Dráp Niflunga

Attila the Hun(Atli) gets his revenge by killing the lords of theBurgundiansin this section of thePoetic Edda.

TheDráp Niflungais a short prose section in thePoetic EddabetweenHelreið BrynhildarandGuðrúnarkviða II.Henry Adams Bellowsnotes in his commentary that the purpose of the section is to serve as a narrative link between the poems.

In the preceding sections, bothSigurdandBrynhildrhave died and this section deals with how Brynhild's brotherAtlibecomesGudrun's second husband and with how Atli avenges Brynhild's death by slaying Gudrun's brothersGunnarandHogni.

Storyline

This is Henry Adams Bellows' translation of the section:

Gunnar and Hogni then took all the gold thatFafnirhad had. There was strife between theGjukungsand Atli, for he held the Gjukungs guilty of Brynhild's death. It was agreed that they should give him Guthrun as wife, and they gave her adraught of forgetfulnessto drink^[1]before she would consent to be wedded to Atli. The sons of Atli were Erp and Eitil, andSvanhild^[2]was the daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun. King Atli invited Gunnar and Hogni to come to him, and sent as messenger Vingi or Knefröth.^[3]Guthrun was aware of treachery, and sent with him a message inrunesthat they should not come, and as a token she sent to Hogni the ringAndvaranautand tied a wolf's hair in it.^[4]Gunnar had sought Oddrun,^[5]Atli's sister, for his wife, but had her not; then he married Glaumvor,^[6]and Hogni's wife was Kostbera;^[7]their sons were Solar and Snævar and Gjuki.^[8]And when the Gjukungs came to Atli, then Guthrun be sought her sons to plead for the lives of both the Gjukungs, but they would not do it.^[9]Hogni's heart was cut out, and Gunnar was cast into theserpent's den.He smote on theharpand put the serpents to sleep, but anadderstung him in the liver.^[10]

Notes

^According to theVölsunga saga,it was Gudrun's motherGrimhildwho gave her the drink, just like she gave Brynhildr a draught of forgetfulness to forget Sigurd.
^Svanhild wasErmanaric's queen and Bellows suggests that Svanhild was incorporated with this tradition in order to link the two legends.
^Atlakviðacalls the messengerKnéfröð,whereasAtlamálsays that there were two messengers but only mentions Vingi. Bellows suggests that the author of the prose section unsuccessfully has combined the two accounts.
^Bellows suggests that this is another instance of the annotator combining two accounts: inAtlakviðaGudrun sends another ring (not Andvarinaut) with a wolf's hair, and inAtlamál,she sends a message in runes, but the messenger falsifies the message and when Högni's wife Kostbera receives it, she is only able to suspect danger.
^Oddrún, who is the sister of Atli and Brynhildr, is according to Bellows mainly known through theOddrúnargrátr.He suggests that she is a late addition to the Scandinavian version of the Nibelung tradition, because she only appears as Gunnar's lover.
^Bellows states that very little is known about Glaumvar, although she figures frequently inAtlamál.
^According to Bellows, Bera, or Kostbera, is only known for being skilled in runes, and for having a brother named Orkning.
^Bellows notes that Sólarr and Snævarr are mentioned as Högni's and Kostbera's sons inAtlamál,and he suggests that Gjúki, who is named after his grand-father, is the annotator's addition.
^Later Gudrun would kill her and Atli's sons Erpr and Eitil in revenge, and Bellows suggests that the part on her asking Erpr and Eitil to intervene on Gunnar and Hogni's behalf is an addition by the editor of thePoetic Eddain order to give Gudrun an additional reason for killing her own sons.
^InOddrúnargrátr,it was Atli's mother who transformed herself into an adder in order to make her son's vengeance complete.

References

The Slaying of The Niflungs Henry Adams Bellows' translation and commentary
The Slaughter of the Niflungs Benjamin Thorpe's translation
The Fall of the Niflungs Lee M. Hollander's translation
Dráp Niflunga Sophus Bugge's edition of the manuscript text
Dráp Niflunga Guðni Jónsson's edition with normalized spelling

[1] According to theVölsunga saga,it was Gudrun's motherGrimhildwho gave her the drink, just like she gave Brynhildr a draught of forgetfulness to forget Sigurd.

[2] Svanhild wasErmanaric's queen and Bellows suggests that Svanhild was incorporated with this tradition in order to link the two legends.

[3] Atlakviðacalls the messengerKnéfröð,whereasAtlamálsays that there were two messengers but only mentions Vingi. Bellows suggests that the author of the prose section unsuccessfully has combined the two accounts.

[4] Bellows suggests that this is another instance of the annotator combining two accounts: inAtlakviðaGudrun sends another ring (not Andvarinaut) with a wolf's hair, and inAtlamál,she sends a message in runes, but the messenger falsifies the message and when Högni's wife Kostbera receives it, she is only able to suspect danger.

[5] Oddrún, who is the sister of Atli and Brynhildr, is according to Bellows mainly known through theOddrúnargrátr.He suggests that she is a late addition to the Scandinavian version of the Nibelung tradition, because she only appears as Gunnar's lover.

[6] Bellows states that very little is known about Glaumvar, although she figures frequently inAtlamál.

[7] According to Bellows, Bera, or Kostbera, is only known for being skilled in runes, and for having a brother named Orkning.

[8] Bellows notes that Sólarr and Snævarr are mentioned as Högni's and Kostbera's sons inAtlamál,and he suggests that Gjúki, who is named after his grand-father, is the annotator's addition.

[9] Later Gudrun would kill her and Atli's sons Erpr and Eitil in revenge, and Bellows suggests that the part on her asking Erpr and Eitil to intervene on Gunnar and Hogni's behalf is an addition by the editor of thePoetic Eddain order to give Gudrun an additional reason for killing her own sons.

[10] InOddrúnargrátr,it was Atli's mother who transformed herself into an adder in order to make her son's vengeance complete.

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