THE LAY OF VOLUND

VOLUNDARKVIÐA


Stark and powerful, as are few others in the collection, is "The Lay of
Volund the Smith."  If, as has been said, revenge is the ecstasy of Germanic
antiquity, then this lay is its glorification.  It stands by itself in
richness of invention, in grim compactness.  Limned with a few bold strokes,
the characters stand before us indelibly:  the tragic figure of the captive
artificer, the greedy but weak king, his cruel queen, the lads with their
childlike curiosity, Princess Bothvild in her helpless despair.
The motif belongs essentially to Germanic hero lore;  although it is
difficult to deny some ancient connection with the Greek story of Daidalos,
who, held prisoner by the evil king Minos, fashions for himself and his son
wings to escape, and with the limping smith of the gods, Hephaistos.  Our poem
gives the Germanic tradition its most authentic expression.  It is antedated,
however, by the Anglo-Saxon lay of Deor's Lament (1) and by the scene on the
Franks Casket, generally referred to the seventh century.  Far later, and with
many new details is the novelistic account of the Þiðreks saga.
The brief glimpses of nature vouchsafed us in the poem leave little doubt
that the poem originated in Norway (2).  Both metre---a free
fornyrðislag---and treatment place it among the earliest in The Edda;  that
is, perhaps, the ninth century.  And this may account also in some degree for
the sad condition of the text. (3)  It is preserved only in the Codex Regius.


There was a king in Sweden hight Níthoth. (4)  He had two sons and a daughter
whose name was Bothvild. (5)  There were three brothers, sons of a Finnish
king.  Was one hight Slagfith, (6) the second, Egil, and the third Volund.(7)
They ran on snowshoes, hunting game.  They came to the Wolfdales and made them
a house there by the water called Wolf Lake.  Early one morn they found by the
shore three women who were spinning flax.  By them lay their swanskins, for
they were valkyries. (8)  They were the two daughters of King Hlothvér,
Hlathguth the Swanwhite, and Hervor the Allwise; and the third was Olrún, (10)
the daughter of King Kíar of Valland.  The brothers took them home with them.
Egil took Olrún to wife;  Slagfith, Hlathguth;  and Volund, Hervor.  Thus
dwelled they seven years.  Then flew away to be at battles, and did not
return.  Then went forth Egil on his snowshoes to search for Olrún, and
Slagfith, to look for Swanwhite;  but Volund stayed behind in the Wolfdales.
He was the most skilful of men of whom olden tales tell.  King Níthoth had him
taken captive, as is told in this lay.


Of Volund and Níthoth
1. Three maidens flew through Myrkvith from Southland,
young valkyries,             in wars to try them;
they sate by the lake,        their limbs to rest,
fair southron maids,     precious flax spinning;

2. (11) Hlathguth and Hervor,                    Hlothvér's daughters,
and wise Olrún,           Kíar's offspring.
Did one of them          wind her white arms
about Egil,    to her bosom held him;

3. (and Hlathguth fair,    enfolded Slagfith); (12)
............ ................... ............... .................
but Hervor, the third          of these sisters,
winded her arms          'round Volund's neck.

4. Thus dwelled the sisters             seven winters,
but on the eighth                ay in yearning,
but on the ninth              they needs must part:
longed the maidens      through Myrkvith to fly,
the young valkyries,   in wars to try them.

5. Came the weather-wise         from the woods striding,
(from hunting weary,    Volund the Smith,) (13)
Slagfith and Egil,                found empty the hall,
went out and in,             looking after them.

6. Fared Egil eastward,    Olrún to seek,
fared southward Slagfith,            Swanwhite to find;
but Volund alone             in Wolfdales stayed----
(bided till back       his bride would come); (14)

7. With red gold rimmed        richest jewels,
with bast his rings them           bound together;
for the white-armed woman he waited long,
biding if back          his bride would come.

8. This heard Níthoth,   the Njára King, (15)
that Volund alone in Wolfdales dwelled:
at night fared the men,          were their mail coats studded, (16)
their shields did shine        by the moon-sickle's sheen.

9. From their horses leapt,           at the hall's gable-end,
and in they went              from end to end;
saw on bast the rings      bound together,
full seven hundred which the smith did own.
Off they took all,               put them on again;
but one ring they              away did take. (17)

10. Came the weather-wise     from the woods striding,
from hunting weary,   Volund the Smith.
To broil gan he            a bear's meat then,
soon flamed the fire   of faggots dry,
the wood wind-dried,       on Volund's hearth.

11. On bearskins resting     the rings then told
the alfs' folk-warder, and one he missed:
hoped that had it                Hlothvér's daughter,
that the young valkyrie          had wended home.

12. Long time sate he, till asleep he fell;
awakened then         to woeful lot:
on his hand had he heavy shackles,
were his feet fastened          by fetters strong.

Volund said:
13. "What warriors            have wound about me
the ropes of bast             and bound me thus?"

14. Then called out Níthoth,            the Njára King:
"Where didst win, Volund,              in the Wolfdales living,
thou lord of alfs,            our gold rings?
That gold was not on Grani's path,
and far hence are             the hills of the Rhine." (18)

Volund said:
15. "Better treasure           I trow we had,
in the hall when we   at home did sit." (19)

16. (Stood Níthoth's cunning              queen without); (20)
in now went she             to endmost gable,
on floor standing              with still voice said: (21)
"There is hate in him     in the hold who dwelled."

King Níthoth gave his daughter Bothvild the gold ring which he had taken off
the bast rope in Volund's hall, and he himself bore the sword which Volund had
owned.

But his queen said:
17. "His teeth he bares,   the blade as he,
and my daughter's dear ring he sees:
are his eyes awful, like the adder's glittering.
Sever ye soon          his sinews' might,
let him sit henceforth       in Sævarstath. (22)

And so was done.  They hamstrung him, and set him down on the isle hich lay
not far from land and was high Sævarstath.  There he wrought in metal and made
the king all manner of precious things.  No one dared go to see him but only
the king.

Volund said:
18. "The sword see I               at Níthoth's side
the which I whetted   as I had the skill,
the which I hardened      by hand, till fit.
Now the flashing blade          from me is gone;
ne'er to Volund's smithy           will I see it borne.

19. "Now bears Bothvild        my bride's armring
the gold ring red             I'll not regain ever."

20. Sate he nor slept,                e'er smote with hammer;
wrought Volund wondrous (23)    works for Níthoth.
To his door drifted one day the young
sons of Níthoth,               in Sævarstath.

21. For the keys called they         to the chest when they came----
was their ill fate sealed        when in they looked. (24)
Much wondrous wealth            they weened to see,
the younglings, of gems          and of yellow gold.

Volund said:
22. "Come again, lordlings,         come alone on the morrow,
the gleaming gold                I shall give you then;
from your nurses hide,        and from household folk,
from every wight,               that ye wended to me." (25)

23. Full soon one brother       said to the other,
and lad to lad:         "Let us look at the rings!"

24. For the keys called they            to the chest when they came----
was their ill fate sealed       when in they looked.
He hewed off their heads             of the hapless lads,
their bodies buried   'neath the bellows' pit. (26)

25. With skill their skulls    'neath the scalp that lay
in silver he set (27) and sent them to Níthoth;
of the bairns eyeballs     shining beads he wrought
and gave to the cunning         queen of Níthoth.

26. But out of the twain's       teeth made Volund
Beauteous brooches     which to Bothvild he sent.
............. ............... .................        .................

27. Did proud Bothvild    then praise the ring----(28)
to Volund bore it              as broken it was:
"I durst not tell this    but to thee only."

Volund said:
28. "Whate'er harm it has taken, I shall heal the ring
that to thy father              'twill fairer seem,
and to thy mother be much better,
and to thyself          the same as before."

29. Did wily Volund              outwit her with drink,
so that on settle           asleep she fell.

Volund said:
30. "Are avenged the deeds          which were done to me,
save one only,            (on the wicked queen). (29)

31. "Fain would I fare              on my feet," (29)  quoth Volund,
"whose might from me      Níthoth's men have taken." (30)

32. Laughing, aloft           lifted him Volund,
weeping, Bothvild went from the isle,
his flight fearing,              and her father's wrath.

33. Stood Níthoth's cunning          queen without;
in now went she             to endmost gable;
but on house wall high         awhile he (31) rested:
"Art waking, Níthoth,       thou Njára King?" (32)

Níthoth said:
34. "I am wakeful ever, not wait me joy,
ever since my sons' death             I slept but little:
cold was thy counsel, (33)              cold is my head; (34)
now wish I this             of Volund to ask:

35. "Make answer, Volund,           thou alfs' leader!
What hath become of my hapless boys?"

Volund said:
36. "Ere shalt thou swear      all oaths to me,
by ship's bulwark                 and shield's border,
by swift steed's shoulder         and sharpest sword:
that to Volund's wife thou work no harm,
nor brew for my bride      baleful counsel,
though wife I have whom well ye know,
or child I have       thy hall within.

37. "To the smithy wend,    for Volund builded,
there the bellows shalt       all bloody find:
I hewed off the heads      of thy hapless boys,
and their bodies buried         'neath the bellows' pit.

38. "With skill their skulls       'neath the scalp which lay
in silver I set     and sent them to thee;
of the bairns' eyeballs       shining beads I wrought
and gave to the cunning          queen of Níthoth.

39. "But out of the twain's teeth made Volund
beauteous brooches     and to Bothvild sent them;
and now Bothvild               is big with child,
your only daughter, dear to you both."

Níthoth said:
40. "Ne'er said'st thou word              which saddened me more
nor I wished, Volund,    worse to avenge:
but so high no one,   to haul thee down,
nor so strong, belike,        from below to shoot thee,
so high since hoverest        'neath very heaven."

41. Laughing, aloft         lifted him Volund,
in sorrow Níthoth               sat behind, then.

42. Then spake Níthoth,     the Njára King:
"Rise up, Thakkráth, (35)           of my thralls thou best,
and bid Bothvild,             the brow-white maiden
fairly dight, go      with her father to speak."

43. "Is it true, Bothvild,    as told I am,
That Volund with thee        was on the isle?"

Bothvild said:
44. " 'Tis true, Níthoth,    as told thou art:
Volund with me           was on the isle
(an hour of shame): (36)       it should not have been.

No strength had I to strive against him,
naught availed it           'gainst Volund to strive."

_________________

1. Deor's Lament begins as follows:
Wayland learned bitterly              banishment's way,
earl right resolute; ills endured;
had for comrades               Care and Longing,
winter-cold wanderings;             woe oft suffered
when Nidhad forged       the fetters on him,
bending bonds             on a better man.
That he surmounted:  so this may I!
Beaduhild mounrned      her brothers' death,
less sore in soul                than herself dismayed
when her plight was plainly placed before her---
birth of a bairn. No brave resolve
might she ever make,     what the end should be.
That she surmounted:  so this may I!
F. B. Gummere, The Oldest English Epic (New York:  The Macmillian Company,
1929), p. 186.  The poem is preserved in a manuscript of the eleventh century,
but is manifestly much older.
2. Souther (German) origin of the lay (or at least of the legend) has been
claimed, but on insufficient evidence.
3. Only the most important emendations have been referred to in the notes.
4. "Grim Warrior" [OE. Nidhad].
5. "War-Maiden" [OE.  Beaduhild].
6. "Finn-Smith."
7. [OE.  Weland;  OHG.  Walant, Welant].  The name has not yet received a
satisfactory explanation.  It may be connected with Old Norse vél, "craft."
8. The motif of the swanskins (see "Helreið Brynhildar,"  St. 7) is but
faintly stressed here.  By taking the skins away, the brothers obtain
possession of the maidens;  but their departure is due, here, not to their
regaining the swanskins, as one might expect, but to the inborn longing to be
valkyries again.
9. Corresponding to the Frankish King, Chlodowech, as Kíar may correspond to
King Kiarval [Cearbhall] of Valland (here meaning "Wales");  or, possibly, it
may be derived from Cæsar.
10. The names of the maidens signify, in order, "the Necklace-Adorned Warrior-
Maiden," "the Warder of the Host," and "the One Knowing Ale Runes."  See
"Sigrdrífumál,"  St. 8.
11. The next two lines, in the original after St. 14, unquestionably belong
here.
12. Accepting Grundtvig's emendation.
13. Supplied from St. 10.
14. Supplied by Grundtvig.
15. It is not understood what people is referred to.
16. With bosses of metal.
17. They take no more than one ring (which probably had magic power) in order
not to arouse suspicion.  Fearing the supernatural strength of Volund---he is
termed a lord of the alfs (Sts. 11, 14, 35)---they mean to overcome him
sleeping, and so lie in wait for him until he returns weary from the chase.
18. The king implies that it was stolen from him;  for the hills of the Rhine
are distant where the dragon brooded over the Niflung gold (see "Reginsmál").
After slaying him, Sigurth laid the burden on his horse Grani's back.
19. That is, in his father's hall (?).
20. Supplied from St. 33.  The scene is shifted, as it frequently is, without
indication, here to the king's hall.
21. She speaks in a low voice, not to be overheard by Volund.
22. "Stead by the Sea."
23. Compare the Old English expression Welondes geweorc, used for all skillful
work in metals;  but vél in the original may also mean "wile."
24. For in that moment Volund conceives his plan of revenge.
25. In the Þiðreks saga, Chap. 73, Volund tells the boys to return when fresh
snow has fallen, and to walk backwards to the door.  After their
disappearance, Volund is suspected but clears himself by showing the tracks
leading from his door.
26. This is the scene pictured on the Franks Casket.
27. As drinking vessels.
28. The text is defective here.
29. Conjectural.
30. Here, no doubt, several lines have dropped out:  "but lacking them, I must
take to the wins I have fashioned me" (?).
31. Volund.
32. Probably the queen's speech:  she calls attention to Volund's presence.
33. In the Old Norse proverb, "woman's counsel is cold,"  that is, cruel.
34. With despair?
35. "He Who Gives Pleasant Counsel" [OE. and Norman Thankred, MHG. Dancrat].
36. Conjectural.