51. Long the woman, | linen-decked, pondered,--
--Young she was,-- | and weighed her words:
"For my sake now | shall none unwilling
Or loath to die | her life lay down.
52. "But little of gems | to gleam on your limbs
Ye then shall find | when forth ye fare
To follow me, | or of Menja's wealth.
53. "Sit now, Gunnar! | for I shall speak
Of thy bride so fair | and so fain to die;
Thy ship in harbor | home thou hast not,
Although my life | I now have lost.
54. "Thou shalt Guthrun requite |
more quick than thou thinkest,
Though sadly mourns | the maiden wise
Who dwells with the king, | o'er her husband dead.
55. "A maid shall then | the mother bear;
Brighter far | than the fairest day
Svanhild shall be, | or the beams of the sun.
[52. No gap indicated in the manuscript; many editions place it between lines 3 and 4. Menja's wealth: gold; the story of the
mill Grotti, whereby the giantesses Menja and Fenja ground gold for King Frothi, is told in the Grottasongr.
53. With this stanza begins Brynhild's prophesy of what is to befall Gunnar, Guthrun, Atli, and the many others involved in their
fate. Line 3 is a proverbial expression meaning simply "your troubles are not at an end."
54. No gap is indicated in the manuscript; one suggestion for line 2 runs: "Grimhild shall make her | to laugh once more." Gering:
suggests a loss of three lines, and joins lines 3-4 with stanza 55.
55. Probably a line has been lost from this stanza. Grundtvig adds as a new first line: "Her shalt thou find in the hall of Half."
Some editions query line 3 as possibly spurious. Svanhild: the figure of Svanhild is exceedingly old. The name means "Swan-Maiden-Warrior,"
applying to just such mixtures of swan-maiden and Valkyrie as appear in the Völundarkvitha. Originally part of a separate tradition, Svanhild
appears first to have been incorporated in the Jormunrek (Ermanarich) story as the unhappy wife of that monarch, and much later to have been
identified as the daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun, thus linking the two sets of legends.]
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51. Unz af hyggjandi hörskrýdd kona,
ung at aldri orð viðr of kvað:
"Vilk-at ek mann trauðan né torbænan
um óra sök aldri týna.
52. Þó mun á beinum brenna yðrum
færi eyrir, þá er ér fram komið,
neitt Menju góð, mín at vitja.
53. Sezktu niðr, Gunnarr, mun ek segja þér
lífs örvæna ljósa brúði;
mun-a yðvart far allt í sundi,
þótt ek hafa öndu látit.
54. Sátt munuð it Guðrún snemr, en þú hyggir;
hefir kunn kona við konungi
daprar minjar at dauðan ver.
55. Þar er mær borin,
- móðir fæðir, -
sú mun hvítari en inn heiði dagr
Svanhildr vera, sólar geisla.
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