Guthrun went forth to the sea after she had slain Atli. She went out into the sea and fain would drown
herself, but she could not sink. The waves bore her across the fjord to the land of King Jonak; he took
her as wife; their sons were Sorli and Erp and Hamther. There was brought up Svanhild, Sigurth's daughter;
she was married to the mighty Jormunrek. With him was Bikki, who counselled that Randver, the king's son,
should have her. This Bikki told to the king. The king had Randver hanged, and Svanhild trodden to death
under horses' feet. And when Guthrun learned this, she spake with her sons.
1. A word-strife I learned, | most woeful of all,
A speech from the fullness | of sorrow spoken,
When fierce of heart | her sons to the fight
Did Guthrun whet | with words full grim.
2. "Why sit ye idle, | why sleep out your lives,
Why grieve ye not | in gladness to speak?
Since Jormunrek | your sister young
Beneath the hoofs | of horses hath trodden,
(White and black | on the battle-way,
Gray, road-wonted, | the steeds of the Goths.)
3. "Not like are ye | to Gunnar of yore,
Nor have ye hearts | such as Hogni's was;
Vengeance for her | ye soon would have
If brave ye were | as my brothers of old,
Or hard your hearts | as the Hunnish kings'."
4. Then Hamther spake, | the high of heart:
"Little the deed | of Hogni didst love,
When Sigurth they wakened | from his sleep;
Thy bed-covers white | were red with blood
Of thy husband, drenched | with gore from his heart.
5. "Bloody revenge | didst have for thy brothers,
Evil and sore, | when thy sons didst slay;
Else yet might we all | on Jormunrek
Together our sister's | slaying avenge.
[Prose. In the manuscript the prose is headed "Of Guthrun," the title "Guthrunarhvot" preceding stanza 1.
The prose introduction is used both by Snorri (Skaldskaparmal, chapter 42) and in the Volsungasaga. It would be
interesting to know on what the annotator based this note, for neither Bikki nor Randver is mentioned by name in
either the Guthrunarhvot or the Hamthesmol. On the prose notes in general, cf. Reginsmol, introductory note.
Guthrun: on the slaying of Atli by his wife, Guthrun, Sigurth's widow, cf. Atlamol, 83-86 and notes. Jonak: a
Northern addition to the legend, introduced to account for Svanhild's half-brothers; the name is apparently of
Slavic origin. Sorli, Erp, and Hamther: Sorli and Hamther are the Sarus and Ammius of the Jordanes story (cf.
introductory note). The Volsungasaga follows this note in making Erp likewise a son of Guthrun, but in the
Hamthesmol he is a son of Jonak by another wife. Svanhild: cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 54 and note. Jormunrek
(Ermanarich): cf. introductory note. Bikki: the Sifka or Sibicho of the Gothic legends of Ermanarich, whose evil
counsel always brings trouble. Randver: in the Volsungasaga Jormunrek sends his son Randver with Bikki to seek
Svanhild's hand. On the voyage home Bikki says to Randver: "It were right for you to have so fair a wife, and not
such an old man." Randver was much pleased with this advice, "and he spake to her with gladness, and she to him."
Thus the story becomes near of kin to those of Tristan and Iseult and Paolo and Francesca. According to the Volsungasaga,
Bikki told Ermanarich that a guilty love existed between his son and his young wife, and presumably the annotator here meant
as much by his vague "this."
1. The poet's introduction of himself in this stanza is a fairly certain indication of the relative lateness of the poem.
2. Idle: a guess; a word is obviously missing in the original. The manuscript marks line 5 as beginning a new stanza, and lines 5-6
may well have been inserted from another part of the "old" Hamthesmol (cf. Hamthesmol, 3).
3. Gunnar and Hogni: cf. Drap Niflunga. Line 5 may be interpolated. Hunnish: here used, as often, merely as a generic term for all South
Germanic peoples; the reference is to the Burgundian Gunnar and Hogni.
4. Hamther: some editions spell the name "Hamthir." Sigurth, etc.: cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 21-24, and Brot, concluding prose. This
stanza has been subjected to many conjectural re-arrangements, [fp. 539] some editors adding two or three lines from the Hamthesmol.
5. Bloody: a guess; a word in the original is clearly missing, and the same is true of all in line 3. Thy sons: i.e., by killing her sons Erp
and Eitil (cf. Atlamol, 72-74) Guthrun deprived Hamther, Sorli, and the second Erp of valuable allies in avenging Svanhild's death.]
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Guðrún gekk þá til sævar, er hon hafði drepit Atla. Gekk hon út á sæinn ok vildi fara sér. Hon mátti eigi sökkva.
Rak hana yfir fjörðinn á land Jónakrs konungs. Hann fekk hennar. Þeira synir váru þeir Sörli ok Erpr ok Hamðir.
Þar fæddist upp Svanhildr Sigurðardóttir. Hon var gift Jörmunrekk inum ríkja. Með honom var Bikki. Hann réð þat,
at Randvér konungs son skyldi taka hana. Þat sagði Bikki konungi. Konungr lét hengja Randvé, en troða Svanhildi
undir hrossa fótum. En er þat spurði Guðrún, þá kvaddi hon sonu sína.
1. Þá frá ek sennu slíðrfengligsta,
trauð mál, talið af trega stórum,
er harðhuguð hvatti at vígi
grimmum orðum Guðrún sonu:
2. "Hví sitið ér, hví sofið lífi,
hví tregr-at ykkr teiti at mæla,
er Jörmunrekkr yðra systur,
unga at aldri, jóm of traddi,
hvítum ok svörtum, á hervegi,
grám, gangtömum Gotna hrossum?
3. Urðu-a it glíkir þeim Gunnari
né in heldr hugðir sem var Högni;
hennar munduð it hefna leita,
ef móð ættið minna bræðra
eða harðan hug Húnkonunga."
4. Þá kvað þat Hamðir inn hugumstóri:
"Lítt myndir þú leyfa dáð Högna,
þá er Sigurð vökðu svefni ór;
bækr váru þínar enar bláhvítu
roðnar í vers dreyra, folgnar í valblóði.
5. Urðu þér beggja bræðra hefndir
slíðrar ok sárar, er þú sonu myrðir;
knættim allir Jörmunrekki
samhyggjendr systur hefna.
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