Gorgeous Guthrun killed
her own husband
and her two sons,
before she herself fell dead.
{305} Guthrunarkvitha II (The Second Poem of Guthrun)
In Guthrunarkvitha II (“The Second Poem of Guthrun”), Guthrun’s husband Attila has killed her brothers Gunnar and Hogni, but she has not yet avenged them (thus contradicting the story of her immediate vengeance told in Atlakvitha). Guthrun speaks with a king named Thjothrek, telling him about how her brothers killed Sigurth, and about the tragedies that have befallen her since, including the murder of her brothers by Attila. The poem is fairly straightforward, but the reader should keep in mind that Guthrun is recollecting events told in previous poems, often with slight differences and extra details. For example, Guthrun recalls that her brothers killed Sigurth out of jealousy (Brynhild is not mentioned, except as Attila’s sister), and that Guthrun then wandered away from home, spending three and a half years in the company of Thora, daughter of King Hakon of Denmark, before her brothers and mother found her again and gave her a magical potion to make her forget Sigurth and his murder.
Guthrunarkvitha II
King Thjothrek was with Attila and had lost nearly all his men. Thjothrek and Guthrun spoke of their sorrows to one another. This is what Guthrun told Thjothrek:
[1] “MY MOTHER GAVE ME BIRTH
in a royal home.
I was beautiful, a famous woman.
I loved my brothers well,
till my father Gjuki
adorned me with gold,
wrapped me in gold,
and gave me to Sigurth.
[2] “And my Sigurth,
compared to my brothers,
was like a garlic stalk
that towers above the grass,
or like a tall stag
that towers over other beasts,
{306} or like ember-hued gold
next to tarnished silver.
[3] “But my brothers
hated that my husband
was a far greater man
than they were.
They could not sleep,
they could barely think,
till they brought about
the death of Sigurth.
[4] “I heard weapons clash.
Grani came home,
but Sigurth was not
riding him.
All the horses
ran with sweat;
the murderers
rode them hard.
[5] “I wept, and I went
to speak with Grani,
to ask Sigurth’s horse
for news. Grani wept, too,
he sank to his knees,
his head drooped in the grass;
the horse knew
his lord had fallen.
[6] “I mulled it over so long,
I doubted it so long,
before I asked
Gunnar about Sigurth.
[7] “Gunnar’s head drooped,
and Hogni told me
of the wounds
that caused Sigurth’s death:
‘Your husband, who killed
Gotthorm, lies dead
{307} across the river,
left as food for the wolves.
[8] “‘Look for Sigurth
on the road to the south—
listen for
calling ravens,
screaming eagles,
howling wolves,
all enjoying a meal
of your dead husband.’
[9] “‘Oh Hogni,
why do you want to tell me,
a grieving widow,
such horrors?
I hope ravens will eat
your own heart,
far away, across
lands no one knows of!’
[10] “Then Hogni
answered me,
that hard-hearted man,
he spoke with real sorrow:
‘It will only be
another reason for you to weep,
sister, when the ravens
eat my own heart.’
[11] “I left on my own,
and went into the woods,
to find what the wolves
had left of Sigurth.
I held back my tears—
I didn’t wring my hands
or cry out
like other women,
when I sat and starved
next to my Sigurth.
{308} [12] “That night
was hatefully dark
when I sat alone,
heartbroken, over Sigurth’s corpse;
I would have thought
the wolves merciful
if they had
torn me apart,
or if I had been burned
like a pile of birch twigs.
[13] “I departed for the mountains,
I wandered five days and nights
till I came to the high-roofed
hall of Half.
[14] “I stayed with Thora,
daughter of King Hakon,
in Denmark
for three and a half years.
She tried to comfort me,
she sewed scenes of
southern halls and
Danish swans for me in gold.
[15] “The two of us
sewed tapestries,
we sewed pictures
with great skill.
We sewed warriors fighting,
and red shields,
and helmets and swords,
and proud bands of soldiers.
[16] “We sewed Sigmund’s ships
departing from shore,
we sewed golden helmets,
tall ships,
we showed in pictures
how Sigar and Siggeir
{309} fought in the south,
on the island of Fyn.
[17] “Then Grimhild,
my mother,
queen of the Goths,
learned what I was doing.
She stopped her own sewing,
she summoned her sons
and she asked
which of them
would compensate me
threefold for my son’s loss,
who would repay me
for my husband’s loss.
[18] “Gunnar was willing
to offer gold
to put the matter to rest,
and Hogni was, too.
Then Grimhild told them
that whoever was willing
must saddle a horse,
and fill a wagon,
ride to me
with his hawks,
shoot arrows
from his bow.
[19] “Valdar the Dane
went with them, and Jarizleif,
Eymoth was the third,
and Jarizkar.
Those handsome
Langobardic kings
came in,
they had red cloaks,
tailored shirts of chainmail,
they had pointed helmets,
they had swords at their belts,
and their hair was chestnut.
{310} [20] “Each of them wanted
to give me treasures,
to give me treasures,
and speak pleasant words;
they wanted to know
if I would give my brothers
peace and forgiveness—
but I was still suspicious.
[21] “Then Grimhild brought me
a drinking-horn.
The drink was eerily cold,
and I drank it, and forgot everything.
That drink had been
enchanted with the earth’s might,
with the cold sea
and the blood of her sons.
[22] “There were all sorts
of runes in that horn,
carved there and bloodied,
I couldn’t read them.
Th
ere was a long sea serpent
carved on the horn,
there was an ear of wheat,
there were animal guts.
[23] “Many evil things
were mixed into that beer,
the blood of all beasts,
and burned acorns,
and eagle’s blood,
and intestines, and
boiled pig’s liver, all because
she wanted to make me forget.
[24] “And I forgot it all,
when I drank that poison beer.
In that hall, I forgot
my husband’s murder.
And three kings
{311} came to speak to me,
but my mother
spoke up first, and said:
[25] “‘Guthrun, my daughter,
I give you gold,
and all sorts of property,
golden rings,
the halls of Hlothver,
and rich tapestries
as inheritance
from your father.
[26] “‘And more:
Handy Hunnish girls
who’ll make golden tapestries
to please you.
And more: You alone will have
the wealth of Buthli—
you will be adorned with gold,
and married to Attila.’
[27] “I said, ‘I don’t want
to marry this man,
I don’t want Brynhild’s brother
for my husband.
It would not suit me
to marry Attila,
the son of Buthli,
nor to bear his children.’
[28] “Grimhild said, ‘Don’t blame
Attila for your loss,
we were the ones
who did you wrong.
When you have sons
with Attila, you’ll feel
as happy as if Sigmund
and Sigurth both lived.’
{312} [29] “I said, ‘Mother, I cannot
find joy in life,
I have no wish
to marry Attila,
since the ravens
and the wolves
drank the blood
from my Sigurth’s heart.’
[30] “Grimhild said, ‘Attila is
a noble-born man;
he is the foremost of kings
in every respect.
You will marry him,
and be his wife till old age—
or you will be forever
without a husband, if you refuse.’
[31] “I said, ‘Do not
plead the case
of this hateful family
to me, not so eagerly.
Attila will cause
Gunnar great harm;
he will cut
the heart of Hogni out.
And then I will not rest
till I have taken
the life
of my husband.’
[32] “Grimhild wept
when she responded,
when she heard
of the death of her sons,
of the great wounds
to her sons:
[33] “‘I will give you still
more lands and men—
have Vinbjorg and Valbjorg,
{313} if you will take them!
Take them for yours forever
and enjoy them, daughter!’
[34] “I said, ‘I will take
this king for my husband,
since my own nearest kin
have forced this choice on me.
This man does not take me
by my own free will;
the sons of my brothers’ killer
will not be safe from me.’
[35] “Soon each of the warriors
mounted up on horseback,
and I, the royal bride,
was driven away in a wagon.
We rode seven days
through a cold land,
and the next seven
we sailed over the sea,
and in the next seven days
we walked on dry land.
[36] “Then guardsmen
in their high tower
drew up the gates,
and we rode into the town.
[37] “Attila watched me closely;
I must have seemed
full of hate to him,
thinking of what I had foreseen.
[38] “Attila said, ‘The Norns
have sent me a bad dream.’
He said that he wanted me to
interpret his nightmare:
‘I thought I saw you,
Guthrun, Gjuki’s daughter,
{314} stab me with a sword
treacherously.’
[39] “I said, ‘When you dream
of iron, it’s an omen of fire,
to dream of a woman’s wrath
is an omen of pride and conceit.
I’ll add wood to the fire
to chase away the evil,
I will gently doctor you,
though I hate you.’
[40] “Attila said, ‘I thought
I saw branches burn,
branches that I wanted
to let grow in my garden;
they were severed from their roots
and reddened in blood,
they were brought to my table,
and offered to me for food.
[41] “‘I thought that some hawks
flew from my hand,
they flew unhappily
to a horrible final end.
chewed them up with honey—
I was sorrowful,
I was covered in blood.
[42] “‘I thought that I let
some dogs loose from my hands,
and they both
howled joylessly.
I thought I saw
their flesh die and rot,
and I was forced
to eat them.’
{315} [43] “I said, ‘This means that
men will sacrifice,
cut the heads
from some white beasts.
Those sacrificial victims
will be kept a few nights,
and before the dawn
the men will eat them.’
[44] “Attila said, ‘I lay in bed,
but I could not sleep,
my sleep was restless;
I remember it clearly.’”
{316} Guthrunarkvitha III (The Third Poem of Guthrun)
Like Guthrunarkvitha II, this poem takes place in a timeline in which Guthrun’s brothers Gunnar and Hogni have been killed by her husband Attila, but she has not yet avenged them. In this short poem, she has been seen talking with Thjothrek (as she does in the preceding Guthrunarkvitha II), and this leads Herkja, a concubine of Attila’s, to insinuate to Attila that Guthrun and Thjothrek are sleeping together (medieval Norse society placed a premium on the sexual fidelity of wives but not husbands). Guthrun is proven innocent by the ordeal of the boiling kettle. In this ordeal, a stone is placed at the bottom of a kettle that is full of boiling water and specially blessed for this purpose; the accused woman must stick her hand into the kettle and pull the stone out without any signs of injury. If her arm is burned in the kettle, she is presumed guilty.
Guthrunarkvitha III
Herkja was the name of one of Attila’s servingwomen; she had been his concubine. She told Attila that she had seen Guthrun and Thjothrek together, and this made Attila very unhappy. Then Guthrun said:
[1] “WHAT IS BOTHERING YOU,
Attila, son of Buthli?
Are you sad in spirit?
Why do you never laugh?
It would seem better
to your noble men,
if you would speak with them,
and look at me.”
[2] Attila said, “It worries me,
Guthrun
, daughter of Gjuki,
what Herkja said to me
here in my hall:
that you and Thjothrek
slept together
{317} under one roof,
that you played in the sheets.”
[3] Guthrun said, “I will swear
oaths to you about this,
I’ll swear on that holy
white stone,
that Thjothrek
and I have never
had relations
as men and women do.
[4] “I might have embraced
that lord of warriors,
that fearless man,
one time,
but our conversation
was about another matter,
when the two of us
whispered about our sorrows.
[5] “Thjothrek came here
with thirty men,
and he is the only one
of those thirty now living.
And as for me, you killed
my brothers, and their warriors,
you took all my family
away from me.
[6] “Send for King Saxi
from the south,
he’ll know how to bless
the kettle for the trial by ordeal.”
[7] Seven hundred men
came to Attila’s hall
to see the king’s wife
pass the ordeal of the kettle.
{318} [8] Guthrun said, “Gunnar
will not come to me,
I cannot call on Hogni,
I’ll never see my brothers again.
Hogni would have avenged
this insult with his sword.
But now I must prove
my innocence on my own.”
[9] She thrust her beautiful hand
to the bottom of the boiling kettle,
and she took the gemstones
that lay at the bottom.
“Now look, everyone!
I am proven innocent
in the holiest of ways,
and look how the kettle boils!”
[10] Then Attila laughed
with a whole heart
when he saw Guthrun’s
hands were uninjured.
“Now Herkja
will have to brave the ordeal,
the one who insulted
Guthrun’s good name!”
[11] No one pitied
Herkja, when they saw
her hands burned
in the boiling kettle.
And they drowned her
in a stinking swamp—
she got that for causing
Guthrun’s trouble.
{319} Oddrunargratr (The Weeping of Oddrun)
This poem, which was probably composed fairly late, involves Oddrun, a sister of Brynhild and Attila who had an ill-fated love affair with Gunnar. In this poem, Oddrun assists another woman named Borgny in giving birth to twins, and then Oddrun proceeds to tell her tragic love story. The poem suggests that this affair was part of Attila’s motivation in killing Gunnar, and that Borgny’s otherwise unknown lover Vilmund was the killer of Hogni (st. 8).