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Poetic Edda

With her death-dealing hand,  and the hounds she loosed,
The thralls she awakened,  and a firebrand threw
In the door of the hall;  so vengeance she had.

45.[1] To the flames she gave all  who yet were within,
And from Myrkheim had come  from the murder of Gunnar;
The timbers old fell,  the temple was in flames,
The dwelling of the Buthlungs,  and the shield-maids burned,
They were slain in the house,  in the hot flames they sank.

46.[2] Now the tale is all told,  nor in later time
Will a woman in byrnie  avenge so her brothers;
The fair one to three  of the kings of the folk
Brought the doom of death  ere herself she died.

Still more is told in the Greenland ballad of Atli.

    ing with all who are left therein. In Atlamol, stanzas 83-84, Atli is slain by a son of Hogni (Hniflung?) with Guthrun's help.

  1. ↑ Some editions transfer line 2 to stanza 37; others reject line 3 as interpolated. Myrkheim ("Dark-Home"): probably identical with Myrkwood; cf. stanza 3. Temple: probably both here and in stanza 42 the word means little more than the place where Atli's treasures were kept; the poet was by no means literal in his use of terms connected with the heathen religion. Buthlungs: sons of Buthli, i.e., Atli and his family. Shield-maids: cf. stanza 17 and note.
  2. ↑ The entire stanza is very likely a later addition. Three kings: Atli and his two sons, Erp and Eitil.

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