Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/432

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Poetic Edda

And the magic runes of might;Who knows them rightly and reads them true, Has them himself to help; Ever they aid, Till the gods are gone.

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Brynhild spake:20.^[1] "Now shalt thou choose, for the choice is given, Thou tree of the biting blade;Speech or silence, 'tis thine to say, Our evil is destined all."

Sigurth spake:21.^[2] "I shall not flee, though my fate be near, I was born not a coward to be;

↑ Stanzas 20-21 are all that remains of the dialogue between Brynhild and Sigurth from the poem to which stanzas 2-4 belong; cf. Introductory Note. In the intervening lost stanzas Brynhild has evidently warned Sigurth of the perils that will follow if he swears loyalty to her; hence the choice to which she here refers. Tree, etc.: warrior. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker of either this or the following stanza; the Volsungasaga names Sigurth before stanza 21.
↑ It is quite possible that the original poem concluded with two stanzas after this, paraphrased thus in the Volsungasaga: "Sigurth said: 'Nowhere is to be found any one wiser than thou, and this I swear, that I shall have thee for mine, and that thou art after my heart's desire.' She answered: 'I would rather have thee though I might choose among all men.' And this they bound between them with oaths." Stanzas 22-37, which the Volsungasaga paraphrases, may have been introduced at a relatively early time, but can hardly have formed part of the original poem.

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[Sigrdrifumol_20-1] Stanzas 20-21 are all that remains of the dialogue between Brynhild and Sigurth from the poem to which stanzas 2-4 belong; cf. Introductory Note. In the intervening lost stanzas Brynhild has evidently warned Sigurth of the perils that will follow if he swears loyalty to her; hence the choice to which she here refers. Tree, etc.: warrior. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker of either this or the following stanza; the Volsungasaga names Sigurth before stanza 21.

[Sigrdrifumol_21-2] It is quite possible that the original poem concluded with two stanzas after this, paraphrased thus in the Volsungasaga: "Sigurth said: 'Nowhere is to be found any one wiser than thou, and this I swear, that I shall have thee for mine, and that thou art after my heart's desire.' She answered: 'I would rather have thee though I might choose among all men.' And this they bound between them with oaths." Stanzas 22-37, which the Volsungasaga paraphrases, may have been introduced at a relatively early time, but can hardly have formed part of the original poem.

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