Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/577

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Guthrunarhvot

"Homeward no more  his mother to seeComes the spear-god, fallen  mid Gothic folk;One death-draught thou  for us all shalt drink,For Svanhild then  and thy sons as well."
9. Weeping Guthrun,  Gjuki's daughter,Went sadly before  the gate to sit,And with tear-stained cheeks  to tell the taleOf her mighty griefs,  so many in kind.
10. "Three home-fires knew I,  three hearths I knew,Home was I brought  by husbands three;But Sigurth only  of all was dear,He whom my brothers  brought to his death.
11.[1] "A greater sorrow  I saw not nor knew,Yet more it seemed  I must suffer yetWhen the princes great  to Atli gave me.
12.[2] "The brave boys I summoned  to secret speech;For my woes requital  I might not winTill off the heads  of the Hniflungs I hewed.

    lated here. Spear-god: warrior, i.e., Hamther himself. With this stanza the introductory hvot ("inciting") ends, and stanza 9 introduces the lament which forms the real body of the poem.

  1. Line 1 in the original is of uncertain meaning. Many editors assume the loss of a line after line 1, and some completely reconstruct line 1 on the basis of a hypothetical second line. Princes: Gunnar and Hogni.
  2. Some editors assume the loss of one line, or more, before line 1. Hniflungs: Erp and Eitil, the sons of Guthrun and Atli. On the application of the name Niflung (or, as later spelt,

[541]