[45]. According to the Volsungasaga, Sigurth remembers his oaths to Brynhild almost immediately after his return to Gunnar’s house. Brynhild, on the other hand, knows nothing until the [[353]]famous quarrel between herself and Guthrun at the bath (another reminiscence of the German story), when she taunts Guthrun with Sigurth’s inferiority to Gunnar, and Guthrun retorts with the statement that it was Sigurth, and not Gunnar, who rode through the flames.
[47]. Brynhild tells Gunnar that Sigurth really possessed her during the three nights when he slept by her in Gunnar’s form, thus violating his oath. Here again there is a confusion of two traditions. If Sigurth did not meet Brynhild until after his oath to Gunnar (cf. note on stanza 13), Brynhild’s charge is entirely false, as she herself admits in Helreith Brynhildar. On the other hand, according to the version in which Sigurth finds Brynhild before he meets Gjuki’s sons, their union was not only completed, but she had by him a daughter, Aslaug, whom she leaves in Heimir’s charge before going to become Gunnar’s wife. This is the Volsungasaga version, and thus the statement Brynhild makes to Gunnar, as a result of which Sigurth is slain, is quite true. [[354]]
[50]. Gotthorm: Gunnar’s half-brother, and slayer of Sigurth.
[52]. The manuscript has stanzas 52 and 53 in inverse order. [[356]]
REGINSMOL
The Ballad of Regin
Introductory Note
The Reginsmol immediately follows the Gripisspo in the Codex Regius, and in addition stanzas 1, 2, 6, and 18 are quoted in the Volsungasaga, and stanzas 13–26 in the Nornageststhattr. In no instance is the title of the poem stated, and in Regius there stands before the introductory prose, very faintly written, what appears to be “Of Sigurth.” As a result, various titles have been affixed to it, the two most often used being “the Ballad of Regin” and “the First Lay of Sigurth Fafnisbane.”