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Sigmund
In Germanic mythology, Sigmund ( , ) is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurð the dragon-slayer, though Sigurð's tale has almost no connections to the Völsung cycle except that he was a dragonslayer. ''Völsunga saga'' In the ''Völsunga saga'', Signý marries Siggeir, the king of Gautland (modern Västergötland). Völsung and Sigmund are attending the wedding feast (which lasted for some time before and after the marriage), when Odin, disguised as a beggar, plunges a sword (Gram) into the living tree Barnstokk ("offspring-trunk"Orchard (1997:14).) around which Völsung's hall is built. The disguised Odin announces that the man who can remove the sword will have it as a gift. Only Sigmund is able to free the sword from the tree. Siggeir is smitten with envy and desire for the sword. He tries to buy it but Sigmund refuses. Siggeir invites ...
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Völsunga Saga
The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story of Sigurd and Brunhild and the destruction of the Burgundians). It is one of the most famous legendary sagas and an example of a "heroic saga" that deals with Germanic heroic legend. The saga covers topics including the quarrel between Sigi and Skaði, a huge family tree of great kings and powerful conquerors, the quest led by Sigmund and Sinfjǫtli to save princess Signý from the evil king Siggeir, and, most famously, Sigurd killing the serpent/dragon Fáfnir and obtaining the cursed ring Andvaranaut that Fáfnir guarded. Context and overview The saga is largely based on the epic poetry of the historic '' Elder Edda''. The earliest known pictorial representation of this tradition is the Ramsund carving in Sweden, which was c ...
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Sigurd
Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred to with the epithet "Fáfnir's bane" (, , , ), and is also widely known as "the Dragon Slayer". In both the Norse and continental Germanic traditions, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife (Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he has tricked into marrying the Burgundian king Gunnar/Gunther. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respects, however, the two traditions appear to diverge. The most important works to feature Sigurd are the , the ''Völsunga saga'', and the ''Poetic Edda''. He also appears in numerous other works from both Germany and Scandinavia, including a series of medieval and early modern Scandinavi ...
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Sigurð
Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred to with the epithet "Fáfnir's bane" (, , , ), and is also widely known as "the Dragon Slayer". In both the Norse and continental Germanic traditions, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife (Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he has tricked into marrying the Burgundians, Burgundian king Gunther, Gunnar/Gunther. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respects, however, the two traditions appear to diverge. The most important works to feature Sigurd are the , the ''Völsunga saga'', and the ''Poetic Edda''. He also appears in numerous other works from both Germany and Scandinavia, including a series of The Types of the S ...
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Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli ( ) or Fitela (in Old English) in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy. He had the half-brothers Sigurd, Helgi Hundingsbane and Hamund. Etymology and orthography ''Sinfjǫtli'' is formed from two parts, ''sin-'', and ''fjǫtli''. The latter is cognate with the Old English ''Fitela''. In the standardized Old Norse orthography, the name is spelled ''Sinfjǫtli'', but the letter ' ǫ' is frequently replaced with the Modern Icelandic ö for reasons of familiarity or technical expediency. Life In ''Beowulf'', Fitela is the nephew of Sigmund, whereas the ''Völsunga saga'' describes him as both Sigmund's son and nephew due to incest. In the ''Völsunga saga'', Sinfjǫtli is the grandson of King Völsung. Signý, King Völsung's daughter, despises her husband King Siggeir, and begs "that she may not be made to return to King Siggeir." Völsung denies her request to leave, reminding her of the commitment thei ...
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Siggeir
Siggeir is the king of Gautland (i.e. Götaland/Geatland, but in some translations also rendered as ''Gothland''), in the ''Völsunga saga''. In ''Skáldskaparmál'' he is given as a Sikling and a relative of Sigar who killed the hero Hagbard. '' Hversu Noregr byggðist'' specifies that the last Sigar was Siggeir's nephew. According to the ''Völsunga saga'', Siggeir married Signy, the sister of Sigmund and the daughter of King Völsung. Although Völsung agreed to the marriage, Signy herself was unwilling. At the banquet Odin appears in disguise wearing a cape and a hood and sticks a sword in the tree Branstock. Then he said that whoever managed to pull the sword out could keep it. Siggeir and everyone else tried but only Sigmund succeeded. Siggeir generously offered three times the sword's value, but Sigmund mockingly refused. Siggeir was offended and went home the next day thinking of revenge. Siggeir invites Sigmund, his father Völsung and Sigmund's nine brothers to a visi ...
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Gram (mythology)
In Germanic mythology, Gram in Norse Mythology, Norse legend (, "Wrath"), or Balmung in the Middle High German epic poem ''Nibelungenlied'', is a magical godlike sword, specifically the sword that the hero Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir. It is primarily used by the Völsungs in the ''Völsung Cycle'', however, it is also seen in other legends, such as the ''Þiðreks saga, Thidrekssaga'' in which it is wielded by Hildebrand. The myth of Gram may be related to the british myth of "the sword in the stone", Excalibur, as Gram is thrusted into a tree, for which only the hero Sigmund can pull it out, much like how Excalibur only can be pulled out by the true king of England, King Arthur. The myth of Gram being broken and then reforged was also the inspiration of Tolkien's sword Narsil. In Richard Wagner's work, ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), it is referred to as Nothung (, "child of need"). Description Nowhere in the ''Völsunga saga'' is a cle ...
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Borghild
In Norse mythology, Borghild was the first wife of Sigmund. They had two sons, Hamund and Helgi. ''Völsunga saga'' Sinfjötli (Borghild's step-son) "saw a lovely woman and strongly desired to have her. The brother of Borghild, the wife of King Sigmund, had also asked for her hand.". Sinfjötli killed the brother in a contest to win the maiden's hand, and Sinfjötli won. He became very famous. When he came home, he told his father Sigmund what had happened. Sigmund then told Borghild, and Borghild wanted Sinfjötli to leave the kingdom for killing her brother. Sigmund defended Sinfjötli, but offered to pay Borghild compensation. This was a generous offer, similar to Hrafnkel's offer to Thorbjorn for the death of Einar in ''Hrafnkels saga''. Borghild, however, was not placated by this and said "You shall decide, sir, as is fitting.". Borghild then arranged a funeral feast for her brother, and she served the drink. Serving the drink was characteristic of the shieldmai ...
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Signý
Signy or Signe (, sometimes known as ) is the name of two heroines in two connected legends from Norse mythology which were very popular in medieval Scandinavia. Both appear in the Völsunga saga, which was adapted into other works such as Wagner's 'Ring' cycle, including its famous opera ''Die Walküre''. Signy is also the name of two characters in several other sagas. The first Signy is the daughter of King Völsung. She was married to the villainous Geatish king Siggeir who has her whole family treacherously murdered, except for her brother Sigmund. She saves her brother, has an incestuous affair with him and bears the son Sinfjötli. She burnt herself to death with her hated husband. The second Signy is the daughter of King Siggeir's nephew Sigar. She fell in love with the Sea-King Hagbard, and promised him that she would not live if he died. They were discovered and Hagbard was sentenced to be hanged. Hagbard managed to signal this to Signy who set her house on fi ...
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Völsung
Völsung ( , ) is a figure in Germanic mythology, where he is the eponymous ancestor of the Völsung family (, ), which includes the hero Sigurð. In Nordic mythology, he is the son of Rerir and was murdered by the Geatish king Siggeir. He was later avenged by one of his sons, Sigmund, and his daughter Signy, who was married to Siggeir. Völsung's story is recorded in the Völsung Cycle, a series of legends about the clan. The earliest extant versions of the cycle were recorded in medieval Iceland; the tales of the cycle were expanded with local Scandinavian folklore, including that of Helgi Hundingsbane (which appears to originally have been part of the separate tradition of the Ylfings), and form the material of the epic poems in the Elder Edda and of , which preserves material from lost poems. Völsung is also the subject matter of the Middle High German epic poem and is referred to in the Old English epic ''Beowulf''. Name The Old English is composed of a suffix de ...
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Barnstokk
In Norse mythology, Barnstokkr (Old Norse, literally "child- trunk"Byock (1990:113).) is a tree that stands in the center of King Völsung's hall. Barnstokkr is attested in chapters 2 and 3 of the ''Völsunga saga'', written in the 13th century from earlier tradition, partially based on events from the 5th century and the 6th century, where, during a banquet, a one-eyed, very tall man appears and thrusts a sword into the tree which only Sigmund is able to pull free. Scholarly theories have been put forth about the implications of Barnstokkr and its relation to other trees in Germanic paganism. ''Völsunga saga'' Barnstokkr is introduced in chapter 2 of ''Völsunga saga'' where King Völsung is described as having "had an excellent palace built in this fashion: a huge tree stood with its trunk in the hall and its branches, with fair blossoms, stretched out through the roof. They called the tree Barnstokk .Byock (1990:37). In chapter 3, King Völsung is holding a marriage feast f ...
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Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in '' Volsunga saga'' and in two lays in the ''Poetic Edda'' named '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The ''Poetic Edda'' relates that Helgi and his mistress Sigrún were Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváva of the '' Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar'' reborn. They were once again reborn as Helgi Haddingjaskati and Kára whose story survives as a part of the '' Hrómundar saga Gripssonar''. Earning his name and meeting a Valkyrie Helgi appears to be the son of Sigmund and Borghild, and only fifteen years old he avenges his father by slaying Hunding, the king of the Saxons. This gives him the cognomen ''Hunding's bane''. He continues with his warlike feats and one day, as he stands aboard his longship, he is visited by a valkyrie named Sigrún, who can ride through the air and over the sea and who knows well about his feats. She embraces him and kisses him, and he immediately falls in love ...
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Hjördís
Hjördís or Hiordis in Norse mythology is the wife of Sigmund, and the mother of Sigurd. Her father was a king named Eylimi. She is mentioned in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten .... It is also a female given name in Scandinavia, as Hjördis in Sweden and Iceland, and Hjørdis in Denmark and Norway, but has recently gained popularity as a female given name in Germany as Jördis. As a given name * Hjördis Piuva Andersson, Swedish-Tornedalian painter and writer * Hjördis "Disa" Eythorsdottir, Iceland-born American bridge player * Hjørdis Høsøien, Norwegian handball player * Hjördis Levin (born 1930), Swedish historian and author * Hjördis Nordin, Swedish gymnast and Olympic champion * Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress ...
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