The Younger Edda; Also called Snorre's Edda, or The Prose Edda
and broke off the thread at the end of the sewing. The thread with which
the mouth of Loke was sewed together is called Vartare (a strap).
THE NIFLUNGS AND GJUKUNGS.
The following is the reason why gold is called otter-ransom: It is
related that three asas went abroad to learn to know the whole world,
Odin, Honer and Loke. They came to a river, and walked along the
river-bank to a force, and near the force was an otter. The otter had
caught a salmon in the force, and sat eating it with his eyes closed.
Loke picked up a stone, threw it at the otter and hit him in the head.
Loke bragged of his chase, for he had secured an otter and a salmon with
one throw. They took the salmon and the otter with them, and came to a
byre, where they entered. But the name of the bonde who lived there was
Hreidmar. He was a mighty man, and thoroughly skilled in the black art.
The asas asked for night-lodgings, stating that they had plenty of food,
and showed the bonde their game. But when Hreidmar saw the otter he
called his sons, Fafner and Regin, and said that Otter, their brother,
was slain, and also told who had done it. Then the father and the sons
attacked the asas, seized them and bound them, and then said, in
reference to the otter, that he was Hreidmar’s son. The asas offered,
as a ransom for their lives, as much money as Hreidmar himself might
demand, and this was agreed to, and confirmed with an oath. Then the
otter was flayed. Hreidmar took the otter-belg and said to them that
they should fill the belg with red gold, and then cover it with the same
metal, and when this was done they should be set free. Thereupon Odin
sent Loke to the home of the swarthy elves, and he came to the dwarf
whose name is Andvare, and who lived as a fish, in the water. Loke
caught him in his hands, and demanded of him, as a ransom for his life,
all the gold that he had in his rock. And when they entered the rock,
the dwarf produced all the gold that he owned, and that was a very large
amount. Then the dwarf concealed in his hand a small gold ring. Loke saw
this, and requested him to hand forth the ring. The dwarf begged him not
to take the ring away from him, for with this ring he could increase his
wealth again if he kept it. Loke said the dwarf should not keep as much
as a penny, took the ring from him and went out. But the dwarf said that
that ring should be the bane of every one who possessed it. Loke replied
that he was glad of this, and said that all should be fulfilled
according to his prophecy: he would take care to bring the curse to the
ears of him who was to receive it. He went to Hreidmar and showed Odin
the gold; but when the latter saw the ring, it seemed to him a fair one,
and he took it and put it aside, giving Hreidmar the rest of the gold.
They filled the otter-belg as full as it would hold, and raised it up
when it was full. Then came Odin, and was to cover the belg with gold;
and when this was done, he requested Hreidmar to come and see whether
the belg was sufficiently covered. But Hreidmar looked at it, examined
it closely, and saw a mouth-hair, and demanded that it should be
covered, too, otherwise the agreement would be broken. Then Odin brought
forth the ring and covered with it the mouth-hair, saying that now they
had paid the otter-ransom. But when Odin had taken his spear, and Loke
his shoes, so that they had nothing more to fear, Loke said that the
curse that Andvare had pronounced should be fulfilled, and that the ring
and that gold should be the bane of its possessor; and this curse was
afterward fulfilled. This explains why gold is called the otter-ransom,
or forced payment of the asas, or strife-metal.
What more is there to be told of this gold? Hreidmar accepted the gold
as a ransom for his son, but Fafner and Regin demanded their share of it
as a ransom for their brother. Hreidmar was, however, unwilling to give
them as much as a penny of it. Then the brothers made an agreement to
kill their father for the sake of the gold. When this was done, Regin
demanded that Fafner should give him one half of it. Fafner answered
that there was but little hope that he would share the gold with his
brother, since he had himself slain his father to obtain it; and he
commanded Regin to get him gone, for else the same thing would happen to
him as had happened to Hreidmar. Fafner had taken the sword hight
Hrotte, and the helmet which had belonged to his father, and the latter
he had placed on his head. This was called the Æger’s helmet, and it was
a terror to all living to behold it. Regin had the sword called Refil.
With it he fled. But Fafner went to Gnita-heath (the glittering heath),
where he made himself a bed, took on him the likeness of a serpent
(dragon), and lay brooding over the gold.
Regin then went to Thjode, to king Hjalprek, and became his smith. There
he undertook the fostering of Sigurd (Sigfrid), the son of Sigmund, the
son of Volsung and the son of Hjordis, the daughter of Eylime. Sigurd
was the mightiest of all the kings of hosts, in respect to both family
and power and mind. Regin explained to him where Fafner was lying on the
gold, and egged him on to try to get possession thereof. Then Regin made
the sword which is hight Gram (wrath), and which was so sharp that when
Sigurd held it in the flowing stream it cut asunder a tuft of wool which
the current carried down against the sword’s edge. In the next place,
Sigurd cut with his sword Regin’s anvil in twain. Thereupon Sigurd and
Regin repaired to Gnita-heath. Here Sigurd dug a ditch in Fafner’s path
and sat down in it; so when Fafner crept to the water and came directly
over this ditch, Sigurd pierced him with the sword, and this thrust
caused his death. Then Regin came and declared that Sigurd had slain his
brother, and demanded of him as a ransom that he should cut out Fafner’s
heart and roast it on the fire; but Regin kneeled down, drank Fafner’s
blood, and laid himself down to sleep. While Sigurd was roasting the
heart, and thought that it must be done, he touched it with his finger
to see how tender it was; but the fat oozed out of the heart and onto
his finger and burnt it, so that he thrust his finger into his mouth.
The heart-blood came in contact with his tongue, which made him
comprehend the speech of birds, and he understood what the eagles said
that were sitting in the trees. One of the birds said:
There sits Sigurd,
Stained with blood.
On the fire is roasting
Fafner’s heart.
Wise seemed to me
The ring-destroyer,
If he the shining
Heart would eat.
Another eagle sang:
There lies Regin,
Contemplating
How to deceive the man
Who trusts him;
Thinks in his wrath
Of false accusations.
The evil smith plots
Revenge ’gainst the brother.[95]
[Footnote 95: Elder Edda: the Lay of Fafner, 32, 33.]
Then Sigurd went to Regin and slew him, and thereupon he mounted his
horse hight Grane, and rode until he came to Fafner’s bed, took out all
the gold, packed it in two bags and laid it on Grane’s back, then got on
himself and rode away. Now is told the saga according to which gold is
called Fafner’s bed or lair, the metal of Gnita-heath, or Grane’s
burden.
Then Sigurd rode on until he found a house on the mountain. In it slept
a woman clad in helmet and coat-of-mail. He drew his sword and cut the
coat-of-mail off from her. Then she awaked and called herself Hild. Her
name was Brynhild, and she was a valkyrie. Thence Sigurd rode on and
came to the king whose name was Gjuke. His wife was called Grimhild, and
their children were Gunnar, Hogne, Gudrun, Gudny; Gothorm was Gjuke’s
step-son. Here Sigurd remained a long time. Then he got the hand of
Gudrun, Gjuke’s daughter, and Gunnar and Hogne entered into a sworn
brotherhood with Sigurd. Afterward Sigurd and the sons of Gjuke went to
Atle, Budle’s son, to ask for his sister, Brynhild, for Gunnar’s wife.
She sat on Hindfell, and her hall was surrounded by the bickering flame
called the Vafurloge, and she had made a solemn promise not to wed any
other man than him who dared to ride through the bickering flame. Then
Sigurd and the Gjukungs (they are also called Niflungs) rode upon the
mountain, and there Gunnar was to ride through the Vafurloge. He had the
horse that was called Gote, but this horse did not dare to run into the
flame. So Sigurd and Gunnar changed form and weapons, for Grane would
not take a step under any other man than Sigurd. Then Sigurd mounted
Grane and rode through the bickering flame. That same evening he held a
wedding with Brynhild; but when they went to bed he drew his sword Gram
from the sheath and placed it between them. In the morning when he had
arisen, and had donned his clothes, he gave to Brynhild, as a bridal
gift, the gold ring that Loke had taken from Andvare, and he received
another ring as a memento from her. Then Sigurd mounted his horse and
rode to his companions. He and Gunnar exchanged forms again and went
back to Gjuke with Brynhild. Sigurd had two children with Gudrun. Their
names were Sigmund and Swanhild.
Once it happened that Brynhild and Gudrun went to the water to wash
their hair. When they came to the river Brynhild waded from the river
bank into the stream, and said that she could not bear to have that
water in her hair that ran from Gudrun’s hair, for she had a more
high-minded husband. Then Gudrun followed her into the stream, and said
that she was entitled to wash her hair farther up the stream than
Brynhild, for the reason that she had the husband who was bolder than
Gunnar, or any other man in the world; for it was he who slew Fafner and
Regin, and inherited the wealth of both. Then answered Brynhild: A
greater deed it was that Gunnar rode through the Vafurloge, which Sigurd
did not dare to do. Then laughed Gudrun and said: Do you think it was
Gunnar who rode through the bickering flame? Then I think you shared the
bed with him who gave me this gold ring. The gold ring which you have on
your finger, and which you received as a bridal-gift, is called
Andvaranaut (Andvare’s Gift), and I do not think Gunnar got it on
Gnita-heath. Then Brynhild became silent and went home. Thereupon she
egged Gunnar and Hogne to kill Sigurd; but being sworn brothers of
Sigurd, they egged Guthorm, their brother, to slay Sigurd. Guthorm
pierced him with his sword while he was sleeping; but as soon as Sigurd
was wounded he threw his sword, Gram, after Guthorm, so that it cut him
in twain through the middle. There Sigurd fell, and his son, three
winters old, by name Sigmund, whom they also killed. Then Brynhild
pierced herself with the sword and was cremated with Sigurd. But Gunnar
and Hogne inherited Fafner’s gold and the Gift of Andvare, and now ruled
the lands.
King Atle, Budle’s son, Brynhild’s brother, then got in marriage Gudrun,
who had been Sigurd’s wife, and they had children. King Atle invited
Gunnar and Hogne to visit him, and they accepted his invitation. But
before they started on their journey they concealed Fafner’s hoard in
the Rhine, and that gold has never since been found. King Atle had
gathered together an army and fought a battle with Gunnar and Hogne, and
they were captured. Atle had the heart cut out of Hogne alive. This was
his death. Gunnar he threw into a den of snakes, but a harp was secretly
brought to him, and he played the harp with his toes (for his hands were
fettered), so that all the snakes fell asleep excepting the adder, which
rushed at him and bit him in the breast, and then thrust its head into
the wound and clung to his liver until he died. Gunnar and Hogne are
called Niflungs (Niblungs) and Gjukungs. Hence gold is called the
Niflung treasure or inheritance. A little later Gudrun slew her two sons
and made from their skulls goblets trimmed with gold, and thereupon the