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Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I

55.[1] Swift as a storm  there smote together
The flashing blades  at Frekastein;
Ever was Helgi,  Hunding's slayer,
First in the throng  where warriors fought;
(Fierce in battle,  slow to fly,
Hard the heart  of the hero was.)

56.[2] From heaven there came  the maidens helmed,—
The weapon-clang grew,—  who watched o'er the king;
Spake Sigrun fair,—  the wound-givers flew,
And the horse of the giantess  raven's-food had:—

57.[3] "Hail to thee, hero!  full happy with men,
Offspring of Yngvi,  shalt ever live,
For thou the fearless  foe hast slain
Who to many the dread  of death had brought.

    bana II, 18. Of Hring and his sons nothing further is known. Volsungs: here for the first time the poet gives Helgi and Sinfjotli the family name to which, as sons of Sigmund Volsungsson, they are entitled.

  1. ↑ The manuscript indicates line 5 as the beginning of a new stanza, but many editors have rejected lines 5-6 as spurious, while others regard them as the first half of a stanza the last two lines of which have been lost.
  2. ↑ Wound-givers: probably this means "Valkyries," but there is considerable doubt as to the original word. Horse, etc.: i.e., the wolf (because giantesses customarily had wolves for their steeds) ate corpses (the food of birds of prey).
  3. ↑ Yngvi: one of the sons of Halfdan the Old, and traditional ancestor of the Ynglings, with whom the Ylfings seem to have been confused (cf. Hyndluljoth, 11 and note). The confusion between the Ylfings (or Ynglings) and Volsungs was carried far

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