Sigurth spake:

46. "What may for the bride | requital be,
The wife we won | with subtle wiles?
From me she has | the oaths I made,
And kept not long; | they gladdened her little."

Gripir spake:

47. "To Gunnar soon | his bride will say
That ill didst thou | thine oath fulfill, When the goodly king, | the son of Gjuki, With all his heart | the hero trusted."

Sigurth spake:

48. "What sayst thou, Gripir? | give me the truth!
Am I guilty so | as now is said,
Or lies does the far-famed | queen put forth
Of me and herself? | Yet further speak."

Gripir spake:

49. "In wrath and grief | full little good
The noble bride | shall work thee now;
No shame thou gavest | the goodly one,
Though the monarch's wife | with wiles didst cheat."

Sigurth spake:

50. "Shall Gunnar the wise | to the woman's words,
And Gotthorm and Hogni, | then give heed?
Shall Gjuki's sons, | now tell me, Gripir,
Redden their blades | with their kinsman's blood?"

[47. Brynhild tells Gunnar that Sigurth really possessed her during the three nights when he slept by her in Gunnar's form, thus violating his oath. Here again there is a confusion of two traditions. If Sigurth did not meet Brynhild until after his oath to Gunnar (cf. note on stanza 13), Brynhild's charge is entirely false, as she herself admits in Helreith Brynhildar. On the other hand, according to the version in which Sigurth finds Brynhild before he meets Gjuki's sons, their union was not only completed, but she had by him a daughter, Aslaug, whom she leaves in Heimir's charge before going to become Gunnar's wife. This is the Volsungasaga version, and thus the statement Brynhild makes to Gunnar, as a result of which Sigurth is slain, is quite true.

50. Gotthorm: Gunnar's half-brother, and slayer of Sigurth.]


 



Sigurðr kvað:

46. "Hvat mun at bótum brúðr sú taka,
er vélar vér vífi gerðum?
Hefir snót af mér svarna eiða
enga efnda, en unað lítit."

Grípir kvað:

47. "Mun hon Gunnari görva segja,
at þú eigi vel eiðum þyrmðir,
þá er ítr konungr af öllum hug,
Gjúka arfi, á gram trúði."

Sigurðr kvað:

48. "Hvat er þá, Grípir, get þú þess fyr mér,
mun ek saðr vera at sögu þeiri,
eða lýgr á mik lofsæl kona
ok á sjalfa sik? Segðu, Grípir, þat."

Grípir kvað:

49. "Mun fyr reiði rík brúðr við þik
né af oftrega allvel skipa;
viðr þú góðri grand aldrigi,
þó ér víf konungs vélum beittuð."

Sigurðr kvað:

50. "Mun horskr Gunnarr at hvötun hennar
Gutþormr ok Högni ganga síðan?
Munu synir Gjúka á sifjugum mér
eggjar rjóða? Enn segðu, Grípir."








 


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