16. Sigmund's ship | by the land was sailing,
Golden the figure-head, | gay the beaks;
On board we wove | the warriors faring,
Sigar and Siggeir, | south to Fjon.
17. Then Grimhild asked, | the Gothic queen,
Whether willingly would I . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
Her needlework cast she | aside, and called
Her sons to ask, | with stern resolve,
Who amends to their sister | would make for her son,
Or the wife requite | for her husband killed.
18. Ready was Gunnar | gold to give,
Amends for my hurt, | and Hogni too;
Then would she know | who now would go,
The horse to saddle, | the wagon to harness,
(The horse to ride, | the hawk to fly,
And shafts from bows | of yew to shoot).
19. (Valdar, king | of the Danes, was come,
With Jarizleif, Eymoth, | and Jarizskar).
In like princes | came they all,
The long-beard men, | with mantles red,
Short their mail-coats, | mighty their helms,
Swords at their belts, | and brown their hair.
20. Each to give me | gifts was fain,
Gifts to give, | and goodly speech,
Comfort so | for my sorrows great
To bring they tried, | but I trusted them not.
[16. Some editions combine lines 3-4 with stanza 17. Sigmund: Sigurth's father, who here appears as a sea-rover in
Guthrun's tapestry. Sigar: named in Fornaldar sögur II, 10, as the father of Siggeir, the latter being the husband
of Sigmund's twin sister, Signy (cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla). Fjon: this name, referring to the Danish island of Fünen,
is taken from the Volsungasaga paraphrase as better fitting the Danish setting of the stanza than the name in Regius,
which is "Fife" (Scotland).
17. No gap is indicated in the manuscript, and most editions combine these two lines either with lines 3-4 of stanza 16, with lines 1-2 of stanza 18,
or with the whole of stanza 18. Line 2 has been filled out in various ways. The Volsungasaga paraphrase indicates that these two lines
are the remains of a full stanza, the prose passage running: "Now Guthrun was some what comforted of her sorrows. Then Grimhild learned where
Guthrun was now dwelling." The first two lines may be the ones missing. Gothic: the term "Goth" was used in the North without much discrimination to
apply to all south-Germanic peoples. In Gripisspo, 35, Gunnar, Grimhild's son, appears as "lord of the Goths."
17. The manuscript marks line 6 as the beginning of a stanza. Grimhild is eager to have amends made to Guthrun for the slaying of Sigurth and their son,
Sigmund, because Atli has threatened war if he cannot have Guthrun for his wife.
18. Lines 5-6 are almost certainly interpolations, made by a scribe with a very vague understanding of the meaning of the stanza, which refers simply to
the journey of the Gjukungs to bring their sister home from Denmark.
19. Lines 1-2 are probably interpolated, though the Volsungasaga includes the names. Some one apparently attempted to supply the names of Atli's
messengers, the "long-beard men" of line 4, who have come to ask for Guthrun's hand. Some commentators assume, as the Volsungasaga does, that these
messengers went with the Gjukungs to Denmark in search of Guthrun, but it seems more likely that a transitional stanza has dropped out after stanza 19,
and that Guthrun received Atli's emissaries in her brothers' home. Long-beards: the word may actually mean Langobards or Lombards, but, if it does, it is
presumably without any specific significance here. Certainly the names in the interpolated two lines do not fit either Lombards or Huns, for Valdar is
identified as a Dane, and Jarizleif and Jarizskar are apparently Slavic. The manuscript indicates line 5 as beginning a new stanza.
20. Each: the reference is presumably to Gunnar and Hogni, and perhaps also Grimhild, I suspect that this stanza belongs before stanza 19.]
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16. Skip Sigmundar skriðu frá landi,
gylltar grímur, grafnir stafnar;
byrðu vit á borða, þat er þeir börðusk
Sigarr ok Siggeirr suðr á Fjóni.
17. Þá frá Grimildr, gotnesk kona,
hvat ek væra hyggjuð -- --;
hon brá borða ok buri heimti
þrágjarnliga þess at spyrja,
hverr vildi son systur bæta
eða ver veginn vildi gjalda.
18. Görr lézk Gunnarr gull at bjóða
sakar at bæta, ok it sama Högni.
Hon frétti at því, hverr fara vildi
vigg at söðla vagn at beita,
hesti ríða, hauki fleygja,
öðrum at skjóta af ýboga.
19. Valdarr Dönum með Jarizleifi,
Eymóðr þriði með Jarizskári
inn gengu þá, jöfrum líkir,
Langbarðs liðar, höfðu loða rauða,
stuttar brynjur, steypða hjalma,
skalmum gyrðir, höfðu skarar jarpar.
20. Hverr vildi mér hnossir velja,
hnossir velja ok hugat mæla,
ef þeir mætti mér margra súta
tryggðir vinna, - né ek trúa gerða.
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