Helreið Brynhildar (Old Norse 'The Hel-ride of Brynhildr')[1] is a short Old Norse poem that is found in the Poetic Edda. Most of the poem (except stanza 6) is also quoted in Norna-Gests þáttr. Henry Adams Bellows says in his commentaries that the poem is a masterpiece with an "extraordinary degree of dramatic unity" and that it is one of the "most vivid and powerful" poems in the Poetic Edda. It has, however, been argued that some parts originally belonged to Sigrdrífumál, and the two poems are anyway very close in content. The material is mostly Scandinavian and there are few elements that connect it with the corresponding German tradition found in the Nibelungenlied.
Synopsis[]
The poem deals with how the dead Sigurðr and Brynhildr are burnt on two pyres.[2] First they burn Sigurðr and then they burn Brynhildr who is lying on a richly clad wagon. This wagon takes Brynhildr on her journey to the afterlife. During her journey, she passes a house where a giantess (gýgr) lived.
The giantess accuses Brynhildr of having caused the deaths of heroes and of having wanted another woman's husband (Sigurðr). The giantess further accuses Brynhildr of having caused the fall of the house of Niflungar (Gjúki's sons). Brynhildr responds that she will tell her the truth and how the sons of Gjúki made her an unhappy oath-breaker.
Formerly, she used to be called Hildr the helmed and she lived in a dwelling of valkyries called Hlymdalir. Then a monarch (presumably Agnarr) captured Brynhildr and her seven sisters'[3] by taking their swan-robes that he found under an oak.[4] She was only twelve winters old when she married the young king.
Against the will of Óðinn, she then made the aged Hjalmgunnar, the king of the Goths, die and instead she gave victory to Auða's young brother (Agnarr). The angry Óðinn imprisoned her in Skatalund[5] within red and white overlapping shields, and cursed her to sleep until a man without fear would set her free. In order to make it even harder to liberate her, Óðinn also created a circle of fire around her resting place.
Sigurðr then arrived on Grani and brought her Fafnir's gold. The hero shared her bed during eight nights without them touching each other.[6] Still, Guðrún would reproach her for having slept in Sigurðr's arms, and then admit to her that they had tricked her out of her relationship with Sigurðr and made her take another man instead (Gunnarr).
Brynhildr finishes the poem by stating that men and women live in this world to suffer, but that she and Sigurðr would never part again:
Munu við ofstríð |
Ever with grief |
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Orchard 1997, p. 82.
- ↑ But in the preceding Sigurðarkviða hin skamma, they are burnt on the same pyre.
- ↑ The version found in Norna-Gests þáttr calls Brynhildr and her sisters the "sisters of Atli" instead of "sisters eight".
- ↑ By taking the swan robe of a Swan maiden, a man takes command of her, see Vǫlundarkviða.
- ↑ In other sources, it is called Hindarfjall.
- ↑ In Grípisspá, they only shared three nights together.
- ↑ Helreið Brynhildar at Heimskringla.no.
- ↑ Bellows' translation.
External links[]
- Brynhild's Hell-Ride, Henry Adams Bellows' translation and commentary
- Brynhild´s Hel-ride, Benjamin Thorpe's translation
- Brynhild's Hel Ride, Translated by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor
- Helreið Brynhildar, Sophus Bugge's edition of the manuscript text
- Helreið Brynhildar, Guðni Jónsson's edition with normalized spelling
| The Poetic Edda | |
|---|---|
| Mythological poems | Vǫluspá • Hávamál • Vafþrúðnismál • Grímnismál • Skírnismál • Hárbarðsljóð • Hymiskviða • Lokasenna • Þrymskviða • Vǫlundarkviða • Alvíssmál • Baldrs draumar • Rígsþula • Hyndluljóð (Vǫluspá in skamma) • Svipdagsmál (Grógaldr • Fjǫlsvinnsmál) • Gróttasǫngr • Hrafnagaldr Óðins |
| Heroic lays | Helgakviða Hundingsbana I • Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar • Helgakviða Hundingsbana II • Frá dauða Sinfjǫtla • Grípisspá • Reginsmál • Fáfnismál • Sigrdrífumál • Brot af Sigurðarkviðu • Guðrúnarkviða I • Sigurðarkviða hin skamma • Helreið Brynhildar • Dráp Niflunga • Guðrúnarkviða II • Guðrúnarkviða III • Oddrúnargrátr • Atlakviða hin Grǿnlenzka • Atlamál in grǿnlenzku • Guðrúnarhvǫt • Hamðismál • Hlǫðskviða • Hervararkviða |
| Later poems | Sólarljóð |
| Manuscripts | Codex Regius • AM 748 I 4to • AM 738 4to • Hauksbók • Flateyjarbók • Codex Wormianus |