"Völsungakviða" or "Helgakviða Hundingsbana I" ("The First Lay of

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 mistres ...

") is an Old Norse poem found in the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...

''. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays, together with ''

Helgakviða Hundingsbana II "Völsungakviða in forna" or "Helgakviða Hundingsbana II" ("The Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane") is an Old Norse poem found in the ''Poetic Edda''. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays together with ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and ''Helgakv ...

'' and ''

Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar "Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar" ("Lay of Helgi Hjörvarðsson") is a poem collected in the '' Poetic Edda'', found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and precedes '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The p ...

''. The locations in the poem have been fervently debated with a Danish school maintaining Danish origins and locations and a Swedish one pointing out that locations (e.g.

Brávellir Brávellir (Old Norse) or Bråvalla (modern Swedish) () was the name of the central plain of Östergötland (East Götaland), in Norse mythology. It appears in several traditions, such as those of the Battle of Bråvalla (Battle of the Bravellir) ...

and Brandey) and characters (

Ylfing The Wulfings, Wylfings or YlfingsWord initial ''w'' was lost before rounded vowels in Proto-Norse, e.g. ''wulf'' corresponds to ''ulf'', and ''Wulfing''/''Wylfing'' corresponds to ''Ylfing'', because the ''i'' in the second syllable causes an umla ...

Högni Haguna or Hagana is a historical Germanic name. It is attested in the form ''Hagano'' in Old High German (8th century) and as ''Haguna'' and ''Hagena'' in Old English. Old West Norse has ''Hǫgni'', presumably loaned from the character in German le ...

and

Granmar Granmar was a king of Södermanland, in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The same king also appears in the Volsunga saga. Granmar was married to Hilda, the daughter of the Geatish king Högne of East Götaland, and his son-in-law was the seak ...

r) place the events in

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

and

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...

. The poem is also ambiguous in attributing Helgi to the

Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

and

Völsung In Norse mythology, Völsung ( non, Vǫlsungr ) was the son of Rerir and the eponymous ancestor of the ill-fated Völsung clan (), which includes the well known Norse hero Sigurð. He was murdered by the Geatish king Siggeir and later avenged by o ...

clans, which suggests a merging of originally unrelated traditions. In the Edda, the poem is a sequel to ''

'' whose heroes Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváfa are reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and

Sigrún Sigrún ( Old Norse "victory rune"Orchard (1997:194).) is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her story is related in '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II'', in the '' Poetic Edda''. The original editor annotated that s ...

. However, in

Codex Regius Codex Regius ( la, Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; is, Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it i ...

, it is actually followed by ''

''. The poem begins in a location called Brálund with the birth of Helgi Hundingbane, the son of

Sigmund In Norse mythology, Sigmund ( non, Sigmundr , ang, Sigemund) 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 d ...

and

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 Ki ...

Norns The Norns ( non, norn , plural: ) are deities in Norse mythology responsible for shaping the course of human destinies.'' Nordisk familjebok'' (1907) In the ''Völuspá'', the three primary Norns Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi, and Skuld draw wate ...

arrived at the dwelling to shape his future as a hero. When Helgi was but fifteen years old, he slew a man named

Hunding Hunding is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

. This caused Hunding's sons Eyjólfr, Álfr, Hjörvarðr and Hávarðr to approach Helgi asking for

wergild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to b ...

and the return of the booty Helgi had taken from their father. When Helgi refused them this, Hunding's sons declared war and in the ensuing battle, Helgi killed all of Hunding's sons.In the ''

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 poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the stor ...

'', Hunding's sons kill Sigmund and his father-in-law Eylimi, whereupon

Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Meroving ...

takes revenge. Helgi met the

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

who informed him that her father

has betrothed her to Höðbroddr, the unworthy son of king

r of the Hniflung clan. Helgi promised to take on Höðbroddr and to claim her as his own. Helgi then assembled a mighty host and departed to wage war on Höðbrodd's family. When they had arrived at Granmar's kingdom, the poem deals with a flyting between Helgi's half-brother

Sinfjötli Sinfjötli ( non, Sinfjǫtli ) 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 ortho ...

and Höðbrodd's brother

Guðmundr Guðmundr (Old Norse: , sometimes anglicised as Godmund) was a semi-legendary Norse king in Jotunheim, ruling over a land called ''Glæsisvellir'', which was known as the warrior's paradise.Otto Höfler, ''Kultische Geheimbünde der Germanen'', vo ...

. Then, the armies clashed at Frekastein and Helgi was victorious winning Sigrún as his bride.

Notes

External links

Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I
Translation and commentary by Henry Adams Bellows
The First Lay of Helgi Hundingcide
Translation by

Benjamin Thorpe Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon literature. Biography In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated him for tuberculosis. A ...

Helgakviða Hundingsbana hin fyrri

Sophus Bugge Elseus Sophus Bugge (5 January 1833 – 8 July 1907) was a Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scholarly work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic ...

's edition of the manuscript text
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I

Guðni Jónsson Guðni Jónsson (22 July 1901 – 4 March 1974) was an Icelandic professor of history and editor of Old Norse texts. Life and career Guðni was born at Gamla-Hraun at EyrarbakkiPáll Lýðsson"GUÐNI JÓNSSON" Minningargreinar, ''Morgunblaði ...

's edition of the text with normalized spelling {{DEFAULTSORT:Helgakvida Hundingsbana I Eddic poetry Sources of Norse mythology Nibelung tradition