[18]. We four: if line 1 of stanza 19 is spurious, or the reference therein to “five” is a blunder, as may well be the case, then the “four” are Sigurth and the three brothers, Gunnar, Hogni, and Gotthorm. But it may be that the poet had in mind a tradition which, as in the Thithrekssaga, gave Gjuki a fourth son, in which case the “four” refers only to the four Gjukungs. Hunnish hero: Sigurth; cf. stanza 4 and note. Some editions put line 4 between lines 1 and 2. Some add lines 1–2 of stanza 19 to stanza 18, marking them as spurious.
[19]. We five: see note on preceding stanza. Some editors mark [[427]]lines 1–2 as spurious, and either assume a gap of two lines after line 4 or combine lines 3–4 with stanza 20. Whence lead the ways: a proverbial expression signifying “whence the trouble comes.”
[20]. The manuscript does not name the speaker. Gotthorm (the name is variously spelt): half-brother of Gunnar and Hogni (cf. Hyndluljoth, 27 and note, and Brot, 4 and note). The name is the northern form of Gundomar; a prince of this name is mentioned in the Lex Burgundionum, apparently as a brother of Gundahari (Gundicarius). In the Nibelungenlied the third brother is called Gernot.
[21]. No gap is indicated in the manuscript, and many editors combine stanza 21 with stanza 22, but it seems likely that not only two lines, but one or more stanzas in addition, have been lost; cf. Brot, 4, and also the detailed account of the slaying of Sigurth in the Volsungasaga, wherein, as here, Sigurth is killed in his bed (cf. stanza 24) and not in the forest.
[22]. Some editions combine lines 3–4 with stanza 23. Gram: [[428]]Sigurth’s sword (cf. Reginsmol, prose after stanza 14); the word here, however, may not be a proper name, but may mean “the hero.”
[23]. A line may well have been lost from this stanza.
[24]. Freyr: if the phrase “the friend of Freyr” means anything more than “king” (cf. Rigsthula, 46 etc.), which I doubt, it has reference to the late tradition that Freyr, and not Othin, was the ancestor of the Volsungs (cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 57 and note).
[25]. Müllenhoff thinks this stanza, or at any rate lines 1–2, a later addition based on stanza 29.
[26]. My son: Sigmund; cf. stanza 12 and note, and also Brot, 9 and note. [[429]]
[27]. Sigurth means that although Guthrun may have seven sons by a later marriage, none of them will equal Sigmund, “son of their (i.e., Gunnar’s and Hogni’s) sister.” Thing: council.