6. "In mail-coat stands | the son of Sigmund,
A half-day old; | now day is here;
His eyes flash sharp | as the heroes' are,
He is friend of the wolves; | full glad are we."
7. The warrior throng | a ruler thought him,
Good times, they said, | mankind should see;
The king himself | from battle-press came,
To give the prince | a leek full proud.
8. Helgi he named him, | and Hringstathir gave him,
Solfjoll, Snćfjoll, | and Sigarsvoll,
Hringstoth, Hotun, | and Himinvangar,
And a blood-snake bedecked | to Sinfjotli's brother.
9. Mighty he grew | in the midst of his friends,
The fair-born elm, | in fortune's glow;
To his comrades gold | he gladly gave,
The hero spared not | the blood-flecked hoard.
10. Short time for war | the chieftain waited,
When fifteen winters | old he was;
Hunding he slew, | the hardy wight
Who long had ruled | o'er lands and men.
[6. Sigmund: the chief link between the Helgi and Sigurth stories. He was the son of Volsung, great-grandson of Othin. His children by his first wife,
Borghild, were Helgi and Hamund (belonging to the Helgi cycle); his son by his second wife, Hjordis, was Sigurth. An incestuous connection with his sister,
Signy (cf. Wagner's Siegmund and Sieglinde) resulted in the birth of Sinfjotli (cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note).
7. The king: Sigmund, who gives his son a symbol of the lands which he bestows on him. Regarding the leek, cf. Voluspo, 4; Guthrunarkvitha I, 17, and
Sigrdrifumol, 7.
8. Hringstathir ("Ring-Stead"): quite possibly the historical Ringsted, long a possession of the Danish kings, and thus a relic of the old Helgi
tradition. Hringstoth may be another form of the same name. Solfjoll ("Sun-Mountain") and Snćfjoll ("Snow-Mountain") are fictitious names. Regarding
Sigarsvoll cf. Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, stanzas 8 and 35. Saxo mentions a Danish king named Sigar, and the frequency with which the name appears
in the Helgi poems may be taken as a reminiscence of Denmark. Hotun ("High Place"): possibly the village of Tune in Seeland. Himinvangar ("Heaven's
Field"): an imaginary place. Blood-snake: a sword. Sinfjotli: cf. note on stanza 6.
9. Elm: a not uncommon word for "man." Blood-flecked: i.e., won in battle.
10. Fifteen: until early in the eleventh century a Norwegian or Icelandic boy became "of age" at twelve, and Maurer cites this passage as added proof
of the poem's lateness. Hunding: the annotator (introductory prose to Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II) calls him king of Hundland, which shows no great
originality. Saxo mentions a Hunding who was a Saxon king ruling in Jutland, probably the origin of Helgi's traditional foe.]
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6. Stendr í brynju burr Sigmundar
dćgrs eins gamall, nú er dagr kominn;
hvessir augu sem hildingar,
sá er varga vinr, vit skulum teitir."
7. Drótt ţótti sá döglingr vera,
kváđu međ gumnum góđ ár komin;
sjalfr gekk vísi ór vígţrimu
ungum fćra ítrlauk grami.
8. Gaf hann Helga nafn ok Hringstađi,
Sólfjöll, Snćfjöll ok Sigarsvöllu,
Hringstöđ, Hátún ok Himinvanga,
blóđorm búinn brćđr Sinfjötla.
9. Ţá nam at vaxa fyr vina brjósti
almr ítrborinn ynđis ljóma;
hann galt ok gaf gull verđungu,
sparđi eigi hilmir hodd blóđrćkinn.
10. Skammt lét vísi vígs at bíđa;
ţá er fylkir var fimmtán vetra,
ok hann harđan lét Hunding veginn
ţann er lengi réđ löndum ok ţegnum.
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