11. "Back shall I fare | where first I dwelt,
Among the kin | that come of my race,
To wait there, sleeping | my life away,
If Sigurth's death | thou shalt not dare,
(And best of heroes | thou shalt not be.)
12. "The son shall fare | with his father hence,
And let not long | the wolf-cub live;
Lighter to pay | is the vengeance-price
After the deed | if the son is dead."
13. Sad was Gunnar, | and bowed with grief,
Deep in thought | the whole day through;
Yet from his heart | it was ever hid
What deed most fitting | he should find,
(Or what thing best | for him should be,
Or if he should seek | the Volsung to slay,
For with mighty longing | Sigurth he loved.)
14. Much he pondered | for many an hour;
Never before | was the wonder known
That a queen should thus | her kingdom leave;
In counsel then | did he Hogni call,
(For him in truest | trust he held.)
15. "More than all | to me is Brynhild,
Buthli's child, | the best of women;
My very life | would I sooner lose
Than yield the love | of yonder maid.
[11. Line 5, or perhaps line 3, may be interpolated."
12. The son: the three-year-old son of Sigurth and Guthrun, Sigmund, who was killed at Brynhild's behest.
13. This stanza has been the subject of many conjectural emendations. Some editions assume a gap after line 2,
and make a separate stanza of lines 3-7; others mark lines 5-7 as spurious. The stanza seems to have been expanded
by repetition. Grief (line 1): the manuscript has "wrath," involving a metrical error.
14. Bugge and Gering transfer lines 4-5 to the beginning of stanza 16, on the basis of the Volsungasaga paraphrase,
and assume a gap of one line after line 3. Line 5, which is in the nature of a stereotyped clause, may well be interpolated.
15. After "Buthli" in line 2 the manuscript has "my brother," apparently a scribal error. In line 4 the manuscript has
"wealth" instead of "love," apparently with stanza 10, in mind, but the Volsungasaga paraphrase has "love," and many editors
have suspected an error.]
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11. Mun ek aftr fara, þars ek áðan vark
með nábornum niðjum mínum;
þar mun ek sitja ok sofa lífi,
nema þú Sigurð svelta látir
ok jöfurr öðrum æðri verðir.
12. Látum son fara feðr í sinni,
skal-at ulf ala ungan lengi.
Hveim verðr hölða hefnd léttari
síðan til sátta, at sonr lifi?"
13. Hryggr varð Gunnarr ok hnipnaði,
sveip sínum hug, sat of allan dag;
hann vissi þat vilgi görla,
hvat hánum væri vinna sæmst
eða hánum væri vinna bezt,
alls sik Völsung vissi firrðan
ok at Sigurð söknuð mikinn.
14. Ýmist hann hugði jafnlanga stund:
þat var eigi afartítt,
at frá konungdóm kvánir gengi.
Nam hann sér Högna heita at rúnum,
þar átti hann alls fulltrúa:
15. "Ein er mér Brynhildr öllum betri,
of borin Buðla, hon er bragr kvenna;
fyrr skal ek mínu fjörvi láta
en þeirar meyjar meiðmum týna.
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