In ''

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 ...

'', Rerir, the son of

Sigi In the Völsung cycle, Sigi is the ancestor of the Völsung lineage. In the ''Völsunga saga'', he is said to be one of the sons of Odin. He is also listed among Odin's sons in the '' Nafnaþulur''. He has a son called Rerir. He was outlawed for ...

, succeeds his murdered father and avenges his death. He rules in

Hunaland Hunaland and its people are mentioned several times in the Poetic Edda, and in the Fornaldarsagas. Its origins are partly the old Frankish kingdom (the Franks were once called ''Hugones'', in Latin, and ''Hūgas'' in Old English) and partly in the ...

and becomes a powerful ruler. Rerir's son is

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 ...

. Rerir and his wife were unable to have children until the goddess

Frigg Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wet ...

, the wife of

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

sent them a giantess named Hljod in the shape of a crow to deliver an apple of fertility to the couple.Byock (1990:36) Shortly after, Rerir’s wife becomes pregnant. However Rerir dies from an illness after the conception. His wife remained pregnant for six years, until she realized that she was dying and commanded that the child be delivered by

Caesarian section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or ...

, an operation that in those days cost the life of the mother. When the child called Völsung was delivered, he was already well grown and he “kissed his mother before she died.” Byock (1990:37)

Mount Rerir Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

is a location in the fictional world of

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...

Notes

References

* Byock, Jesse L. (Trans.) (1990). ''The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer''.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

. {{ISBN, 0-520-23285-2 Heroes in Norse myths and legends