Völsunga Saga/Chapter 31
CHAP. XXXI.
Of the Lamentation of Gudrun over Sigurd dead, as it is told in the ancient Songs,[1]
GUDRUN of old daysDrew near to dyingAs she sat in sorrowOver Sigurd;Yet she sighed notNor smote hand on hand,Nor wailed she aughtAs other women.
Then went earls to her,Full of all wisdom,Fain help to dealTo her dreadful heart:Hushed was GudrunOf wail, or greeting,But with a heavy woeWas her heart a-breaking.
Bright and fairSat the great earls’ brides,Gold arrayedBefore Gudrun;Each told the taleOf her great trouble,The bitterest baleShe erst abode.
Then spake Giaflaug,Guiki’s sister:“Lo upon earthI live most lovelessWho of five matesMust see the ending,Of daughters twainAnd three sisters,Of brethren eight,And abide behind lonely.”
Naught gat GudrunOf wail and greeting,So heavy was sheFor her dead husband,So dreadful-heartedFor the King laid dead there.
Then spake HerborgQueen of Hunland—“Crueller taleHave I to tell of,Of my seven sonsDown in the Southlands, And the eighth man, my mate,Felled in the death-mead.
“Father and mother,And four brothers,On the wide seaThe winds and death played with;The billows beatOn the bulwark boards.
“Alone must I sing o’er them,Alone must I array them,Alone must my hands deal withTheir departing;And all this wasIn one season’s wearing,And none was leftFor love or solace.
“Then was I boundA prey of the battle,When that same seasonWore to its ending;As a tiring mayMust I bind the shoonOf the duke’s high dame,Every day at dawning.
“From her jealous hateGat I heavy mocking,Cruel lashesShe laid upon me, Never met IBetter masterOr mistress worserIn all the wide world.”
Naught gat GudrunOf wail or greeting,So heavy was sheFor her dead husband,So dreadful-heartedFor the King laid dead there.
Then spake Gullrond,Guiki’s daughter—“O foster-mother,Wise as thou mayst be,Naught canst thou betterThe young wife’s bale.”And she bade uncoverThe dead King’s corpse.
She swept the sheetAway from Sigurd,And turned his cheekTowards his wife’s knees—“Look on thy loved oneLay lips to his lips,E’en as thou wert clingingTo thy king alive yet!”
Once looked Gudrun—One look only, And saw her lord’s locksLying all bloody,The great man’s eyesGlazed and deadly,And his heart’s bulwarkBroken by sword-edge.
Back then sank Gudrun,Back on the bolster,Loosed was her head array,Red did her cheeks grow,And the rain-drops ranDown over her knees.
Then wept Gudrun,Giuki’s daughter,So that the tears flowedThrough the pillow;As the geese withalThat were in the homefield,The fair fowls the may owned,Fell a-screaming.
Then spake Gullrond,Giuki’s daughter—“Surely knew INo love like your loveAmong all men,On the mould abiding;Naught wouldst thou joy inWithout or within doors,O my sister,Save beside Sigurd.”
Then spake Gudrun,Giuki’s daughter—“Such was my SigurdAmong the sons of Giuki,As is the king leekO’er the low grass waxing,Or a bright stoneStrung on band,Or a pearl of priceOn a prince’s brow.
“Once was I countedBy the king’s warriorsHigher than anyOf Herjan’s mays;Now am I as littleAs the leaf may be,Amid wind-swept woodNow when dead he lieth.
“I miss from my seat,I miss from my bed,My darling of sweet speech.Wrought the sons of Giuki,Wrought the sons of Giuki,This sore sorrow,Yea, for their sister,Most sore sorrow.
“So may your landsLie waste on all sides,As ye have brokenYour bounden oaths! Ne’er shalt thou, Gunnar,The gold have joy of,The dear-bought ringsShall drag thee to death,Whereon thou swarestOath unto Sigurd,
“Ah, in the days by-goneGreat mirth in the homefieldWhen my SigurdSet saddle on Grani,And they went their waysFor the wooing of Brynhild!An ill day, an ill woman,And most ill hap!”
Then spake Brynhild,Budli’s daughter—“May the woman lackBoth love and children,Who gained greetingFor thee, O Gudrun!Who gave thee this morningMany words!”
Then spake Gullrond,Giuki’s daughter—“Hold peace of such wordsThou hated of all folk!The bane of brave menHast thou been ever, All waves of illWash over thy mind,To seven great kingsHast thou been a sore sorrow,And the death of good willTo wives and women.”
Then spake Brynhild,Budli’s daughter—“None but AtliBrought bale upon us,My very brotherBorn of Budli.
“When we saw in the hallOf the Hunnish peopleThe gold a-gleamingOn the kingly Giukings;I have paid for that faringOft and full,And for the sightThat then I saw.”
By a pillar she stoodAnd strained its wood to her;From the eyes of Brynhild,Budli’s daughter,Flashed out fire,And she snorted forth venom,As the sore wounds she gazed onOf the dead-slain Sigurd.
- ↑ This chapter is the Eddaic poem, called the first Lay of Gudrun, inserted here by the translators.