There was a king in Sweden named Nithuth. He had two sons and one daughter; her name was Bothvild. There were three brothers, sons of a king of the
Finns: one was called Slagfith, another Egil, the third Völund. They went on snowshoes and hunted wild beasts. They came into Ulfdalir and there they built themselves
a house; there was a lake there which is called Ulfsjar. Early one morning they found on the shore of the lake three women, who were spinning flax. Near them were their
swan garments, for they were Valkyries. Two of them were daughters of King Hlothver, Hlathguth the Swan-White and Hervor the All-Wise, and the third was Olrun, daughter
of Kjar from Valland. These did they bring home to their hall with them. Egil took Olrun, and Slagfith Swan-White, and Völund All-Wise. There they dwelt seven winters;
but then they flew away to find battles, and came back no more. Then Egil set forth on his snowshoes to follow Olrun, and Slagfith followed Swan White, but Völund stayed
in Ulfdalir. He was a most skillful man, as men know from old tales. King Nithuth had him taken by force, as the poem here tells.
1. Maids from the south | through Myrkwood flew,
Fair and young, | their fate to follow;
On the shore of the sea | to rest them they sat,
The maids of the south, | and flax they spun.
2. . . . . . . . . . .
Hlathguth and Hervor, | Hlothver's children,
And Olrun the Wise | Kjar's daughter was.
3. . . . . . . . . . .
One in her arms | took Egil then
To her bosom white, | the woman fair.
4. Swan-White second,-- | swan-feathers she wore,
. . . . . . . . . .
And her arms the third | of the sisters threw
Next round Völund's | neck so white.
5. There did they sit | for seven winters,
In the eighth at last | came their longing again,
(And in the ninth | did need divide them).
The maidens yearned | for the murky wood,
The fair young maids, | their fate to follow.
[Prose. Nithuth ("Bitter Hater"): here identified as a king of Sweden, is in the poem (stanzas 9, 15 and 32) called lord of the Njars, which may refer
to the people of the Swedish district of Nerike. In any case, the scene of the story has moved from Saxon lands into the Northeast. The first and last sentences of the
introduction refer to the second part of the poem; the rest of it concerns the swan-maidens episode. Bothvild ("Warlike Maid"): Völund's victim in the latter part of the
poem. King of the Finns: this notion, clearly later than the poem, which calls Völund an elf, may perhaps be ascribed to the annotator who composed the prose introduction.
The Finns, meaning the dwellers in Lapland, were generally credited with magic powers. Egil appears in the Thithrekssaga as Völund's brother, but Slagfith is not elsewhere
mentioned. Ulfdalir ("Wolf-Dale"), Ulfsjar ("Wolf-Sea"), Valland ("Slaughter-Land"): mythical, places without historical identification. Valkyries: cf. Voluspo, 31 and
note; there is nothing in the poem to identify the three swan maidens as Valkyries except one obscure word in line 2 of stanza 1 and again in line 5 of stanza 5, which may
mean, as Gering translates it, "helmed," or else "fair and wise." I suspect that the annotator, anxious to give the Saxon legend as much northern local color as possible,
was mistaken in his mythology, and that {footnote p. 255} the poet never conceived of his swan-maidens as Valkyries at all. However, this identification of swan-maidens
with Valkyries was not uncommon; cf. Helreith Brynhildar, 7. The three maidens' names, Hlathguth, Hervor, and Olrun, do not appear in the lists of Valkyries. King
Hlothver: this name suggests the southern origin of the story, as it is the northern form of Ludwig; the name appears again in Guthrunarkvitha II, 26, and that of Kjar
is found in Atlakvitha, 7, both of these poems being based on German stories. It is worth noting that the composer of this introductory note seems to have had little or
no information beyond what was actually contained in the poem as it has come down to us; he refers to the "old stories" about Völund, but either he was unfamiliar with
them in detail or else he thought it needless to make use of them. His note simply puts in clear and connected form what the verse tells somewhat obscurely; his only
additions are making Nithuth a king of Sweden and Völund's father a king of the Finns, supplying the name Ulfsjar for the lake, identifying the swan-maidens as Valkyries,
and giving Kjar a home in Valland.
1. The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a stanza; two lines may have been lost before or after lines 1-2, and two more, or even six,
with the additional stanza describing the theft of the swan-garments, after line 4. Myrkwood: a stock name for a magic, dark forest; cf. Lokasenna, 42.
2. In the manuscript these two lines stand after stanza 16; editors have tried to fit them into various places, but the prose indicates that they belong
here, with a gap assumed.
3. In the manuscript these two lines follow stanza 1, with no gap indicated, and the first line marked as the beginning of a stanza. Many editors have
combined them with stanza 4.
4. No lacuna indicated in the manuscript; one editor fills the stanza out with a second line running: "Then to her breast Slagfith embraced."
5. Line 3 looks like an interpolation, but line 5, identical with line 2 of stanza 1, may be the superfluous one.]
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Níđuđr hét konungr í Svíţjóđ. Hann átti tvá sonu ok eina dóttur. Hon hét Böđvildr. Brćđr váru ţrír, synir Finnakonungs.
Hét einn Slagfiđr, annarr Egill, ţriđi Völundr. Ţeir skriđu ok veiddu dýr. Ţeir kómu í Úlfdali ok gerđu sér ţar hús. Ţar er vatn, er heitir
Úlfsjár. Snemma of morgin fundu ţeir á vatnsströndu konur ţrjár, ok spunnu lín. Ţar váru hjá ţeim álftarhamir ţeira. Ţat váru valkyrjur.
Ţar váru tvćr dćtr Hlöđvés konungs, Hlađguđr svanhvít ok Hervör alvitr, in ţriđja var Ölrún Kjársdóttir af Vallandi. Ţeir höfđu ţćr heim
til skála međ sér. Fekk Egill Ölrúnar, en Slagfiđr Svanhvítrar, en Völundr Alvitrar. Ţau bjuggu sjau vetr. Ţá flugu ţćr at vitja víga ok
kómu eigi aftr. Ţá skreiđ Egill at leita Ölrúnar, en Slagfiđr leitađi Svanhvítrar, en Völundr sat í Úlfdölum. Hann var hagastr mađr, svá
at menn viti, í fornum sögum. Níđuđr konungr lét hann höndum taka, svá sem hér er um kveđit:
1. Meyjar flugu sunnan myrkviđ í gögnum,
Alvitr unga, örlög drýgja;
ţćr á sćvarströnd settusk at hvílask
drósir suđrćnar, dýrt lín spunnu.
2. Ein nam ţeira Egil at verja,
fögr mćr fira, fađmi ljósum;
önnur var Svanhvít, svanfjađrar dró,
en in ţriđja ţeira systir
varđi hvítan hals Völundar.
3. Sátu síđan sjau vetr at ţat,
en inn átta allan ţráđu,
en inn níunda nauđr of skilđi;
meyjar fýstusk á myrkvan viđ,
Alvitr unga, örlög drýgja.
4. Kom ţar af veiđi veđreygr skyti,
[Völundr, líđandi um langan veg],
Slagfiđr ok Egill, sali fundu auđa,
gengu út ok inn ok um sáusk;
austur skreiđ Egill at Ölrúnu,
en suđr Slagfiđr at Svanhvítu.
5. En einn Völundr sat í Ulfdölum,
hann sló gull rautt viđ gim fastan,
lukđi hann alla lind baugum vel;
svá beiđ hann sinnar ljóssar
kvánar, ef hánum koma gerđi.
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