22. In vengeance the hero | rose in the hall,
And hurled his sword | at the slayer bold;
At Gotthorm flew | the glittering steel
Of Gram full hard | from the hand of the king.

23. The foeman cleft | asunder fell,
Forward hands | and head did sink,
And legs and feet | did backward fall.

24. Guthrun soft | in her bed had slept,
Safe from care | at Sigurth's side;
She woke to find | her joy had fled,
In the blood of the friend | of Freyr she lay.

25. So hard she smote | her hands together
That the hero rose up, | iron-hearted:
"Weep not, Guthrun, | grievous tears,
Bride so young, | for thy brothers live.

[21. No gap is indicated in the manuscript, and many editors combine stanza 21 with stanza 22, but it seems likely that not only two lines, but one or more stanzas in addition, have been lost; cf. Brot, 4, and also the detailed account of the slaying of Sigurth in the Volsungasaga, wherein, as here, Sigurth is killed in his bed (cf. stanza 24) and not in the forest.

22. Some editions combine lines 3-4 with stanza 23. Gram: {Sigurth's sword (cf. Reginsmol, prose after stanza 14)); the word here, however, may not be a proper name, but may mean "the hero."

23. A line may well have been lost from this stanza.

24. Freyr: if the phrase "the friend of Freyr" means any thing more than "king" (cf. Rigsthula, 46 etc.), which I doubt, it has reference to the late tradition that Freyr, and not Othin, was the ancestor of the Volsungs (cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 57 - Bellows original translation and note).

25. Müllenhoff thinks this stanza, or at any rate lines 1-2, a later addition based on stanza 29.]

22. Réð til hefnda hergjarn í sal
ok eftir varp óbilgjörnum;
fló til Guthorms Grams ramliga
kynbirt járn ór konungs hendi.

23. Hné hans of dolgr til hluta tveggja,
hendr ok höfuð hné á annan veg,
en fóta hlutr féll aftr í stað.

24. Sofnuð var Guðrún í sæingu
sorgalaus hjá Sigurði,
en hon vaknaði vilja firrð,
er hon Freys vinar flaut í dreyra.

25. Svá sló hon svárar sínar hendr,
at rammhugaðr reis upp við beð:
"Grát-a-ðu, Guðrún, svá grimmliga,
brúðr frumunga, þér bræðr lifa.