Atlamol En Grönlenzku: The Greenland Ballad of Atli

Henry Adams Bellows's notes to his translation (1923; Project Gutenberg #73533).

1. Stanza 1 There are many who know | how of old did men In counsel gather; | little good did they get; In secret they plotted, | it was sore for them later, And for Gjuki’s sons, | whose trust they deceived.
2. Stanza 1 Men: Atli and his advisers, with whom he planned the death of the sons of Gjuki, Gunnar and Hogni. The poet’s reference to the story as well known explains the abruptness of his introduction, without the mention of Atli’s name, and his reference to Guthrun in stanza 3 simply as “the woman” (“husfreyja,” goddess of the house).
3. Stanza 2 Fate grew for the princes, | to death they were given; Ill counsel was Atli’s, | though keenness he had; He felled his staunch bulwark, | his own sorrow fashioned, Soon a message he sent | that his kinsmen should seek him.
4. Stanza 2 Princes: Atli, Gunnar, and Hogni. Bulwark: Atli’s slaying of his wife’s brothers, who were ready to support and defend him in his greatness, was the cause of his own death.
5. Stanza 3 Wise was the woman, | she fain would use wisdom, She saw well what meant | all they said in secret; From her heart it was hid | how help she might render, The sea they should sail, | while herself she should go not.
6. Stanza 3 The woman: Guthrun, concerning whose marriage to Atli cf. Guthrunarkvitha II. The sea: a late and essentially Greenland variation of the geography of the Atli story. Even the Atlakvitha, perhaps half a century earlier, separates Atli’s land from that of the Gjukungs only by a forest.
7. Stanza 4 Runes did she fashion, | but false Vingi made them, The speeder of hatred, | ere to give them he sought; Then soon fared the warriors | whom Atli had sent, And to Limafjord came, | to the home of the kings.
8. Stanza 4 Runes: on the two versions of Guthrun’s warning, and also on the name of the messenger (here Vingi), cf. Drap Niflunga and note. Limafjord: probably the Limfjord of northern Jutland, an important point in the wars of the eleventh century. The name was derived from “Eylimafjǫrþ,” i.e., Eylimi’s fjord. The poet may really have thought that the kingdom of the Burgundians was in Jutland, or he may simply have taken a well-known name for the sake of vividness.
9. Stanza 5 They were kindly with ale, | and fires they kindled, They thought not of craft | from the guests who had come; The gifts did they take | that the noble one gave them, On the pillars they hung them, | no fear did they harbor.
10. Stanza 5 Some editors assume a gap after this stanza.
11. Stanza 5 Other editors are doubtful about the authenticity of either line 3 or line 5.
12. Stanza 6 Forth did Kostbera, wife | of Hogni, then come, Full kindly she was, | and she welcomed them both; And glad too was Glaumvor, | the wife of Gunnar, She knew well to care | for the needs of the guests.
13. Stanza 6 Some editions place this stanza between stanzas 7 and 8. Kostbera (“The Giver of Food”) and Glaumvor (“The Merry”): presumably creations of the poet. Both: Atli’s two emissaries, Vingi and the one here unnamed (Knefröth?).
14. Stanza 7 Then Hogni they asked | if more eager he were, Full clear was the guile, | if on guard they had been; Then Gunnar made promise, | if Hogni would go, And Hogni made answer | as the other counseled.
15. Stanza 7 It is altogether probable that a stanza has been lost between stanzas 6 and 7, in which Gunnar is first invited, and replies doubtfully. Made promise: many editions emend the text to read “promised the journey.” The text of line 4 is obscure; the manuscript reads “nitti” (“refused”), which many editors have changed to “hlitti,” which means exactly the opposite.
16. Stanza 8 Then the famed ones brought mead, | and fair was the feast, Full many were the horns, | till the men had drunk deep; . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . Then the mates made ready | their beds for resting.
17. Stanza 8 No gap is indicated in the manuscript; Bugge adds (line 3): “Then the warriors rose, | and to slumber made ready.” The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 1–2. Others suggest the loss of a line after line 4.
18. Stanza 9 Wise was Kostbera, | and cunning in rune-craft, The letters would she read | by the light of the fire; But full quickly her tongue | to her palate clave, So strange did they seem | that their meaning she saw not.
19. Stanza 9 The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as the beginning of a stanza; cf. note on stanza 8.
20. Stanza 10 Full soon then his bed | came Hogni to seek, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . The clear-souled one dreamed, | and her dream she kept not, To the warrior the wise one | spake when she wakened:
21. Stanza 10 Some editions combine this stanza with lines 1–2 of stanza 11. The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig adds (line 2): “But sleep to the woman | so wise came little.”
22. Stanza 11 “Thou wouldst go hence, Hogni, | but heed my counsel,— Known to few are the runes,— | and put off thy faring; I have read now the runes | that thy sister wrote, And this time the bright one | did not bid thee to come.
23. Stanza 11 Some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 1–2, or combine them with stanza 10, and combine lines 3–4 with stanza 12 (either lines 1–4 or 1–2). The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza.
24. Stanza 12 “Full much do I wonder, | nor well can I see, Why the woman wise | so wildly hath written; But to me it seems | that the meaning beneath Is that both shall be slain | if soon ye shall go. But one rune she missed, | or else others have marred it.” Hogni spake:
25. Stanza 12 Line 5 may be spurious, or else all that is left of a lost stanza. The manuscript marks it as the beginning of a new stanza, which, as the text stands, is clearly impossible.
26. Stanza 13 “All women are fearful; | not so do I feel, Ill I seek not to find | till I soon must avenge it; The king now will give us | the glow-ruddy gold; I never shall fear, | though of dangers I know.” Kostbera spake:
27. Stanza 13 The manuscript, followed by some editions, has “Hogni spake” in the middle of line 1. Ill: the manuscript and many editions have “this.” The king: Atli.
28. Stanza 14 “In danger ye fare, | if forth ye go thither, No welcoming friendly | this time shall ye find; For I dreamed now, Hogni, | and nought will I hide, Full evil thy faring, | if rightly I fear.
29. Stanza 14 The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue between Kostbera and Hogni (stanzas 14–19). Two lines may possibly have been lost after line 2, filling out stanza 14 and making stanza 15 (then consisting of lines 3–4 of stanza 14 and lines 1–2 of stanza 15) the account of Kostbera’s first dream. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. In any case, the lost lines cannot materially have altered the meaning.
30. Stanza 15 “Thy bed-covering saw I | in the flames burning, And the fire burst high | through the walls of my home.” Hogni spake: “Yon garment of linen | lies little of worth, It will soon be burned, | so thou sawest the bed-cover.” Kostbera spake:
31. Stanza 15 Saw I: the manuscript here, as also in stanzas 16, 18, 21, 22, and 24, has “methought,” which involves a metrical error. Some editors regard lines 3–4 as the remains of a four-line stanza. Regarding Kostbera’s warning dreams, and Hogni’s matter-of-fact interpretations of them, cf. Guthrunarkvitha II, 39–44.
32. Stanza 16 “A bear saw I enter, | the pillars he broke, And he brandished his claws | so that craven we were; With his mouth seized he many, | and nought was our might, And loud was the tumult, | not little it was.” Hogni spake:
33. Stanza 16 The meaning of the first half of line 3 in the original is obscure.
34. Stanza 17 “Now a storm is brewing, | and wild it grows swiftly, A dream of an ice-bear | means a gale from the east.” Kostbera spake:
35. Stanza 17 Two lines may have been lost after line 2, but the Volsungasaga paraphrase gives no clue. Ice-bear: polar bears, common in Greenland, are very rarely found in Iceland, and never in Norway, a fact which substantiates the manuscript’s reference to Greenland as the home of the poem.
36. Stanza 18 “An eagle I saw flying | from the end through the house, Our fate must be bad, | for with blood he sprinkled us; . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . From the evil I fear | that ’twas Atli’s spirit.” Hogni spake:
37. Stanza 18 The manuscript indicates no gap, but most editors assume the loss of a line after line 1 or 2; Grundtvig adds, after line 1: “Black were his feathers, | with blood was he covered.” Atli’s spirit: the poet’s folk-lore seems here a bit weak. Presumably he means such a female following-spirit (“fylgja”) as appears in Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, prose following stanza 34 (cf. note thereon), but the word he uses, “hamr” (masculine) means “skin,” “shape.” He may, however, imply that Atli had assumed the shape of an eagle for this occasion.
38. Stanza 19 “They will slaughter soon, | and so blood do we see, Oft oxen it means | when of eagles one dreams; True is Atli’s heart, | whatever thou dreamest.” Then silent they were, | and nought further they said.
39. Stanza 19 The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza.
40. Stanza 20 The high-born ones wakened, | and like speech they had, Then did Glaumvor tell | how in terror she dreamed, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gunnar | two roads they should go. Glaumvor spake:
41. Stanza 20 The manuscript indicates no gap, but none of the many attempted emendations have made sense out of the words as they stand. The proper location for the missing words is sheer guesswork. Two roads: probably the meaning is that their way (i.e., their success) would be doubtful.
42. Stanza 21 “A gallows saw I ready, | thou didst go to thy hanging, Thy flesh serpents ate, | and yet living I found thee; . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . The gods’ doom descended; | now say what it boded.” * * * * * *
43. Stanza 21 The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue (stanzas 21–26). No gap is indicated after line 2. Most editors assume the loss of two lines or of a full stanza after stanza 21 giving Gunnar’s interpretation of Glaumvor’s dream, but the Volsungasaga gives no clue, as it does not mention this first dream at all. Grundtvig suggests as Gunnar’s answer: “Banners are gleaming, | since of gallows didst dream, / And wealth it must mean | that thou serpents didst watch.” Gods’ doom: an odd, and apparently mistaken, use of the phrase “ragna rök” (cf. Voluspo, introductory note).
44. Stanza 22 “A sword drawn bloody | from thy garments I saw,— Such a dream is hard | to a husband to tell,— A spear stood, methought, | through thy body thrust, And at head and feet | the wolves were howling.” Gunnar spake:
45. Stanza 23 “The hounds are running, | loud their barking is heard, Oft hounds’ clamor follows | the flying of spears.” Glaumvor spake:
46. Stanza 23 Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2. Possibly the concluding phrase of line 2 should be “bloody spears,” as in the Volsungasaga paraphrase.
47. Stanza 24 “A river the length | of the hall saw I run, Full swiftly it roared, | o’er the benches it swept; O’er the feet did it break | of ye brothers twain, The water would yield not; | some meaning there was.” * * * * * *
48. Stanza 24 Again Gunnar’s interpretation is missing, and most editors either assume a gap or construct two Malahattr lines out of the Volsungasaga prose paraphrase, which runs: “The grain shall flow, since thou hast dreamed of rivers, and when we go to the fields, often the chaff rises above our feet.”
49. Stanza 25 “I dreamed that by night | came dead women hither, Sad were their garments, | and thee were they seeking; They bade thee come swiftly | forth to their benches, And nothing, methinks, | could the Norns avail thee.” Gunnar spake:
50. Stanza 25 The meaning of line 4 is uncertain, but apparently it refers to the guardian spirits or lesser Norns (cf. Fafnismol, 12–13 and notes).
51. Stanza 26 “Too late is thy speaking, | for so is it settled; From the faring I turn not, | the going is fixed, Though likely it is | that our lives shall be short.”
52. Stanza 26 Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza.
53. Stanza 27 Then bright shone the morning, | the men all were ready, They said, and yet each | would the other hold back; Five were the warriors, | and their followers all But twice as many,— | their minds knew not wisdom.
54. Stanza 27 Five: Gunnar, Hogni, and the three mentioned in stanza 28.
55. Stanza 28 Snævar and Solar, | they were sons of Hogni, Orkning was he called | who came with the others, Blithe was the shield-tree, | the brother of Kostbera; The fair-decked ones followed, | till the fjord divided them, Full hard did they plead, | but the others would hear not.
56. Stanza 28 Perhaps a line has been lost before line 1; Grundtvig supplies: “Gunnar and Hogni, | the heirs twain of Gjuki.” Snævar (the manuscript here has “Snevar”), Solar and Orkning appear only in this poem and in the prose narratives based on it. Lines 2–3 may have been expanded out of one line, or possibly line 3 is spurious. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza out of lines 4–5, many of them assuming the loss of two lines. Shield-tree: warrior (Orkning), here identified as Kostbera’s brother. Fair-decked ones: women, i.e., Glaumvor and Kostbera. Fjord: perhaps specifically the Limafjord mentioned in stanza 4.
57. Stanza 29 Then did Glaumvor speak forth, | the wife of Gunnar, To Vingi she said | that which wise to her seemed: “I know not if well | thou requitest our welcome, Full ill was thy coming | if evil shall follow.”
58. Stanza 30 Then did Vingi swear, | and full glib was his speech, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . “May giants now take me | if lies I have told ye, And the gallows if hostile | thought did I have.”
59. Stanza 30 The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig inserts (line 2): “The evil was clear | when his words he uttered.”
60. Stanza 31 Then did Bera speak forth, | and fair was her thought, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . “May ye sail now happy, | and victory have, To fare as I bid ye, | may nought your way bar.”
61. Stanza 31 Bera: Kostbera; the first element in compound feminine proper names was not infrequently omitted; cf. Hild for Brynhild (Helreith Brynhildar, 6). The manuscript indicates no gap; Grundtvig inserts (line 2): “And clear was her cry | to her kinsmen dear.”
62. Stanza 32 Then Hogni made answer,— | dear held he his kin,— courage, ye wise ones, | whatsoever may come; Though many may speak, | yet is evil oft mighty, And words avail little | to lead one homeward.
63. Stanza 32 Hogni’s method of cheering his wife and sister-in-law is somewhat unusual, for the meaning of lines 3–4 is that good wishes and blessings are of little use in warding off danger.
64. Stanza 33 They tenderly looked | till each turned on his way, Then with changing fate | were their farings divided.
65. Stanza 33 Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2; Grundtvig supplies: “Then weeping did Glaumvor | go to her rest-bed, / And sadly did Bera | her spinning wheel seek.”
66. Stanza 34 Full stoutly they rowed, | and the keel clove asunder, Their backs strained at the oars, | and their strength was fierce; The oar-loops were burst, | the thole-pins were broken, Nor the ship made they fast | ere from her they fared.
67. Stanza 34 Keel, etc.: in the Nibelungenlied, and presumably in the older German tradition, Hagene breaks his oar steering the Burgundians across the Danube (stanza 1564), and, after all have landed, splinters the boat (stanza 1581) in order that there may be no retreating. The poet here seems to have confused the story, connecting the breaking of the ship’s keel with the violence of the rowing, but echoing the older legend in the last line, wherein the ship is allowed to drift away after the travellers have landed. Oar-loops: the thongs by which the oars in a Norse boat were made fast to the thole-pins, the combination taking the place of the modern oarlock.
68. Stanza 35 Not long was it after— | the end must I tell— That the home they beheld | that Buthli once had; Loud the gates resounded | when Hogni smote them; Vingi spake then a word | that were better unsaid:
69. Stanza 35 The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions combine it with stanza 36, some of them assuming the loss of a line from stanza 35. In the Volsungasaga paraphrase the second half of line 4 is made a part of Vingi’s speech: “Better had ye left this undone.”
70. Stanza 36 “Go ye far from the house, | for false is its entrance, Soon shall I burn you, | ye are swiftly smitten; I bade ye come fairly, | but falseness was under, Now bide ye afar | while your gallows I fashion.”
71. Stanza 36 Cf. note on preceding stanza; the manuscript does not indicate line 1 as beginning a stanza. Line 3 may be spurious.
72. Stanza 37 Then Hogni made answer, | his heart yielded little, And nought did he fear | that his fate held in store: “Seek not to affright us, | thou shalt seldom succeed; If thy words are more, | then the worse grows thy fate.”
73. Stanza 37 In the Volsungasaga paraphrase the second half of line 1 and the first half of line 2 are included in Hogni’s speech.
74. Stanza 38 Then Vingi did they smite, | and they sent him to hell, With their axes they clove him | while the death-rattle came.
75. Stanza 38 Possibly two lines have been lost after line 2.
76. Stanza 39 Atli summoned his men, | in mail-coats they hastened, All ready they came, | and between was the courtyard. * * * * * *
77. Stanza 39 It is probable that a considerable passage has been lost between stanzas 39 and 40, for the Volsungasaga paraphrase includes a dialogue at this point. The manuscript indicates no gap, and most editions combine stanzas 39 and 40 as a single stanza. The prose passage, indicating the substance of what, if anything, is lost, runs as follows: “‘Be welcome among us, and give me that store of gold which is ours by right, the gold that Sigurth had, and that now belongs to Guthrun.’ Gunnar said: ‘Never shalt thou get that gold, and men of might shalt thou find here, ere we give up our lives, if it is battle thou dost offer us; in truth it seems that thou hast prepared this feast in kingly fashion, and with little grudging toward eagle and wolf.’” The demand for the treasure likewise appears in the Nibelungenlied.
78. Stanza 40 Then came they to words, | and full wrathful they were: “Long since did we plan | how soon we might slay you.” Hogni spake:
79. Stanza 40 These two lines, which most editions combine with stanza 39, may be the first or last two of a four-line stanza. The Volsungasaga gives Atli’s speech very much as it appears here.
80. Stanza 41 “Little it matters | if long ye have planned it; For unarmed do ye wait, | and one have we felled, We smote him to hell, | of your host was he once.”
81. Stanza 41 The manuscript does not indicate the speaker; Grundtvig adds as a first line: “Then Hogni laughed loud | where the slain Vingi lay.” Many editors assume the loss of a line somewhere in the stanza. Unarmed: Hogni does not see Atli’s armed followers, who are on the other side of the courtyard (stanza 39). One: Vingi.
82. Stanza 42 Then wild was their anger | when all heard his words; Their fingers were swift | on their bowstrings to seize, Full sharply they shot, | by their shields were they guarded.
83. Stanza 42 Most editors assume the loss of one line, after either line 1 or line 3.
84. Stanza 43 In the house came the word | how the heroes without Fought in front of the hall; | they heard a thrall tell it; Grim then was Guthrun, | the grief when she heard, With necklaces fair, | and she flung them all from her, (The silver she hurled | so the rings burst asunder.)
85. Stanza 43 The manuscript reading of lines 1–2, involving a metrical error, is: “In the house came the word | of the warring without, / Loud in front of the hall | they heard a thrall shouting.” Some editors assume a gap of two lines after line 2, the missing passage giving the words of the thrall. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–5, some of them assuming the loss of a line after line 3. With the stanza as here given, line 5 may well be spurious.
86. Stanza 44 Then out did she go, | she flung open the doors, All fearless she went, | and the guests did she welcome; To the Niflungs she went— | her last greeting it was,— In her speech truth was clear, | and much would she speak.
87. Stanza 44 Niflungs: regarding the application of this term to the Burgundians cf. Atlakvitha, 11, and Brot, 17, and notes. The manuscript here spells the name with an initial N, as elsewhere, but in stanza 83 the son of Hogni appears with the name “Hniflung.” In consequence, some editors change the form in this stanza to “Hniflungs,” while others omit the initial H in both cases. I have followed the manuscript, though admittedly its spelling is illogical.
88. Stanza 45 “For your safety I sought | that at home ye should stay; None escapes his fate, | so ye hither must fare.” Full wisely she spake, | if yet peace they might win, But to nought would they hearken, | and “No” said they all.
89. Stanza 46 Then the high-born one saw | that hard was their battle, In fierceness of heart | she flung off her mantle; Her naked sword grasped she | her kin’s lives to guard, Not gentle her hands | in the hewing of battle.
90. Stanza 46 The warlike deeds of Guthrun represent an odd transformation of the German tradition. Kriemhild, although she did no actual fighting in the Nibelungenlied, was famed from early times for her cruelty and fierceness of heart, and this seems to have inspired the poet of the Atlamol to make his Guthrun into a warrior outdoing Brynhild herself. Kriemhild’s ferocity, of course, was directed against Gunther and especially Hagene, for whose slaying she rather than Etzel was responsible; here, on the other hand, Guthrun’s is devoted to the defense of her brothers.
91. Stanza 47 Then the daughter of Gjuki | two warriors smote down, Atli’s brother she slew, | and forth then they bore him; (So fiercely she fought | that his feet she clove off;) Another she smote | so that never he stood, To hell did she send him,— | her hands trembled never.
92. Stanza 47 Line 3 is very likely an interpolation. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza of lines 4–5. Atli’s brother: doubtless a reminiscence of the early tradition represented in the Nibelungenlied by the slaying of Etzel’s brother, Blœdelin (the historical Bleda), by Dancwart.
93. Stanza 48 Full wide was the fame | of the battle they fought, ’Twas the greatest of deeds | of the sons of Gjuki; Men say that the Niflungs, | while themselves they were living, With their swords fought mightily, | mail-coats they sundered, And helms did they hew, | as their hearts were fearless.
94. Stanza 48 Line 3 may well be spurious, for it implies that Gunnar and Hogni were killed in battle, whereas they were taken prisoners. Some editors, in an effort to smooth out the inconsistency, change “themselves” in this line to “sound.” Line 5 has also been questioned as possibly interpolated. Niflungs: on the spelling of this name in the manuscript and the various editions cf. note on stanza 44.
95. Stanza 49 All the morning they fought | until midday shone, (All the dusk as well | and the dawning of day,) When the battle was ended, | the field flowed with blood; Ere they fell, eighteen | of their foemen were slain, By the two sons of Bera | and her brother as well.
96. Stanza 49 Line 2 is probably an interpolation, and the original apparently lacks a word. There is some obscurity as to the exact meaning of lines 4–5. The two sons of Bera: Snævar and Solar; her brother is Orkning; cf. stanza 28.
97. Stanza 50 Then the warrior spake, | and wild was his anger: “This is evil to see, | and thy doing is all; Once we were thirty, | we thanes keen for battle, Now eleven are left, | and great is our lack.
98. Stanza 50 The warrior: Atli. Thirty: perhaps an echo of the “thirty warriors” of Thjothrek (cf. Guthrunarkvitha III, 5). Subtracting the eighteen killed by Snævar, Solar and Orkning (stanza 49), and Vingi, killed by the whole company (stanza 38), we have eleven left, as Atli says, but this does not allow much for the exploits of Gunnar and Hogni, who, by this reckoning, seem to have killed nobody. The explanation probably is that lines 4–5 of stanza 49 are in bad shape.
99. Stanza 51 “There were five of us brothers | when Buthli we lost, Now Hel has the half, | and two smitten lie here; A great kinship had I,— | the truth may I hide not,— From a wife bringing slaughter | small joy could I win.
100. Stanza 51 Five brothers: the Volsungasaga speaks of four (not five) sons of Buthli, but names only Atli. Regarding the death of the first two brothers cf. stanza 91 and note. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a stanza, and many editions combine lines 3–4 with stanza 52. Some insert lines 2–3 of stanza 52 ahead of lines 3–4 of stanza 51.
101. Stanza 52 We lay seldom together | since to me thou wast given, Now my kin all are gone, | of my gold am I robbed; Nay, and worst, thou didst send | my sister to hell.” Guthrun spake:
102. Stanza 52 Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza, which is impossible unless something has been lost. Gold: the meaning of this half line is somewhat doubtful, but apparently Atli refers to Sigurth’s treasure, which should have been his as Brynhild’s brother. Sister: Brynhild; regarding Guthrun’s indirect responsibility for Brynhild’s death cf. Gripisspo, 45 and note.
103. Stanza 53 “Hear me now, Atli! | the first evil was thine; My mother didst thou take, | and for gold didst murder her, My sister’s daughter | thou didst starve in a prison. A jest does it seem | that thy sorrow thou tellest, And good do I find it | that grief to thee comes.” Atli spake:
104. Stanza 53 The manuscript does not name the speaker. The Volsungasaga gives the speech, in somewhat altered form, to Hogni: “Why speakest thou so? Thou wast the first to break peace; thou didst take my kinswoman and starved her in a prison, and murdered her and took her wealth; that was not kinglike; and laughable does it seem to me that thou talkest of thy sorrow, and good shall I find it that all goes ill with thee.” This presumably represents the correct form of the stanza, for nowhere else is it intimated that Atli killed Guthrun’s mother, Grimhild, nor is the niece elsewhere mentioned. Some editions make a separate stanza of lines 4–5, Grundtvig adding a line after line 3 and two more after line
105. Stanza 54 “Go now, ye warriors, | and make greater the grief Of the woman so fair, | for fain would I see it; So fierce be thy warring | that Guthrun shall weep, I would gladly behold | her happiness lost.
106. Stanza 54 The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.
107. Stanza 55 “Seize ye now Hogni, | and with knives shall ye hew him, His heart shall ye cut out, | this haste ye to do; And grim-hearted Gunnar | shall ye bind on the gallows, Swift shall ye do it, | to serpents now cast him.” Hogni spake:
108. Stanza 56 “Do now as thou wilt, | for glad I await it, Brave shalt thou find me, | I have faced worse before; We held thee at bay | while whole we were fighting, Now with wounds are we spent, | so thy will canst thou work.”
109. Stanza 56 The text of the first half of line 3 is somewhat uncertain, but the general meaning of it is clear enough.
110. Stanza 57 Then did Beiti speak, | he was Atli’s steward: “Let us seize now Hjalli, | and Hogni spare we! Let us fell the sluggard, | he is fit for death, He has lived too long, | and lazy men call him.”
111. Stanza 57 Beiti: not elsewhere mentioned. The Atlakvitha version of this episode (stanzas 23–25) does not mention Beiti, and in the Volsungasaga the advice to cut out Hjalli’s heart instead of Hogni’s is given by an unnamed “counsellor of Atli.” In the Atlakvitha Hjalli is actually killed; the Volsungasaga combines the two versions by having Hjalli first let off at Hogni’s intercession and then seized a second time and killed, thus introducing the Atlakvitha episode of the quaking heart (stanza 24). The text of the first half of line 3 is obscure, and there are many and widely varying suggestions as to the word here rendered “sluggard.”
112. Stanza 58 Afraid was the pot-watcher, | he fled here and yon, And crazed with his terror | he climbed in the corners: “Ill for me is this fighting, | if I pay for your fierceness, And sad is the day | to die leaving my swine And all the fair victuals | that of old did I have.”
113. Stanza 58 Some editions mark line 5 as probably interpolated.
114. Stanza 59 They seized Buthli’s cook, | and they came with the knife, The frightened thrall howled | ere the edge did he feel; He was willing, he cried, | to dung well the courtyard, Do the basest of work, | if spare him they would; Full happy were Hjalli | if his life he might have.
115. Stanza 59 Cook: the original word is doubtful. The Volsungasaga does not paraphrase lines 3–5; the passage may be a later addition, and line 5 is almost certainly so.
116. Stanza 60 Then fain was Hogni— | there are few would do thus— To beg for the slave | that safe hence he should go; “I would find it far better | this knife-play to feel, Why must we all hark | to this howling longer?”
117. Stanza 61 Then the brave one they seized; | to the warriors bold No chance was there left | to delay his fate longer; Loud did Hogni laugh, | all the sons of day heard him, So valiant he was | that well he could suffer. * * * * * *
118. Stanza 61 It is probable that a stanza describing the casting of Gunnar into the serpents’ den has been lost after this stanza. Sons of day: the phrase means no more than “men.”
119. Stanza 62 A harp Gunnar seized, | with his toes he smote it; So well did he strike | that the women all wept, And the men, when clear | they heard it, lamented; Full noble was his song, | the rafters burst asunder.
120. Stanza 62 Regarding Gunnar’s harp-playing, and his death, cf. Oddrunargratr, 27–30 and notes, and Atlakvitha, 34. Toes (literally “sole-twigs”): the Volsungasaga explains that Gunnar’s hands were bound. Rafters: thus literally, and probably correctly; Gering has an ingenious but unlikely theory that the word means “harp.”
121. Stanza 63 Then the heroes died | ere the day was yet come; Their fame did they leave | ever lofty to live. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
122. Stanza 63 There is some doubt as to the exact meaning of line 2. After this line two lines may have been lost; Grundtvig adds: “Few braver shall ever | be found on the earth, / Or loftier men | in the world ever live.”
123. Stanza 64 Full mighty seemed Atli | as o’er them he stood, The wise one he blamed, | and his words reproached her: “It is morning, Guthrun; | now thy dear ones dost miss, But the blame is part thine | that thus it has chanced.” Guthrun spake:
124. Stanza 64 Wise one: Guthrun. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza.
125. Stanza 65 “Thou art joyous, Atli, | for of evil thou tellest, But sorrow is thine | if thou mightest all see; Thy heritage heavy | here can I tell thee, Sorrow never thou losest | unless I shall die.” Atli spake:
126. Stanza 65 The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.
127. Stanza 66 “Not free of guilt am I; | a way shall I find That is better by far,— | oft the fairest we shunned;— With slaves I console thee, | with gems fair to see, And with silver snow-white, | as thyself thou shalt choose.” Guthrun spake:
128. Stanza 66 The manuscript does not name the speaker. The negative in the first half of line 1 is uncertain, and most editions make the clause read “Of this guilt I can free myself.” The fairest, etc.: i.e., I have often failed to do the wise thing.
129. Stanza 67 “No hope shall this give thee, | thy gifts I shall take not, Requital I spurned | when my sorrows were smaller; Once grim did I seem, | but now greater my grimness, There was nought seemed too hard | while Hogni was living.
130. Stanza 67 The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Requital, etc.: it is not clear just to what Guthrun refers; perhaps she is thinking of Sigurth’s death, or possibly the poet had in mind his reference to the slaying of her mother in stanza 53.
131. Stanza 68 “Our childhood did we have | in a single house, We played many a game, | in the grove did we grow; Then did Grimhild give us | gold and necklaces; Thou shalt ne’er make amends | for my brother’s murder, Nor ever shalt win me | to think it was well.
132. Stanza 68 Line 5 is very probably a later addition, though some editors question line 3 instead.
133. Stanza 69 “But the fierceness of men | rules the fate of women, The tree-top bows low | if bereft of its leaves, The tree bends over | if the roots are cleft under it; Now mayest thou, Atli, | o’er all things here rule.”
134. Stanza 69 Guthrun suddenly changes her tone in order to make Atli believe that she is submissive to his will, and thus to gain time for her vengeance. Line 2 in the original is thoroughly obscure; it runs literally: “On the knee goes the fist | if the twigs are taken off.” Perhaps the word meaning “fist” may also have meant “tree-top,” as Gering suggests, or perhaps the line is an illogical blending of the ideas contained in lines 1 and 3.
135. Stanza 70 Full heedless the warrior | was that he trusted her, So clear was her guile | if on guard he had been; But crafty was Guthrun, | with cunning she spake, Her glance she made pleasant, | with two shields she played.
136. Stanza 70 The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a new stanza. Two shields, etc.: i.e., Guthrun concealed her hostility (symbolized by a red shield, cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 34) by a show of friendliness (a white shield).
137. Stanza 71 The beer then she brought | for her brothers’ death-feast, And a feast Atli made | for his followers dead; No more did they speak, | the mead was made ready, Soon the men were gathered | with mighty uproar.
138. Stanza 71 Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 1–2, some of them suggesting the loss of two lines, and combine lines 3–4 with lines 1–2 of stanza 72. The manuscript marks both lines 1 and 3 as beginning stanzas.
139. Stanza 72 Thus bitterly planned she, | and Buthli’s race threatened, And terrible vengeance | on her husband would take; The little ones called she, | on a block she laid them; Afraid were the proud ones, | but their tears did not fall; To their mother’s arms went they, | and asked what she would. Guthrun spake:
140. Stanza 72 The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza; some editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–5, while others combine them with lines 1–2 of stanza 73. Line 2 in the original is clearly defective, the verb being omitted. The meaning of line 3 is uncertain; the Volsungasaga paraphrase has: “At evening she took the sons of King Atli (Erp and Eitil) where they were playing with a block of wood.” Probably the text of the line as we have it is faulty. Lines 4–5 may possibly have been expanded out of a single line, or line 5 may be spurious.
141. Stanza 73 “Nay, ask me no more! | You both shall I murder, For long have I wished | your lives to steal from you.” The boys spake: “Slay thy boys as thou wilt, | for no one may bar it, Short the angry one’s peace | if all thou shalt do.”
142. Stanza 73 The manuscript does not name the speakers. It indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza, in which it is followed by many editions. The Volsungasaga paraphrases line 4 thus: “But it is shameful for thee to do this.” Either the text of the line has been changed or the Volsungasaga compilers misunderstood it. The angry one: Atli.
143. Stanza 74 Then the grim one slew both | of the brothers young, Full hard was her deed | when their heads she smote off; Fain was Atli to know | whither now they were gone, The boys from their sport, | for nowhere he spied them. Guthrun spake:
144. Stanza 74 The manuscript indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza.
145. Stanza 75 “My fate shall I seek, | all to Atli saying, The daughter of Grimhild | the deed from thee hides not; No joy thou hast, Atli, | if all thou shalt hear, Great sorrow didst wake | when my brothers thou slewest.
146. Stanza 75 The manuscript does not name the speaker.
147. Stanza 76 “I have seldom slept | since the hour they were slain, Baleful were my threats, | now I bid thee recall them; Thou didst say it was morning,— | too well I remember,— Now is evening come, | and this question thou askest.
148. Stanza 76 Morning: Guthrun refers to Atli’s taunt in stanza 64.
149. Stanza 77 “Now both of thy sons | thou hast lost . . . . . . . . . . . | as thou never shouldst do; The skulls of thy boys | thou as beer-cups didst have, And the draught that I made thee | was mixed with their blood.
150. Stanza 77 The manuscript indicates no gap (lines 1–2), and most editions make a single line, despite the defective meter: “Thy sons hast thou lost | as thou never shouldst lose them.” The second part of line 2 is in the original identical with the second half of line 3 of stanza 80, and may perhaps have been inserted here by mistake. Skulls: it is possible that line 3 was borrowed from a poem belonging to the Völund tradition (cf. Völundarkvitha, 25 and 37), and the idea doubtless came from some such source, but probably the poet inserted it in a line of his own composition to give an added touch of horror. The Volsungasaga follows the Atlamol in including this incident.
151. Stanza 78 “I cut out their hearts, | on a spit I cooked them, I came to thee with them, | and calf’s flesh I called them; Alone didst thou eat them, | nor any didst leave, Thou didst greedily bite, | and thy teeth were busy.
152. Stanza 78 Some editions add lines 3–4 to stanza 79; Finnur Jonsson marks them as probably spurious.
153. Stanza 79 “Of thy sons now thou knowest; | few suffer more sorrow; My guilt have I told, | fame it never shall give me.” Atli spake:
154. Stanza 79 Perhaps these two lines should form part of stanza 78, or perhaps they, rather than lines 3–4 of stanza 78, are a later addition. A gap of two lines after line 1 has also been conjectured.
155. Stanza 80 “Grim wast thou, Guthrun, | in so grievous a deed, My draught with the blood | of thy boys to mingle; Thou hast slain thine own kin, | most ill it beseemed thee, And little for me | twixt my sorrows thou leavest.” Guthrun spake:
156. Stanza 80 The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.
157. Stanza 81 “Still more would I seek | to slay thee thyself, Enough ill comes seldom | to such as thou art; Thou didst folly of old, | such that no one shall find In the whole world of men | a match for such madness. Now this that of late | we learned hast thou added, Great evil hast grasped, | and thine own death-feast made.” Atli spake:
158. Stanza 81 The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Lines 1–2 may be the remains of a separate stanza; Grundtvig adds: “Thou wast foolish, Atli, | when wise thou didst feel, / Ever the whole | of thy race did I hate.” The Volsungasaga paraphrase, however, indicates no gap. Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–6, which, in the Volsungasaga, are paraphrased as a speech of Atli’s. Lines 5–6 may be spurious.
159. Stanza 82 “With fire shall they burn thee, | and first shall they stone thee, So then hast thou earned | what thou ever hast sought for.” Guthrun spake: “Such woes for thyself | shalt thou say in the morning, From a finer death I | to another light fare.”
160. Stanza 82 The manuscript does not indicate the speakers. Many editions make two separate stanzas of the four lines. Another light: a fairly clear indication of the influence of Christianity; cf. Introductory Note.
161. Stanza 83 Together they sat | and full grim were their thoughts, Unfriendly their words, | and no joy either found; In Hniflung grew hatred, | great plans did he have, To Guthrun his anger | against Atli was told.
162. Stanza 83 The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a new stanza. Hniflung: the Volsungasaga says that “Hogni had a son who was called Hniflung,” but the name appears to be nothing more than the familiar “Niflung” applied in general to the sons of Gjuki and their people. On the spelling cf. note on stanza 44. This son of Hogni appears in later versions of the story. In the Thithrekssaga he is called Aldrian, and is begotten by Hogni the night before his death. Aldrian grows up and finally shuts Attila in a cave where he starves to death. The poet here has incorporated the idea, which finds no parallel in the Atlakvitha, without troubling himself to straighten out the chronology.