Helgi and Svava

Hiorvard and Sigrlinn had a tall and handsome son. He did not speak and no name would stick to him.* He sat on a burial-mound* and saw nine valkyries ride past. One was the most striking of all. She said:

6 ‘It’ll be a long time, Helgi, before you dispose of rings,
apple-tree of strife, or rule over Rodulsvoll*
—an eagle shrieked early—if you are always silent,
even if, helmeted prince, you have a stern temperament.’

7 ‘What will you give me with the name Helgi,*
bright-faced lady, since you have bestowed it?
Consider well before you answer!
I won’t accept it unless I can have you also.’

8 ‘I know of swords lying on Sigarsholm,
four less than fifty;
one is better than all the rest,
baleful among battle-needles, inlaid with gold.

9 ‘There’s a ring on the hilt, there’s courage in the middle,
and terror in its point, for him who can own it;
a blood-dyed snake lies along the edge,
on the boss an adder chases its tail.’

Eylimi was the name of a king. His daughter was Svava. She was a valkyrie and rode through the air and over the sea. She gave Helgi that name and often protected him in battles. Helgi said:

10 ‘You aren’t, Hiorvard, a well-advised king,
war-band leader, though you are famous;
you let fire consume the princes’ settlements,
though they have done you no harm.

11 ‘But Hrodmar will distribute rings,
those which our kinsmen used to own;
that king is little anxious about his life,
he expects to dispose of the dead men’s inheritance.’

Hiorvard answered that he would give Helgi a troop of men if he wanted to avenge his maternal grandfather. Then Helgi went to look for the sword to which Svava had directed him. Then he and Atli set off and killed Hrodmar and did many brave deeds. He killed the giant Hati, who was sitting on a certain cliff. Helgi and Atli moored their ships in Hatafjord. Atli kept watch for the first part of the night. Hrimgerd, Hati’s daughter, said:

12 ‘Who are those men in Hatafjord?
Shields are hanging outside your ships;
you’re acting rather boldly, I don’t think you’re afraid of much;
tell me the name of the king!’

Atli said:
13 ‘Helgi is his name, and you can never*
bring harm to the prince;
iron plates protect the prince’s ships,
no troll-women can attack us.’

14 ‘What is your name (said Hrimgerd), terrifying warrior,
what do men call you?
The prince trusts you, since he lets you take your stand
in the ship’s pleasant prow.’

15 ‘Atli I’m called, atrocious I shall be to you,*
I am most hostile to ogresses;
I’ve often stayed at the dew-washed prow
and tormented night-riding witches.

16 ‘What is your name, corpse-greedy hag?
Troll-woman, name your father!
You ought to be nine leagues underground
with fir-trees growing from your breast!’

17 ‘Hrimgerd I’m called, Hati is my father,
the most all-powerful giant I know of;
many brides he’s had taken from their dwellings,
until Helgi hacked him down.’

18 ‘Ogress, you stood before the prince’s ships
and lurked in the fjord’s mouth;
the king’s men you were going to give to Ran,*
if a spear hadn’t quite thwarted you.’

19 ‘Deluded are you now, Atli, I reckon you’re dreaming,
you’re scowling with drooping brow;
my mother lurked ahead of the prince’s ships,
I drowned Hlodvard’s sons in the ocean.

20 ‘You’d neigh, Atli, if you hadn’t been gelded,*
Hrimgerd’s raising up her tail;
I think your heart, Atli, is in your hindquarters,
though you have a stallion’s voice.’

21 ‘I’d seem like a stallion to you if you wanted to try it,
if I came on land from this ship;
I’d lame every part of you if I were in earnest,
you’d drop your tail, Hrimgerd!’

22 ‘Atli, come on land, if you trust in your strength,
and let’s meet at Varins-bay!
Warrior, you’d get your ribs straightened out,
if you came into my clutches.’

23 ‘I can’t come before the warriors awake
and keep watch for the king;
nor should I be surprised if a witch came close,
and bobbed up under our ship.’

[Hrimgerd said:]
24 ‘Wake up, Helgi, and give Hrimgerd compensation,
since you struck down Hati;
if for one night she can sleep with the prince,
then she’ll have redress for her wrongs.’

25 ‘Shaggy is the name of the one who’ll have you, you’re hideous to humankind;
that monster lives on Tholley;
a very wise giant, but the worst of lava-dwelling ogres,
he’s a fitting mate for you.’

26 ‘You’d rather have her, Helgi, the one who was spying out the harbours
the other night with the men;
the sea-golden girl seemed to surpass me in strength;
here she landed from the sea
and secured your ships so.
She alone prevents me from destroying
the prince’s men.’

27 ‘Listen now, Hrimgerd, if I give redress for your grief,
answer the prince directly:
was it just one creature who protected the lord’s fleet,
or many journeying together?’

28 ‘Three times nine girls, but one girl rode ahead,
white-skinned under her helmet;
the horses shook themselves, from their manes
dew fell into the deep valleys,
hail in the high woods;
good harvest comes to men from there;
all that I saw was hateful to me.’

29 ‘Look east now, Hrimgerd! See if Helgi has struck you with fatal runes!
on land and sea the prince’s ships are safe
and so are the prince’s men.

30 ‘It’s day now, Hrimgerd, Atli has kept you talking
until you laid down your life;
as a harbour-mark you look hilarious,
standing there transformed into stone.’

King Helgi was a great fighter. He came to King Eylimi and asked for his daughter, Svava. Helgi and Svava exchanged vows and loved one another very much. Svava stayed at home with her father, and Helgi went raiding. Svava was a valkyrie just as before.

Hedin was at home with his father, King Hiorvard, in Norway. Hedin was going home alone from the woods one Yule evening and he met a troll-woman; she was riding a wolf and had serpents as reins. She offered Hedin her company. ‘No’, he said. She said: ‘You’ll pay for this when it comes to drinking to pledges.’ In the evening pledges were made. The sacred boar was led out, men put their hands on it and then they made their vows with the pledging-cup. Hedin vowed to have Svava, daughter of Eylimi, Helgi, his brother’s beloved, and he repented so much of this that he went wandering away to the southern lands and encountered his brother Helgi. Helgi said:

31 ‘Welcome, Hedin! What news
do you bring from Norway?
Why, prince, have you been driven from your country
and come alone to meet us?’

32 ‘A more terrible crime has come upon me:
I have chosen that royally born
bride of yours with the pledging-cup.’

33 ‘Don’t reproach yourself! For both of us, Hedin,
what’s said over ale must come true;
a prince has challenged me to an island duel;*
in three nights’ time, I shall go there,
I have my doubts as to whether I’ll return;
it may turn out well if I don’t.’

34 ‘You’re saying, Helgi, that Hedin deserves from you
good will and great gifts;
it would be more fitting to bloody your sword on me
than to grant peace to your enemies.’

Then Helgi said that he suspected that he was doomed and those were his fetches* who had come to Hedin when he met the woman riding on the wolf.

Alf, son of Hrodmar, was the king who had staked out the duelling-ground with hazel-poles for Helgi three nights later. Then Helgi said:

35 ‘She rode on a wolf, as it grew dark,
that lady who offered him company;
she knew that Sigrlinn’s son
would be killed at Sigarsvellir.’

There was a great fight and Helgi received a death-wound.

36 Helgi sent Sigar to ride
for Eylimi’s only daughter;
told her to get ready quickly
if she wanted to find the prince alive.

37 ‘Helgi has sent me here to you, Svava,
to speak to you in person;
the helmet-wearing lord says he wants to see you
before the splendidly born man draws his last breath.’

38 ‘What has happened to Helgi, Hiorvard’s son?
A grievous sorrow has been brought upon me;
if the sea has played cruelly with him, or the sword has bitten into him,
I shall wreak vengeance on that man.’

39 ‘He fell here in the morning at Frekastein,
the prince who was best under the sun;
Alf has achieved total victory,
though there was no need for it to have happened.’

40 ‘Greetings, Svava! You must steady your feelings,
this will be our last meeting in the world;
wounds begin to bleed for the prince,
a sword has pierced very close to my heart.

41 ‘I beg you, Svava—bride, do not weep!—
that you will listen to what I say,
that you will share a bed with Hedin
and live in love with the young prince.’

42 ‘I declared this in Munarheim,
when Helgi chose me, gave me rings,
that I would not willingly, if my lord were gone,
hold a prince of no reputation in my arms.’

[Hedin said:]
43 ‘Kiss me, Svava! Never will I come
to see Rogheim or Rodulsfiall,
until I’ve avenged Hiorvard’s son;
he was best of princes under the sun.’

Helgi and Svava are said to have been reincarnated.


- Poetic Edda, Helgakvida Hiorvardssonar