96. "But all to thee was | as if nought it were worth,
While the land lay before thee | that Buthli had left me;
Thou in secret didst work | so the treasure I won not;
My mother full oft | to sit weeping didst make,
No wedded joy found I | in fullness of heart."

Guthrun spake:

97. "Thou liest now, Atli, | though little I heed it;
If I seldom was kindly, | full cruel wast thou;
Ye brothers fought young, | quarrels brought you to battle,
And half went to hell | of the sons of thy house,
And all was destroyed | that should e'er have done good.

98. "My two brothers and I | were bold in our thoughts,
From the land we went forth, | with Sigurth we fared;
Full swiftly we sailed, | each one steering his ship,
So our fate sought we e'er | till we came to the East.

99. "First the king did we slay, | and the land we seized,
The princes did us service, | for such was their fear;
From the forest we called | them we fain would have guiltless,
And rich made we many | who of all were bereft.

100. "Slain was the Hun-king, | soon happiness vanished,
In her grief the widow | so young sat weeping;
Yet worse seemed the sorrow | to seek Atli's house,
A hero was my husband, | and hard was his loss.

[96. Some editions mark line 3 as spurious or defective. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza. The land, etc.: there is much obscurity as to the significance of this line. Some editors omit or question "me," in which case Atli is apparently reproaching Guthrun for having incited him to fight with his brothers to win for himself the whole of Buthli's land. In stanza 97 Guthrun denies that she was to blame for Atli's quarrels with his brothers. The Volsungasaga reading supports this interpretation. The historical Attila did actually have his brother, Bleda, killed in order to have the sole rule. The treasure: Sigurth's hoard, which Atli claimed as the brother of Brynhild and husband of Guthrun, Sigurth's widow, but which Gunnar and Hogni kept for themselves, with, as Atli here charges, Guthrun's connivance. My mother: the only other reference to Atli's mother is in Oddrunargratr, 30, wherein she appears as the adder who stings Gunnar to death, and in the prose passages based on that stanza.

97. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. It marks both lines 4 and 5 as beginning new stanzas, but line 5 is presumably an interpolation. The text of the second half of line 2 is obscure, and many emendations have been suggested. Ye brothers: cf. note on stanza go. Half: i. e., two of Atli's brothers were killed, the other two dying in the battle with Gunnar and Hogni; cf. stanza 55 & 56.

98. From the land: this maritime expedition of Guthrun and her two brothers, Gunnar and Hogni (the poet seems to know nothing of her half-brother, Gotthorm), with Sigurth seems to have been a pure. invention of the poet's, inserted for the benefit of his Greenland hearers. Nothing further is reported concerning it.

99. The forest: i. e., men who were outlawed in the conquered land were restored to their rights--another purely Norse touch.

100. Hun-king: Sigurth, though most illogically so called; cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 4 and note. The Volsungasaga paraphrase of line 2 is so remote as to be puzzling: "It was little to bear the name of widow." Perhaps, however, the word "not" fell out between "was" and "little."]

96. Léztu ţér allt ţykkja, sem ekki vćri,
međan lönd ţau lágu, er mér leifđi Buđli,
gróftu svá undir, gerđi-t hlut ţiggja;
svćru léztu ţína sitja oft grátna,
fann ek í hug heilum hjóna vćtr síđan."

Guđrún kvađ:

97. "Lýgr ţú nú, Atli, ţótt ek ţat lítt rekja;
heldr var ek hćg sjaldan, hóftu ţó stórum;
börđuzk ér brćđr ungir, báruzk róg milli;
halft gekk til heljar ór húsi ţínu;
hrolldi hotvetna ţat er til hags skyldi.

98. Ţrjú várum systkin, ţóttum óvćgin,
fórum af landi, fylgđum Sigurđi,
skćva vér létum, skipi hvert várt stýrđi,
örkuđum at auđnu, unz vér austr kómum.

99. Konung drápum fyrstan, kurum land ţađra,
hersar oss á hönd gengu, hrćđslu ţat vissi;
vágum ór skógi ţanns vildum syknan,
settum ţann sćlan, er sér né átti-t.

100. Dauđr varđ inn húnski, drap ţá brátt kosti,
strangt var angr ungri ekkju nafn hljóta;
kvöl ţótti kvikri at koma í hús Atla,
átti áđr kappi, illr var sá missir.