''Helreið Brynhildar'' (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

'The Hel-ride of Brynhild') is a short Old Norse poem that is found in 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 ...

''. Most of the poem (except stanza 6) is also quoted in '' Norna-Gests þáttr''. Henry Adams Bellows says in his commentaries that the poem is a masterpiece with an "extraordinary degree of dramatic unity" and that it is one of the "most vivid and powerful" poems in the ''Poetic Edda''. It has, however, been argued that some parts originally belonged to '' Sigrdrífumál'', and the two poems are anyway very close in content. The material is mostly Scandinavian and there are few elements that connect it with the corresponding German tradition found in the '' Nibelungenlied''.

Synopsis

The poem deals with how the dead

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 t ...

and Brynhildr are burnt on two pyres. First they burn Sigurd and then they burn Brynhildr who is lying on a richly clad wagon. This wagon takes Brynhildr on her journey to the

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

. During her journey, she passes a house where a giantess (gýgr) lived. The giantess accuses Brynhildr of having caused the deaths of heroes and of having wanted another woman's husband (Sigurd). The giantess further accuses Brynhildr of having caused the fall of the house of Nibelungs (

Gjúki Gjúki (also ''Gebicca'', ''Gifica'', ''Gibica'', ''Gebicar'', ''Gibicho'' or ''Gippich'') was a figure of Germanic heroic legend. The historical Gibica is listed as the ancestor of the King of Burgundy, kings of the Burgundians, along with Gund ...

's sons). Brynhildr responds that she will tell her the truth and how the sons of Gjúki made her an unhappy oath-breaker. Formerly, she used to be called Hildr the helmed and she lived in a dwelling of valkyries called Hlymdalir. Then a monarch (presumably Agnarr) captured Brynhildr and her seven sisters' by taking their swan-robes that he found under an oak. She was only twelve winters old when she married the young king. Against the will of

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

, she then made the aged Hjalmgunnar, the king of the Goths, die and instead she gave victory to Auða's young brother (Agnarr). The angry Odin imprisoned her in Skatalund within red and white overlapping shields, and cursed her to sleep until a man without fear would set her free. In order to make it even harder to liberate her, Odin also created a circle of fire around her resting place. Sigurd then arrived on Grani and brought her Fafnir's gold. The hero shared her bed during eight nights without them touching each other.In ''

Grípisspá ''Grípisspá'' (''Grípir's prophecy'') or ''Sigurðarkviða Fáfnisbana I'' ("First Lay of Sigurd Fáfnir's Slayer") is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows '' Frá dauða Sinfjötla'' and precedes '' Reginsmál'' ...

'', they only shared three nights together. Still,

Gudrun Gudrun ( ; ) or Kriemhild ( ; ) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two queens of the Merovingian dyn ...

would reproach her for having slept in Sigurd's arms, and then admit to her that they had tricked her out of her relationship with Sigurd and made her take another man instead (Gunnar). Brynhildr finishes the poem by stating that men and women live in this world to suffer, but that she and Sigurd would never part again:

Synopsis

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