Scene 1

GRIMHILD and GUDRUN, with Andvari’s ring, are in Grimhild’s palace.

GRIMHILD Gold I will give you, Gudrun,

A great deal of treasure from your dead father,

Red-gold rings, all the precious bed-hangings

Of Hlodver’s hall, for the fallen prince;

Hunnish girls to do your delicate weaving,

To work in gold for your pleasure;

You alone shall control the wealth of Budli,

Be endowed with gold, and given to Atli.

GUDRUN I do not want to go to another man

Nor to marry Sigrdrifa’s brother;

It is not fitting for me to have children

Nor to live happily with the son of Budli.

GRIMHILD Don’t try to repay the men’s wickedness,

Though what we brought about before was evil;

You’ll feel as if they were still alive,

Sigurd and Sigmund, if you have sons.

GUDRUN I may not, Grimhild, fling myself into happiness,

Nor comply with the hopes of that man brave in battle,

Since the corpse-greedy wolf and raven bitterly drank

The heart-blood of Sigurd.

GRIMHILD I have found the most highly-born

Prince of all, the most prominent of all;

Him you’ll be married to, or else till your life’s end,

You’ll be without a man if you won’t take this one.

GUDRUN Stop offering me this unholy

Kinship so insistently!

He will prepare a trap for Gunnar,

Tear out the heart from Hogni.

Then I won’t delay until I take 

The life of the vigorous man,

Of the sword-warrior.

GRIMHILD Lands I’ll give you, troops of men,

Vinbiorg, Valbiorg, if you’ll take them;

Possess them all your days, and be content, daughter!

GUDRUN I’ll choose him from among the kings

Coerced into this by my kin;

He won’t be a husband whom I can love

Nor will the fate of my brothers protect my sons.

Scene 2

GUNNAR and HOGNI are at home.

VINGI enters. He gives HOGNI Andvari’s ring, wrapped in a wolf’s hair.

VINGI Atli has sent me here, riding with a message,

On a horse gnashing at its bit, through Mirkwood the unknown,

To invite you, Gunnar, you two, to come to our benches,

With helmets grouped about the heart, to visit Atli at home.

There you may both choose shields and smooth-planed ash spears,

Golden helmets and a host of the Huns,

Silver-gilt saddle-cloths, scarlet tunics,

Lances with pennants, coursers gnashing at their bits.

He said too that he would give you the plain of wide Gnita-heath,

Whistling spears and gilded prows,

Great treasurers, farms on the Dneiper,

That famous forest which men call Mirkwood.

GUNNAR What do you advise, young man, when we hear of such things?

I didn’t know of any gold on Gnita-heath

That we did not own just as much.

We have seven store-buildings full of swords,

Each of them has a golden hilt;

I know my horse is the best, my blade the sharpest,

My bow graces the benches, and my corslets are of gold,

The brightest shield and helmet come from the emperor’s hall;

One of mine is better than all of the Huns’ might be.

HOGNI What do you think the lady meant when she sent us a ring,

Wrapped in the coat of the heath-wanderer? I think she was giving us a warning.

I found a hair of the heath-wanderer twisted round the red-gold ring:

Our way is wolf-beset if we go on this errand.

VINGI May the giants seize this man if he lies to you,

May the gallows be ready for him if he should plot against your safety.

GUNNAR Rise up now, Fiornir, send the golden goblets of the warriors

Passing around the hall from hand to hand!

The wolf will have control over the Niflungs’ inheritance,

The old grey guardians, if Gunnar is going to be lost,

Dull-coated bears will bite with vicious fangs,

Make the bitch-pack rejoice if Gunnar does not return.

Scene 3

KOSTBERA and HOGNI are in bed.

KOSTBERA wakes up from a dream.

KOSTBERA You intend to leave home, Hogni, listen to advice!

Few are very learned in runes—go some other time!

I interpreted the runes which your sister cut:

The radiant lady hasn’t summoned you this time.

I’m greatly surprised by one thing—I still can’t make it out —

Why the clever woman should carve so awry;

For they seemed to indicate an underlying meaning:

It would be the death of both of you if you hastened there now;

The lady’s missed out a letter or else others have caused this.

HOGNI All women think the worst, I am not so inclined,

I shan’t go looking for trouble unless there’s something we have to pay them back for;

The prince will shower us with glowing red-gold arm-rings,

I am never afraid, though we hear dire things portended.

KOSTBERA You’ll meet your downfall if you set off there,

There’s no loving welcome waiting for you this time.

I had a dream, Hogni, it’s not concealed from me:

An evil fate will come upon you — or else I am simply too afraid.

I dreamt your bedclothes were burning up in fire,

High flames were raging all through my buildings.

HOGNI Here are linen garments lying, which have no value,

They’ll soon be burnt up, as you saw the bedclothes burn.

KOSTBERA I thought I saw a bear come in here, smash up the panelling,

Swing with his paws so that we were afraid;

Many of us he held in his mouth so that we were helpless;

His lumbering made no small amount of noise.

HOGNI That must mean a storm coming, it’ll soon be dawn;

Thinking of a white bear, that’s a blizzard from the east.

KOSTBERA I thought I saw an eagle fly in here, all along the house,

Something terrible will happen to us, he sprinkled us all with blood;

I thought from its threatening noise that it was the spirit of Atli.

HOGNI We’ll soon be slaughtering, then we’ll see blood;

Often it means oxen—dreaming of eagles;

Atli is well intentioned, whatever you dream.

Scene 4

GUNNAR is in bed.

KOSTBERA enters.

KOSTBERA I thought I saw a gallows ready for you, you were to be hanged,

Serpents gnawed at you, I lost you while you were still alive,

The doom of the gods came about; tell me what that meant!

I thought a bloody sword was pulled out of your shirt,

It’s painful to have to tell such a dream to a man so close to one;

I thought I saw a spear pierce right through you,

Wolves were howling at both its ends.

GUNNAR That will be dogs running, barking a great deal,

The noise of dogs often stands for spears flying about.

KOSTBERA I saw a river flowing through here, all along the house,

It roared in its course and crashed over the benches;

It broke the legs of both you brothers here,

Nothing could stop the water—that must mean something.

I thought that dead women came here tonight,

They were not badly decked out, they wanted to choose you,

Invite you very soon to their benches;

I declare that your disir are powerless to help you.

GUNNAR It’s too late to speak thus, all is now arranged;

I cannot escape this fate, since we intend to go;

Everything seems to show that we haven’t long to live.

Scene 5

ATLI BUDLI’S SON and GUDRUN are in bed.

ATLI wakes up from a dream.

ATLI I thought that you, Gudrun, daughter of Giuki,

Ran me through with a poisoned sword.

GUDRUN Dreaming of iron represents fire,

Of the anger of a woman, deception and delusion;

I shall have to cauterize your injuries,

For comfort and for healing, though it pains me to do it.

ATLI I thought that in the meadow the saplings had fallen,

Those which I’d wanted to let grow tall,

Were torn up by the roots, reddened with blood,

Carried to the bench and offered to me to eat.

I thought that my hawks fell from my hand,

Without their prey to a hall of evil;

Their hearts I ate mixed with honey,

Sorry in my heart, gorged on blood.

I thought that I loosed my pups from my grasp,

Deprived of joy, both of them howled;

I thought their flesh became carrion,

Disgusting corpses which I was meant to enjoy.

GUDRUN That means men will discuss sacrifice

And cut the heads off white sacrificial beasts;

Doomed, they will, in a few days,

Be consumed by the retinue.

Scene 6

VINGI, HOGNI, and GUNNAR are approaching Atli’s house.

VINGI Go away from the house! It is dangerous to go near it,

Soon I’ll have destroyed you, shortly they’ll hack you down;

I invited you here warmly but treachery lurked underneath,

Or else you can wait here while I build you your gallows!

HOGNI Don’t try to frighten us, don’t bother to keep talking!

If you drag out your words it will lengthen your miseries.

HOGNI and GUNNAR kill VINGI.

GUDRUN enters.

GUDRUN I tried to give you protection by keeping you at home,

No one can defeat fate, and so you still came here.

Betrayed you are now, Gunnar; what, mighty lord, will help you

Against the evil tricks of the Huns? Quickly, leave the hall!

It would have been better, brother, if you’d come in a corslet,

With those helmets still grouped round the hearth, to see the home of Atli;

If you’d sat in the saddle all through the sun-bright days,

Made the norns weep at the pale, domed corpses,

Taught Hun shield-maidens how to pull a plough,

And Atli himself you could have put in the snake-pit,

Now that snake-pit is ready for you.

GUNNAR Too late now, sister, to collect the Niflungs,

A long time to wait for the arrival of the troop

Of uncowardly men from the russet mountains of the Rhine.

ATLI and BEITI enter.

ATLI For a long time we’ve intended to take away your lives.

HOGNI It doesn’t really look as if you had decided any such thing;

You aren’t even ready while we have struck down one,

Smashed him to hell, one of your number.

HOGNI, GUNNAR, and GUDRUN fight together against ATLI and BEITI. 

ATLI and BEITI win.

ATLI Drive out the chariot! Now the captive is in chains.

(To Gudrun) Terrible it is to look around us, you are to blame for this,

There were thirty formidable lighters,

Now eleven remain alive, our men are decimated.

There were four of us brothers when we lost Budli,

Now Hel has half of us, two lie cut down here.

Alliance with splendid men I made—I can’t deny it—

I got a monstrous wife, I’ve had no benefit from it.

We’ve scarcely had any peace since you came among us,

You’ve deprived me of kinsmen, swindled me of property,

You’ve sent my sister off to hell, that is what matters most to me.

GUDRUN Can you speak of such things, Atli, given what you’ve already done:

You seized my mother and killed her, to have her treasure,

My wise cousin you starved to death in a cave;

It seems to me cause for laughter when you recount your injuries,

I thank the gods for it when things go badly for you.

ATLI I urge you, warriors, to greatly increase the grief

Of this redoubtable woman; that I want to see;

Do all you can to make Gudrun sob!

So that I might see her without a vestige of joy.

Take Hogni and butcher him with a knife,

Cut out his heart, be ready to do this;

Gunnar the fierce-spirited, string up on the gallows,

Hurry up with this—invite the snakes to come to him!

HOGNI Do as you wish, I’ll cheerfully withstand it,

My courage you can test, I’ve borne sharper trials before;

You met some resistance when we were unwounded,

Now we are injured you may do as you please.

BEITI Let’s take Hialli and spare Hogni,

Let’s carry out a deed half done; he’s fated for death,

However long he lives, he’ll always be called useless.

ATLI and BEITI try to kill their slave Hialli, but HOGNI intervenes and lets him escape.

HOGNI I declare that for me it is a small matter to play this game with you,

Why would anyone here want to listen to his screeching?

ATLI cuts out HOGNI’S heart. HOGNI dies laughing.

ATLI gives the heart to GUNNAR.

GUNNAR Atli, now you’ll be as far from my eyes

As my jewels are going to be.

Now in me alone it is all concealed,

The hoard of the Niflungs, now Hogni is not alive.

I was always in doubt while we were both alive,

Now I am not, now I alone am living;

The Rhine shall rule over the strife-bringing metal,

The Æsir-given inheritance of the Niflungs,

The splendid rings will gleam on the running water,

Rather than the foreign rings shine on the hands of the Huns.

ATLI kills GUNNAR.

GUDRUN May it so befall you, Atli, as you gave in oath to Gunnar,

Oaths you often swore and pledged early

By the sun curving to the south and the mountains of War-god,

By the marital bed and by Ull’s ring.

ATLI Now it’s morning, Gudrun, and you’ve lost those faithful men,

You in part are to blame that this should be the result.

GUDRUN You’re exultant now, Atli, you proclaim your murders,

Regret will overcome you when you’ve lived to the end of it all;

There will be a legacy—I can tell you truly of it:

Evil will always befall you unless I die too.

ATLI I can’t deny what you say: but I see another alternative,

Twice as fitting—often we scorn what benefits us:

I’ll comfort you with splendid treasure, with slave-girls,

Snow-gleaming silver, just as you yourself desire.

GUDRUN There is no hope of this—I shall refuse these things,

I have broken agreements before for lesser reasons;

A demon I seemed before, I shall now improve on that,

I could endure everything while Hogni was still alive.

We were brought up together in the same house,

We used to play games and we grew up in the grove;

Grimhild enriched us with gold and with neck-rings;

You can never compensate me for killing my brothers

Nor ever bring me to be content with this.

Women's lot is crushed by the dominion of men—

The trunk collapses when shorn of its branches,

A tree begins to topple if the root is cut from under it;

Now you alone, Atli, wield all the power here.

Scene 7

GUDRUN has called ERP and EITIL into her room.

GUDRUN Don’t ask any more! I’m going to destroy you both,

I’ve long wanted to cure you of old age.

ERP Sacrifice, if you wish, your children, no one will prevent you.

Your anger will not be slaked for long if you carry this out.

GUDRUN kills ERP and EITIL.

Scene 8

ATLI is eating dinner.

GUDRUN enters.

GUDRUN Grimhild’s daughter will not conceal it from you;

It won’t gladden you in the slightest, Atli, when you find out all.

A great disaster you stirred up when you killed my brothers.

I’ve hardly slept since they died,

I promised you a grim reward, now I’m reminding you of it;

You said it was morning to me—I remember it so clearly—

And now it’s evening, you must hear similar news.

Your boys you have lost, as you ought never to have done.

You know, their skulls you had for ale-goblets.

I augmented your drink by mixing it with their blood.

I took their hearts and roasted them on a spit,

Gave them to you—told you they were calf-meat;

Your own sons’—sharer-out of swords—

Hearts, corpse-bloody, you are chewing up with honey;

You are savouring, proud lord, human flesh,

Eating it as ale-appetizers and sending it to the high seat.

You made all this happen, you wouldn’t leave any scraps,

Chewed it up greedily, relying on your back teeth.

You’ll never again call to your knee

Erp or Eitil, two boys made merry with ale;

You’ll not see them again amidst the seats,

Generous with their gold, putting shafts on their spears,

Trimming the manes or driving their horses.

Now you know about your children—few could ask to hear worse—

I have chosen my course, this is no empty boasting.

ATLI You were savage, Gudrun, to be able to do such a thing,

To mix the blood of your children for me to drink;

You have wiped out your kindred, the last thing you should have done,

You give me little rest between the horrors.

GUDRUN You’ve already committed, in a way that’s unexampled,

Foolishness and cruelty in this world;

Now you’ve added to what we’d heard before,

Seized this great crime, prepared your own funeral feast.

ATLI You should be burned on a pyre, and before that be stoned to death,

Then you’ll get what you’ve been begging for.

GUDRUN Recount such sorrows to yourself!

Early tomorrow morning, I’ll be journeying to a better place with a more splendid death.

GUDRUN fatally injures ATLI.

ATLI You have waded deep into killing, though it was not right;

It is wrong to betray a friend who trusted you well.

I left home, persuaded to woo you, Gudrun;

You were a highly esteemed widow, they said you were capable of great deeds,

There was no hope of a lie in that—as we discovered.

You came home here, an army of men came with us,

All our customs here were glorious.

All the honour was here that distinguished men should have,

We had plenty of cattle, made great use of them;

We had great wealth, which we gave out to many.

I paid a dowry for a famous bride to get a great deal of treasure,

Thirty slaves and seven good slave-women

—it was honourable to do such—there was even more silver.

You said that all this seemed as nothing to you,

While those lands lay unclaimed, my inheritance from Budli;

You undermined us so, you managed to get your share;

Your mother-in-law you often made sit and weep,

No good-heartedness did I ever find in our household again.

GUDRUN You are lying now, Atli, though I don’t really care;

I was hardly ever docile but you lorded it greatly.

You young brothers fought each other, sent strife round amongst yourself,

Half your line were sent off to Hel.

Everything which we should have enjoyed collapsed and disappeared.

We were three brothers and a sister, we seemed to be unconquerable.

We left our country and went with Sigurd;

We hastened our ships onwards, each of us captained one,

We roamed where our fate led us, until we came to the east.

First we killed a king there, chose land in that place;

Earls submitted to us—this demonstrated their fear;

By fighting we brought from outlawry those we wished to rescue,

We gave any man a fortune who had no wealth of his own.

The southern prince died, my luck was speedily destroyed;

Bitter torment it was for a young girl to be given the name of widow;

It seemed anguish for a survivor to come to Atli’s house;

I had been married to a hero before—that was a cruel loss.

You never came back from the Assembly—or so we heard—

Having prosecuted a case or crushed an adversary’s;

You always wanted to yield, you’d never stand firm in any matter,

You’d quietly let things be.

ATLI Now you’re lying, Gudrun: that won’t much improve

The fate of either of us—we have all suffered injury.

Now, Gudrun, out of kindness,

Act in keeping with our honour when they carry me out.

GUDRUN I will buy a ship and a painted coffin,

I shall wax the shroud well to enclose your corpse,

I’ll consider all that’s needful as if we were united.

ATLI dies.