1. Of old did Sigurth 	Gjuki seek,
The Volsung young,	in battles victor;
Well he trusted	the brothers twain,
With mighty oaths	among them sworn.

A maid they gave him,	and jewels many,
Guthrun the young,		the daughter of Gjuki;
They drank and spake	full many a day,
Sigurth the young	and Gjuki’s son.

2. Thereafter went they	Brynhild to woo,
And so with them	did Sigurth ride,
The Volsung young,	in battle valiant,-
Himself would have had her	if all he had seen.

3. The southern hero	his naked sword,
Fair-flashing, let	between them lie;
(Nor would he come	the maid to kiss;)
The Hunnish king	in his arms ne’er held
The maiden he gave	to Gjuki’s sons.

4. Ill she had known not	in all her life,
And nought of the sorrows	of men she knew;
Blame she had not,	nor dreamed she should bear it,
But cruel the fates	that among them came.

5. By herself at the end	of day she sat,
And in open words	her heart she uttered:
“I shall Sigurth have,	the hero young,
E’en though within	my arms he die.

6. “The word I have spoken;	soon shall I rue it,
His wife is Guthrun,	and Gunnar’s am I;
Ill Norns set for me	long desire.”

7. Oft did she go		with grieving heart
On the glacier’s ice	at even-tide,
When Guthrun then	to her bed was gone,
And the bedclothes Sigurth	about her laid..

8. “(Now Gjuki’s child	to her lover goes,)
And the Hunnish king	with his wife is happy;
Joyless I am	and mateless ever,
Till cries from my heavy	heart burst forth.”

9. In her wrath to battle	she roused herself;
“Gunnar, now		thou needs must lose
Lands of mine		and me myself,
No joy shall I have	with the hero ever.

10. “Back shall I fare	where first I dwelt,
Among the kin	that come of my race,
To wait there, sleeping	my life away,
If Sigurth’s death	thou shalt not dare,
(And best of heroes	thou shalt not be.)

11. “The son shall fare	with his father hence,
And let not long	the wolf-cub live;
Lighter to pay		is the vengeance-price
After the deed		if the son is dead.”

12. Sad was Gunnar,	and bowed with grief,
Deep in thought	the whole day through;
Yet from his heart	it was ever hid
What deed most fitting	he should find,
(Or what thing best	for him should be,
Or if he should seek	the Volsung to slay,
For with mighty longing	Sigurth he loved.)

13. Much he pondered	for many and hour;
Never before		was the wonder known
That a queen should thus	her kingdom leave;
In counsel then	did he Hogni call,
(For him in truest	trust he held.)

14. “More than all	to me is Brynhild,
Buthli’s child,		the best of women;
My very life	would I sooner lose
Than yield the love	of yonder maid.

15. “Wilt thou the hero	for wealth betray?
‘Twere good to have	the gold of the Rhine,
And all the hoard	in peace to hold,
And waiting fortune	thus to win.”

16. Few the words	of Hogni were:
“Us it beseems not	so to do,
To cleave with swords	the oaths we swore,
The oaths we swore	and all our vows.

17. “We know no mightier	men on earth,
The while we four	o’er the folk hold sway,
And while the Hunnish	hero lives,
Nor higher kinship	the world doth hold.

18. “If sons we five	shall soon beget,
Great, methinks,	our race shall grow;
Well I see	whence lead the ways;
Too bitter far	is Brynhild’s hate.”

Gunnar spake:
19. “Gotthorm to wrath	we needs must rouse,
Our younger brother,	in rashness blind;
He entered not	in oaths we swore,
The oaths we swore	and all our vows.”

20. It was easy to rouse	the reckless one,
-lacuna?-
The sword in the heart	of Sigurth stood.

21. In vengeance the hero		rose in the hall,
And hurled his sword		at the slayer bold;
At Gotthorm flew	the glittering steel
Of Gram full hard	from the hand of the king.

22. The foeman cleft	asunder fell,
Forward hands	and head did sink,
And legs and feet	did backward fall.

23. Guthrun soft	in her bed had slept,
Safe from care	at Sigurth’s side;
She woke to find	her joy had fled,
In the blood of the friend	of Freyr she lay.

24. So hard she smote	her hands together
That the hero rose up,		iron-hearted:
“Weep not, Guthrun,		grievous tears,
Bride so young,	for thy brothers live.

25. “Too young, methinks,	is my son as yet,
He cannot flee	from the home of his foes;
Fearful and deadly	the plan they found,
The counsel new	that now they have heeded.

26. “No son will ride,	though seven thou hast,
To the Thing as the son	of their sister rides;
Well I see	who the ill has worked,
On Brynhild alone	lies the blame for all.

27. “Above all men	the maiden loved me,
Yet false to Gunnar	I ne’er was found;
I kept the oaths	and the kinship I swore;
Of his queen the lover	none may call me.

28. In a swoon she sank	when Sigurth died;
So hard she smote	her hands together
That all the cups 	in the cupboard rang,
And loud in the courtyard	cried the geese.

29. Then Brynhild, daughter	of Buthli, laughed,
Only once,	with all her heart,
When as she lay	full loud she heard
The grievous wail	of Gjuki’s daughter

30. Then Gunnar, monarch	of men, spake forth;
“Thou dost not laugh,		thou lover of hate,
In gladness there,	or for aught of good;
Why has thy face	so white a hue,
Mother of ill?		Foredoomed thou art.

31. “A worthier woman	wouldst thou have been
If before thine eyes	we had Atli slain;
If thy brother’s bleeding	body hadst seen
And the bloody wounds	that thou shouldst bind.”

Brynhild spake:
32. “None mock thee, Gunnar!	thou hast mightily fought,
But thy hatred little	doth Atli heed;
Longer than thou,	methinks, shall he live,
And greater in might	shall he ever remain.

33. “To thee I say,	and thyself thou knowest,
That all these ills	thou didst early shape;
No bonds I knew,	nor sorrow bore,
And wealth I had	in my brother’s home.

34. “Never a husband	sought I to have,
Before the Gjukings	fared to land;
Three were the kings	on steeds that came,-
Need of their journey	never there was.

35. “To the hero great	my troth I gave
Who gold-decked sat		on Grani’s back;
Not like to thine	was the light of his eyes,
(Nor like in form	and face are ye,)
Though kingly both	ye seemed to be.

36. “And so to me	did Atli say
That share in our wealth	I should not have,
Of gold or lands,	if my hand I gave not;
(More evil yet,	the wealth I should yield,)
The gold that he	in my childhood gave me,
(The wealth from him	in my youth I had.)

37. “Oft in my mind	I pondered much
If still I should fight,	and warriors fell,
Brave in my byrnie,	my brother defying;
That would wide	in the worlds be known,
And sorrow for many	a man would make.

38. “But the bond at last	I let be made,
For more the hoard	I longed to have,
The rings that the son		of Sigmund won;
No other’s treasure	e’er I sought.

39. “One alone	of all I loved,
Nor changing heart	I ever had;
All in the end 		shall Atli know,
When he hears I have gone	on the death-road hence.”

-break-

40. “Never a wife		of fickle will
Yet to another		man should yield.
-lacuna-
So vengeance for all	my ills shall come.”

41. Up rose Gunnar,	the people’s ruler,
And flung his arms	round her neck so fair;
And all who came,	of every kind,
Sought to hold her	with all their hearts.

42. But back she cast	all those who came,
Nor from the long road	let them hold her;
In counsel then	did he Hogni call;
“Of wisdom now	full great is our need.

43. “Let the warriors here		in the hall come forth,
Thine and mine,	for the need is mighty,
If haply the queen	from death they may hold,
Till her fearful thoughts	with time shall fade.”

44. (Few the words	of Hogni were:)
“From the long road now	shall ye hold her not,
That born again	she may never be!
Foul she came	from her mother forth,
And born she was	for wicked deeds,
(Sorrow to many	a man to bring.)”

45. From the speaker gloomily	Gunnar turned,
From the jewel-bearer	her gems was dividing;
On all her wealth	her eyes were gazing,
On the bond-woman slain	and the slaughtered slaves.

46. Her byrnie of gold	she donned, and grim
Was her heart ere the point	of her sword had pierced it;
On the pillow at last	her head she laid,
And, wounded, her plan	she pondered o’er.

47. “Hither I will 	that my women come
Who gold are fain	from me to get;
Necklaces fashioned	fair to each
Shall I give, and cloth,	and garments bright.”

48. Silent were all	as so she spake,
And all together	answer made:
“Slain are enough;	we seek to live,
Not thus thy women	shall honour win.”

49. Long the women,	linen-decked, pondered,-
-Young she was,- 	and weighed her words:
“For my sake now	shall none unwilling
Or loath to die	her life lay down.

50. “But little of gems	to gleam on your limbs
Ye then shall find	when forth ye fare
To follow me,		or of Menja’s wealth.
-lacuna-

51. “Sit now, Gunnar!	for I shall speak
Of thy bride so fair	and so fain to die;
Thy ship in harbour	home thou hast not,
Although my life	I now have lost.

52. “Thou shalt Guthrun requite	more quick than thou thinkest,
-lacuna-
Though sadly mourns	the maiden wise,
Who dwells with the king,	o’er her husband dead.

53. “A maid shall then	the mother bear;
Brighter far	than the fairest day
Svanhild shall be,	or the beams of the sun.

54. “Guthrun a noble	husband thou givest,
Yet to many a warrior	woe will she bring,
Not happily wedded	she should herself;
Her shall Atli	hither seek,
(Butli’s son,	and brother of mine.)

55. “Well I remember	how me ye treated
When ye betrayed me		with treacherous wiles;
-lacuna-
Lost was my joy	as long I lived.

56. “Oddrun as wife	thou fain wouldst win,
But Atli this	from thee withholds;
Yet in secret tryst	ye twain shall love;
Shall she hold thee dear,	as I had done
If kindly fate	to us had fallen.

57. “Ill to thee	shall Atli bring,
When he casts thee down	in the den of snakes.

58. “But soon thereafter	Atli too
His life, methinks,	as thou shalt lose,
(His fortune lose	and the lives of his sons;)
Him shall Guthrun,	grim of heart,
With the biting blade	in his bed destroy.

59. “It would better beseem	thy sister fair
To follow her husband	first in death,
If counsel good	to her were given,
Or a heart akin	to mine she had.

60. “Slowly I speak,-	but for my sake
Her life, methinks,	she shall not lose;
She shall wander over	the tossing waves,
To where Jonak rules		his father’s realm.

61. “Sons to him		she soon shall bear,
Heirs therewith	of Jonak’s wealth;
But Svanhild far	away is sent,
The child she bore	to Sigurth brave.

62. “Bikki’s word		her death shall be,
For dreadful the wrath	of Jormunrek;
So slain is all	of Sigurth’s race,
And greater the woe	of Guthrun grows.

63. “Yet one born		I beg of thee,
The last of boons	in my life it is:
Let the pyre be built	so broad in the field
That room for us all	will ample be,
(For us who slain	with Sigurth are.)

64. “With shields and carpets	cover the pyre,
-lacuna-
Shrouds full fair,	and fallen slaves,
And besides the Hunnish	hero burn me.

65. “Besides the Hunnish		hero there
Slaves shall burn,	full bravely decked,
Two at his head	and two at his feet,
A brace of hounds	and a pair of hawks,
For so shall all	be seemly done.

66. “Let between us	lie once more
The steel so keen,	as so it lay
When both within	one bed we were,
And wedded mates	by men were called.

67. “The door of the hall	shall strike not the heel
Of the hero fair	with flashing rings,
If hence my following 	goes with him;
Not mean our faring	forth shall be.

68. “Bond-women five	shall follow him,
And eight of my thralls,	well-born are they,
Children with me,	and mine they were
As gifts that Buthli	his daughter gave.

69. “Much have I told thee,	and more would say
If fate more space	for speech had given;
My voice grows weak,	my wounds are swelling;
Truth I have said,	and so I die.”