Sigrún (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

"victory

rune Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

"Orchard (1997:194).) is a

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) ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. Her story is related in '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and ''

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 ...

'', in the '' Poetic Edda''. The original editor annotated that she was

Sváfa In Norse mythology, Sváfa or Sváva is a valkyrie and the daughter of king Eylimi. Consequently, she was probably the maternal aunt of Sigurd, the dragon slayer, although this is not explicitly mentioned in ''Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar'' wher ...

reborn. The hero Helgi Hundingsbane first meets her when she leads a band of nine Valkyries: The two fall in love, and Sigrún tells Helgi that her father Högni has promised her to

Höðbroddr Hothbrodd was a legendary Norse hero, details of whose life appear in several related variations. In the legends of the Ylfing Helgi Hundingsbane, he was the son of king Granmar of Södermanland, and he was killed by Helgi. The ''Chronicon Leth ...

, the son of king

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 seaking ...

r. Helgi invades Granmar's kingdom and slays anyone opposing their relationship. Only Sigrún's brother Dagr is left alive on condition that he swears fealty to Helgi. Dagr is however obliged by honour to avenge his brothers and after having summoned

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 ...

, the god gives him a spear. In a place called

Fjoturlund A grove of Fetters (Old Norse: ''Fjöturlundr'') is mentioned in the Eddic poem "Helgakviða Hundingsbana II": : Helgi obtained Sigrún, and they had sons. Helgi lived not to be old. Dag, the son of Högni, sacrificed to Odin, for vengeance for ...

, Dagr kills Helgi and goes back to his sister to tell her of his deed. Sigrún puts Dagr under a powerful curse after which he is obliged to live on carrion in the woods. Helgi is put in a

barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, but returns from Valhalla one last time so that the two can spend a night together. Sigrún dies early from sadness, but is reborn again as a Valkyrie. In the next life, she is Kára and Helgi is Helgi Haddingjaskati, whose story is related in ''

Hrómundar saga Gripssonar ''Hrómundar saga Gripssonar'' or ''The Saga of Hromund Gripsson'' is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the ''rímur'' of ''Hrómundr Gripsson'', known as ''Griplur'', which were ...

''.

Modern influence

Sigrún features in the 2018 video game

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been po ...

, in which she is the Valkyrie Queen. She can be fought by the player after defeating eight other Valkyries. Her fight is considered to be one of the most difficult and demanding encounters in the franchise. In 2022 she took a part in God of war Ragnarok. But this time she was an ally with Kratos, Freya, Mimir, Artreus and the shield maidens- her sisters. She and the other 8 Valkyries, her sisters are now free of the corruption spells of Odin thanks to the events which happened in God of war 2018.

Notes

References

* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. Cassell. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigrun Valkyries