Anon (Vǫls) 1^VIII (Vǫls 1)

Ristu af magni         mikla hellu,
Sigmundr hjörvi         ok Sinfjötli.

Ristu mikla hellu af magni, Sigmundr hjörvi ok Sinfjötli.

They cut the huge stone slab with strength, Sigmundr with his sword and Sinfjǫtli.

Mss: 1824b(10v) (Vǫls)

Editions: ; FSN I, 134, Vǫls 1906-8, 19, FSGJ I, 127, Vǫls 1965, 13 (Vǫls ch. 8); NK 321.

Context: Sigmundr and his son Sinfjǫtli, the latter begotten incestuously with Sigmundr’s sister Signý, live in the forest while contriving vengeance for the death of their father Vǫlsungr at the hands of Signý’s husband Siggeirr. Siggeirr has the two Volsungs imprisoned in a huge burial-mound made of stones and turf, thinking to starve them to death. Signý contrives to send them food in the shape of a piece of pork into which Sigmundr’s sword has been thrust. Stanza 1 describes how Sigmundr and Sinfjǫtli use Sigmundr’s sword to saw through the huge stone slab that blocked the entrance to the mound. It is introduced with the words sem kveðit er ‘as it is told’.

Notes: [All]: The source of these lines is unknown, and the introductory formula, like many in Vǫls, is imprecise. ÍF Edd. does not include these lines. — [3, 4] Sigmundr … Sinfjötli ‘Sigmundr … Sinfjǫtli’: According to Vǫls, Sigmundr is the son of Vǫlsungr, descended directly via his father, Rerir, and grandfather, Sigi, from Óðinn. He is himself the father of the hero Sigurðr. Sigmundr and his son Sinfjǫtli are mentioned together in the C10th Anon Eirm 5/1^I, as welcoming King Eiríkr blóðøx ‘Blood-axe’ to Valhǫll and are also paired, as uncle and nephew, in the Old English Beowulf ll. 874-900, where their exploits in the forest are mentioned. It is uncertain whether the Anglo-Saxon poet knew the tradition of the incestuous birth of Sinfjǫtli (OE Fitela). — [3] hjörvi ‘with his sword’: According to Vǫls ch. 3, Sigmundr obtains his sword by drawing it out of the trunk of an apple tree growing in the middle of his father’s hall. Like King Arthur and his acquisition of the sword Excalibur, only Sigmundr can withdraw the sword from the tree-trunk into which it has been plunged by Óðinn.

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
4. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
5. Vǫls 1965 = Finch, R. G., ed. and trans. 1965. The Saga of the Volsungs. London: Nelson.
6. Vǫls 1906-8 = Olsen, Magnus, ed. 1906-8. Vǫlsunga saga ok Ragnars saga loðbrókar. SUGNL 36. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Vǫls = Vǫlsunga saga.
8. Internal references
9. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 5’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1010.
10. Not published: do not cite ()