46. From the speaker gloomily | Gunnar turned,
For the jewel-bearer | her gems was dividing;

47. On all her wealth | her eyes were gazing,
On the bond-women slain | and the slaughtered slaves.
Her byrnie of gold | she donned, and grim.

48. Was her heart ere the point | of her sword had pierced it;
On the pillow at last | her head she laid,
And, wounded, her plan | she pondered o'er.

49. "Hither I will | that my women come
Who gold are fain | from me to get;
Necklaces fashioned | fair to each
Shall I give, and cloth, | and garments bright."

50. Silent were all | as so she spake,
And all together | answer made:
"Slain are enough; | we seek to live,
Not thus thy women | shall honor win."

[46. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a stanza; some editions treat lines 1-2 as a separate stanza, and combine lines 3-4 with lines 1-2 of stanza 47. Jewel-bearer (literally "land of jewels"): woman, here Brynhild. Bond-women, etc.: in stanza 69 we learn that five female slaves and eight serfs were killed to be burned on the funeral pyre, and thus to follow Sigurth in death. See note 47.

47. The manuscript marks line 3, and not line 1, as beginning a stanza, and some editions treat lines 3-4 as a separate stanza, or combine them with stanza 48. The lines:

"On all her wealth | her eyes were gazing,
On the bond-women slain | and the slaughtered slaves."

Were moved to the beginning of stanza 47 to conform with the ON. Where as the lines: "Was her heart ere the point | of her sword had pierced it;
On the pillow at last | her head she laid,
And, wounded, her plan | she pondered o'er."

Where made into a seperate stanza numberd 48 to conform to the ON thus the Bellows translation stanza numbers are renumbered from stanzas 48 to 71.

49. Brynhild means, as stanzas 50-52 show, that those of her women who wish to win rewards must be ready to follow her in death. The word translated "women" in line 1 is conjectural, but the general meaning is clear enough.

50. In place of "as so she spake" in line 1 the manuscript has "of their plans they thought," which involves a metrical error.]

 



46. Hvarf sér óhróðugr andspilli frá,
þar er mörk menja meiðmum deildi.

47. Leit hon of alla eigu sína,
soltnar þýjar ok salkonur;
gullbrynju smó, - var-a gott í hug, -
áðr sik miðlaði mækis eggjum.

48. Hné við bollstri hon á annan veg
ok hjörunduð hugði at ráðum:

49. "Nú skulu ganga, þeir er gull vili
ok minni því at mér þiggja;
ek gef hverri of hróðit sigli,
bók ok blæju, bjartar váðir."

50. Þögðu allir, við því orði
ok allir senn andsvör veittu:
"Ærnar soltnar, munum enn lifa.
Verða salkonur sæmð at vinna."

















 


© 2008 Völuspá.org | © 2008 Articles, Analysis and Artwork to their respective creators
Eddas, Sagas and Folklore Public Domain