Chapter XVIII: Section III: comes, of course, from the “old Volsung lay.” This seems as (6)

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28. In the manuscript the three lines of stanza 27 follow line 2, and line 3 is marked as beginning a new stanza. Geirmund: nothing further is known of him, but he seems to be an ally or retainer of Atli, or possibly his brother. Hlesey: the poet’s geography is here in very bad shape. Hlesey is (or may be) the Danish island of Läsö, in the Kattegat (cf. Harbarthsljoth, 37 and note), and thither he has suddenly transported not only Gunnar’s death-place but Atli’s whole dwelling (cf. stanza 29), despite his previous references to the ride to Hunland (stanzas 3–4) and the “murky wood” (stanza 23). Geirmund’s home, where Oddrun has gone, is separated from Hlesey and Atli’s dwelling by a sound (stanza 29). However, geographical accuracy is seldom to be looked for in heroic epic poetry.

29. Many editions combine this stanza with lines 3–4 of stanza 28. The sound: cf. note on stanza 28.

30. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. Atli’s mother: the Volsungasaga does not follow this version; Gunnar puts all the serpents but one to sleep with his harp playing, “but a mighty and evil adder crawled to him and drove his fangs into him till they reached his heart, and so he died.” It is possible that “Atli” is a scribal error for a word meaning “of serpents.”

31. Serpents’-bed goddess: woman (i.e., Borgny); “goddess of gold” was a frequent term for a woman, and gold was often called the “serpents’ bed” (cf. Guthrunarkvitha I, 24 and note).

32. Some editions make line 4 a statement of the poet’s, and not part of Oddrun’s speech.

ATLAKVITHA EN GRÖNLENZKA

THE GREENLAND LAY OF ATLI

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

There are two Atli poems in the Codex Regius, the Atlakvitha (Lay of Atli) and the Atlamol (Ballad of Atli). The poems are not preserved or quoted in any other old manuscript, but they were extensively used by the compilers of the Volsungasaga. In the manuscript superscription to each of these poems appears the word “Greenland,” which has given rise to a large amount of argument. The scribe was by no means infallible, and in this case his statement proves no more than that in the period round 1300 there was a tradition that these two poems originated in the Greenland settlement.

The two Atli poems deal with substantially the same material: the visit of the sons of Gjuki to Atli’s court, their deaths, and the subsequent revenge of their sister, Guthrun, Atli’s wife, on her husband. The shorter of the two, the Atlakvitha, tells the story with little elaboration; the Atlamol, with about the same narrative basis, adds many details, some of them apparently of the poet’s invention, and with a romantic, not to say sentimental, quality quite lacking in the Atlakvitha. Both poems are sharply distinguished from the rest of the collection by their metrical form, which is the Malahattr (used irregularly also in the Harbarthsljoth), employed consistently and smoothly in the Atlamol, and with a considerable mixture of what appear to be Fornyrthislag lines (cf. Introduction) in the Atlakvitha.

It is altogether probable that both poems belong to the eleventh century, the shorter Atlakvitha being generally dated from the first quarter thereof, and the longer Atlamol some fifty years or more later. In each case the poet was apparently a Christian; in the Atlamol (stanza 82) Guthrun expresses her readiness to die and “go into another light,” and in the Atlakvitha there is frequent use of mythological names (e.g., Valhall, Hlithskjolf) with an evident lack of understanding of their relation to the older gods. These facts fit the theory of a Greenland origin exceedingly well, for the Greenland settlement grew rapidly after the first explorations of Eirik the Red, which were in 982–985, and its most flourishing period was in the eleventh century. The internal evidence, particularly in the case of the Atlamol, points likewise to an origin remote from Iceland, Norway, and the “Western Isles”; and the two poems are sufficiently alike so that, despite the efforts of Finnur Jonsson and others to separate them, assigning one to Greenland and the other to Norway or elsewhere, it seems probable that the manuscript statement is correct in both instances, and that the two Atli poems did actually originate in Greenland. An interesting account of this Greenland settlement is given in William Hovgaard’s Voyages of the Norsemen to America, published by the American-Scandinavian Foundation in 1914, and an extraordinarily vivid picture of the sufferings of the early settlers appears in Maurice Hewlett’s Thorgils, taken from the Floamannasaga.

From the standpoint of narrative material there is little that is distinctively Norse in either the Atlakvitha or the Atlamol. The story is the one outlined in the prose Drap Niflunga (largely based on these two poems), representing almost exclusively the southern blending of the Attila and Burgundian legends (cf. introductory note to Gripisspo). In the Atlakvitha, indeed, the word “Burgundians” is actually used. Brynhild is not mentioned in either poem; Sigurth’s name appears but once, in the Atlamol. Thus the material goes directly back to its South-Germanic origins, with little of the Northern making-over which resulted in such extensive changes in most parts of the Sigurth story. The general atmosphere, on the other hand, particularly in the Atlamol, is essentially Norse.

As has been said, the Atlakvitha is metrically in a chaotic state, the normal Malahattr lines being frequently interspersed with lines and even stanzas which apparently are of the older Fornyrthislag type. How much of this confusion is due to faulty transmission is uncertain, but it has been suggested that the composer of the Atlakvitha made over in Malahattr an older Atli poem in Fornyrthislag, and this suggestion has much to recommend it. That he worked on the basis of an older poem is, indeed, almost certain, for in oral prose tradition a far larger number of distinctively Norse traits would unquestionably have crept in than are found in the material of the Atlakvitha. As for the Atlamol, here again the poet seems to have used an older poem as his basis, possibly the Atlakvitha itself, although in that case he must have had other material as well, for there are frequent divergences in such matters as proper names.

The translation of the Atlakvitha is rendered peculiarly difficult by the irregularity of the metre, by the evident faultiness of the transmission, and above all by the exceptionally large number of words found nowhere else in Old Norse, involving much guesswork as to their meanings. The notes do not attempt to indicate all the varying suggestions made by editors and commentators as to the reconstruction of defective stanzas and the probable meanings of obscure passages; in cases which are purely or largely guesswork the notes merely point out the uncertainty without cataloguing the proposed solutions.

Guthrun, Gjuki’s daughter, avenged her brothers, as has become well known. She slew first Atli’s sons, and thereafter she slew Atli, and burned the hall with his whole company. Concerning this was the following poem made:

1. Atli sent | of old to Gunnar
A keen-witted rider, | Knefröth did men call him;
To Gjuki’s home came he | and to Gunnar’s dwelling,
With benches round the hearth, | and to the beer so sweet.

2. Then the followers, hiding | their falseness, all drank
Their wine in the war-hall, | of the Huns’ wrath wary;
And Knefröth spake loudly, | his words were crafty,
The hero from the south, | on the high bench sitting:

3. “Now Atli has sent me | his errand to ride,
On my bit-champing steed | through Myrkwood the secret,
To bid you, Gunnar, | to his benches to come,
With helms round the hearth, | and Atli’s home seek.

4. “Shields shall ye choose there, | and shafts made of
ash-wood,
Gold-adorned helmets, | and slaves out of Hunland,
Silver-gilt saddle-cloths, | shirts of bright scarlet,
With lances and spears too, | and bit-champing steeds.

5. “The field shall be given you | of wide Gnitaheith,
With loud-ringing lances, | and stems gold-o’erlaid,
Treasures full huge, | and the home of Danp,
And the mighty forest | that Myrkwood is called.”

6. His head turned Gunnar, | and to Hogni he said:
“What thy counsel, young hero, | when such things we hear?
No gold do I know | on Gnitaheith lying
So fair that other | its equal we have not.

Hogni spake:

8. “What seeks she to say, | that she sends us a ring,
Woven with a wolf’s hair? | methinks it gives warning;
In the red ring a hair | of the heath-dweller found I,
Wolf-like shall our road be | if we ride on this journey.”

9. Not eager were his comrades, | nor the men of his kin,
The wise nor the wary, | nor the warriors bold.
But Gunnar spake forth | as befitted a king,
Noble in the beer-hall, | and bitter his scorn:

10. “Stand forth now, Fjornir! | and hither on the floor
The beakers all golden | shalt thou bring to the warriors.
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .

11. “The wolves then shall rule | the wealth of the Niflungs,
Wolves aged and grey-hued, | if Gunnar is lost,
And black-coated bears | with rending teeth bite,
And make glad the dogs, | if Gunnar returns not.”

12. A following gallant | fared forth with the ruler,
Yet they wept as their home | with the hero they left;
And the little heir | of Hogni called loudly:
“Go safe now, ye wise ones, | wherever ye will!”

13. Then let the bold heroes | their bit-champing horses
On the mountains gallop, | and through Myrkwood the secret;
All Hunland was shaken | where the hard-souled ones rode,
On the whip-fearers fared they | through fields that were
green.

14. Then they saw Atli’s halls, | and his watch-towers high,
On the walls so lofty | stood the warriors of Buthli;
The hall of the southrons | with seats was surrounded,
With targets bound | and shields full bright.

15. Mid weapons and lances | did Atli his wine
In the war-hall drink, | without were his watchmen,
For Gunnar they waited, | if forth he should go,
With their ringing spears | they would fight with the ruler.

16. This their sister saw, | as soon as her brothers
Had entered the hall,— | little ale had she drunk:
“Betrayed art thou, Gunnar! | what guard hast thou, hero,
’Gainst the plots of the Huns? | from the hall flee swiftly!

17. “Brother, ’twere far better | to have come in byrnie,
With thy household helmed, | to see Atli’s home,
And to sit in the saddle | all day ’neath the sun,
(That the sword-norns might weep | for the death-pale warriors,
And the Hunnish shield-maids | might shun not the sword,)
And send Atli himself | to the den of the snakes;
(Now the den of the snakes | for thee is destined.)”

Gunnar spake:

18. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“Too late is it, sister, | to summon the Niflungs,
Long is it to come | to the throng of our comrades,
The heroes gallant, | from the hills of the Rhine.”

* * * * * *

19. Then Gunnar they seized, | and they set him in chains,
The Burgundians’ king, | and fast they bound him.

20. Hogni slew seven | with sword so keen,
And an eighth he flung | in the fire hot;
A hero should fight | with his foemen thus,
As Hogni strove | in Gunnar’s behalf.

21. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The leader they asked | if his life he fain
With gold would buy, | the king of the Goths.

Gunnar spake:

22. “First the heart of Hogni | shall ye lay in my hands,
All bloody from the breast | of the bold one cut
With keen-biting sword, | from the son of the king.”

23. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
They cut out the heart | from the breast of Hjalli,
On a platter they bore it, | and brought it to Gunnar.

25. Then Hogni laughed | when they cut out the heart
Of the living helm-hammerer; | tears he had not.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
On a platter they bore it, | and brought it to Gunnar.

27. “So distant, Atli, | from all men’s eyes,
Shalt thou be as thou | . . . . . from the gold.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .

28. “To no one save me | is the secret known
Of the Niflungs’ hoard, | now Hogni is dead;
Of old there were two, | while we twain were alive,
Now is none but I, | for I only am living.

29. “The swift Rhine shall hold | the strife-gold of heroes,
That once was the gods’, | the wealth of the Niflungs,
In the depths of the waters | the death-rings shall glitter,
And not shine on the hands | of the Hunnish men.”

Atli spake:

30. “Ye shall bring the wagon, | for now is he bound.”

* * * * * *

31. On the long-maned Glaum | rode Atli the great,
About him were warriors | . . . . . . . .
But Guthrun, akin | to the gods of slaughter,
Yielded not to her tears | in the hall of tumult.

Guthrun spake:

32. “It shall go with thee, Atli, | as with Gunnar thou heldest
The oaths ofttimes sworn, | and of old made firm,
By the sun in the south, | by Sigtyr’s mountain,
By the horse of the rest-bed, | and the ring of Ull.”

33. Then the champer of bits | drew the chieftain great,
The gold-guarder, down | to the place of death.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .

35. Then Atli rode | on his earth-treading steed,
Seeking his home, | from the slaughter-place;
There was clatter of hoofs | of the steeds in the court,
And the clashing of arms | as they came from the field.

36. Out then came Guthrun | to meeting with Atli,
With a golden beaker | as gift to the monarch:
“Thou mayst eat now, chieftain, | within thy dwelling,
Blithely with Guthrun | young beasts fresh slaughtered.”

37. The wine-heavy ale-cups | of Atli resounded,
When there in the hall | the Hunnish youths clamored,
And the warriors bearded, | the brave ones, entered.

38. Then in came the shining one, | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | and drink she bore them;
Unwilling and bitter | brought she food to the warrior,
Till in scorn to the white-faced | Atli did she speak:

39. “Thou giver of swords, | of thy sons the hearts
All heavy with blood | in honey thou hast eaten;
Thou shalt stomach, thou hero, | the flesh of the slain,
To eat at thy feast, | and to send to thy followers.

42. Gold did she scatter, | the swan-white one,
And rings of red gold | to the followers gave she;
The fate she let grow, | and the shining wealth go,
Nor spared she the treasure | of the temple itself.

43. Unwise then was Atli, | he had drunk to wildness,
No weapon did he have, | and of Guthrun bewared not;
Oft their play was better | when both in gladness
Each other embraced | among princes all.

44. With her sword she gave blood | for the bed to drink,
With her death-dealing hand, | and the hounds she loosed,
The thralls she awakened, | and a firebrand threw
In the door of the hall; | so vengeance she had.

45. To the flames she gave all | who yet were within,
And from Myrkheim had come | from the murder of Gunnar;
The timbers old fell, | the temple was in flames,
The dwelling of the Buthlungs, | and the shield-maids burned,
They were slain in the house, | in the hot flames they sank.

46. Now the tale is all told, | nor in later time
Will a woman in byrnie | avenge so her brothers;
The fair one to three | of the kings of the folk
Brought the doom of death | ere herself she died.

Still more is told in the Greenland ballad of Atli.

NOTES

Prose. On the marriage of Guthrun to Atli at the instigation of her brothers, Gunnar and Hogni, and on the slaying of Atli and his two sons, Erp and Eitil, cf. Drap Niflunga and note.

1. Line 1 apparently is in Fornyrthislag. Knefröth (the name is spelt in various ways, and its meaning is uncertain): in the Atlamol (stanza 4) there are two messengers, one named Vingi and the other unnamed; the annotator combines the two versions in the Drap Niflunga. Benches, etc.: the adjective rendered “round the hearth,” which etymologically it ought to mean, is made obscure by its application to “helmets” in stanzas 3 and 17.

2. Falseness: i.e., Gunnar’s followers concealed their fear and hatred of the Huns at the feast; but the word may mean “fear of treachery.” War-hall: the word used is “Valhall,” the name of Othin’s hall of slain warriors.

3. Myrkwood the secret (the adjective is literally “unknown”): the forest which divided Atli’s realm from that of the Gjukungs; cf. Oddrunargratr, 23 and note. Around the hearth: the adjective is the same one which is applied to “benches” in stanza 1 (cf. note); it may be an error here, or it may possibly have the force of “of your followers,” i.e., Gunnar is to arm the men of his household (those who are round his hearth) for the journey.

4. Slaves, etc.: some editions have “swords in plenty.” Scarlet: the word apparently means “slaughter-red,” “blood-red,” but it may mean something entirely different.

5. Gnitaheith: here the dragon Fafnir had his lair (cf. Gripisspo, 11). Sigurth doubtless owned it after Fafnir’s death, and the Gjukungs after they had killed Sigurth. Possibly they had given it to Atli in recompense for the death of his sister, Brynhild, and he now offered to restore it to them, or—as seems more likely—the poet was not very clear about its ownership himself. Stems: i.e., the gilded stems of ships, carved like dragons,—an evident northern touch, if the word is correct, which is by no means certain. Danp: this name was early applied to a mythical Danish king (cf. Rigsthula, 49 and note), but it may have been fabricated by error out of the word “Danparstaþir” (the phrase here used is “staþi Danpar”), used in the Hervararsaga of a field of battle between the Goths and the Huns, and quite possibly referring to the region of the Dnieper. The name seems to have clung to the Atli tradition long after it had lost all definite significance. Myrkwood: cf. note on stanza 3.

7. The stanza is clearly in bad shape; the manuscript indicates line 5 as beginning a new stanza. In line 5 the manuscript has “and shield” after “helm.” Kjar: Gering ingeniously identifies this Kjar with Kjar the father of Olrun, mentioned in the Völundarkvitha, introductory prose and stanza 2, on the basis of a genealogy in the Flateyjarbok, in which Authi, the grandfather of Kjar (by no means certainly the same man) and Buthli, father of Atli, are mentioned as making a raiding voyage together. This identification, however, rests on slight evidence.

8. The manuscript does not name the speaker. One editor gives the first sentence to Gunnar. She, etc.: Guthrun, seeking to warn her brothers of Atli’s treachery, sends them a ring with a wolf’s hair as a sign of danger; in the Atlamol (stanza 4) she sends a message written in runes; cf. Drap Niflunga. Heath-dweller: wolf.

9. In line 1 the manuscript has “His comrades did not urge Gunnar,” but the name, involving a metrical error, seems to have been inserted through a scribal blunder.

10. The manuscript indicates no lacuna, but probably two lines have dropped out, for the Volsungasaga paraphrase runs: “Give us to drink in great cups, for it may well be that this shall be our last feast.” Fjornir: Gunnar’s cup-bearer.

11. Bugge thinks this stanza is spoken by Gunnar’s terrified followers; Grundtvig assigns it to Hogni. Apparently, however, Gunnar means that if he and his men are not valiant enough to make the journey and return safely, it matters little what may happen to them. Niflungs: regarding the application of this name to Gunnar’s Burgundians cf. Brot, 17 and note. Bears: these “black” bears have been used as arguments against the Greenland origin of the poem. And make glad the dogs: i.e., by giving them corpses to eat, but the phrase in the original is more than doubtful.

12. Some editions in line 2 read “home of the Niflungs” instead of “their home,” and others “home of the Huns,” the manuscript reading being “home of the men.” Heir: the Atlamol (stanza 28) names two sons of Hogni, Snævar and Solar, both of whom make the journey with their father and are killed. The Volsungasaga, combining the two versions, says that Snævar and Solar went with their father, and implies that it was a third and still younger son who said: “Farewell, and have a good time” (thus literally).

13. Myrkwood: cf. stanza 3 and note; the journey is here made by land, whereas in the Atlamol it is made partly by boat; cf. Atlamol, 34 and note. Whip-fearers: horses, but there is some uncertainty as to the word.

14. In line 1 the manuscript has “land” instead of “halls,” which involves a metrical error. Watch-towers: the word used is identical with the name of Othin’s watch-tower, Hlithskjolf (cf. Grimnismol, introductory prose). Buthli: the manuscript has “Bikki,” which has led some editors to transfer this stanza to the Hamthesmol, placing it between stanzas 16 and 17; it seems more likely, however, that “Bikki” was a scribal error for “Buthli.” Regarding Bikki cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 63 and note. Line 4 is apparently in Fornyrthislag.

15. Line 1 in the manuscript is apparently incorrectly copied, and some editions omit “Mid weapons and lances” and assume a gap in either line 1 or line 3.

17. This may be the remains of two stanzas; the manuscript marks line 5 as beginning a new stanza. Editorial conjectures are numerous and varied. Household: the phrase is the same “helms round the hearth” commented on in stanza 3. Some editions insert a conjectural line after line 3. Sword-norns, etc.: the line is exceedingly obscure, and the phrase rendered “sword-norns” may mean “corpse-norns.” Apparently it refers to the warrior-women of the Huns, the “shield-maids” of line 5 and of stanza 45. Roman writers refer to the warrior-women among the early Germanic tribes, and the tradition, closely allied to that of the Valkyries, attached itself readily to the ferocious Huns. Den of snakes: concerning the manner of Gunnar’s death cf. Drap Niflunga.

18. The manuscript indicates no lacuna and does not name the speaker; perhaps a line similar to line 1 of stanza 24 (or 26) should be inserted here. Rhine: Gunnar’s Burgundian home is here clearly localized. After this stanza it is probable that a passage describing the battle has been lost.

19. These two lines, apparently the remains of a full stanza, may belong after stanza 20. Burgundians’ king: the phrase may mean “Burgundians’ men,” i.e., they bound all the Burgundians who were left alive after the battle. This is the only place in the poems in which the name “Burgundian” appears; that the poet had no very clear conception of its meaning is indicated by the fact that in stanza 21 he calls Gunnar “king of the Goths.”

20. Apparently a Fornyrthislag stanza, though most editions have attempted to expand the lines into Malahattr. The exploits of Hogni (Hagene), with the names of many of his victims, are told in the Nibelungenlied. The fire: in the Nibelungenlied Kriemhild has the hall set on fire, and the Burgundians fight amid the flames. Line 4 is clearly defective, and some editors regard the name “Gunnar” as all that is left of the first two lines of stanza 21.

21. Again apparently the remains of a Fornyrthislag stanza. Editors have attempted various combinations of the lines. Gold: presumably Sigurth’s treasure.

22. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker; perhaps a first line similar to line 1 of stanza 24 should appear here. Some editors, however, assume that a line is missing after line 3. Gunnar demands proof that Hogni is dead because, as stanza 28 shows, he is unwilling to die himself until he is assured that the secret of the treasure will perish with him. He did not, of course, intend that the heart should be cut from the living Hogni.

23. Most editions assume a gap (lines 1–2, 2–3 or 3–4). Hjalli: Atli’s cook, killed to deceive Gunnar, as Atli hoped to wring the secret of the hoard from Hogni if Gunnar remained silent. In the Atlamol (stanzas 59–60) Atli’s men prepare to kill Hjalli, but he is spared at Hogni’s intercession.

25. Helm-hammerer (literally “helmet-smith”): warrior, i.e., Hogni. No gap indicated in the manuscript.

26. Line 1 may belong elsewhere (stanzas 18 or 22).

27. Apparently the remains of two Fornyrthislag lines; the manuscript combines them with lines 1–2 of stanza 28. Gunnar foretells Atli’s speedy death.

28. Apparently in Fornyrthislag. The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a stanza, and many editions combine lines 3–4 with stanza 29. This stanza explains Gunnar’s demand for Hogni’s heart in stanza 22.

29. The manuscript marks line 3, and not line 1, as the beginning of a stanza. Rhine, etc.: the stanza shows the blending of three different traditions with regard to the treasure: the German tradition of the gold of the Rhine (cf. Völundarkvitha, 16, and Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 16), the tradition, likewise German, of the hoard of the Nibelungen (Niflungs), early blended with the first one, and finally the northern tradition of the theft of Andvari’s treasure by Othin, Hönir, and Loki (cf. Reginsmol, 1–9).

30. Apparently all that is left of a full stanza. The manuscript does not name Atli as the speaker, and Grundtvig inserts: “Then Atli called, | the king of the Huns,” as a first line. Some editors combine this line with the two lines of stanza 33. Wagon: in Brot, 16, Gunnar is led to his death in the serpents’ den on horseback, not in a wagon.

31. The stanza in the original is hopelessly confused. Glaum: this horse of Atli’s is mentioned by name elsewhere. Long-maned: uncertain. The manuscript indicates no gap, but something has evidently been lost. Gods of slaughter: perhaps the phrase, usually applied to Othin and the other gods, is here used simply to mean “heroes,” i.e., Atli, Gunnar, and Hogni. Line 4 suggests Guthrun’s tearlessness after Sigurth’s death (cf. Guthrunarkvitha II, 11).

32. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Sigtyr (“Victory-God”): Othin; what particular mountain (if any) is meant is unknown. Horse of the rest-bed: probably this means “bedpost,” i.e., the support of the marriage-bed. Ull: the archer-god, cf. Grimnismol, 5 and note. Nothing is known of his ring.

33. Apparently the remains of a Fornyrthislag stanza. Some editors combine the two lines with the line here indicated as stanza 30. Champer of bits: horse. The manuscript indicates no gap.

34. Six Fornyrthislag lines which editors have tried to reconstruct in all sorts of ways. The manuscript marks line 5 as the beginning of a new stanza. Regarding the serpents’ den, Gunnar’s harp-playing, and the manner of his death, cf. Drap Niflunga and Oddrunargratr, 27–30, and notes. In Atlamol, 62, Gunnar plays the harp with his feet, his hands being bound, and some editors change hand in line 4 to “foot.” Lines 5–6 may be interpolated, or, as Bugge maintains, lines 1–4 may have been expanded out of two lines.

35. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. Two (possibly three) of the lines appear to be in Fornyrthislag. Field: so the manuscript, involving a metrical error; many editions have “wood.”

36. Young beasts: Guthrun means Atli’s sons, Erp and Eitil, but of course he thinks she refers to newly slaughtered beasts; cf. Guthrunarkvitha II, 41–45.

37. Youths: a conjectural addition. The brave ones is also conjectural, the manuscript having “each.” No gap indicated in the manuscript; some editions insert as line 3 or line 4 a slightly altered version of line 2 of stanza 45.

38. No gap indicated in the manuscript, but the two fragments cannot be fitted together as one line. The shining one: Guthrun.

39. Giver of swords: generous prince, i.e., Atli. Honey: cf. Guthrunarkvitha II, 42. To send to thy followers: literally, “to send from thy high seat.”

40. Apparently a Fornyrthislag stanza. Merry with ale: presumably this refers to Atli, but the manuscript reading makes it apply to the two boys. Sharers of gold: princes. Line 5 is either interpolated or all that is left of a separate stanza.

41. The text of the whole stanza has required a considerable amount of emendation. Lines 3–5 may have been expanded out of two lines, or line 5 may be an interpolation, possibly from stanza 12 of the Guthrunarhvot. Weapons: the word literally means “good-weaving,” and may refer to silken garments, but this hardly fits the noun here rendered “clashing.” Wept not: cf. stanza 31 and note.

42. Line 1 appears to be in Fornyrthislag. Guthrun distributes Atli’s treasures among his followers apparently to prevent their wrath at the slaying of Erp and Eitil from turning against her; Atli, as stanza 43 shows, is too drunk to realize or prevent what she is doing.

43. The second half of line 4 is apparently an error, but none of the editorial suggestions have improved it.

44. Guthrun allows the dogs and the house-thralls, who had no part in Gunnar’s death, to escape before she burns the dwelling with all who are left therein. In Atlamol, stanzas 83–84, Atli is slain by a son of Hogni (Hniflung?) with Guthrun’s help.

45. Some editions transfer line 2 to stanza 37; others reject line 3 as interpolated. Myrkheim (“Dark-Home”): probably identical with Myrkwood; cf. stanza 3. Temple: probably both here and in stanza 42 the word means little more than the place where Atli’s treasures were kept; the poet was by no means literal in his use of terms connected with the heathen religion. Buthlungs: sons of Buthli, i.e., Atli and his family. Shield-maids: cf. stanza 17 and note.

46. The entire stanza is very likely a later addition. Three kings: Atli and his two sons, Erp and Eitil.

ATLAMOL EN GRÖNLENZKU

THE GREENLAND BALLAD OF ATLI

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Many of the chief facts regarding the Atlamol, which follows the Atlakvitha in the Codex Regius, are outlined in the introductory note to the earlier Atli lay. That the superscription in the manuscript is correct, and that the poem was actually composed in Greenland, is generally accepted; the specific reference to polar bears (stanza 17), and the general color of the entire poem make this origin exceedingly likely. Most critics, again, agree in dating the poem nearer 1100 than 1050. As to its state of preservation there is some dispute, but, barring one or two possible gaps of some importance, and the usual number of passages in which the interpolation or omission of one or two lines may be suspected, the Atlamol has clearly come down to us in fairly good shape.

Throughout the poem the epic quality of the story itself is overshadowed by the romantically sentimental tendencies of the poet, and by his desire to adapt the narrative to the understanding of his fellow-Greenlanders. The substance of the poem is the same as that of the Atlakvitha; it tells of Atli’s message to the sons of Gjuki, their journey to Atli’s home, the slaying of Hogni and Gunnar, Guthrun’s bitterness over the death of her brothers, and her bloody revenge on Atli. Thus in its bare outline the Atlamol represents simply the Frankish blending of the legends of the slaughter of the Burgundians and the death of Attila (cf. Gripisspo, introductory note). But here the resemblance ends. The poet has added characters, apparently of his own creation, for the sake of episodes which would appeal to both the men and the women of the Greenland settlement. Sea voyages take the place of journeys by land; Atli is reproached, not for cowardice in battle, but for weakness at the Thing or great council. The additions made by the poet are responsible for the Atlamol’s being the longest of all the heroic poems in the Eddic collection, and they give it a kind of emotional vividness, but it has little of the compressed intensity of the older poems. Its greatest interest lies in its demonstration of the manner in which a story brought to the North from the South Germanic lands could be adapted to the understanding and tastes of its eleventh century hearers without any material change of the basic narrative.

In what form or forms the story of the Gjukungs and Atli reached the Greenland poet cannot be determined, but it seems likely that he was familiar with older poems on the subject, and possibly with the Atlakvitha itself. That the details which are peculiar to the Atlamol, such as the figures of Kostbera and Glaumvor, existed in earlier tradition seems doubtful, but the son of Hogni, who aids Guthrun in the slaying of Atli, appears, though under another name, in other late versions of the story, and it is impossible to say just how much the poet relied on his own imagination and how far he found suggestions and hints in the prose or verse stories of Atli with which he was familiar.

The poem is in Malahattr (cf. Introduction) throughout, the verse being far more regular than in the Atlakvitha. The compilers of the Volsungasaga evidently knew it in very much the form in which we now have it, for in the main it is paraphrased with great fidelity.

1. There are many who know | how of old did men
In counsel gather; | little good did they get;
In secret they plotted, | it was sore for them later,
And for Gjuki’s sons, | whose trust they deceived.

2. Fate grew for the princes, | to death they were given;
Ill counsel was Atli’s, | though keenness he had;
He felled his staunch bulwark, | his own sorrow fashioned,
Soon a message he sent | that his kinsmen should seek him.

3. Wise was the woman, | she fain would use wisdom,
She saw well what meant | all they said in secret;
From her heart it was hid | how help she might render,
The sea they should sail, | while herself she should go not.

4. Runes did she fashion, | but false Vingi made them,
The speeder of hatred, | ere to give them he sought;
Then soon fared the warriors | whom Atli had sent,
And to Limafjord came, | to the home of the kings.

5. They were kindly with ale, | and fires they kindled,
They thought not of craft | from the guests who had come;
The gifts did they take | that the noble one gave them,
On the pillars they hung them, | no fear did they harbor.

6. Forth did Kostbera, wife | of Hogni, then come,
Full kindly she was, | and she welcomed them both;
And glad too was Glaumvor, | the wife of Gunnar,
She knew well to care | for the needs of the guests.

7. Then Hogni they asked | if more eager he were,
Full clear was the guile, | if on guard they had been;
Then Gunnar made promise, | if Hogni would go,
And Hogni made answer | as the other counseled.

8. Then the famed ones brought mead, | and fair was the feast,
Full many were the horns, | till the men had drunk deep;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
Then the mates made ready | their beds for resting.

9. Wise was Kostbera, | and cunning in rune-craft,
The letters would she read | by the light of the fire;
But full quickly her tongue | to her palate clave,
So strange did they seem | that their meaning she saw not.

10. Full soon then his bed | came Hogni to seek,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The clear-souled one dreamed, | and her dream she kept not,
To the warrior the wise one | spake when she wakened:

11. “Thou wouldst go hence, Hogni, | but heed my counsel,—
Known to few are the runes,— | and put off thy faring;
I have read now the runes | that thy sister wrote,
And this time the bright one | did not bid thee to come.

Hogni spake:

13. “All women are fearful; | not so do I feel,
Ill I seek not to find | till I soon must avenge it;
The king now will give us | the glow-ruddy gold;
I never shall fear, | though of dangers I know.”

Kostbera spake:

14. “In danger ye fare, | if forth ye go thither,
No welcoming friendly | this time shall ye find;
For I dreamed now, Hogni, | and nought will I hide,
Full evil thy faring, | if rightly I fear.

15. “Thy bed-covering saw I | in the flames burning,
And the fire burst high | through the walls of my home.”

Hogni spake:

“Yon garment of linen | lies little of worth,
It will soon be burned, | so thou sawest the bed-cover.”

Kostbera spake:

16. “A bear saw I enter, | the pillars he broke,
And he brandished his claws | so that craven we were;
With his mouth seized he many, | and nought was our might,
And loud was the tumult, | not little it was.”

Hogni spake:

17. “Now a storm is brewing, | and wild it grows swiftly,
A dream of an ice-bear | means a gale from the east.”

Kostbera spake:

18. “An eagle I saw flying | from the end through the house,
Our fate must be bad, | for with blood he sprinkled us;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
From the evil I fear | that ’twas Atli’s spirit.”

Hogni spake:

19. “They will slaughter soon, | and so blood do we see,
Oft oxen it means | when of eagles one dreams;
True is Atli’s heart, | whatever thou dreamest.”
Then silent they were, | and nought further they said.

20. The high-born ones wakened, | and like speech they had,
Then did Glaumvor tell | how in terror she dreamed,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . Gunnar | two roads they should go.

Glaumvor spake:

21. “A gallows saw I ready, | thou didst go to thy hanging,
Thy flesh serpents ate, | and yet living I found thee;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The gods’ doom descended; | now say what it boded.”

* * * * * *

22. “A sword drawn bloody | from thy garments I saw,—
Such a dream is hard | to a husband to tell,—
A spear stood, methought, | through thy body thrust,
And at head and feet | the wolves were howling.”

Gunnar spake:

23. “The hounds are running, | loud their barking is heard,
Oft hounds’ clamor follows | the flying of spears.”

Glaumvor spake:

24. “A river the length | of the hall saw I run,
Full swiftly it roared, | o’er the benches it swept;
O’er the feet did it break | of ye brothers twain,
The water would yield not; | some meaning there was.”

* * * * * *

25. “I dreamed that by night | came dead women hither,
Sad were their garments, | and thee were they seeking;
They bade thee come swiftly | forth to their benches,
And nothing, methinks, | could the Norns avail thee.”

Gunnar spake:

26. “Too late is thy speaking, | for so is it settled;
From the faring I turn not, | the going is fixed,
Though likely it is | that our lives shall be short.”

27. Then bright shone the morning, | the men all were ready,
They said, and yet each | would the other hold back;
Five were the warriors, | and their followers all
But twice as many,— | their minds knew not wisdom.

28. Snævar and Solar, | they were sons of Hogni,
Orkning was he called | who came with the others,
Blithe was the shield-tree, | the brother of Kostbera;
The fair-decked ones followed, | till the fjord divided them,
Full hard did they plead, | but the others would hear not.

29. Then did Glaumvor speak forth, | the wife of Gunnar,
To Vingi she said | that which wise to her seemed:
“I know not if well | thou requitest our welcome,
Full ill was thy coming | if evil shall follow.”

30. Then did Vingi swear, | and full glib was his speech,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“May giants now take me | if lies I have told ye,
And the gallows if hostile | thought did I have.”

31. Then did Bera speak forth, | and fair was her thought,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“May ye sail now happy, | and victory have,
To fare as I bid ye, | may nought your way bar.”

32. Then Hogni made answer,— | dear held he his kin,—
courage, ye wise ones, | whatsoever may come;
Though many may speak, | yet is evil oft mighty,
And words avail little | to lead one homeward.

33. They tenderly looked | till each turned on his way,
Then with changing fate | were their farings divided.

34. Full stoutly they rowed, | and the keel clove asunder,
Their backs strained at the oars, | and their strength was
fierce;
The oar-loops were burst, | the thole-pins were broken,
Nor the ship made they fast | ere from her they fared.

35. Not long was it after— | the end must I tell—
That the home they beheld | that Buthli once had;
Loud the gates resounded | when Hogni smote them;
Vingi spake then a word | that were better unsaid:

36. “Go ye far from the house, | for false is its entrance,
Soon shall I burn you, | ye are swiftly smitten;
I bade ye come fairly, | but falseness was under,
Now bide ye afar | while your gallows I fashion.”

37. Then Hogni made answer, | his heart yielded little,
And nought did he fear | that his fate held in store:
“Seek not to affright us, | thou shalt seldom succeed;
If thy words are more, | then the worse grows thy fate.”

38. Then Vingi did they smite, | and they sent him to hell,
With their axes they clove him | while the death-rattle came.

39. Atli summoned his men, | in mail-coats they hastened,
All ready they came, | and between was the courtyard.

* * * * * *

40. Then came they to words, | and full wrathful they were:
“Long since did we plan | how soon we might slay you.”

Hogni spake:

41. “Little it matters | if long ye have planned it;
For unarmed do ye wait, | and one have we felled,
We smote him to hell, | of your host was he once.”

42. Then wild was their anger | when all heard his words;
Their fingers were swift | on their bowstrings to seize,
Full sharply they shot, | by their shields were they guarded.

43. In the house came the word | how the heroes without
Fought in front of the hall; | they heard a thrall tell it;
Grim then was Guthrun, | the grief when she heard,
With necklaces fair, | and she flung them all from her,
(The silver she hurled | so the rings burst asunder.)

44. Then out did she go, | she flung open the doors,
All fearless she went, | and the guests did she welcome;
To the Niflungs she went— | her last greeting it was,—
In her speech truth was clear, | and much would she speak.

45. “For your safety I sought | that at home ye should stay;
None escapes his fate, | so ye hither must fare.”
Full wisely she spake, | if yet peace they might win,
But to nought would they hearken, | and “No” said they all.

46. Then the high-born one saw | that hard was their battle,
In fierceness of heart | she flung off her mantle;
Her naked sword grasped she | her kin’s lives to guard,
Not gentle her hands | in the hewing of battle.

47. Then the daughter of Gjuki | two warriors smote down,
Atli’s brother she slew, | and forth then they bore him;
(So fiercely she fought | that his feet she clove off;)
Another she smote | so that never he stood,
To hell did she send him,— | her hands trembled never.

48. Full wide was the fame | of the battle they fought,
’Twas the greatest of deeds | of the sons of Gjuki;
Men say that the Niflungs, | while themselves they were living,
With their swords fought mightily, | mail-coats they sundered,
And helms did they hew, | as their hearts were fearless.

49. All the morning they fought | until midday shone,
(All the dusk as well | and the dawning of day,)
When the battle was ended, | the field flowed with blood;
Ere they fell, eighteen | of their foemen were slain,
By the two sons of Bera | and her brother as well.

50. Then the warrior spake, | and wild was his anger:
“This is evil to see, | and thy doing is all;
Once we were thirty, | we thanes keen for battle,
Now eleven are left, | and great is our lack.

51. “There were five of us brothers | when Buthli we lost,
Now Hel has the half, | and two smitten lie here;
A great kinship had I,— | the truth may I hide not,—
From a wife bringing slaughter | small joy could I win.

52. We lay seldom together | since to me thou wast given,
Now my kin all are gone, | of my gold am I robbed;
Nay, and worst, thou didst send | my sister to hell.”

Guthrun spake:

53. “Hear me now, Atli! | the first evil was thine;
My mother didst thou take, | and for gold didst murder her,
My sister’s daughter | thou didst starve in a prison.
A jest does it seem | that thy sorrow thou tellest,
And good do I find it | that grief to thee comes.”

Atli spake:

54. “Go now, ye warriors, | and make greater the grief
Of the woman so fair, | for fain would I see it;
So fierce be thy warring | that Guthrun shall weep,
I would gladly behold | her happiness lost.

55. “Seize ye now Hogni, | and with knives shall ye hew him,
His heart shall ye cut out, | this haste ye to do;
And grim-hearted Gunnar | shall ye bind on the gallows,
Swift shall ye do it, | to serpents now cast him.”

Hogni spake:

56. “Do now as thou wilt, | for glad I await it,
Brave shalt thou find me, | I have faced worse before;
We held thee at bay | while whole we were fighting,
Now with wounds are we spent, | so thy will canst thou work.”

57. Then did Beiti speak, | he was Atli’s steward:
“Let us seize now Hjalli, | and Hogni spare we!
Let us fell the sluggard, | he is fit for death,
He has lived too long, | and lazy men call him.”

58. Afraid was the pot-watcher, | he fled here and yon,
And crazed with his terror | he climbed in the corners:
“Ill for me is this fighting, | if I pay for your fierceness,
And sad is the day | to die leaving my swine
And all the fair victuals | that of old did I have.”

59. They seized Buthli’s cook, | and they came with the knife,
The frightened thrall howled | ere the edge did he feel;
He was willing, he cried, | to dung well the courtyard,
Do the basest of work, | if spare him they would;
Full happy were Hjalli | if his life he might have.

60. Then fain was Hogni— | there are few would do thus—
To beg for the slave | that safe hence he should go;
“I would find it far better | this knife-play to feel,
Why must we all hark | to this howling longer?”

61. Then the brave one they seized; | to the warriors bold
No chance was there left | to delay his fate longer;
Loud did Hogni laugh, | all the sons of day heard him,
So valiant he was | that well he could suffer.

* * * * * *

62. A harp Gunnar seized, | with his toes he smote it;
So well did he strike | that the women all wept,
And the men, when clear | they heard it, lamented;
Full noble was his song, | the rafters burst asunder.

63. Then the heroes died | ere the day was yet come;
Their fame did they leave | ever lofty to live.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .

64. Full mighty seemed Atli | as o’er them he stood,
The wise one he blamed, | and his words reproached her:
“It is morning, Guthrun; | now thy dear ones dost miss,
But the blame is part thine | that thus it has chanced.”

Guthrun spake:

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The poetic EddaChapter XVIII: Section III: comes, of course, from the “old Volsung lay.” This seems as (6)

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