''Atlakviða'' (''The Lay of Atli'') is one of the heroic poems of the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

''. One of the main characters is Atli who originates from

Attila the Hun Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...

. It is one of the most archaic Eddic poems, possibly dating to as early as the 9th century. Owing to its stylistic similarity to '' Hrafnsmál'' it has been suggested that the poem might have been composed by Þorbjörn Hornklofi.Genzmer, Felix. 1926. ‘Der Dichter der Atlakviða’. ANF 42, 97-134. It is preserved in the

Codex Regius Codex Regius (, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; ) 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 is made up of 45 vellum Vellum ...

and the same story is related 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 prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story ...

''. In the manuscript the poem is identified as Greenlandic but most scholars believe that this results from a confusion with ''

Atlamál ''Atlamál in grǿnlenzku'' ('The Greenlandic Lay of Atli') is one of the heroic poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It relates the same basic story as '' Atlakviða'' at greater length and in a different style. The poem is believed to have been compo ...

''. The

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

of the poem alternates irregularly between '' málaháttr'' and ''

fornyrðislag Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...

''. This may be an indication that two or more original poems have been merged or that the short and long lines were not felt as constituting two different metres at the time the poem was composed.

Historical background

''Atlakviðas subject relates to the historical interaction between

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

and

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

in the 5th century. The poem is the oldest surviving version of the legend about the visit of the Burgundian rulers to Atli's court and the revenge of Guðrún. Ultimately derived from Burgundian heroic legend, the Scandinavian literature about the subject is believed to be based on either

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

models or Gothic poems that reached Scandinavia via the

Baltic region The Baltic Sea Region, alternatively the Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states, refers to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Un ...

. Scholars date the composition of ''Atlakviða'' to around the year 900, which makes it one of the oldest lays of the ''

''. The 13th-century

, in which the poem survives, says that it was written in Greenland, but the early composition date makes this implausible, since Greenland was not colonized until around 985. A Norwegian origin is considered likely. Due to stylistic similarities to the

skaldic poem A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

'' Hrafnsmál'', the medievalist Felix Genzmer argued that ''Atlakviða'' was written by that poem's author Þorbjörn Hornklofi in 872; it may at least have been inspired by ''Hrafnsmál''. The

in ''Atlakviða'' combines '' málaháttr'' and ''

'', which together with stylistic variations also has led to suggestions that the poem was written by several authors. In the Scandinavian material, the same story is treated in a different way in the later poem ''

'' and retold in prose in the ''

''.

Synopsis

Atli, king of the Huns, sends a messenger to Gunnarr, king of the Burgundians, and his younger brother Högni. The messenger says that Atli is inviting the brothers to his court and offering them great riches. The brothers are skeptical of the offer since they already have an exceedingly great treasure of gold. Confirming their suspicions is a ring sent by their sister Guðrún, Atli's wife, with a wolf's hair wrapped onto it. Atli obviously plans treachery but Gunnarr still decides to take up the offer, vowing that if he doesn't return no-one will benefit from his riches. As Gunnarr and Högni arrive at Atli's court they meet Guðrún who tells them that they should not have come. Gunnarr is seized by Atli's men while Högni fights and kills eight men before he is subdued. The Huns ask Gunnarr if he wants to ransom his life by telling them where he has hidden his gold. He tells them that he wants to see Högni's heart. They first cut out the heart of a cowardly man named Hjalli and bring it to Gunnarr but he sees from the cowardly trembling of the heart who its owner was. Then they cut out Högni's heart and he dies laughing. Gunnarr recognizes the heart of his brave brother but tells the Huns that now that he alone knows the location of the gold he can be certain that it will never be disclosed. The Huns then throw him into a snake pit where he dies playing a harp. Guðrún prepares a banquet for Atli and his court. When the feast is well underway she tells Atli that he is actually eating the flesh of their two sons. Guðrún later kills the unattentive Atli in his bed, sets loose the hounds and awakens the

housecarls A housecarl (; ) was a non-Slavery in medieval Europe, servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe. The institution originated amongst the Norsemen of Scandinavia, and was brought to Anglo-Saxon England by the Anglo-Sa ...

she has bribed. Guðrún throws a burning twig into the hall and eventually Atli's entire estate is set ablaze. All the people in the hall, Atli's temple, the "dwelling of the Buthlungs" as well as

shield-maiden A shield-maiden ( ) was a female warrior from Scandinavian folklore and Norse mythology, mythology. The term most often shows up in fornaldarsögur such as ''Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks''. However, female warriors are also mentioned in the Latin ...

s are consumed by the fire.

Themes and interpretations

Gunnarr is shown to be heroic in his moment of defeat and the poet explicitly praises both his and Högni's choices of action. The acceptance of Atli's invitation in spite of clear danger can be understood as necessary in order to not be labeled a coward. The German studies scholar Carola L. Gottzmann interprets the visit as a reaction to Atli's offer of gifts, which implies a demand of submission to the Hunnic king. The poet praises how Gunnarr ensures that his gold never will be found, which may be seen as contrary to the ethics of the Germanic lord-retainer system, where societal bonds were created through the generous distribution of wealth. The poem's description of gold as a "discord-metal of men" () does however align with the '' Icelandic Rune Poems opening line, "wealth is kinsmen's discord" (). Guðrún is relentless in her need to avenge her brothers. Although the poem expresses horror when it portrays the consequences of her actions—

filicide Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word ''filicide'' is derived from the Latin words and ('son' and 'daughter') and the suffix ''-cide'', from the word meaning 'to kill'. The word can refer to both the cr ...

, unsuspecting cannibalism and the deaths of kings—there is no direct condemnation of her behaviour. Unlike in ''

Guðrúnarhvöt Guðrúnarhvöt is one of the heroic poems of the '' Poetic Edda''. Gudrun had been married to the hero Sigurd and with him she had the daughter Svanhild. Svanhild had married the Gothic king Ermanaric (''Jörmunrekkr''), but betrayed him with ...

'', where Guðrún is angry at the Norns for making her kill her sons, ''Atlakviða'' only suggests sorrow once, in strophe 37, before strophe 38 says that she "never wept". She kills Atli when he is in a defenseless state and unlike in ''Atlamál'', he is not portrayed as a tyrannical husband. The final strophe (43) does stress that her actions led to the deaths of three kings. According to the medievalist

Ursula Dronke Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 March 201 ...

, this might have been a later addition, but the strophe that precedes it also focuses on the deaths her actions caused. The heroic ethic of vengeance that overtakes Guðrún makes her monstrous, giving her an inhuman self-control which the poem's author appears to find both horrific and admirable.

References

Citations

Sources

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William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and Eirikr Magnusson
Atlakviða: The Lay of Atli
Translated by

and Eirikr Magnusson
Atlakviða

Benjamin Thorpe Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, 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 hi ...

's translation {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlakvida 9th-century poems Eddic poetry Nibelung tradition Völsung cycle Fiction about cannibalism Fiction about filicide Cultural depictions of Attila the Hun