Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
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Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
, found in the Codex Regius
Codex Regius
Cōdex Rēgius is an Icelandic manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing...
manuscript where it follows Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
Völsungakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I or the First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda...
and precedes Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
Völsungakviða in forna, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II or the Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda...
. The portion of text which constitutes the poem is unnamed in the manuscript and may never have been intended to be viewed as a single poem, though scholars have assigned it a name for convenience. The text appears to be a patchwork of old poems, glued together with prose passages. The poem relates the story of Helgi Hjörvarðsson, loosely connected to the story of Helgi Hundingsbani.
How Helgi's father won Helgi's mother
The lay begins with a Norwegian king named Hjörvarðr. The king had four wives: Álfhildr with whom he had the son Heðinn, a second by the name Særeiðr with whom he had the son Humlungr and a third called Sinrjóð by whom he had the son Hymlingr. The fourth wife is not mentioned, but she may be the girl Sigrlinn with whom the plot of the story begins.Hjörvarðr had made a vow to possess the most beautiful woman he knew. When he learnt that king Sváfnir of Sváfaland
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
had the daughter Sigrlinn who was the most beautiful girl, Hjörvarðr sent Atli, the son of his jarl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
Iðmundr, to woo the girl on his behalf.
Atli Iðmundsson stayed with king Sváfnir for a winter but was told by Fránmarr, the king's jarl, that the king would not give away his daughter to king Hjörvarðr. On his return home, Atli had a conversation with a bird, which told him that Hjörvarðr would have Sigrlinn on condition that the bird was given gold-horned cattle and altars from the king's estate. Atli returned home to king Hjörvarðr and told him that his mission had failed.
The king resolved to go to king Sváfnir himself together with Atli. When they came up on a mountain they saw Sváfaland in flames and dust clouds rolling across the land coming from riding warriors. It was the army of king Hróðmarr who also desired princess Sigrlinn but had been denied and tried to take the girl by force of arms. At the moment, king Hróðmarr had killed king Sváfnir and was trying to find Sigrlinn.
During the night, king Hjörvarðr and Atli camped by a stream and Atli discovered a house on which was sitting a great bird. Atli did not know that the bird was king Sváfnir's jarl Fránmarr who was in the fetch of a bird in order to magically protect Sigrlinn and his own daughter Álof, who were inside the house. Atli killed the bird and discovered Sigrlinn and Álof inside the house. King Hjörvarðr returned home with Sigrlinn and Atli with Álof, the daughter of the jarl he had killed.
Helgi meets Sváfa
Hjörvarðr and Sigrlinn had son who was a silent man and to whom no name could be given. When this silent man had grown up, he was one day sitting on a hill, and he saw nine Valkyries riding of whom SváfaSváfa
In Norse mythology, Sváfa or Sváva is a valkyrie and the daughter of king Eylimi. Consequently she was probably the maternal aunt of Sigurd, the dragon slayer, although this is not explicitly mentioned in Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar where Sváfa's story appears.-Etymology:The etymology of the...
was the most beautiful one. She was the daughter of king Eylimi.
Sváfa called him Helgi and asked him if he wanted a gift with his newly given name (which was customary), but Helgi wanted nothing if he could not have Sváfa herself. She then informed him of the location of a great sword engraved with snakes and magic runes:
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Sváfa had given Helgi his name and during his battles, she was always there for him, shielding him from danger.
Helgi avenges Svafnir and marries Sváfa
Helgi reproached his father king Hjörvarðr for not avenging the burning of Sváfaland and the killing of king Sváfnir. Moreover, king Hróðmarr still had king Svafnir's riches in his possession. Hjörvarðr gave Helgi a war band and Helgi also acquired the magic sword that Sváfa had told him about. Then Helgi killed Hróðmarr and avenged his grandfather.In his continued adventures, Helgi killed the jotun Hati and Helgi and Atli had a long discussion in poetry
Old Norse poetry
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...
(a poem called Hrímgerðarmál) with Hati's daughter Hrímgerðr which they prolonged until the sun rose and transformed the giantess into stone.
After having won fame in battle, Helgi went to king Eylimi and asked the king for his daughter's hand. King Eylimi consented and so Helgi and Sváfa exchanged their vows. Although, they were married, she remained with her father and Helgi was out doing battle.
Helgi's death
One YuleYule
Yule or Yuletide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
, Helgi's brother Heðinn found a troll
Troll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
woman riding on a wolf with snakes for bridles. She asked him for his company, which he denied her. The troll woman cursed and said that he would come to regret his decision at the king's toast during the Yule festivities.
During the festivities, the men laid their hands on the sacred boar to give their oaths and Heðinn vowed that he would have Sváfa, his brother's wife as his own.
Heðinn met Helgi and told him of his fateful vow. Helgi responded that one of his fylgja
Fylgja
In Norse mythology, a fylgja is a supernatural being or creature which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune...
s had seen Heðin's meeting with the troll woman. He also informed Heðinn that king Hróðmar's son Álfr wanted to avenge his father and had challenged Helgi to a holmgang
Holmgang
Holmgang was a duel practiced by early medieval Scandinavians. It was a recognized way to settle disputes....
at Sigarsvoll which would take place three nights later.
During the holmgang with Álfr, Helgi received a mortal wound due to the troll woman's curse and Álfr won. Helgi then sent his companion Sigarr to king Eylimi in order to fetch Sváfa so that they could meet before he died.
Before passing away, Helgi asked Sváfa to marry his brother Heðinn. The brother asked Sváfa to kiss him, because she would not see him again before Helgi had been avenged.
Both Helgi and Sváfa would be reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in Volsunga saga and in two lays in the Poetic Edda named Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. The Poetic Edda relates that Helgi and his mistress Sigrún were Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváva of the Helgakviða...
and Sigrún
Sigrún
Sigrún is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her story is related in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, in the Poetic Edda...
and so their adventures continued.
External links
- Helgakviða Hiörvarðssonar Sophus BuggeSophus BuggeSophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. -Background:Elseus Sophus Bugge was...
's edition of the manuscript text - Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling
- Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar Translation and commentary by Henry Adams BellowsHenry Adams BellowsHenry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...
at Sacred Texts.com - Bellows translation and Old Norse, parallel text at voluspa.org
- Helgakviða Hjorvarþssonar Translation by Lee M. Hollander