Signy
Encyclopedia
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...
, which was adapted into other works such as Wagner's Ring
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
, including its famous opera The Valkyrie
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
.
The first Signe was the daughter of king 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...
. She was married to the villainous Geatish king Siggeir
Siggeir
Siggeir is the king of Gautland , in the Völsunga saga. In Skáldskaparmál he is given as a Sikling and a relative of Sigar who killed the hero Hagbard...
who has her whole family treacherously murdered, except for her brother Sigmund
Sigmund
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...
. She saves her brother, has an incestuous affair with him and bears the son Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
. She burnt herself to death with her hated husband.
The second Signe is the daughter of king Siggeir
Siggeir
Siggeir is the king of Gautland , in the Völsunga saga. In Skáldskaparmál he is given as a Sikling and a relative of Sigar who killed the hero Hagbard...
's nephew Sigar
Sigar
The name Sigar can refer to three people in Scandinavian mythology, surrounding the legends of Sigurd the dragon slayer. One of them only appears as the friend of Helgi Hjörvarðsson in the eddic lay Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar...
. She fell in love with the sea-king
Sea-King
A Sea King was the Viking name for a powerful pirate chieftain.They could be actual kings of Sweden , Denmark or a Norwegian kingdom, and sons of kings, such as Refil, but they could also be men "without roof" like Hjörvard the Ylfing.In the Norse sagas, such men without roof could be so powerful...
Hagbard
Hagbard
Hagbard , the brother of Haki and son of Hamund, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál, Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga and Gesta Danorum...
, and promised him that she would not live if he died. They were discovered and Hagbard was sentenced to be hanged. Hagbard managed to signal this to Signy who set her house on fire and died in the flames whereupon Hagbard hanged himself in the gallows, see Hagbard and Signy
Hagbard and Signy
Hagbard and Signe or Habor and Sign'ild were a pair of lovers in Scandinavian mythology and folklore whose legend was widely popular. The heroes' connections with other legendary characters place the events in the 5th century AD...
for more.
A third Signe is the daughter of a witch named Grid in Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra
Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra
Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra is a Fornaldarsaga about a young Dane named Illugi who delivers a female troll and her daughter from a curse. The saga itself is of great modernity, the earliest extant manuscripts dating approximately to sometime in the 17th century.-Synopsis:The story begins in Denmark...
. They are both delivered from a curse by a young man named Illugi.
A fourth Signe was Hroðgar
Hroðgar
Hroðgar, King Hroþgar, "Hrothgar", Hróarr, Hroar, Roar, Roas or Ro was a legendary Danish king, living in the early 6th century....
's sister in Skjöldunga saga
Skjöldunga saga
The Skjöldunga saga was a Norse saga on the legendary Danish dynasty of the Skjöldungs, the same dynasty featured in the Old English poem Beowulf...
and Hrólfr Kraki's saga. She is unnamed in Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
.
In Völsunga saga
Signy was the only daughter of King VolsungVolsung
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...
of Hunaland
Hunaland
Hunaland and its people are mentioned several times in the Poetic Edda, and in the Fornaldarsagas.Its origins are partly the old Frankish kingdom and partly in the Huns....
and Hljod
Hljod
Hljod or Ljod is a giantess in Norse mythology. According to the Völsunga saga Hljod, the daughter of Hrímnir, married the hero Völsung. She bore him ten sons, one of whom was Sigmund, and a daughter, Signy...
the giantess. She and her twin brother Sigmund
Sigmund
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...
were the oldest of Volsung’s eleven children. Signy reluctantly married King Siggeir
Siggeir
Siggeir is the king of Gautland , in the Völsunga saga. In Skáldskaparmál he is given as a Sikling and a relative of Sigar who killed the hero Hagbard...
of Gautland after he asked King Volsung for her hand. It was at their wedding feast that Sigmund drew the sword Gram
Gram (mythology)
In Norse mythology, Gram is the name of the sword that Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir.It was forged by Wayland the Smith and originally belonged to his father, Sigmund, who received it in the hall of the Volsung after pulling it out of the tree Barnstokk into which Odin had stuck...
from Barnstock.
Three months after her wedding, Signy’s father and brothers visited her at her new home in Gautland. Signy warned them of her husband’s plan to betray them. Despite her warning, Volsung is killed and all of Signy’s brothers are captured. At Signy’s request, her brothers are put in the stocks, but each night one was killed by a she-wolf. When only Sigmund was left alive, Signy sent a man to smear honey on his face and mouth, which the wolf only licked, allowing Sigmund to escape alive. Signy then helped her brother to hide in the woods.
Signy wanted nothing but to see her father’s death avenged. She sent her elder son to Sigmund for him to help in this endeavor. When Sigmund revealed to her that he was unworthy, Signy told Sigmund to kill him, which he did. The same happened with her younger son.
Signy met a sorceress with whom she exchanged shapes. Signy, looking like the sorceress, went to her brother in the woods and slept with him for three nights. She then returned to the castle and regained her appearance. After a time she gave birth to a son Sinfjotli
Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
. He was also sent to her brother in the forest when he was nine years old. Sigmund and Sinfjotli kill Siggeir to avenge the death of their father/grandfather together. It is only after this that Signy informs Sigmund of the incest that led to Sinfjotli’s birth. Signy then walks into the fire that is killing her husband, announcing, “In everything I have worked toward the killing of King Siggeir. I have worked so hard to bring about vengeance that I am by no means fit to live. Willingly I will now die with King Siggeir, although I married him reluctantly.”
Famous People Named Signe
- Signe Baumane- Animator
- Signe BergmanSigne BergmanSigne Wilhelmina Ulrika Bergman , was a Swedish feminist.She was the chairman of the Swedish Society for Woman Suffrage in 1914-1917 and the Swedish delegat to International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1909-1920. She played a leading role in the international congress for woman suffrage in Stockholm...
- Swedish suffragette - Signe HassoSigne HassoSigne Hasso was a Swedish-born American actress, writer and composer.-Background:Signe Eleonora Cecilia Larsson was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm, Sweden in 1915...
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- singer - Signe Hensel- Jazz Vocalist
- Signe Larsson- Actress
- Signe Tollefson- Songwriter
- Signe Quinn Taff- Astrologer