that Gust used to own,
will cause the death
of two brothers,
and cause grief
for eight kings.
No one will enjoy
my treasure.”
{236} The Aesir gave Hreithmar the gold. They filled the otter-skin with gold and set the skin on its feet, so that they could cover it with gold from the outside. And when this was done, Hreithmar reached forward and saw one whisker that was still visible, and told the Aesir to cover it. Odin took the ring Andvaranaut and covered the whisker with it.
[6] “The gold is delivered,” said Loki.
“We’ve paid a huge price
for my head.
I do not foresee
happiness for your son.
This gold will be the death of you both.”
Hreithmar said:
[7] “You gave gifts,
but you did not give willingly,
you did not give with a whole heart.
I would have killed you,
both of you,
if I had known it beforehand.”
[8] Loki said, “It seems to me
that it will only get worse—
men will fight over this gold.
This gold is fated, I think,
to cause hateful news
for kings still unborn.”
[9] “This gold,” said Hreithmar,
“will be mine
as long as I live.
I’m not afraid at all
of your threats.
Go home.”
Fafnir and Regin asked Hreithmar for some of the treasure, in payment for the loss of their brother Otter. He denied their requests, but Fafnir killed Hreithmar with a sword while he slept. Hreithmar called out to his daughters:
{237} [10] “Lyngheith and Lofnheith,
I am dying! But everyone is destined
for some torment.”
Lyngheith answered:
“Few sisters will take vengeance
against a brother,
even for their father.”
[11] “Have a daughter,” said Hreithmar,
“a wolf-fierce girl,
if you cannot have a son
with a king.
You’ll need to marry
that girl to a man,
and at last her son
will avenge your sorrow.”
Then Hreithmar died, and Fafnir took all the gold. Regin asked for his share in the inheritance from their father, but Fafnir would give him nothing. Regin went to his sister Lyngheith and asked how he should secure his share of the inheritance. She said:
[12] “Talk to your brother
pleasantly about the matter,
with a friendly attitude.
You won’t get much
from Fafnir if you try
to persuade him with a sword.”
Regin told Sigurth these things. One day, when Sigurth came to Regin’s house, Regin greeted him happily. Regin said:
[13] “Here is the son
of Sigmund,
a clever boy,
he’s come to my hall.
He has more courage
than this old man;
I suspect this young wolf
has hope of good hunting.
{238} [14] “I will raise him
in my house,
this noble boy,
make a war-brave king out of him.
He’ll grow up to be
the greatest king beneath the sun,
the tale of his deeds
will be told everywhere.”
Sigurth was always with Regin, and Regin told Sigurth about how Fafnir lay on Gnitaheith in the form of a dragon. He had a helmet of terror that instilled fear in all living things.
Regin made a sword called Gram for Sigurth. This sword was so sharp that he put its blade in the river Rhine and let a tuft of wool flow downstream onto the blade, and the wool split as if it were water. With this sword, Sigurth cut Regin’s anvil in half. After this, Regin encouraged Sigurth to kill Fafnir. Sigurth said:
[15] “The sons of Hunding,
who killed my father and
my father-in-law Eylimi,
would laugh out loud
if I seemed to care
more for golden rings
than for vengeance
for my father Sigmund.”
King Hjalprek outfitted Sigurth with ships and men for his mission of avenging his father. They were caught in a bad storm and delayed at a certain headland. A man stood on the rock and said:
[16] “Who is it there
riding those ships
on the high waves,
on the roaring sea?
Those ships are sure
sweating with the trouble;
I doubt that they
will stand up to the wind.”
Regin answered:
[17] “Here I am, with Sigurth,
on these ships,
this breeze will blow us
{239} to our deaths.
A high wave
crashes on deck,
the ships will wreck.
Who is asking?”
Battle-Stirrer,
when young Volsung
set a table for the ravens.
You can call me
‘Man on the Rock,’
or ‘Burden’ or ‘Spellcaster.’
I want a ride.”
They went to land and the man came onto the ship, and the weather immediately improved.
[19] Sigurth said, “Tell me,
Battle-Stirrer, since you know
the omens of gods and humans,
what is the best
kind of omen
when men are about to fight?”
Battle-Stirrer said:
[20] “There are many good omens
before one goes into battle,
if you know how to recognize them.
A man with a faithful following
of black-winged ravens
will fight a winning battle.
[21] “There is a second good omen:
If you are outside,
out on the road,
and you see two men
standing in the yard,
ready to make battle.
[22] “There is a third omen:
If you hear a wolf howl
{240} under the limbs of an ash,
you and not your enemy
will have good luck,
if you see him first.
[23] “No one
should leave for battle
facing the
setting sun.
Bold men
have victories
if they can see,
or line up in formation.
[24] “You are in grave danger
if you stumble
on your way to battle.
It means that evil spirits
stand on either side of you,
and want to see you get hurt.
[25] “Every man should
keep himself well-kempt and clean,
and eat up in the morning.
You never know
where you’ll be in the evening,
so it’s bad to leave home hungry.”
Sigurth had a great battle against Lyngvi, son of Hunding, and his brothers. Lyngvi and his three brothers were killed. After the battle Regin said:
[26] “Now the bloody eagle
is carved with a bitter blade
on the back
of the killer of Sigmund.
No better man
than Sigurth has ever
soaked the earth with blood,
and set a table for the ravens.”
Sigurth went home to Hjalprek. Then Regin encouraged Sigurth to kill Fafnir.
{241} Fafnismal (The Tale of Fafnir)
Fafnismal (literally “Fafnir’s Words”) continues the trilogy of poems concerning the adventures of Sigur
th as a young adult. Here, Sigurth stabs the dragon Fafnir and has a long conversation with the dying dragon, including stanzas in which Fafnir gives apparently irrelevant advice (st. 11) as well as information about the Norns and gods (st. 13, 15). Once the dragon has died, Regin encourages Sigurth to cook his heart, but Sigurth burns his finger on the meat and then places the burnt finger in his mouth, gaining the power to understand birds when he does so. With his new ability, he is warned by some wagtails (an Old World type of long-tailed bird) that Regin will betray him. Sigurth slays Regin and then listens to the birds describe the ladies he could potentially woo—including both of the women he will later court, Guthrun and Brynhild/ Sigerdrifa. The birds are called igthur in the Old Norse text, and my identification of them as wagtails (uniquely among Englishlanguage translators) is based on the use of a related word for wagtails in some Norwegian dialects.
Fafnismal
Sigurth and Regin went up on Gnitaheith, and there they found the path that Fafnir followed when he slithered down to the water. Sigurth dug a deep pit in the path, and hid himself inside. When Fafnir slithered off his heap of gold and onto the path, he blew poison from his mouth, spraying it over Sigurth’s head. And when Fafnir slithered over Sigurth’s pit, Sigurth thrust his sword through the dragon up to the heart. Fafnir trembled and thrashed his head and tail. Sigurth leapt out of the pit, and the two saw one another. Fafnir said:
[1] “YOUNG MAN, YOUNG MAN!
Who is your father?
What family are you from?
Who are you who reddened
your glistening sword in Fafnir?
The sword is in my heart.”
{242} Sigurth did not reveal his name, because they believed in old times that the words of a dying man were powerful, if he cursed his enemy by name. Sigurth said:
[2] “I am called ‘clever beast,’
and I have always been
a motherless son.
I don’t have a father
like the sons of men do.
I am always alone.”
Fafnir said:
[3] “If you had no father
like the sons of men do,
in what strange way were you born?”
Sigurth said:
[4] “I think my family
is unknown to you,
my identity as well.
I am named Sigurth,
my father was Sigmund—
it was I who killed you with weapons.”
Fafnir said:
[5] “Who made you do it?
Why did you let someone
convince you to take my life?
You fierce-eyed young man,
I don’t doubt you had a warlike father;
it shows clearly in your eyes.”
Sigurth said:
my hands assisted me,
and my sharp sword, too.
Not many men are brave
in adulthood,
if they were cowards as boys.”
{243} Fafnir said:
[7] “I know, if you had grown up
in your own family’s embrace,
you might have killed me for courage’s sake.
But you are a prisoner,
one taken in war—
they say captives always tremble.”
Sigurth said:
[8] “Why do you mock me, Fafnir,
for being far away
from my father’s kin?
I am no prisoner,
though I was taken in war—
you noticed that I live free.”
Fafnir said:
[9] “You think that everything
I say to you is mockery,
but I tell you the truth:
my clanging gold,
this wealth that glows like embers,
will bring about your death.”
Sigurth said:
[10] “Every man will
have control of his wealth
till his fated death-day,
but there is a time
when each one of us
leaves here for Hel.”
Fafnir said:
[11] “You’ll meet your death
if you sail too close to land,
and what a foolish death it will be.
You’ll drown in the water,
if you row in the wind—
everything is dangerous for a doomed man.”
{244} Sigurth said:
[12] “Tell me, Fafnir,
they say you are wise,
and very knowledgeable—
who are the Norns
who govern childbirth
and choose who mothers what child?”
Fafnir said:
[13] “There are various
different kinds of Norns:
they are not all of one family.
Some are god-born,
some are elves,
others come from the dwarves.”
Sigurth said:
[14] “Tell me, Fafnir,
they say you are wise,
and very knowledgeable—
what is the name of the island
where the gods and giants
will fight their final battle?”
Fafnir said:
[15] “It is called Oskopnir;
and there all the gods
will wage war.
Bifrost will break
when they cross that bridge;
their horses will swim it.
[16] “I wore a terror-helmet
against all men
so long as I sat on my treasure.
I thought I alone
was braver than everyone:
not many came to meet me.”
{245} Sigurth said:
[17] “That terror-helmet
will not save anyone
when angry men come together to fight.
When a real battle starts,
you’ll always find
that there is no bravest man.”
Fafnir said:
[18] “I blew poison from my jaws
as long as I lay
upon my father’s great treasure.”
Sigurth said:
[19] “You brave snake,
you blew your poison,
and you had a bold heart.
But men hate you,
and their hate grows all the more
because you have that helmet.”
Fafnir said:
[20] “I advise you, Sigurth:
Take my advice,
and ride home from here.
My clanging gold,
this ember-glowing wealth,
will bring about your death.”
Sigurth said:
[21] “I hear your advice,
but I will ride to the gold
where it lies on the ground—
and you, Fafnir,
stay here and die,
and Hel can have you.”
{246} Fafnir said:
[22] “Regin betrayed me,
he will betray you as well.
He will bring death to us both.
I think that I am nearly
on the point of dying:
you had the greater strength, for now.”
Regin had been away while Sigurth fought Fafnir, but he came back as Sigurth wiped the blood from his blade. Regin said:
[23] “Hail, Sigurth!
Now you’ve won a victory
and killed Fafnir.
Of all men
who live on the earth,
I think you’re the least cowardly.”
Sigurth said:
[24] “It’s impossible to say,
when we compare
all sons of men,
which one is least cowardly—
there’s many a bold man
who’s never bloodied a sword
in another man’s chest.”
Regin said:
[
25] “You are happy now, Sigurth,
wiping the blood
off your sword in the grass,
rejoice in your victory!
But you have killed my brother,
though I had a part in that also.”
Sigurth said:
[26] “It was your advice
that I should ride here
to these frosty mountains:
the shining serpent
would still have life, and the treasure,
if you had not challenged my courage.”
{247} Then Regin went to Fafnir’s body and cut the heart out with his sword Rithil. Regin drank the blood from the wound. Regin said:
[27] “Sit now, Sigurth,
roast Fafnir’s heart on the fire.
I will be sleeping.
I want to make
a meal of his heart
after that drink of dragon’s blood.”
Sigurth said:
[28] “You hid far away
while I killed Fafnir
with my sharp sword.
I tested my strength
against the dragon,
while you crept in the bushes.”
Regin said:
[29] “You would have left
that ancient monster
creeping in the bushes himself,
if you did not have the sword
that I made for you,
that good sharp sword of yours.”
Sigurth said:
[30] “When men are in battle,
a courageous heart
means more than a sharp sword.
I’ve seen a brave man
win a victory,
though he fought with a dull blade.
[31] “Better to be bold
than a coward,
when sharp swords come together.
Better to be cheerful
than gloomy,
however events may turn.”
{248} Sigurth took Fafnir’s heart and roasted it on a spit. And when he thought it would be fully cooked, and the blood all boiled out of the heart, he tested whether the heart was ready to eat by touching it with his finger. His finger was burned, and he put it in his mouth. But when the blood from Fafnir’s heart touched his tongue, he could understand the language of birds. He heard some wagtails talking in the branches above him. One of the wagtails said:
[32] “There sits Sigurth,
splattered with blood,
cooking Fafnir’s heart
on the open flame.
I would say this prince
was a wise man,
if he were the one who ate
the dragon’s heart.”
A second one said:
[33] “Over there is Regin,
conspiring against Sigurth,
he’ll betray this boy
who trusts him.
In his bloody rage,
he ponders evil—
that wrongdoer
will avenge his brother.”
A third wagtail said:
[34] “He should let that crafty Regin
go straight to Hel,