Asatru Folk Assembly - Sigrdrífumál, a reading

00:00:00.000 The Ballad of the Victory-Bringer

00:00:25.000 also known as the Brynhildarliod, Brynhild's Song.

00:00:32.760 The so-called Sigdrifumal, which immediately follows the Fafnismal in the Codex the Regius,

00:00:40.000 without any indication of a break, and without separate title,

00:00:44.580 is unquestionably the most chaotic of all the poems in the Edic collection.

00:00:48.480 The end of it has been entirely lost, for the fifth folio of eight sheets is missing from the Regis,

00:00:56.480 the gap coming from the first line of stanza 29 of this poem.

00:01:01.840 That stanza has been completed, and eight more have been added from much later paper manuscripts,

00:01:09.260 but even so the conclusion of the poem is in obscurity.

00:01:13.240 Properly speaking, however, the strange conglomeration of stanzas which the compiler of the collection

00:01:20.980 has left for us, and which in much of the same general form, seems to have been lain

00:01:27.140 before the authors of the Volsunga Saga, in which 18 of its stanzas are quoted, is not

00:01:34.040 a poem at all.

00:01:36.240 Even its customary title is an absurd error, the mistake made by the annotator in thinking

00:01:41.520 that the epithet Sigdriffa, rightfully applied to Brunnhild as the bringer of victory, was

00:01:48.460 a proper name, has already been explained and commented on.

00:01:55.660 Even if the collection of stanzas were in any real sense a poem, which is empathetically

00:02:00.980 is not, it is certainly not the Ballad of Sigdriffa, which it is commonly called.

00:02:08.500 of Brunnhild would be a sufficiently suitable title, and I have here brought the established

00:02:13.800 name Sigdrfumal into accord with this by translating the epithet instead of treating

00:02:19.380 it as a proper name.

00:02:22.880 Even apart from the title, however, the Sigdrfumal has little claim to be regarded as a distinct

00:02:28.460 poem, nor is there any indication that the compiler did still regard it.

00:02:34.440 Handicapped as we are by the loss of the concluding section, and of the material which followed

00:02:39.400 it on those missing pages, we have yet seen that the process which begun with the prose

00:02:45.920 Fledrauta Sinsvotla, and which interrupted by the insertion of the Gris Fispa, went on

00:02:52.540 through the Regimol and the Fafnismol, continued through as much as the Sigrefumol as is left 0.86

00:02:58.720 of us. In other words, the compiler told the story of Sigurd in mixed prose and verse,

00:03:05.960 using whatever verse he could find without much questioning as to its origin, and filling

00:03:11.180 in the gaps with his own prose.

00:03:14.820 Frodrauta Sinshotla, Regensmal, Faftensmal, and Sigdrfummal are essentially a coherent

00:03:21.280 unit, but one of the compilers making only. They represent neither one poem, nor three

00:03:29.160 distinct poems, and the divisions and titles which have been almost universally adopted

00:03:34.840 by editors are both arbitrary and misleading.

00:03:40.680 The Sigrid Fumal section as we now have it is an extraordinary piece of patchwork. It

00:03:47.260 It is most unlikely that the compiler himself brought all these fragments together for the

00:03:53.340 first time.

00:03:54.900 Little by little, through a process of accretion, and also unluckily through one of elimination,

00:04:00.760 a material grew into its present shape.

00:04:05.260 Certainly the basis of it is a poem dealing with the finding of Brunhild by Sigurd, but

00:04:10.760 Of this original poem, only five stanzas can be identified with any degree of

00:04:19.000 confidence. To these five stanzas should probably, however, be added some, if not all, of the

00:04:27.000 passages in which Brunhild teaches Sigrid the magic runes. These stanzas of rune lore

00:04:36.640 attracted sundry similar passages from other sources, including Stanza 5, in which a magic

00:04:43.700 draught is administered, not necessarily by Brindhild or to Sigurd, that curious rune

00:04:52.700 chart in Stanzas 15 through 17, on Stanzas 13 through 14 and 18 through 19.

00:05:00.160 Beginning with Stanza 22, and running to the end of the fragment, Stanza 37, is a set of

00:05:06.600 numbered councils closely resembling the Lord Fafnismog , which manifestly

00:05:15.060 has nothing whatever to do with Brunhild.

00:05:18.400 Even in this passage, there are probably interpolations Stanza 25, 27, 30, 34, and 36.

00:05:25.840 Finally, and bespeaking the existence at some earlier time of another Sigurd Brynhild poem is stanza 1, sharply distinguished by its materical form from stanzas 2-4 and 20-21.

00:05:41.000 Many critics argue that stanzas 6-10 of Herreith Brynhildar belonged originally to the same poem as stanza 1 of the Sigurd Fulmar.

00:05:51.880 The Sigðr Fumal then must be regarded simply as a collection of fragments, most of them

00:05:58.720 originally having no relation to the main subject.

00:06:02.260 All of the story, the dialogue, and the characterization are embodied in Stanzas 1-4 and 22-21, and

00:06:10.000 in the prose notes accompanying the first four stanzas.

00:06:14.060 All of the rest must equally well, or better, be transferred to the Havamal where its character

00:06:21.100 entitled to place. Yet stanzas 54 are as fine as anything in Old Norse poetry, and it is

00:06:30.880 out of the scanty material of these three stanzas that Wagner constructed much of the

00:06:37.100 third act of Sigrid. The Sigrid Fumal represents almost exclusively the contributions of the

00:06:45.640 the north to the Sigurd tradition, see introductory note to the Grupispa.

00:06:51.100 Brunnhild, here distinguished by the annotator as Sigdrifa, appears simply as a battlemaid,

00:06:57.760 and supernatural dispenser of wisdom.

00:07:00.680 There is no trace of the daughter of Boothry and the rival of Guthrum.

00:07:06.760 There is, however, so little of the poem which can definitively be assigned to the Sigurd

00:07:12.740 cycle that it is impossible to trace back any of the underlying narrative substance.

00:07:18.560 The nature and condition of the material have made editorial conjectures and imitations

00:07:26.020 very numerous, and as most of the guesses are neither conclusive nor particularly important,

00:07:33.660 only a few of theirs are mentioned in the notes.

00:07:40.980 Sigurdth rode up on Hindorfjol, and turned southward towards the land of the Franks.

00:07:51.400 On the mountain he saw great lights, as a fire were burning, and a glow reached up to

00:07:57.620 heaven.

00:07:59.120 And when he came thither, there stood a tower of shields, and above it was Abana.

00:08:06.000 Ruth went into the shield tower and saw that Amon lie there sleeping with all his war weapons.

00:08:14.220 First he took the helm from his head, and then he saw that it was a woman.

00:08:19.660 The male coat was as fast as if it had grown to the flesh. 0.81

00:08:25.400 There he cut the male coat from the head opening downward and out to both the armholes.

00:08:32.780 Then he took the maricote from her, and she awoke, and sat up and saw Sigurd, and said,

00:08:39.880 What bit through the bernie?

00:08:42.460 How was broken my sleep? 0.90

00:08:44.260 Who made me free of the fetters pale?

00:08:47.560 He answered, Sigmund's son, with Sigurd's sword that late with flesh had fed with ravens.

00:08:57.160 Sigurd sat beside her, and asked her name.

00:09:01.640 She took a horn full of mead and gave him a memory draught. 0.65

00:09:07.400 Hail day, hail suns of day, And night and her daughters now.

00:09:13.320 Look on us here with loving eyes, That waiting we victory win.

00:09:18.980 Hail to the gods, ye goddesses hail, Hail and all the earth generous.

00:09:27.020 virtuous wisdom and goodly speech and healing hands life long.

00:09:32.540 Long did I sleep, my slumber was long, and longer the griefs of life.

00:09:38.200 Odin decreed that I could not break the heavy spells of sleep.

00:09:45.100 Her name was Sigdrifa, and she was a Valkyrie.

00:09:49.660 She said the two kings fought in battle.

00:09:53.100 One was called Hjomgyllnar, an old man but a mighty warrior, and Odin had promised him

00:09:59.980 the victory, and the other was Ogdan, brother of Altha, none he found who fain would shield

00:10:07.880 him.

00:10:08.880 Sigdrifa slew Hjomgyllnar in the battle, and Odin pricked her with the sleep thorn in

00:10:16.620 punishment for this, and said that she would never thereafter win victory in battle, but

00:10:22.540 that she should be wedded. And I said to him that I had made a vow in my turn, that I would

00:10:31.100 never marry a man who knew the meaning of fear. Sigurd answered and asked her to teach

00:10:38.440 him wisdom, if she knew of what took place in all the worlds. Sigurdipha said, Beer I

00:10:47.480 I bring thee, tree of battle, mingled of strength and mighty fame.

00:10:53.600 Charms it holds in healing signs, spells for good and gladness runes.

00:11:01.440 Be here, I bring thee, tree of battle, mingled of strength and mighty fame.

00:11:07.420 Charms it holds in healing signs, spells for good and gladness runes.

00:11:17.000 Winning, runes, learn, if thou longest to win, And runes on thy sword hilt the right,

00:11:25.140 Some on the furrow, and some on the flat, And twice shalt thou call on Tyr.

00:11:32.360 El, runes, learn, that with lies the wife Of another betray not thy trust.

00:11:39.360 On the horn thou shalt write, And on the backs of thy hands,

00:11:44.100 The need shalt mark on thy nails, Thou shalt bless the draught and danger to escape,

00:11:51.340 And cast a leak in the cup, For so I know, thou never shalt see thy mead 0.64

00:11:57.000 With evil mixed. 0.96

00:12:00.340 Birth runes learn, if help thou wilt lend, The babe from the mother bring,

00:12:06.700 On thy palms shalt write them, And round thy joints, and ask the fates to aid.

00:12:13.100 Wave runes learn, if thou well wouldst shelter, The sail steeds out on the sea.

00:12:23.280 On the stem shalt thou write in the steering blade, And burn them into the oars.

00:12:30.060 Thou high be the breakers, and black the waves, Thou shalt safe the harbor seek.

00:12:37.660 Branch runes learn, if a healer wouldst be, And cure for wounds wouldst work.

00:12:45.480 On the bark shalt thou write, and on trees thou be, With boughs to the eastward bent.

00:12:53.260 Speech runes learn, that none may seek, To answer harm with hate.

00:12:59.280 Well he wins and weaves them all, And sets them side by side.

00:13:04.420 At the judgment place, when justice there, The folk shall fairly win.

00:13:11.020 Thought runes learn, if all shall think, Thou art keenest minded of men.

00:13:18.180 Them rapt arranged, and them he wrote, And them in thought he made.

00:13:25.380 Out of the draught that down had dropt, From the head of Hethropnir,

00:13:31.880 And the horn of Hodorathnir.

00:13:36.820 On the mountain he stood with Brimir's sword, On his head the helm he bore.

00:13:43.280 Then first the head of Mim spoke forth, And words of truth it told.

00:13:49.800 He bade right on the shield before the shining goddess, On Arvak's ear and on Arsvith's hoof,

00:13:58.440 On the wheel of the card of Rungnir's killer, On Slepnir's teeth and the straps of the sledge,

00:14:08.380 On the paws of the bear and on Bragi's tongue, On the wolf's claws barred and the eagle's

00:14:15.240 beak, On the bloody wings and the bridge's end,

00:14:19.940 On the freeing hands and the helping footprints,

00:14:24.580 On the glass, and on gold, and on goodly charms,

00:14:28.840 In wine, and in beer, and on well-loved seats,

00:14:33.520 On Gunnir's point, and on Grani's breast,

00:14:38.000 On the nails of Norn's, and the night owl's beak.

00:14:43.340 Shaved off were the runes that of old were written,

00:14:46.960 And mixed with the holy mead,

00:14:49.300 And sent on ways so wide,

00:14:51.660 that the gods had them, so the elves got them, and some for the wains so wise, and some for

00:14:59.040 mortal men.

00:15:01.540 Beach runes are there, birth runes are there, and all the runes avail.

00:15:07.700 And the magic runes of Mait, who knows them rightly, and reads them true, has them himself

00:15:14.780 to help, ever they aid, till the gods are gone.

00:15:21.460 Wrenhild spake. 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.

00:15:36.920 Sigurd spake, I shall not flee, though my fate be near.

00:15:45.200 I was born not a coward to be, thy loving word for mine will I win, as long as I shall

00:15:51.540 live.

00:15:54.940 Then first I read thee, that free of guilt, toward kinsmen ever thou art.

00:16:01.480 No vengeance have, though they work harm thee, Reward after death thou shalt win.

00:16:10.660 Then second I read thee to swear no oath, If true thou knowest it not, 0.81

00:16:17.820 Better the fate of the breaker of troth, And poor is the wolf of his word. 0.96

00:16:24.920 And third I read thee, that thou, at a thing, shalt fight not in words with fools.

00:16:32.760 For the man unwise a worser word than he thinks doth often utter. 0.90

00:16:38.680 Ill it is, if silent thou art, a coward-born men call thee, and truth, mayhap, they tell,

00:16:47.560 seldom safe is fame, unless wide renown be won. 0.98

00:16:53.020 On the day thereafter send him to death, Let him pay the price of his lies. 0.98

00:17:00.500 Then forth I read thee, if thou shalt find A wily witch on the road, 0.99

00:17:05.980 It is better to go than her guest to be, Though night enfold thee fast. 0.78

00:17:12.840 Eyes that see need the sons of men Who fight and battle fierce,

00:17:18.060 Oft witches evil sit by the way, Who blade and courage blunt.

00:17:25.280 Then fifth I read thee, Though maidens fair thou seest on benches sitting,

00:17:32.300 Let the silver of kinship now bribe thee of sleep, And the kissing of women beware.

00:17:39.640 Then sixth I read thee, If men shall wrangle, And ill talk rise to wrath,

00:17:46.760 No words with the drunken warrior have, for wine steals many men's wits.

00:17:53.940 Brawls and ale full oft have been, and ill to many a men.

00:17:59.920 Death for some, and sorrow for some, fool many the woes of men.

00:18:06.740 Then seventh I lead thee, if battle thou seekest, with a foe that is full of might, it is better

00:18:13.200 to fight than to burn alive in the hall of the hero rich.

00:18:19.680 Then eighth I read thee, that evil thou shun, and beware of lying words.

00:18:25.860 Take not a maid, nor the wife of Amon, nor lure them on to lust.

00:18:32.840 Then ninth I read thee, burial render, if thou findest a fallen corpse, of sickness

00:18:39.740 dead, or dead in the sea, or dead of weapons' wounds.

00:18:45.340 A bath shalt thou give them, who corpses be, and hands and heads shalt wash.

00:18:52.360 Wipe them in calm, ere they go in the coffin, and pray that they sleep in peace. 0.99

00:19:00.920 Then tenth I read thee, that never thou trust the words of the race of Wuldus. 1.00

00:19:07.300 If his brother thou broughtest to death, or his father thou didst fail, 1.00

00:19:12.800 Often a wolf and a son there is, though gold he gladly takes.

00:19:19.540 Battle and hate and harm, methinks, will seldom fall asleep.

00:19:24.820 Wits and weapons the warrior needs, if boldest of men he would be.

00:19:32.120 On eleventh I read thee, Thou wrath thou shun, And treachery falls with thy friends.

00:19:39.240 Not long the leader's life shall be, For great are the foes he faces.

00:20:02.120 Thank you.

Asatru Folk Assembly - January 23, 2024

Sigrdrífumál, a reading

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