The king bade that they should go another time, and he went with them himself, But when they came up on the mountain,
they saw Svavaland burning and mighty dust-clouds from many steeds. The king rode from the mountain forward into the land,
and made a night's stay hard by a stream. Atli kept watch and went over the stream; he found there a house. A great bird sat
on the housetop to guard it, but he was asleep. Atli hurled his spear at the bird and slew it, and in the house he found
Sigrlin the king's daughter and Alof the jarl's daughter, and he brought them both thence with him. Jarl Franmar had
changed himself into the likeness of an eagle, and guarded them from the enemy host by magic. Hrothmar was the name of a king,
a wooer of Sigrlin; he slew the king of Svavaland and had plundered and burned his land. King Hjorvarth took Sigrlin, and Atli
took Alof.
(II)
Hjorvarth and Sigrlin had a son, mighty and of noble stature; he was a silent man, and no name stuck fast to him.
He sat on a hill, and saw nine Valkyries riding; one of them was the fairest of all. She spake:
6. "Late wilt thou, Helgi, | have hoard of rings,
Thou battle-tree fierce, | or of shining fields,--
The eagle screams soon,-- | if never thou speakest,
Though, hero, hard | thy heart may cry."
Helgi spake:
7. "What gift shall I have | with Helgi's name,
Glorious maid, | for the giving is thine?
All thy words | shall I think on well,
But I want them not | if I win not thee."
The Valkyrie spake:
8. "Swords I know lying | in Sigarsholm,
Fifty there are | save only four;
One there is | that is best of all,
The shield-destroyer, | with gold it shines.
9. "In the hilt is fame, | in the haft is courage,
In the point is fear, | for its owner's foes;
On the blade there lies | a blood-flecked snake,
And a serpent's tail | round the flat is twisted."
Eylimi was the name of a king, whose daughter was Svava; she was a Valkyrie, and rode air and sea.
She gave Helgi this name, and shielded him oft thereafter in battle. Helgi spake:
10. "Hjorvarth, king, | unwholesome thy counsels,
Though famed thou art | in leading the folk,
Letting fire the homes of heroes eat,
Who evil deed had never done thee.
[Prose. Sigrlin and Alof, protected by the latter's father, Franmar, have fled before the ravaging army of Sigrlin's rejected suitor,
Hrothmar. The beginning of a new section (II) is indicated in the manuscript only by the unusually large capital letter with which
"Hjorvarth" begins. No name, etc.: this probably means that Helgi had always been so silent that he would answer to no name, with the
result that he had none. Valkyries: cf. Voluspo, 31 and note. The annotator insists here and in the prose after stanza 9 that Svava was a
Valkyrie, but there is nothing in the verse to prove it, or, indeed, to identify the Svava of the last section of the poem with the person who
gave Helgi his name. In the Volsungasaga Sigmund himself names his son Helgi, and gives him a sword, following Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I.
6. Battle-free: poetic phrase for "warrior." Shining fields: the words in the manuscript may form a proper name, Rothulsvoll, having this meaning.
7. Gift: not only was it customary to give gifts with the naming of a child, but the practice frequently obtained when a permanent epithet
was added to the name of an adult.
8. Sigarsholm ("Isle of Sigar"): a place not identified, but probably related to the Sigarsvoll where Helgi was slain (stanza 35).
9. The sword is carved with magic runes and with snakes. Fame: the original word is uncertain.
Prose. Eylimi: this name is another link with the Sigurth story, as it is likewise the name of the father of Sigurth's mother, Hjordis.
10. With this stanza begins a new episode, that of Helgi's victory over King Hrothmar, who had killed his mother's father (cf. prose after stanza 5).
It has been suggested, in consequence, that stanzas 10-11 may be a separate fragment. The verse tells nothing of the battle, merely giving Helgi's reproaches
to his father for having left Svafnir's death and the burning of Svavaland unavenged.]
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Konungr bað, at þeir skyldu fara annat sinn. Fór hann sjálfr. En er þeir kómu upp á fjall, ok sá á Sváfaland landsbruna ok jóreyki stóra.
Reið konungr af fjallinu fram í landit ok tók náttból við á eina. Atli helt vörð ok fór yfir ána. Hann fann eitt hús. Fugl mikill sat á
húsinu ok gætti, ok var sofnaðr. Atli skaut spjóti fuglinn til bana, en í húsinu fann hann Sigrlinn konungs dóttur ok Álofu jarls dóttur
ok hafði þær báðar braut með sér. Fránmarr jarl hafði hamazt í arnar líki ok varit þær fyrir hernum með fjölkynngi. Hróðmarr hét konungr,
biðill Sigrlinnar. Hann drap Sváfakonung ok hafði rænt ok brent landit. Hjörvarðr konungr fekk Sigrlinnar, en Atli Álofar.
(II)
Hjörvarðr ok Sigrlinn áttu son mikinn ok vænan. Hann var þögull. Ekki nafn festist við hann. Hann sat á haugi. Hann sá ríða valkyrjur níu ok
var ein göfugligust. Hon kvað:
6. "Síð muntu, Helgi, hringum ráða,
ríkr rógapaldr, né Röðulsvöllum,
- örn gól árla, - ef þú æ þegir,
þótt þú harðan hug, hilmir, gjaldir."
Helgi kvað:
7. "Hvat lætr þú fylgja Helga nafni,
brúðr bjartlituð, alls þú bjóða ræðr?
Hygg þú fyr öllum atkvæðum vel.
Þigg ek eigi þat, nema ek þik hafa."
Valkyrja kvað:
8. "Sverð veit ek liggja í Sigarsholmi
fjórum færi en fimm tögu;
eitt er þeira öllum betra
vígnesta böl ok varit gulli.
9. Hringr er í hjalti, hugr er í miðju,
ógn er í oddi þeim er eiga getr;
liggr með eggju ormr dreyrfáiðr,
en á valböstu verpr naðr hala."
Eylimi hét konungr. Dóttir hans var Sváfa. Hon var valkyrja ok reið loft ok lög. Hon gaf Helga nafn þetta ok hlífði hánum oft síðan í orrostum. Helgi kvað:
10. "Ert-at-tu, Hjörvarðr heilráðr konungr,
folks oddviti, þótt þú frægr séir;
léztu eld eta jöfra byggðir,
en þeir angr við þik ekki gerðu.
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