26. "Maid, not fair | is all thy fortune,
The Norns I blame | that this should be;
This morn there fell | at Frekastein
Bragi and Hogni | beneath my hand.

27. "At Hlebjorg fell | the sons of Hrollaug,
Starkath the king | at Styrkleifar;
Fighters more noble | saw I never,
The body fought | when the head had fallen.

28. "On the ground full low | the slain are lying,
Most are there | of the men of thy race;
Nought hast thou won, | for thy fate it was
Brave men to bring | to the battle-field."

Then Sigrun wept. | Helgi said:

29. "Grieve not, Sigrun, | the battle is gained,
The fighter can shun not his fate."

Sigrun spake:

"To life would I call | them who slaughtered lie,
If safe on thy breast I might be."

Helgi took Sigrun to wife, and they had sons. Helgi did not reach old age. Dag, the son of Hogni, offered sacrifice to Othin to be avenged for his father's death; Othin gave Dag his spear. Dag found Helgi, his brother-in-law, at a place which is called Fjoturlund. He thrust the spear through Helgi's body. Then Helgi fell, and Dag rode to Sevafjoll and told Sigrun the tidings:

30. "Sad am I, sister, | sorrow to tell thee,
Woe to my kin | unwilling I worked;
In the morn there fell | at Fjoturlund
The noblest prince | the world has known,
(And his heel he set | on the heroes' necks.)"

[* Note * There is still some conforming occurring within the Bellows translation, stanzas 26 - 29 are from the original manuscript that spans stanzas 17 - 20, stanza 30 is stanza 28 in the original. From stanza 30 to the end most of the conforming does not consist of major reworking of the structure.

26. Maid: the word thus rendered is the same doubtful one which appears in Völundarkvitha, 1 and 5, and which may mean specifically a Valkyrie (Gering translates it "helmed" or "heroic") or simply "wise." Cf. Völundarkvitha, note on introductory prose. Norns: cf. Voluspo, 20 and note. In stanza 33 Dag similarly lays the blame for the murder he has committed on Othin. Bragi: probably Sigrun's brother.

27. This stanza looks like an interpolation, and there is little or nothing to connect it with the slaying of Gramnar's sons. In the manuscript line 2, indicated as the beginning of a stanza, precedes line 1. Hlebjorg ("Sea-Mountain") and Styrkleifar ("Battle-Cliffs"): place names not elsewhere mentioned. Of Hrollaug's sons nothing further is known. Starkath: this name gives a hint of the origin of this stanza, for Saxo Grammaticus tells of the slaying of the Swedish hero Starkath ("The Strong") the son of Storverk, and describes how his severed head bit the ground in anger (cf. line 4). In all probability this stanza is from an entirely different poem, dealing with the Starkath story, and the annotator's attempt to identify the Swedish hero as a third son of Granmar is quite without foundation.

29. The difference of meter would of itself be enough to indicate that this stanza comes from an entirely different poem. A few editions assign the whole stanza to Helgi, but lines 3-4. are almost certainly Sigrun's, and the manuscript begins line 3 with a large capital letter following a period.

Prose. Here begins a new section of the poem, dealing with Helgi's death at the hands of Dag, Sigrun's brother. The note is based wholly on stanzas 28-34 (Bellows original translation), except for the introduction of Dag's name (cf. note on prose following stanza 16), and the reference to Othin's spear, the weapon which made victory certain, and which the annotator brought in doubtless on the strength of Dag's statement that Othin was responsible for Helgi's death (stanza 34). Fjoturlund ("Fetter-Wood"): mentioned only here and in stanza 28.

30. Line 5 looks like an interpolation.]

26. "Er-at þér at öllu, alvitr, gefit,
- þó kveð ek nökkvi nornir valda -:
fellu í morgun at Frekasteini
Bragi ok Högni, varð ek bani þeira.

27. En at Styrkleifum Starkaðr konungr,
en at Hlébjörgum Hrollaugs synir;
þann sá ek gylfa grimmúðgastan,
er barðisk bolr, var á brott höfuð.

28. Liggja at jörðu allra flestir
niðjar þínir, at náum orðnir;
vannt-at-tu vígi, var þér þat skapat,
at þú at rógi ríkmenni vart."

Þá grét Sigrún. Hann kvað:

29. "Huggastu, Sigrún! Hildr hefr þú oss verið;
vinna-t skjöldungar sköpum."

Sigrún kvað:

"Lifna mynda ek nú kjósa, er liðnir eru,
ok knætta ek þér þó í faðmi felask."

Helgi fekk Sigrúnar, ok áttu þau sonu. Var Helgi eigi gamall. Dagr Högnason blótaði Óðin til föðurhefnda. Óðinn léði Dag geirs síns. Dagr fann Helga, mág sinn, þar sem heitir at Fjöturlundi. Hann lagði í gögnum Helga með geirnum. Þar fell Helgi, en Dagr reið til Sefafjalla ok sagði Sigrúnu tíðindi.

30. "Trauðr em ek, systir, trega þér at segja,
því at ek hefi nauðigr nifti grætta;
fell í morgun und Fjöturlundi
buðlungr, sá er var beztr í heimi
ok hildingum á halsi stóð."