaking Hjörvard of the Ylfings...
r.
Sigrún opposed the marriage and sought out Helgi, who was exhausted from a battle in which he had killed Hunding's sons Eyjólfr, Álfr, Hjörvarðr and Hávarðr. The Valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
embraced him and kissed him, and Helgi promised her to fight against Granmarr and his sons.
Helgi assembled an army and invaded Granmar's kingdom together with his brother Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
. They won the battle and Helgi could take Sigrún as his wife with whom he had sons.
Sinfjötli's and Guthmund's flyting
A fifth section (stanzas 22 to 27) consists of a misplaced version of the flyting between SinfjötliSinfjötli
Sinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
(Helgi's half-brother) and Guthmundr, which probably is older than the one found in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
Völsungakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I or the First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda...
.
Dagr kills Helgi and is cursed by Sigrún
In the seventh section (containing stanzas 28-37) Sigrún's brother Dagr, who had been spared by vowing allegiance to Helgi, sacrificed to OdinOdin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
in the hope of getting revenge for Helgi's slaying of his father and brothers. Odin gave Dagr a spear with which Dagr pierced Helgi at a location called Fjoturlund. Dagr then returned to tell his sister of Helgi's death:
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Sigrún avenged her husband by placing on her brother the most horrible curse:
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Daughters of Ægir The Daughters of Ægir are the nine daughters of Ægir and Rán, a giant and goddess who both represent the sea in Norse mythology. Their names are poetic terms for different characteristics of ocean waves.... . |
Dagr was banished to live on carrion in the woods and Helgi was buried in a barrow. When Helgi had entered Valhalla Odin asked Helgi to rule over the Einherjar
Einherjar
In Norse mythology, the einherjar are those that have died in battle and are brought to Valhalla by valkyries. In Valhalla, the einherjar eat their fill of the nightly-resurrecting beast Sæhrímnir, and are brought their fill of mead by valkyries...
together with himself. There is a stanza which Bellows interprets as a misplaced stanza on the conflict between Helgi and Hunding, but others interpret as Helgi oppressing Hunding in Valhalla:
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Helgi's last visit
Valhalla
In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...
and his meeting with Sigrún in his barrow.
One evening, a maiden told Sigrún that she has seen Helgi ride with a large retinue into his own barrow, and so Sigrún went to the barrow in order to see Helgi. His hair were covered with frost, his body is sullied with blood and his hands were wet. He explained that it was because every tear she had shed had fallen wet and cold on him. In spite of this, she prepared the bed in his mound and they spent a night together.
Before day broke, Helgi had to return to Valhalla. Sigrún returned home and spent the rest of her life waiting in vain for Helgi to return to his barrow one more time.
She died early from the sorrow, but she would meet him in the next life when she was the Valkyrie Kára and he was Helgi Haddingjaskati
Helgi Haddingjaskati
Helgi Haddingjaskati meaning "Helgi the lord of the Haddingjar" was a legendary Norse hero of which only fragmentary accounts survive.It is said in the end section of Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, a part of the Poetic Edda, that the hero Helgi Hundingsbane and his lover Sigrún were reincarned as...
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External links
- Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II Translation and commentary by Henry Adams BellowsHenry Adams BellowsHenry 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...
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana Önnur Translation by Benjamin ThorpeBenjamin ThorpeBenjamin Thorpe was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon.-Biography:After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, he returned to England in 1830, and in 1832 published an English version of Caedmon's metrical paraphrase of portions of the...
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana II Translation by Lee M. Hollander
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana önnur Sophus BuggeSophus BuggeSophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. -Background:Elseus Sophus Bugge was...
's edition of the manuscript text - Völsungakviða in forna (Helgakviða Hundingsbana II) Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling