Home of the Eddic Lays
Chapter 20
Then Northung, King of Sváfaland, comes to woo Erka. The Earl Hertnit and his brother Hirthir support the suit. Ósangtrix is willing to arrange the match, and sends the supposed Sigurth to plead Northung's cause to Erka, who dwells in a castle of maidens, to which, as a usual thing, men were refused admittance.
When Sigurth is able to converse with Erka in the garden outside of the castle, he reveals to her that he is Attila's messenger, and urges his master's suit. As a result of their conversation, Erka promises to become Attila's wife, while her sister Berta (in the Icelandic MSS., Herat) agrees to marry Rótholf.
Both Ósangtrix and Northung are befooled by Rótholf. Northung, assured that Erka will marry him at the end of a year, turns homeward. Ósangtrix becomes so fond of the supposed Sigurth that he wishes to make him his prime minister. But Sigurth says that his brother Alibrand is better fitted for the office, and with the king's consent rides away to fetch him. Rótholf comes to his men, and induces Ósith to follow him to Ósangtrix. There Ósith passes as Rótholf's brother Alibrand.
A week after, Sigurth and Alibrand carry off Erka and Berta (or Herat) on horseback in the night, while the king sleeps. Ósangtrix pursues them; but the fugitives succeed in reaching Attila. The king marries Erka, and gives Berta (Herat) in marriage to Rótholf.
There is undoubtedly historical connection, even though it be indirect, between the ON story of how Hjörvarth won Sigrlinn, and the story in the þiðrekssaga of how Attila won Erka. I shall now point out the different features in which the latter story (which I call A) stands nearer to the former (H) than does that of Sigmund and Sisibe. [1] In both H and A the messenger who is to plead the king's cause, is mentioned by name. In H he is an earl's son; in A a duke or a margrave. [2] In both H and A the messenger receives a definite refusal from the king whose daughter he woos. [3] In A the messenger, when speaking to his master, says that the daughter the daughter of the foreign king is the fairest of women. This is not expressly stated in H, but seems to be implied in H. Hj., I. [4] In H the messenger lives a winter with the foreign king. In A he lives two winters at the foreign court, though, to be sure, under entirely different relations than in H, and not when he is there the first time. [5] Both in A and H there is also another king who woos the foreign king's daughter. [6] In H the proposal of the chief hero of the story is rejected in accordance with the counsel of the foreign king's earl. In A it is the foreign king's earl who, after Attila's suit is rejected, supports that of another king. [7] In both A and H, when the rejected king has come to the land of the king who refuses him his daughter, there is burning and plundering in that land; but while in A it is the chief hero of the story who burns and plunders, in H it is the rival suitor. [8] Neither in A nor in H does the chief hero meet his rival personally; for the rival leaves before the hero wins his wife. [9] After the chief hero of the story has come into the land of the king whose daughter he has wooed, it is said, in both A and H, that he halts for the night---in H by a river, in A by a forest. [10] In both A and H the man previously sent out as a messenger (in H an earl's son, in A a duke or margrave), keeps watch in the night. In both he leaves his master. In H he crosses the river; in A he traverses a forest. [11] In both he comes in the night to a place where he finds countrymen of the foreign king's daughter. In A he kills many of the followers of the foreign king; in H he slays the king's earl who has advised the rejection of his suit. [12] Finally, the messenger carries off with him both the foreign king's daughter and another woman (in A her sister, in H a daughter of her father's earl). The king's daughter, in both A and H, becomes his master's wife of her own free will, while the messenger marries the other woman. [13] Sváfaland, 'the land of the Swabians,' is named in both A and H. In A it is the land in which the chief hero's rival lives. In H it is that of the foreign king, which the rival harries. [14] The name Atli occurs both in A and H (in the former in the foreign form Attila or Atila). But in the þiðrekssaga King Attila is the chief hero of the story, as winner of the foreign king's daughter, while in the ON Atli is the messenger sent out to do the wooing. This difference seems to admit of explanation.
The ON poet appears to have united a foreign tale of Attila's wooing with other foreign tales of a king's journey in search of a bride, and to have transferred the story formed by this fusion to the ON saga king Hjörvarth. He had no use, therefore, for Attila or Atli as the name of the rival suitor; but, observing that the name of the messenger in the story he was following was one which would sound strange to the ear of Scandinavians, he replaced it by Atli, which was familiar to them all. Similarly Herkja, which was originally in a foreign tale the name of Atli's (Attila's) queen, was degraded, in the third Guthrún lay, to the name of Atli's concubine, the slanderer of his queen Guthrún.
The Frankish story (11) of the wooing of the Merovingian King Chlodovech is closely related to that of Hjörvarth and Sigrlinn. It deserves especial attention here, not only because it is older than the other stories under discussion, but also because it keeps closer to historical events.
In Gregory of Tours (second half of the sixth century), we read as follows (II, 28): Gundobad, king of the Burgundians, killed his brother Chilperik, and exiled (exilio condemnavit) Chilperik's two daughters, of whom the elder became a nun, and received the name Chrona, and the younger was called Chrodechildis. Chlodovech sent messengers repeatedly to the King of the Burgundians. These met Chrodechildis, found her fair and wise, and heard that she was a king's daughter. They spoke of her to their king. Thereupon Chlodovech sent a message to Gundobad, demanding Chrodechildis to wife. Her uncle dared not refuse, and gave her over to the envoys, who bore her in all haste to Chlodovech. He rejoiced when he saw her, and the two were married. Chlodovech had previously begotten by a concubine the son Theuderik.
Gregory's short account of Chlodovech's marriage, which took place about the year 492, seems to indicate that he knew a more elaborate popular narrative of the event.
We have a much more detailed account, which evidently has been influenced by a popular epic treatment of the subject, in the chronicle attributed to Fredegar, which seems to have been composed in Aventicum in West Switzerland about the middle of the seventh century. (12) Here the elder sister is called Saedeleuba. The messengers whom Chlodovech first sends to the King of the Burgundians are not permitted to see Chrodechildis. A Roman named Aurelianus is then despatched thither. Disguised as a beggar, he gets an opportunity to speak privately with the king's daughter, who is at Geneva. He tells her that he is the messenger of Chlodovech, king of the Franks, who wishes to marry her. Delighted with the proposal, she rewards Aurelianus for the execution of his mission, and bestows upon him a ring. She then bids him hasten home to his master and say that if the king wishes to wed her he must send men at once to Gundobad to solicit her hand; for if the wise Aridius return first from Constantinople, the king's suit will be unsuccessful. Aurelianus, after an adventurous journey, reaches home, and gives this message to Chlodovech, who immediately sends envoys to Gundobad. Gundobad does not dare to refuse the request, and gives Chrodechildis, with much treasure, into the charge of Chlodovech's men. They raise her up in a chair, intending to carry her; but when the news comes that Aridius has returned, they abandon the chair at her request, put her on a horse, and ride away together in all haste. Aridius, learning what has happened, goes immediately to Gundobad, and induces him to send out an army to recover Chrodechildis. But the pursuers find only the chair, and the treasure which it contains. When the king's daughter draws near the place where Chlodovech is waiting, before she crosses the border, she bids her escort harry and burn the land of the Burgundians in a large district round about, in order to have revenge on Gundobad.
The story of the winning of Chrodechildis by Chlodovech is also given in Liber Historiae Francorum (13) (usually called Gesta Francorum), a comparatively poor production, which, however, circulated widely in the middle ages. It was composed in Neustria in 727. This version is much altered by the introduction of a marked religious element which was foreign to the original version; and in secular features also it shows considerable variation from Fredegar's account. We may note the following differences: [1] When Aurelianus disguises himself as a beggar, he leaves his own clothes with his comrades who remain behind in a forest. [2] Chlodovech threatens Gundobad with war if he will not give Chrodechildis in marriage to him. Gundobad refuses at first.
In the version of the monk Aimoin, which follows that in Lib. Hist. Francorum, we read that when Aurelianus dresses up as a beggar, he bids his companions conceal themselves in a wood. Here, too, it is said that Chlodovech later, after having wedded Crotildis, makes a harrying expedition into the land of the Burgundians at the instigation of his wife, who wished to have revenge for the death of her kinsmen.
If, now, we compare the three stories of Hjörvarth, Attila, and Chlodovech respectively, we observe that the first two have some features in common in opposition to the Frankish tale (C). [1] In H and A messengers are despatched to the bride's father, not, as in C, to her uncle. [2] In both H and A the suitor is definitely rejected by the foreign king. To this the account in Lib. Hist. Franc. lies nearest. [3] In both H and A there is another king who woos the king's daughter; and in both the bridegroom himself sets out with an army before the wedding. C says nothing of this, or of the events closely connected with it. [4] H and A have the names Sváfaland (14) and Atli (Attila) in common. Yet the Frankish chronicles relate that Chlodovech waged war with the Swabians or Alamannians. [5] In both H and A the story ends with a double wedding; for the messenger marries the companion of the king's daughter. (15)
On the other hand, however, the story of how Attila wins his bride agrees with the story of Chlodovech in not a few points where the poem on Hjörvarth differs: [1] In A and C the king's daughter is kept under surveillance together with her sister. Yet A, in which the princess who later marries the foreign king is waited upon by her sister, is the closer to H, where the companion is an earl's daughter. (16) [2] In both A and C the suitor threatens war if he does not get the king's daughter. [3] In both the bridegroom's messenger leaves his companions behind in a forest while he, in disguise and without any following, seeks to gain admittance to the presence of the princess. [4] In both he succeeds in talking with her in private, and tells her that his master will make her queen. [5] In both she gives her consent to the proposed marriage, and the messenger departs with her ring. [6] In both A and C the princess rides away with the messenger of the foreign king. They are pursued, but yet come safely to the bridegroom.
It seems clear that the story of Attila's expedition to bring home his bride is an imitation of the story of Chlodovech.
The points of contact between the ON poem alone, as opposed to the Attila story, and the Frankish account, are far less numerous. Yet we may observe the following: The foreign king's counsellor Fránmar, who is said to be wise in magic, persuades his master to reject the offer of marriage. In the Frankish story, Aridius, who is said to be wise (sapiens), induces the King of the Burgundians to send out warriors to hinder the marriage.
In the ON poem, which evidently stands in historical connection with the Chlodovech story, the name Sigrlinn is not the only thing which points to a Frankish saga. (17) Hjörvarth, the hero of the ON story, is Helgi's father. Chlodovech, the hero of the Frankish story, is Theuderik's father. Theuderik is called in heroic poems Hugo Theodoricus, Huge Dietrich, the name of the king who is represented as Wolfdietrich's father. Now, as I have already pointed out, the story of an encounter with a mermaid was transferred from the Frankish hero corresponding to Wolfdietrich, to Helgi Hjörvarthsson. It looks, therefore, as if an ON poet, either in Britain, or, less probably, in Normandy, heard some version of the Frankish story of Chlodovech's wooing, which he transferred (changing it under the influence of related stories) to Hjörvarth, Helgi's father, because he knew that Chlodovech was Theuderik's father.
This conjecture is supported by the fact that the Lay of Hjörvarth and his son Helgi shows traces of other Merovingian stories of events and persons of about the same period.
Chlodovech's son Theuderik was married to a daughter of the Burgundian king Sigimund, son of Gundobad. Theuderik's brother Chlodomer set out on an expedition against the Burgundians, took Sigimund captive, and ordered him (though his brother's father-in-law) to be killed in the year 524. Chlodomer called on Theuderik for help when he marched into the land of the Burgundians. Theuderik promised aid; but, according to inferior MSS. of Gregory of Tours, he thought of revenging his father-in-law. In the expedition against the Burgundians Chlodomer fell. Fredegar relates that he was deceived by the auxiliaries which Theuderik, Sigimund's son-in-law, had sent him.
In my opinion, we have a trace of Chlodomer in Hróðmarr of the Eddic poem. The latter was a suitor of Sigrlinn before she became Hjörvarth's wife. Being unsucessful, he kills her father, and plunders and burns in his land. He is afterwards killed by Helgi, who, for the expedition against Hróthmar, obtains auxiliaries from his father Hjörvarth.
The names Chlothildis and Chrothildis were interchangeable among the Franks. It was very natural for Scandinavians to alter in like manner the Frankish name Chlodomer into Hróðmarr, because the first part of the name, Hlod-, Chlodo-, was not used in Scandinavian names, except in the case of Chlodovech or Ludwig, which was reproduced by Hlöðvér.
That the ON poem has in this incident completely distorted the historical course of events, is not surprising.
Helgi Hjörvarthsson's love is called Sváfa. Theuderik's wife was called Suavegotta, according to Flodoardus. (18) Gregory of Tours tells (III, chap. 5), that Theuderik (in the year 522) married the daughter of the Burgundian king Sigimund; but he does not give her name. This daughter must have been Suavegotta; (19) and of her name the Sváfa of the Eddic poem may be a shortened form. We may compare Berta = Bertrada, Lioba = Liobgytha, Hruada = Hruadlauga, and similar German names; (20) also the AS gen. pl. Hræda, Hrêða alongside *Hrædgotan, Hrêðgotan, the gen. pl. Wedera alongside Wedergéatas, the form used by Latin authors Visi (sing. Vesus) synonymous with Visigothae.
Since Suavegotta was the daughter of a Burgundian king, Suáfa may possibly, before she was made into the daughter of Eylimi, (21) have contributed to the naming of Sváfaland in the ON poem, where the corresponding Burgundian story mentioned the land of the Burgundians. (22)
But in the description of Sváfa, the ON poem is completely at variance with history. In the Hrímgerth lay, after the model of Sigrún, she is represented as a woman with supernatural powers.
11. The relation of this story to epic poetry is treated by P. Rajna in Le Origini dell epopea francese, chap. 3; cf. also Godefroid Kurth, Histoire poétique des Mérovingiens, Paris, 1893, pp. 225-251. Back
12. Fredegar, III, 17-19, ed. Krusch, pp. 99-101. Back
13. Ed. Krusch, pp. 254-257. Back
14. I cannot, therefore, agree with Sijmons in Paul-Braune, Beit., IV, 185, who thinks that Sváfaland in the prose is found after the name of the King Sváfnir in the verse, and that this name is genuine ON., of the same origin as Odin's name and that of the serpent Sváfnir. I share with Uhland (Schriften, VII, 129) and F. Jónsson (Lit. Hist., I, 250) the opposite opinion that Sváfnir is made up from the folk-name contained in Sváfaland, the form being determined by the native names of the serpent and of Odin. Jessen (Eddalieder, p. 5, note I) says: 'Dass die Prosastückchen Kriege in den "Südlanden," speciel "Schwabenlande" erwähnen,......beweist, dass wir eine späte Gestaltung der Sage vor uns haben, aus der Zeit, wo man es liebte den Schauplatz ins Enorme zu erweitern, wie das in der Hervararsaga und andern Fornaldarsögur geschieht.' On the contrary, I have, I think, proved that the name Sváfaland belonged to the story in its oldest Norse form, and that it is to be explained by the fact that from the very beginning the story was subjected to foreign influence. Back
15. On double and triple weddings in later Scandinavian tales, see A. Olrik, Sakses Oldhist., I, 46 f. Back
16. We have a variation of the same kind in the mediæval versions of the story of Jason and Medea. According to the Trójumanna saga, Medea sends her sister to Jason, but in Benoît de Ste. More and the Irish Togail Troi she sends a handmaid. That in this point the Trójumanna saga preserves the more original form of the story, is seen from Ovid, Heroides, XII, 65 ff. Back
17. That Álof as the name of the royal bride's companion had its origin in Saedeleuba, the Frankish name of the royal bride's sister, is quite possible, and seems to me probable; but it cannot be proved. Back
18. Historia Remensis, II, chap. 1; Bibl. max. patr., XVII, p. 530. Back
19. Detter, in Sievers, Beit., XVIII, 96-98, points out resemblances between Svanhvita in Saxo (ed. Müller, Bk. II, p. 96), on the one hand, and Sváfa, together with Sigrún, on the other. He concludes from this that Sváfa, for *Svanfa, is an abbreviation of Svanhvít. I cannot accept this explanation. The poem on Svanhvita and Regnerus is a comparatively late poem. It has features borrowed both from the Helgi poems and from the Wayland lay. From the latter Svanhvita got her name. Back
20. According to Stark, Kosenamen, p. 15. Back
21. I intend to discuss the name Eylimi (which is also borne by the grandfather of Sigurth Fáfnisbani) in my treatment of the Sigurth story. Back
22. Sváfa, in Hyndl., 17, is a different person. Back
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