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  "work": {
    "slug": "poetic-edda",
    "name": "Poetic Edda"
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      "slug": "edda",
      "name": "The Eddas",
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 34,
    "slug": "36-atlamol-en-grönlenzku",
    "title": "Atlamol En Grönlenzku",
    "of": 37,
    "words": 9480,
    "text": "## Atlamol En Grönlenzku\n\n\n\n\n#### The Greenland Ballad of Atli\n\n###### INTRODUCTORY NOTE\n\nMany of the chief facts regarding the *Atlamol*, which follows the *Atlakvitha* in the *Codex Regius*, are outlined in the introductory note to the earlier Atli lay. That the superscription in the manuscript is correct, and that the poem was actually composed in Greenland, is generally accepted; the specific reference to polar bears (stanza 17), and the general color of the entire poem make this origin exceedingly likely. Most critics, again, agree in dating the poem nearer 1100 than 1050. As to its state of preservation there is some dispute, but, barring one or two possible gaps of some importance, and the usual number of passages in which the interpolation or omission of one or two lines may be suspected, the *Atlamol* has clearly come down to us in fairly good shape.\n\nThroughout the poem the epic quality of the story itself is overshadowed by the romantically sentimental tendencies of the poet, and by his desire to adapt the narrative to the understanding of his fellow-Greenlanders. The substance of the poem is the same as that of the *Atlakvitha*; it tells of Atli's message to the sons of Gjuki, their journey to Atli's home, the slaying of Hogni and Gunnar, Guthrun's bitterness over the death of her brothers, and her bloody revenge on Atli. Thus in its bare out line the *Atlamol* represents simply the Frankish blending of the legends of the slaughter of the Burgundians and the death of Attila (cf. *Gripisspo*, introductory note). But here the resemblance ends. The poet has added characters, apparently of his own creation, for the sake of episodes which would appeal to both the men and the women of the Greenland settlement. Sea voyages take the place of journeys by land; Atli is reproached, not for cowardice in battle, but for weakness at the Thing or great council. The additions made by the poet are responsible for the *Atlamol's* being the longest of all the heroic poems in the Eddic collection, and they give it a kind of emotional vivid ness, but it has little of the compressed intensity of the older poems. Its greatest interest lies in its demonstration of the manner in which a story brought to the North from the South Germanic lands could be adapted to the understanding and tastes of its\n\n\neleventh century hearers without any material change of the basic narrative.\n\nIn what form or forms the story of the Gjukungs and Atli reached the Greenland poet cannot be determined, but it seems likely that he was familiar with older poems on the subject, and possibly with the *Atlakvitha* itself. That the details which are peculiar to the *Atlamol*, such as the figures of Kostbera and Glaumvor, existed in earlier tradition seems doubtful, but the son of Hogni, who aids Guthrun in the slaying of Atli, appears, though under another name, in other late versions of the story, and it is impossible to say just how much the poet relied on his own imagination and how far he found suggestions and hints in the prose or verse stories of Atli with which he was familiar.\n\nThe poem is in Malahattr (cf. Introduction) throughout, the verse being far more regular than in the *Atlakvitha*. The compilers of the *Volsungasaga* evidently knew it in very much the form in which we now have it, for in the main it is paraphrased with great fidelity.\n\n1. There are many who know | how of old did men\nIn counsel gather; | little good did they get;\nIn secret they plotted, | it was sore for them later,\nAnd for Gjuki's sons, | whose trust they deceived.\n\n2. Fate grew for the princes, | to death they were given;\nIll counsel was Atli's, | though keenness he had;\n\n[1. *Men*: Atli and his advisers, with whom he planned the death of the sons of *Gjuki*, Gunnar and Hogni. The poet's reference to the story as well known explains the abruptness of his introduction, without the mention of Atli's name, and his reference to Guthrun in stanza 3 simply as \"the woman\" (\"husfreyja,\" goddess of the house).\n\n2. *Princes*: Atli, Gunnar, and Hogni. *Bulwark*: Atli's slaying [fp. 501] of his wife's brothers, who were ready to support and defend him in his greatness, was the cause of his own death.]\n\n\nHe felled his staunch bulwark, | his own sorrow fashioned,\nSoon a message he sent | that his kinsmen should seek him.\n\n3. Wise was the woman, | she fain would use wisdom,\nShe saw well what meant | all they said in secret;\nFrom her heart it was hid | how help she might render,\nThe sea they should sail, | while herself she should go not.\n\n4. Runes did she fashion, | but false Vingi made them,\nThe speeder of hatred, | ere to give them he sought;\nThen soon fared the warriors | whom Atli had sent,\nAnd to Limafjord came, | to the home of the kings.\n\n5. They were kindly with ale, | and fires they kindled,\n\n[3. *The woman*: Guthrun, concerning whose marriage to Atli cf. *Guthrunarkvitha II.* *The sea*: a late and essentially Greenland variation of the geography of the Atli story. Even the *Atlakvitha*, perhaps half a century earlier, separates Atli's land from that of the Gjukungs only by a forest.\n\n4. *Runes*: on the two versions of Guthrun's warning, and also on the name of the messenger (here Vingi), cf. *Drap Niflunga* and note. *Limafjord*: probably the Limfjord of northern Jutland, an important point in the wars of the eleventh century. The name was derived from \"Eylimafjorþ,\" i.e., Eylimi's fjord. The poet may really have thought that the kingdom of the Burgundians was in Jutland, or he may simply have taken a well-known name for the sake of vividness.]\n\n\nThey thought not of craft | from the guests who had come;\nThe gifts did they take | that the noble one gave them,\nOn the pillars they hung them, | no fear did they harbor.\n\n6. Forth did Kostbera, | wife of Hogni, then come,\nFull kindly she was, | and she welcomed them both;\nAnd glad too was Glaumvor, | the wife of Gunnar,\nShe knew well to care | for the needs of the guests.\n\n7. Then Hogni they asked | if more eager he were,\nFull clear was the guile, | if on guard they had been;\nThen Gunnar made promise, | if Hogni would go,\nAnd Hogni made answer | as the other counseled.\n\n8. Then the famed ones brought mead, | and fair was the feast,\n\n[5. Some editors assume a gap after this stanza.\n\n6. Some editions place this stanza between stanzas 7 and 8. *Kostbera* (\"The Giver of Food\") and *Glaumvor* (\"The Merry\"): presumably creations of the poet. *Both*: Atli's two emissaries, Vingi and the one here unnamed (Knefröth?).\n\n7. It is altogether probable that a stanza has been lost between stanzas 6 and 7, in which Gunnar is first invited, and replies doubtfully. *Made promise*: many editions emend the text to read \"promised the journey.\" The text of line 4 is obscure; the manuscript reads \"nitti\" (\"refused\"), which many editors have changed to \"hlitti,\" which means exactly the opposite. 8. No gap is indicated in the manuscript; Bugge adds (line [fp. 503] 3): \"Then the warriors rose, | and to slumber made ready.\" The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 1-2. Others suggest the loss of a line after line 4.]\n\n\nFull many were the horns, | till the men had drunk deep;\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\nThen the mates made ready | their beds for resting.\n\n9. Wise was Kostbera, | and cunning in rune-craft,\nThe letters would she read | by the light of the fire;\nBut full quickly her tongue | to her palate clave,\nSo strange did they seem | that their meaning she saw not.\n\n10. Full soon then his bed | came Hogni to seek,\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\nThe clear-souled one dreamed, | and her dream she kept not,\nTo the warrior the wise one | spake when she wakened:\n\n11. \"Thou wouldst go hence, | Hogni, but heed my counsel,--\n\n[9. The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as the beginning of a stanza; cf. note on stanza 8.\n\n10. Some editions combine this stanza with lines 1-2 of stanza 11. The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig adds (line 2) \"But sleep to the woman | so wise came little.\"\n\n11. Some editions make a separate stanza out of lines 1-2, or combine them with stanza 10, and combine lines 3-4 with stanza [fp. 504]12 (either lines 1-4 or 1-2). The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza.]\n\n\nKnown to few are the runes,-- | and put off thy faring;\nI have read now the runes | that thy sister wrote,\nAnd this time the bright one | did not bid thee to come.\n\n12. \"Full much do I wonder, | nor well can I see,\nWhy the woman wise | so wildly hath written;\nBut to me it seems | that the meaning beneath\nIs that both shall be slain | if soon ye shall go.\nBut one rune she missed, | or else others have marred it.\"\n*\n\nHogni spake:*\n13. \"All women are fearful; | not so do I feel,\nIll I seek not to find | till I soon must avenge it;\nThe king now will give us | the glow-ruddy gold;\nI never shall fear, | though of dangers I know.\"\n*\n\nKostbera spake:*\n14. \"In danger ye fare, | if forth ye go thither,\n\n[12. Line 5 may be spurious, or else all that is left of a lost stanza. The manuscript marks it as the beginning of a new stanza, which, as the text stands, is clearly impossible.\n\n13. The manuscript, followed by some editions, has \"Hogni spake\" in the middle of line 1. *Ill*: the manuscript and many editions have \"this.\" *The king*: Atli.\n\n14. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue between Kostbera and Hogni (stanzas 14-19). Two line, may possibly have been lost after line 2, filling out stanza 14 and [fp. 505] making stanza 15 (then consisting of lines 3-4 of stanza 14 and lines 1-2 of stanza 15) the account of Kostbera's first dream. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza. In any case, the lost lines cannot materially have altered the meaning.]\n\n\nNo welcoming friendly | this time shall ye find;\nFor I dreamed now, Hogni, | and nought will I hide,\nFull evil thy faring, | if rightly I fear.\n\n15. \"Thy bed-covering saw I | in the flames burning,\nAnd the fire burst high | through the walls of my home.\"\n*Hogni spake:*\n\"Yon garment of linen | lies little of worth,\nIt will soon be burned, | so thou sawest the bed-cover.\"\n*\n\nKostbera spake:*\n16. \"A bear saw I enter, | the pillars he broke,\nAnd he brandished his claws | so that craven we were;\nWith his mouth seized he many, | and nought was our might,\nAnd loud was the tumult, | not little it was.\"\n\n[15. *Saw I*: the manuscript here, as also in stanzas 16, 18, 2r, 22, and 24, has \"methought,\" which involves a metrical error. Some editors regard lines 3-4 as the remains of a four-line stanza. Regarding Kostbera's warning dreams, and Hogni's matter-of-fact interpretations of them, cf. *Guthrunarkvitha II*, 39-44.\n\n16. The meaning of the first half of line 3 in the original is obscure.]\n\n*\n\nHogni spake:*\n17. \"Now a storm is brewing, | and wild it grows swiftly,\nA dream of an ice-bear | means a gale from the east.\"\n*\n\nKostbera spake*:\n18. \"An eagle I saw flying | from the end through the house,\nOur fate must be bad, | for with blood he sprinkled us;\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\nFrom the evil I fear | that 'twas Atli's spirit.\"\n*\n\nHogni spake:*\n19. \"They will slaughter soon, | and so blood do we see,\nOft oxen it means | when of eagles one dreams;\n\n[17. Two lines may have been lost after line 2, but the *Volsungasaga* paraphrase gives no clue. *Ice-bear*: polar bears, common in Greenland, are very rarely found in Iceland, and never in Norway, a fact which substantiates the manuscript's reference to Greenland as the home of the poem.\n\n18. The manuscript indicates no gap, but most editors assume the loss of a line after line 1 or 2; Grundtvig adds, after line 1: \"Black were his feathers, | with blood was he covered.\" *Atli's spirit*: the poet's folk-lore seems here a bit weak. Presumably he means such a female following-spirit (\"fylgja\") as appears in *Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar*, prose following stanza 34 (cf. note thereon), but the word he uses, \"hamr\" (masculine) means \"skin,\" \"shape.\" He may, however, imply that Atli had assumed the shape of an eagle for this occasion.\n\n19. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza.]\n\n\nTrue is Atli's heart, | whatever thou dreamest.\"\nThen silent they were, | and nought further they said.\n\n20. The high-born ones wakened, | and like speech they had,\nThen did Glaumvor tell | how in terror she dreamed,\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\n.    .    .    .    . Gunnar | two roads they should go.\n*\n\nGlaumvor spake:*\n21. \"A gallows saw I ready, | thou didst go to thy hanging,\nThy flesh serpents ate, | and yet living I found thee;\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\nThe gods' doom descended; | now say what it boded.\"\n\n*    *    *    *    *    *\n\n22. \"A sword drawn bloody | from thy garments I saw,--\n\n[20. The manuscript indicates no gap, but none of the many attempted emendations have made sense out of the words as they stand. The proper location for' the missing words is sheer guesswork. *Two roads*: probably the meaning is that their way (i.e., their success) would be doubtful.\n\n21. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue (stanzas 21-26). No gap is indicated after line 2. Most editors assume the loss of two lines or of a full stanza after [fp. 508] stanza 21 giving Gunnar's interpretation of Glaumvor's dream, but the *Volsungasaga* gives no clue, as it does not mention this first dream at all. Grundtvig suggests as Gunnar's answer: \"Banners are gleaming, | since of gallows didst dream, / And wealth it must mean | that thou serpents didst watch.\" *Gods' doom*: an odd, and apparently mistaken, use of the phrase \"ragna rök\" (cf. *Voluspo*, introductory note).]\n\n\nSuch a dream is hard | o a husband to tell,--\nA spear stood, methought, | through thy body thrust,\nAnd at head and feet | the wolves were howling.\"\n*\n\nGunnar spake:*\n23. \"The hounds are running, | loud their barking is heard,\nOft hounds' clamor follows | the flying of spears.\"\n*\n\nGlaumvor spake:*\n24. \"A river the length | of the hall saw I run,\nFull swiftly it roared, | o'er the benches it swept;\nO'er the feet did it break | of ye brothers twain,\nThe water would yield not; | some meaning there was.\"\n\n*    *    *    *    *    *\n\n25. \"I dreamed that by night | came dead women hither,\n\n[25. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2. Possibly the concluding phrase of line 2 should be \"bloody spears,\" as in the *Volsungasaga* paraphrase.\n\n24. Again Gunnar's interpretation is missing, and most editors either assume a gap or construct two Malahattr lines (out of the *Volsungasaga* prose paraphrase, which runs: \"The grain shall [fp. 509] flow, since thou hast dreamed of rivers, and when we go to the fields, often the chaff rises above our feet.\"]\n\n\nSad were their garments, | and thee were they seeking;\nThey bade thee come swiftly | forth to their benches,\nAnd nothing, methinks, | could the Norns avail thee. \"\n*\n\nGunnar spake:*\n26. \"Too late is thy speaking, | for so is it settled\nFrom the faring I turn not, | the going is fixed,\nThough likely it is | that our lives shall be short.\"\n\n27. Then bright shone the morning, | the men all were ready,\nThey said, and yet each | would the other hold back;\nFive were the warriors, | and their followers all\nBut twice as many,-- | their minds knew not wisdom.\n\n28. Snævar and Solar, | they were sons of Hogni,\nOrkning was he called | who came with the others,\n\n[25. The meaning of line 4 is uncertain, but apparently it refers to the guardian spirits or lesser Norns (cf. *Fafnismol*, 12-13 and notes).\n\n26. Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza.\n\n27. *Five*: Gunnar, Hogni, and the three mentioned in Stanza 28.\n\n28. Perhaps a line has been lost before line 1; Grundtvig supplies: \"Gunnar and Hogni, the heirs twain of Gjuki.\" *Snævar* (the manuscript here has \"Snevar\"), *Solar* and *Orkning* [fp. 510] appear only in this poem and in the prose narratives based on it. Lines 2-3 may have been expanded out of one line, or possibly line 3 is spurious. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza out of lines 4-5, many of them assuming the loss of two lines. *Shield-tree*: warrior (Orkning), here identified as Kostbera's brother. *Fair-decked ones*: women, i.e., Glaumvor and Kostbera. *Fjord*: perhaps specifically the *Limafjord* mentioned in stanza 4.]\n\n\nBlithe was the shield-tree, | the brother of Kostbera;\nThe fair-decked ones followed, | till the fjord divided them,\nFull hard did they plead, | but the others would hear not.\n\n29. Then did Glaumvor speak forth, | the wife of Gunnar,\nTo Vingi she said | that which wise to her seemed:\n\"I know not if well | thou requitest our welcome,\nFull ill was thy coming | if evil shall follow.\"\n\n30. Then did Vingi swear, | and full glib was his speech,\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\n\"May giants now take me | if lies I have told ye,\nAnd the gallows if hostile | thought did I have.\"\n\n31. Then did Bera speak forth, | and fair was her thought,\n\n[30. The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig inserts (line 2): \"The evil was clear when his words he uttered.\"\n\n31. *Bera*: Kostbera; the first element in compound feminine [fp. 511] proper names was not infrequently omitted; cf. Hild for Brynhild (*Helreith Brynhildar*, 6). The manuscript indicates no gap; Grundtvig inserts (line 2): \"And clear was her cry to her kinsmen dear.\"]\n\n\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\n\"May ye sail now happy, | and victory have,\nTo fare as I bid ye, | may nought your way bar.\"\n\n32. Then Hogni made answer,-- | dear held he his kin,-\n\"Take courage, ye wise ones, | whatsoever may come;\nThough many may speak, | yet is evil oft mighty,\nAnd words avail little | to lead one homeward.\"\n\n33. They tenderly looked | till each turned on his way,\nThen with changing fate | were their farings divided.\n\n34. Full stoutly they rowed, | and the keel clove asunder,\nTheir backs strained at the oars, | and their strength was fierce;\n\n[32. Hogni's method of cheering his wife and sister-in-law is somewhat unusual, for the meaning of lines 3-4 is that good wishes and blessings are of little use in warding off danger.\n\n33. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2; Grundtvig supplies: \"Then weeping did | Glaumvor go to her rest-bed, / And sadly did Bera | her spinning wheel seek.\"\n\n34. *Keel*, etc.: in the *Nibelungenlied*, and presumably in the older German tradition, Hagene breaks his oar steering the Burgundians across the Danube (stanza 1564), and, after all have landed, splinters the boat (stanza 1581) in order that there may be no retreating. The poet here seems to have confused the story, [fp. 512] connecting the breaking of the ship's keel with the violence of the rowing, but echoing the older legend in the last line, wherein the ship is allowed to drift away after the, travellers have landed. *Oar-loops*: the thongs by which the oars in a Norse boat were made fast to the *thole-pins*, the combination taking the place of the modern oarlock.]\n\n\nThe oar-loops were burst, | the thole-pins, were broken,\nNor the ship made they fast | ere from her they fared.\n\n35. Not long was it after-- | the end must I tell--\nThat the home they beheld | that Buthli once had;\nLoud the gates resounded | when Hogni smote them;\nVingi spake then a word | that were better unsaid:\n\n36. \"Go ye far from the house, | for false is its entrance,\nSoon shall I burn you, | ye are swiftly smitten;\nI bade ye come fairly, | but falseness was under,\nNow bide ye afar | while your gallows I fashion.\"\n\n37. Then Hogni made answer, | his heart yielded little,\n\n[35. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions combine it with stanza 36, some of them assuming the loss of a line from stanza 35. In the *Volsungasaga* paraphrase the second half of line 4 is made a part of Vingi's speech: \"Better had ye left this undone.\"\n\n36. Cf. note on preceding stanza; the manuscript does not indicate line I as beginning a stanza. Line 3 may be spurious.\n\n37. In the *Volsungasaga* paraphrase the second half of line 1 and the first half of line 2 are included in Hogni's speech.]\n\n\nAnd nought did he fear | that his fate held in store:\n\"Seek not to affright us, | thou shalt seldom succeed;\nIf thy words are more, | then the worse grows thy fate.\"\n\n38. Then Vingi did they smite, | and they sent him to hell,\nWith their axes they clove him | while the death rattle came.\n\n39. Atli summoned his men, | in mail-coats they hastened,\nAll ready they came, | and between was the courtyard.\n\n*    *    *    *    *    *\n\n40. Then came they to words, | and full wrathful they were:\n\n[38. Possibly two lines have been lost after line 2.\n\n39. It is probable that a considerable passage has been lost between stanzas 39 and 40, for the *Volsungasaga* paraphrase includes a dialogue at this point. The manuscript indicates no gap, and most editions combine stanzas 39 and 40 as a single stanza. The prose passage, indicating the substance of what, if any thing, is lost, runs as follows: \"'Be welcome among us, and give me that store of gold which is ours by right, the gold that Sigurth had, and that now belongs to Guthrun.' Gunnar said: 'Never shalt thou get that gold, and men of might shalt thou find here, ere we give up our lives, if it is battle thou dost offer us; in truth it seems that thou hast prepared this feast in kingly fashion, [fp. 514] and with little grudging toward eagle and wolf.\"' The demand for the treasure likewise appears in the Nibelungenlied.]\n\n\n\"Long since did we plan | how soon we might slay you.\"\n*\n\nHogni spake:*\n41. \"Little it matters | if long ye have planned it;\nFor unarmed do ye wait, | and one have we felled,\nWe smote him to hell, | of your host was he once.\"\n\n42. Then wild was their anger | when all heard his words;\nTheir fingers were swift | on their bowstrings to seize,\nFull sharply they shot, | by their shields were they guarded.\n\n43. In the house came the word | how the heroes with out\n\n[40. These two lines, which most editions combine with stanza 39, may be the first or last two of a four-line stanza. The *Volsungasaga* gives Atli's speech very much as it appears here.\n\n41. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker; Grundtvig adds as a first line: \"Then Hogni laughed loud where the slain Vingi lay.\" Many editors assume the loss of a line somewhere in the stanza. *Unarmed*: Hogni does not see Atli's armed followers, who are on the other side of the courtyard (stanza 39). One: Vingi.\n\n42. Most editors assume the loss of one line, after either line 1 or line 3.\n\n45. The manuscript reading of lines 1-2, involving a metrical error, is: \"In the house came the word | of the warring without, / Loud in front of the hall | they heard a thrall shouting.\" Some editors assume a gap of two lines after line [fp. 515] 2, the missing passage giving the words of the thrall. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza of lines 3-5, same of them assuming the loss of a line after line 3. With the stanza as here given, line 5 may well be spurious.]\n\n\nFought in front of the hall; | they heard a thrall tell it;\nGrim then was Guthrun, | the grief when she heard,\nWith necklaces fair, | and she flung them all from her,\n(The silver she hurled | so the rings burst asunder.)\n\n44. Then out did she go, | she flung open the doors,\nAll fearless she went, | and the guests did she welcome;\nTo the Niflungs she went-- | her last greeting it was,--\nIn her speech truth was clear, | and much would she speak.\n\n45. \"For your safety I sought | that at home ye should stay;\nNone escapes his fate, | so ye hither must fare.\"\nFull wisely she spake, | if yet peace they might win,\n\n[44. *Niflungs*: regarding the application of this term to the Burgundians cf. *Atlakvitha*, 11, and *Brot*, 17, and notes. The manuscript here spells the name with an initial N, as elsewhere, but in stanza 83 the son of Hogni appears with the name \"Hniflung.\" In consequence, some editors change the form in this stanza to \"Hniflungs,\" while others omit the initial H in both cases. I have followed the manuscript, though admittedly its spelling is illogical.]\n\n\nBut to nought would they hearken, | and \"No\" said they all.\n\n46. Then the high-born one saw | that hard was their battle,\nIn fierceness of heart | she flung off her mantle;\nHer naked sword grasped she | her kin's lives to guard,\nNot gentle her hands | in the hewing of battle.\n\n47. Then the daughter of Gjuki | two warriors smote down,\nAtli's brother she slew, | and forth then they bore him;\n(So fiercely she fought | that his feet she clove off;)\nAnother she smote | so that never he stood,\nTo hell did she send him,-- | her hands trembled never.\n\n[46. The warlike deeds of Guthrun represent an odd transformation of the German tradition. Kriemhild, although she did no actual fighting in the *Nibelungenlied*, was famed from early times for her cruelty and fierceness of heart, and this seems to have inspired the poet of the *Atlamol* to make his Guthrun into a warrior outdoing Brynhild herself. Kriemhild's ferocity of course, was directed against Gunther and especially Hagene, for whose slaying she rather than Etzel was responsible; here, on the other hand, Guthrun's is devoted to the defense of her brothers.\n\n47. Line 3 is very likely an interpolation. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and some editions make a separate stanza of lines 4-5. *Atli's brother*: doubtless a reminiscence of the early tradition represented in the *Nibelungenlied* by the slaying of Etzel's brother, Blœdelin (the historical Bleda), by Dancwart.]\n\n\n48. Full wide was the fame | of the battle they fought,\n'Twas the greatest of deeds | of the sons of Gjuki;\nMen say that the Niflungs, | while themselves they were living,\nWith their swords fought mightily, | mail-coats they sundered,\nAnd helms did they hew, | as their hearts were fearless.\n\n49. All the morning they fought | until midday shone,\n(All the dusk as well | and the dawning of day,)\nWhen the battle was ended, | the field flowed with blood;\nEre they fell, eighteen | of their foemen were slain,\nBy the two sons of Bera | and her brother as well.\n\n50. Then the warrior spake, | and wild was his anger:\n\"This is evil to see, | and thy doing is all;\n\n[48. Line 3 may well be spurious, for it implies that Gunnar and Hogni were killed in battle, whereas they were taken prisoners. Some editors, in an effort to smooth out the inconsistency, change \"themselves\" in this line to \"sound.\" Line 5 has also been questioned as possibly interpolated. *Niflungs*: on the spelling of this name in the manuscript and the various editions cf. note on stanza 44.\n\n49. Line 2 is probably an interpolation, and the original apparently lacks a word. There is some obscurity as to the exact meaning of lines 4-5. *The two sons of Bera*: Snævar and Solar; *her brother* is Orkning; cf. stanza 28.\n\n50. *The warrior*: Atli. *Thirty*: perhaps an echo of the \"thirty warriors\" of Thjothrek (cf. *Guthrunarkvitha III*, 5). Subtracting the eighteen killed by Snævar, Solar and Orkning (stanza 49), and Vingi, killed by the whole company (stanza [fp. 518] 38), we have eleven left, as Atli says, but this does not allow much for the exploits of Gunnar and Hogni, who, by this reckoning, seem to have killed nobody. The explanation probably is that lines 4-5 of stanza 49 are in bad shape.]\n\n\nOnce we were thirty, | we thanes, keen for battle,\nNow eleven are left, | and great is our lack.\n\n51. \"There were five of us brothers | when Buthli we lost,\nNow Hel has the half, | and two smitten lie here;\nA great kinship had I,-- | the truth may I hide not,--\nFrom a wife bringing slaughter | small joy could I win.\n\n52. We lay seldom together | since to me thou wast given,\nNow my kin all are gone, | of my gold am I robbed;\nNay, and worst, thou didst send | my sister to hell.\"\n\n[51. *Five brothers*: the *Volsungasaga* speaks of four (not five) sons of Buthli, but names only Atli. Regarding the death of the first two brothers cf. stanza 91 and note. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a stanza, and many editions combine lines 3-4 with stanza 52. Some insert lines 2-3 of stanza 52 ahead of lines 3-4 of stanza 51.\n\n52. Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza, which is impossible unless something has been lost. *Gold*: the meaning of this half line is somewhat doubtful, but apparently Atli refers to Sigurth's treasure, which should have been his as Brynhild's brother. *Sister*: Brynhild; regarding Guthrun's indirect responsibility for Brynhild's death cf. *Gripisspo*, 45 and note.]\n\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n53. \"Hear me now, Atli! | the first evil was thine;\nMy mother didst thou take, | and for gold didst murder her,\nMy sister's daughter | thou didst starve in a prison.\nA jest does it seem | that thy sorrow thou tellest,\nAnd good do I find it | that grief to thee comes.\"\n*\n\nAtli spake:*\n54. \"Go now, ye warriors, | and make greater the grief\nOf the woman so fair, | for fain would I see it;\nSo fierce be thy warring | that Guthrun shall weep,\nI would gladly behold | her happiness lost.\n\n55. \"Seize ye now Hogni, | and with knives shall ye hew him,\nHis heart shall ye cut out, | this haste ye to do;\nAnd grim-hearted Gunnar | shall ye bind on the gallows,\n\n[53. The manuscript does not name the speaker. *The Volsungasaga* gives the speech, in somewhat altered form, to Hogni. \"Why speakest thou so? Thou wast the first to break peace; thou didst take my kinswoman and starved her in a prison, and murdered her and took her wealth; that was not kinglike; and laughable does it seem to me that thou talkest of thy sorrow, and good shall I find it that all goes ill with thee.\" This presumably represents the correct form of the stanza, for nowhere else is it intimated that Atli killed Guthrun's mother, Grimhild, nor is the niece elsewhere mentioned. Some editions make a separate stanza of lines 4-5, Grundtvig adding a line after line 3 and two more after line 5. Other editors are doubtful about the authenticity of either line 3 or line 5.\n\n54. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.]\n\n\nSwift shall ye do it, | to serpents now cast him.\"\n*\n\nHogni spake:*\n56. \"Do now as thou wilt, | for glad I await it,\nBrave shalt thou find me, | I have faced worse before;\nWe held thee at bay | while whole we were fighting,\nNow with wounds are we spent, | so thy will canst thou work.\"\n\n57. Then did Beiti speak, | he was Atli's steward:\n\"Let us seize now Hjalli, | and Hogni spare we!\nLet us fell the sluggard, | he is fit for death,\nHe has lived too long, | and lazy men call him.\"\n\n58. Afraid was the pot-watcher, | he fled here and yon,\nAnd crazed with his terror | he climbed in the corners:\n\n[56. The text of the first half of line 3 is somewhat uncertain, but the general meaning of it is clear enough.\n\n57. Beiti: not elsewhere mentioned. The *Atlakvitha* version of this episode (stanzas 23-25) does not mention Beiti, and in the *Volsungasaga* the advice to cut out Hjalli's heart instead of Hogni's is given by an unnamed \"counsellor of Atli.\" In the *Atlakvitha* Hjalli is actually killed; the *Volsungasaga* combines the two versions by having Hjalli first let off at Hogni's intercession and then seized a second time and killed, thus introducing the *Atlakvitha* episode of the quaking heart (stanza 24). The text of the first half of line 3 is obscure, and there are many and widely varying suggestions as to the word here rendered \"sluggard.\"\n\n58. Some editions mark line 5 as probably interpolated.]\n\n\n\"Ill for me is this fighting, | if I pay for your fierceness,\nAnd sad is the day | to die leaving my swine\nAnd all the fair victuals | that of old did I have.\"\n\n59. They seized Buthli's cook, | and they came with the knife,\nThe frightened thrall howled | ere the edge did he feel;\nHe was willing, he cried, | to dung well the court yard,\nDo the basest of work, | if spare him they would;\nFull happy were Hjalli | if his life he might have.\n\n60. Then fain was Hogni-- | there are few would do thus--\nTo beg for the slave | that safe hence he should go;\n\"I would find it far better | this knife-play to feel,\nWhy must we all hark | to this howling longer?\"\n\n61. Then the brave one they seized; | to the warriors bold\nNo chance was there left | to delay his fate longer;\nLoud did Hogni laugh, | all the sons of day heard him,\n\n[59. *Cook*: the original word is doubtful. The *Volsungasaga* does not paraphrase lines 3-5; the passage may be a later addition, and line 5 is almost certainly so.\n\n61. It is probable that a stanza describing the casting of Gunnar into the serpents' den has been lost after this stanza. *Sons of day*: the phrase means no more than \"men.\"]\n\n\nSo valiant he was | that well he could suffer.\n\n*    *    *    *    *    *\n\n62. A harp Gunnar seized, | with his toes he smote it\nSo well did he strike | that the women all wept,\nAnd the men, when clear | they heard it, lamented;\nFull noble was his song, | the rafters burst asunder.\n\n63. Then the heroes died | ere the day was yet come;\nTheir fame did they leave | ever lofty to live.\n.    .    .    .    .        .    .    .    .    .\n\n64. Full mighty seemed Atli | as o'er them he stood,\nThe wise one he blamed, | and his words reproached her:\n\"It is morning, Guthrun; | now thy dear ones dost miss,\nBut the blame is part thine | that thus it has chanced.\"\n\n[67. Regarding Gunnar's harp-playing, and his death, cf. *Oddrunargratr*, 27-30 and notes, and *Atlakvitha*, 34. *Toes* (literally \"sole-twigs\"): the *Volsungasaga* explains that Gunnar's hands were bound. *Rafters*: thus literally, and probably correctly; Gering has an ingenious but unlikely theory that the word means \"harp.\"\n\n63. There is some doubt as to the exact meaning of line 2. After this line two lines may have! been lost; Grundtvig adds: \"Few braver shall ever | be found on the earth, / Or loftier men | in the world ever give.\"\n\n64. *Wise one*: Guthrun. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza.]\n\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n65. \"Thou art joyous, Atli, | for of evil thou tellest,\nBut sorrow is thine | if thou mightest all see;\nThy heritage heavy | here can I tell thee,\nSorrow never thou losest | unless I shall die.\"\n*\n\nAtli spake:*\n66. \"Not free of guilt am I; | a way shall I find\nThat is better by far,-- | oft the fairest we shunned;--\nWith slaves I console thee, | with gems fair to see,\nAnd with silver snow-white, | as thyself thou shalt choose.\"\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n67. \"No hope shall this give thee, | thy gifts I shall take not,\nRequital I spurned | when my sorrows were smaller;\nOnce grim did I seem, | but now greater my grimness,\nThere was nought seemed too hard | while Hogni was living.\n\n[65. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.\n\n66. The manuscript does not name the speaker. The negative in the first half of line 1 is uncertain, and most editions make the clause read \"Of this guilt I can free myself.\" *The fairest*, etc.: i. e., I have often failed to do the wise thing.\n\n67. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. *Requital*, etc.: it is not clear just to what Guthrun refers; perhaps she is thinking of Sigurth's death, or possibly the poet had in mind his reference to the slaying of her mother in stanza 53.]\n\n\n68. \"Our childhood did we have | in a single house,\nWe played many a game, | in the grove did we grow;\nThen did Grimhild give us | gold and necklaces,\nThou shalt ne'er make amends | for my brother's murder,\nNor ever shalt win me | to think it was well.\n\n69. \"But the fierceness of men | rules the fate of women,\nThe tree-top bows low | if bereft of its leaves,\nThe tree bends over | if the roots are cleft under it;\nNow mayest thou, Atli, | o'er all things here rule.\"\n\n70. Full heedless the warrior | was that he trusted her,\nSo clear was her guile | if on guard he had been;\nBut crafty was Guthrun, | with cunning she spake,\nHer glance she made pleasant, | with two shields she played.\n\n[68. Line 5 is very probably a later addition, though some editors question line 3 instead.\n\n69. Guthrun suddenly changes her tone in order to make Atli believe that she is submissive to his will, and thus to gain time for her vengeance. Line 2 in the original is thoroughly obscure; it runs literally: \"On the knee goes the fist if the twigs are taken off.\" Perhaps the word meaning \"fist\" may also have meant \"tree-top,\" as Gering suggests, or perhaps the line is an illogical blending of the ideas contained in lines 1 and 3.\n\n70. The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a new stanza, *Two shields*, etc.: i. e., Guthrun concealed her hostility (symbolized by a red shield, cf. *Helgakvitha Hundingsbana* I, 34) by a show of friendliness (a white shield).]\n\n\n71. The beer then she brought | for her brothers' death feast,\nAnd a feast Atli made | for his followers dead\nNo more did they speak, | the mead was made ready,\nSoon the men were gathered | with mighty uproar.\n\n72. Thus bitterly planned she, | and Buthli's race threatened,\nAnd terrible vengeance | on her husband would take;\nThe little ones called she, | on a block she laid them;\nAfraid were the proud ones, | but their tears did not fall;\nTo their mother's arms went they, | and asked what she would.\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n73. \"Nay, ask me no more! | You both shall I murder,\n\n[71. Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 1-2, some of them suggesting the loss of two lines, and combine lines 5-4 with lines 1-2 of stanza 72, The manuscript marks both lines 1 and 3 as beginning stanzas.\n\n72. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza; some editions make a separate stanza of lines 3-5, while others combine them with lines 1-2 of stanza 73. Line 2 in the original is clearly defective, the verb being omitted. The meaning of line 3 is uncertain; the *Volsungasaga* paraphrase has: \"At evening she took the sons of King Atli (Erp and Eitil) where they were playing with a block of wood.\" Probably the text of the line as we have it is faulty. Lines 4-5 may possibly have been expanded out of a single line, or line 5 may be spurious.]\n\n\nFor long have I wished | your lives to steal from you.\n*\n\nThe boys spake:*\n\"Slay thy boys as thou wilt, | for no one may bar it,\nShort the angry one's peace | if all thou shalt do.\"\n\n74. Then the grim one slew both | of the brothers young,\nFull hard was her deed | when their heads she smote off;\nFain was Atli to know | whither now they were gone,\nThe boys from their sport, | for nowhere he spied them.\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n75. \"My fate shall I seek, | all to Atli saying,\nThe daughter of Grimhild | the deed from thee hides not;\nNo joy thou hast, Atli, | if all thou shalt hear,\nGreat sorrow didst wake | when my brothers thou slewest.\n\n[73. The manuscript does not name the speakers. It indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza, in which it is followed by many editions. The *Volsungasaga* paraphrases line 4 thus: \"But it is shameful for thee to do this.\" Either the text of the line has been changed or the *Volsungasaga* compilers misunderstood it. *The angry one*: Atli.\n\n74. The manuscript indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza.\n\n75. The manuscript does not name the speaker.]\n\n\n76. '1 have seldom slept | since the hour they were slain,\nBaleful were my threats, | now I bid thee recall them;\nThou didst say it was morning,-- | too well I remember,--\nNow is evening come, | and this question thou askest.\n\n77. \"Now both of thy sons | thou hast lost .    .    .    .\n    .    .    .    .    .    | as thou never shouldst do;\nThe skulls of thy boys | thou as beer-cups didst have,\nAnd the draught that I made thee | was mixed with their blood.\n\n78. 'I cut out their hearts, | on a spit I cooked them,\nI came to thee with them, | and calf's flesh I called them;\nAlone didst thou eat them, | nor any didst leave,\n\n[76. *Morning*: Guthrun refers to Atli's taunt in stanza 64.\n\n77. The manuscript indicates no gap (lines 1-2), and most editions make a single line, despite the defective meter: \"Thy sons hast thou lost | as thou never shouldst lose them.\" The second part of line 2 is in the original identical with the second half of line 3 of stanza 80, and may perhaps have been inserted here by mistake. *Skulls*: it is possible that line 3 was borrowed from a poem belonging to the Völund tradition (cf. *Völundarkvitha*, 25 and 37), and the idea doubtless came from some such source, but probably the poet inserted it in a line of his own composition to give an added touch of horror. The *Volsungasaga* follows the *Atlamol* in including this incident.]\n\n\nThou didst greedily bite, | and thy teeth were busy.\n\n79. \"Of thy sons now thou knowest; | few suffer more sorrow;\nMy guilt have I told, | fame it never shall give me.\"\n*\n\nAtli spake:*\n80. \"Grim wast thou, Guthrun, | in so grievous a deed,\nMy draught with the blood | of thy boys to mingle;\nThou hast slain thine own kin, | most ill it be seemed thee,\nAnd little for me | twixt my sorrows thou leavest.\"\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n81. \"Still more would I seek | to slay thee thyself,\nEnough ill comes seldom | to such as thou art;\nThou didst folly of old, | such that no one shall find\n\n[78. Some editions add lines 5-4 to stanza 79; Finnur Jonsson marks them as probably spurious.\n\n79. Perhaps these two lines should form part of stanza 78, or perhaps they, rather than lines 3-4 of stanza 78, are a later addition. A gap of two lines after line 1 has also been conjectured.\n\n80. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.\n\n81. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Lines 1-2 may be the remains of a separate stanza; Grundtvig adds: \"Thou wast foolish, Atli, | when wise thou didst feel, / Ever the whole | of thy race did I hate.\" The Volsungasaga paraphrase, however, indicates no gap. Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 3-6, which, in the *Volsungasaga*, are paraphrased as a speech of Atli's. Lines 5-6 may be spurious.]\n\n\nIn the whole world of men | a match for such madness.\nNow this that of late | we learned hast thou added,\nGreat evil hast grasped, | and thine own death feast made.\"\n*\n\nAtli spake:*\n82. \"With fire shall they burn thee, | and first shall they stone thee,\nSo then hast thou earned | what thou ever hast sought for.\"\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n\"Such woes for thyself | shalt thou say in the morning,\nFrom a finer death I | to another light fare.\"\n\n83. Together they sat | and full grim were their thoughts,\nUnfriendly their words, | and no joy either found;\nIn Hniflung grew hatred, | great plans did he have,\nTo Guthrun his anger | against Atli was told.\n\n[82. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers. Many editions make two separate stanzas of the four lines. *Another light:* a fairly clear indication of the influence of Christianity; cf. Introductory Note.\n\n83. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a new stanza. *Hniflung*: the *Volsungasaga* says that \"Hogni had a son who was called Hniflung,\" but the name appears to be nothing more than the familiar \"Niflung\" applied in general to the sons of Gjuki and their people. On the spelling cf. note on stanza 44. [fp. 530] This son of Hogni appears in later versions of the story. In the *Thithrekssaga* he is called Aldrian, and is begotten by Hogni the night before his death. Aldrian grows up and finally shuts Attila in a cave where he starves to death. The poet here has incorporated the idea, which finds no parallel in the *Atlakvitha*, without troubling himself to straighten out the chronology.]\n\n\n84. To her heart came ever | the fate of Hogni,\nShe told him 'twere well | if he vengeance should win;\nSo was Atli slain,-- | 'twas not slow to await,--\nHogni's son slew him, | and Guthrun herself.\n\n85. Then the warrior spake, | as from slumber he wakened,\nSoon he knew for his wounds | would the bandage do nought:\n\"Now the truth shalt thou say: | who has slain Buthli's son?\nFull sore am I smitten, | nor hope can I see.\"\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n86. \"Ne'er her deed from thee hides | the daughter of Grimhild,\n\n[84. Line 4 may be in Fornyrthislag, and from another poem.\n\n85. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new stanza.\n\nThe *Volsungasaga* makes line 2 part of Atli's speech.\n\n86. The manuscript does not name the speakers. It marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza, and many editions follow this arrangement, in most cases making a stanza of lines 4-5 and line 1 of stanza 87. However, line 1 may well have been interpolated here from stanza 75. Grundtvig adds after line 3: \"His father he avenged, and his kinsmen fully.\" Some editors assume the loss of one or two lines after line 5.]\n\n\nI own to the guilt | that is ending thy life,\nAnd the son of Hogni; | 'tis so thy wounds bleed.\"\n*\n\nAtli spake:*\n\"To murder hast thou fared, | though foul it must seem;\nIll thy friend to betray | who trusted thee well.\n\n87. \"Not glad went I hence | thy hand to seek, Guthrun,\nIn thy widowhood famed, | but haughty men found thee;\nMy belief did not lie, | as now we have learned;\nI brought thee home hither, | and a host of men with us.\n\n88. \"Most noble was all | when of old we journeyed,\nGreat honor did we have | of heroes full worthy;\nOf cattle had we plenty, | and greatly we prospered,\nMighty was our wealth, | and many received it.\n\n89. \"To the famed one as bride-gift | I gave jewels fair,\n\n[87. The manuscript marks line 2 as beginning a new stanza, and some editions make a stanza out of lines 2-4 and line 1 of stanza 88.\n\n8. The manuscript marks line 2 as the beginning of a stanza, and many editions make a stanza out of lines 2-4, or combine them with stanza 89. Some question the genuineness of line 4. 89. Many editions assume a gap of one line after line 3; [fp. 532] Grundtvig adds: \"Bit-champing horses and wheel-wagons bright.\" Line 4 may be spurious. *Greater*: i. e., the silver which Atli gave Guthrun was of greater value even than the honor of receiving such royal gifts. Line 4 may be spurious.]\n\n\nI gave thirty slaves, | and handmaidens seven;\nThere was honor in such gifts, | yet the silver was greater.\n\n90. \"But all to thee was | as if nought it were worth,\nWhile the land lay before thee | that Buthli had left me;\nThou in secret didst work | so the treasure I won not;\nMy mother full oft | to sit weeping didst make,\nNo wedded joy found I | in fullness of heart.\"\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n91. \"Thou liest now, Atli, | though little I heed it;\n\n[90. Some editions mark line 3 as spurious or defective. The manuscript marks line 4 as the beginning of a new stanza. *The land*, etc.: there is much obscurity as to the significance of this line. Some editors omit or question \"me,\" in which case Atli is apparently reproaching Guthrun for having incited him to fight with his brothers to win for himself the whole of Buthli's land. In stanza 91 Guthrun denies that she was to blame for Atli's quarrels with his brothers. The *Volsungasaga* reading supports this interpretation. The historical Attila did actually have his brother, Bleda, killed in order to have the sole rule. *The treasure*: Sigurth's hoard, which Atli claimed as the brother of Brynhild and husband of Guthrun, Sigurth's widow, but which Gunnar and Hogni kept for themselves, with, as Atli here charges, Guthrun's connivance. *My mother*: the only other reference to Atli's mother is in *Oddrunargratr*, 30, wherein she appears as the adder who stings Gunnar to death, and in the prose passages based on that stanza.]\n\n\nIf I seldom was kindly, | full cruel wast thou;\nYe brothers fought young, | quarrels brought you to battle,\nAnd half went to hell | of the sons of thy house,\nAnd all was destroyed | that should e'er have done good.\n\n92. \"My two brothers and I | were bold in our thoughts,\nFrom the land we went forth, | with Sigurth we fared;\nFull swiftly we sailed, | each one steering his ship,\nSo our fate sought we e'er | till we came to the East.\n\n93. \"First the king did we slay, | and the land we seized,\n\n[91. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. It marks both lines 4 and 5 as beginning new stanzas, but line 5 is presumably an interpolation. The text of the second half of line 2 is obscure, and many emendations have been suggested. *Ye brothers*: cf. note on stanza go. *Half*: i. e., two of Atli's brothers were killed, the other two dying in the battle with Gunnar and Hogni; cf. stanza 51.\n\n92. *From the land*: this maritime expedition of Guthrun and her two brothers, Gunnar and Hogni (the poet seems to know nothing of her half-brother, Gotthorm), with Sigurth seems to have been a pure. invention of the poet's, inserted for the benefit of his Greenland hearers. Nothing further is reported concerning it.\n\n93. *The forest*: i. e., men who were outlawed in the conquered land were restored to their rights--another purely Norse touch.]\n\n\nThe princes did us service, | for such was their fear;\nFrom the forest we called | them we fain would have guiltless,\nAnd rich made we many | who of all were bereft.\n\n94. \"Slain was the Hun-king, | soon happiness vanished,\nIn her grief the widow | so young sat weeping;\nYet worse seemed the sorrow | to seek Atli's house,\nA hero was my husband, | and hard was his loss.\n\n95. \"From the Thing thou camst never, | for thus have we heard,\nHaving won in thy quarrels, | or warriors smitten;\nFull yielding thou wast, | never firm was thy will,\nIn silence didst suffer, |     .    .    .    .    .\n*\n\nAtli spake:*\n96. \"Thou liest now, Guthrun, | but little of good\n\n[94. *Hun-king*: Sigurth, though most illogically so called; cf. *Sigurtharkvitha en skamma*, 4 and note. The Volsungasaga paraphrase of line 2 is so remote as to be puzzling: \"It was little to bear the name of widow.\" Perhaps, however, the word \"not\" fell out between \"was\" and \"little.\"\n\n95. *Thing*, etc.: here the poet makes Atli into a typical Norse land-owner, going to the \"Thing,\" or general law council, to settle his disputes. Even the compilers of the *Volsungasaga* could not accept this, and in their paraphrase changed \"Thing\" to \"battle.\" The text of the second half of line 2 is uncertain. The manuscript leaves a blank to indicate the gap in-line 4; Grundtvig adds: \"as beseems not a king.\"]\n\n\nWill it bring to either, | for all have we lost;\nBut, Guthrun, yet once | be thou kindly of will,\nFor the honor of both, | when forth I am home.\"\n*\n\nGuthrun spake:*\n97. \"A ship will I buy, | and a bright-hued coffin,\nI will wax well the shroud | to wind round thy body,\nFor all will I care | as if dear were we ever.\"\n\n98. Then did Atli die, | and his heirs' grief doubled;\nThe high-born one did | as to him she had promised;\nThen sought Guthrun the wise | to go to her death,\nBut for days did she wait, | and 'twas long ere she died.\n\n99. Full happy shall he be | who such offspring has,\nOr children so gallant, | as Gjuki begot;\nForever shall live, | and in lands far and wide,\nTheir valor heroic | wherever men hear it.\n\n[97. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Many editors assume a gap either before or after line 1. *A ship*: the burial of Norse chiefs in ships was of frequent occurrence, but the Greenland poet's application of the custom to Atli is some what grotesque.\n\n98. *Heirs*, etc.: merely a stock phrase, here quite meaningless, as Atli's heirs had all been killed. *Long*: cf. *Guthrunarhvot*, introductory prose.]",
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