Bibliographical Notes
To avoid confusion, and in view of the customary loose usage of the word “saga,” it may be as well to state that it is here used only in its technical sense of a prose history.
Dr. Rydberg formulates a theory identifying Völund with Thiazi, the giant who carried off Idunn. It is based chiefly on arguments from names and other philological considerations, and gives perhaps undue weight to the authority of Saxo. It is difficult to see any fundamental likenesses in the stories.
The Old English references to Weland are in the Waldere fragment and the Lament of Deor. For the Franks Casket, see Professor Napier's discussion, with photographs, in the English Miscellany (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1901). The Thidreks Saga (sometimes called Vilkina Saga), was edited by Unger (Christiania, 1853), and by Hylten-Cavallius (1880). There are two German translations: by Rassmann (Heldensage, (1863), and by Von der Hagen (Nordische Heldenromane, 1873).
The Volsungs. (Pages [8] to [27].)
As divided in most editions the poems connected with the Volsung cycle, including the two on Ermanric, are fifteen in number: Page 53
Gripisspa.
Reginsmal, Fafnismal, Sigrdrifumal, a continued narrative compiled from different sources.
Sigurd Fragment, on the death of Sigurd.
First Gudrun Lay, on Gudrun's mourning, late.
Short Sigurd Lay (called Long Brynhild Lay in the Corpus Poeticum; sometimes called Third Sigurd Lay). style late.
Brynhild's Hellride, a continuation of the preceding.
Second, or Old, Gudrun Lay, is also late. It contains more kennings than are usual in Eddic poetry, and the picture of Gudrun's sojourn in Denmark and the tapestry she wrought with Thora Halfdan's daughter, together with the descriptions of her suitors, belong to a period which had a taste for colour and elaboration of detail.
Third Gudrun Lay, or the Ordeal of Gudrun (after her marriage to Atli), is romantic in character. The Gothic hero Thjodrek (Dietrich) is introduced.
Oddrun's Lament, in which Gunnar's death is caused by an intrigue with Atli's sister Oddrun, marks the disintegration of the Volsung legend.
The two Atli Lays (Atlakvida and Atlamal, the latter of Greenland origin), deal with the death of Gunnar and Högni, and Gudrun's vengeance on Atli.
Gudrun's Lament and Hamthismal belong to the Ermanric cycle.
Volsung Paraphrases. (Page [11].)
Skaldskaparmal, Völsunga Saga and Norna-Gests Thattr (containing another short paraphrase) are all included in Dr. Wilken's Die Prosaische Edda (Paderborn, 1878). There is an English version of Völsunga by Magnusson and Morris (London, 1870) and a German version of Völsunga and Norna-Gest by Edzardi. Page 54
Nibelungenlied. (Page [11].)
Editions by Bartsch (Leipzig, 1895) and Zarncke (Halle, 1899); translation into modern German by Simrock.
Signy and Siggeir. (Page [13].)
Saxo Grammaticus (Book vii.) tells the story of a Signy, daughter of Sigar, whose lover Hagbard, after slaying her brothers, wins her favour. Sigar in vengeance had him strangled on a hill in view of Signy's windows, and she set fire to her house that she might die simultaneously with her lover. The antiquity of part at least of this story is proved by the kenning “Hagbard's collar” for halter, in a poem probably of the tenth century. On the other hand, a reference in Völsunga Saga, that “Haki and Hagbard were great and famous men, yet Sigar carried off their sister, ... and they were slow to vengeance,” shows that there is confusion somewhere. It seems possible that Hagbard's story has been contaminated with a distorted account of the Volsung Signy, civilised as usual by Saxo, with an effect of vulgarity absent from the primitive story.
In a recently published pamphlet by Mr. W.W. Lawrence and Dr. W.H. Schofield (The First Riddle of Cynewulf and Signy's Lament. Baltimore: The Modern Language Association of America. 1902) it is suggested that the so-called First Riddle in the Exeter Book is in reality an Anglo-Saxon translation of a Norse “Complaint” spoken by the Volsung Signy. Evidence from metre and form is all in favour of this view, and the poem bears the interpretation without any straining of the meaning. Dr. Schofield's second contention, that the poem thus interpreted is evidence for the theory of a British origin for the Eddie poems, is not equally convincing. The existence in Anglo-Saxon of a translation from the Norse is no proof that any of the Eddie poems, or even the Page 55original Norse “Signy's Lament” postulated by Dr. Schofield, were composed in the West.
It seems unnecessary to suppose, with Dr. Schofield, an influence of British legend on the Volsung story. The points in which the story of Sigmund resembles that of Arthur and differs from that of Theseus prove nothing in the face of equally strong points of correspondence between Arthur and Theseus which are absent from the Volsung story.
Sinfjötli's Death. (Page [14].)
Munch (Nordmændenes Gudelære, Christiania, 1847) ingeniously identified the old man with Odin, come in person to conduct Sinfjötli to Valhalla, since he would otherwise have gone to Hel, not having fallen in battle; a stratagem quite in harmony with Odin's traditional character.
Sigmund and Sinfjötli. (Page [15].)
It seems probable, on the evidence of Beowulf, that Sigmund and Sinfjötli represent the Pan-Germanic stage of the national-hero, and Sigurd or Siegfried the Continental stage. Possibly Helgi may then be the Norse race-hero. Sigurd was certainly foreign to Scandinavia; hence the epithet Hunnish, constantly applied to him, and the localising of the legend by the Rhine. The possibility suggests itself that the Brynhild part of the story, on the other hand, is of Scandinavian origin, and thence passed to Germany. It is at least curious that the Nibelungen Lied places Prunhilt in Iceland.
Wagner and the Volsung Cycle. (Page [26].)
Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen is remarkable not only for the way in which it reproduces the spirit of both the Sinfjötli and the Sigurd traditions, but also for the wonderful instinct which chooses the best and most Page 56primitive features of both Norse and Continental versions. Thus he keeps the dragon of the Norse, the Nibelungs of the German; preserves the wildness of the old Sigmund tale, and substitutes the German Hagen for his paler Norse namesake; restores the original balance between the parts of Brynhild and Gudrun; gives the latter character, and an active instead of a passive function in the story, by assigning to her her mother's share in the action; and by substituting for the slaying of the otter the bargain with the Giants for the building of Valhalla, makes the cause worthy of the catastrophe.
Ermanric. (Page [27].)
For examples of legend becoming attached to historical names, see Tylor's Primitive Culture.
The Helgi Lays. (Page [29].)
The Helgi Lays stand before the Volsung set in the MS.; I treat them later for the sake of greater clearness.
Helgi and Kara. (Page [30].)
Hromundar Saga Gripssonar, in which this story is given, is worthless as literature, and has not been recently edited. P.E. Müller's Sagabibliothek, in which it was published, is out of print. Latin and Swedish translations may be found in Björner's Nordiske Kåmpa Dater (Stockholm, 1737), also out of print.
Rebirth. (Page [31].)
Dr. Storm has an interesting article on the Norse belief in Re-birth in the Arkiv for Nordisk Filologi, ix. He collects instances, and among other arguments points out the Norse custom of naming a posthumous child after its dead father as a probable relic of the belief. The inheritance of luck may perhaps be another survival; a notable Page 57instance occurs in Viga-Glums Saga, where the warrior Vigfus bequeaths his luck to his favourite grandson, Glum. In the Waterdale Saga there are two instances in which it is stated that the luck of the dead grandfather will pass to the grandson who receives his name. Scholars do not, however, agree as to the place of the rebirth idea in the Helgi poems, some holding the view that it is an essential part of the story.
Hunding. (Page [32].)
It is possible that the werwolf story is a totem survival. If so, the Hunding feud might easily belong to it: dogs are the natural enemies of wolves. It is curious that the Irish werwolf Cormac has a feud with MacCon (i.e., Son of a Dog), which means the same as Hunding. This story, which has not been printed, will be found in the Bodleian MS. Laud, 610.
Thorgerd Holgabrud. (Page [33].)
Told in Saxo, Book ii. Snorri has a bare allusion to it.
Holger Danske, or Ogier Le Danois. (Page [33].)
See Corpus Poeticum Boreale, vol. i. p. cxxx., and No. 10 of this series. The Norse version of the story (Helgi Thorisson) is told in the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, and is summarised by Dr. Rydberg in the Teutonic Mythology, and by Mr. Nutt in the Voyage of Bran.
Ballads. (Page [36].)
Professor Child is perhaps hasty in regarding the two parts of Clerk Saunders as independent. The first part, though unlike the Helgi story in circumstance, seems to preserve the tradition of the hero's hostility to his bride's kindred, and his death at their hands.
The Helgi story, in all its variants, is as familiar in Page 58Danish as in Border ballads. The distribution of the material in Iceland, Denmark, England and Scotland is strongly in favour of the presumption that Scandinavian legend influenced England and Scotland, and against the presumption that the poems in question passed from the British Isles to Iceland. The evidence of the Danish ballads should be conclusive on this point. There is an English translation of the latter by R.C.A. Prior (Ancient Danish Ballads, London, 1860).
The Everlasting Battle. (Page [39].)
The Skald Bragi (before 850 A.D.) has a poem on this subject, given with a translation in the Corpus, vol. ii. Saxo's version is in the fifth book of his History. According to Bragi, Hild has a necklace, which has caused comparison of this story with that of the Greek Eriphyle. Irish legendary history describes a similar battle in which the slain revive each night and renew the fight daily, as occurring in the wanderings of the Tuatha De Danann before they reached Ireland. According to Keating, they learnt the art of necromancy in the East, and taught it to the Danes.
The latest edition of the Gudrun is by Ernst Martin (second edition, Halle, 1902). There is a modern German translation by Simrock.
Angantyr. (Page [42].)
The poems of this cycle are four in number—(1) Hjalmar's Death-song: (2) Angantyr and Hervör; (3) Heidrek's Riddle-Poem: (4) Angantyr the Younger and Hlod. All are given in the first volume of the Corpus, with translations.
Herrarar Saga was published by Rafn (Copenhagen, 1829–30) in Fornaldar Sögur, vol. i., now out of print. It has been more recently edited by Dr. Bugge, together with Völsunga and others. Petersen (Copenhagen, 1847) edited Page 59it with a Danish translation. Munch's Nordmuendenes Gudelære (out of print) contains a short abstract.
Death of Angantyr. (Page [43].)
Angantyr's death is related by Saxo, Book v., with entire exclusion of all mythical interest.
Transmission of Legends. (Page [47].)
Müllenhoff's views are given in the Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, vol. x.; Maurer's in the Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie, vol. ii. For Golther's views on the Volsung cycle see Germania, 33.
The Dragon Myth. (Page [49].)
See also Hartland, Science of Fairy-Tales.
The eating of the dragon's heart (see p. [19]) may possibly be a survival of the custom of eating a slain enemy's heart to obtain courage, of which Dr. Frazer gives examples in the Golden Bough.
Alien Wives. (Page [49].)
For the theory of alien wives as a means of transmission, see Lang, Custom and Myth (London, 1893).
The Sister's Son. (Page [51].)
See Mr. Gummere's article in the English Miscellany; and Professor Rhys' Presidential Address to the Anthropological Section of the British Association, 1900. The double relationship between Sigmund and Sinfjötli (not uncommon in heroic tales; compare Conchobhar and Cuchulainn, Arthur and Mordred) seems in this case due to the same cause as the custom which prevailed in the dynasty of the Ptolemies, where the king often married his sister, that his heir might be of the pure royal blood. Page 60
Swanmaids. (Page [51].)
See Hartland, Science of Fairy-Tales.
The Waverlowe. (Page [51].)
Dr. Frazer (Golden Bough) gives instances of ritual marriages connected with the midsummer fires. For Svipdag and Menglad, see Study No. 12 of this series. If Rydberg, as seems very probable, is right in identifying Menglad and Svipdag with Freyja and the mortal lover who wins her and whom she afterwards loses, the story would be a parallel to those of Venus and Adonis, Ishtar and Tammuz, &c., which Frazer derives from the ritual marriage of human sacrifices to the Goddess of fertility. The reason given in the Edda for Brynhild's sleep, and her connexion with Odin, are secondary, arising from the Valhalla myth.
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