Translated by Josefina Troncoso.
1 Grievous deeds sprung from the trodden earth
the weeping of elves, joy-hindered.
Early in the morning,
all the afflictions
of the pain of men
kindle sorrow.
2 It was not now
nor yesterday,
a long time has passed
since that,
— few things are so old,
that they are twice as far off in time,—
when Guðrún
born to Gjúki,
incited her young sons
to avenge Svanhildr:
3 “Your sister is named Svanhildr,
she who Jörmunrekkr caused
to be trodden over by steeds,
white and black
on the high road,
grey, trained in their places,
the horses of the Goths.
4 You have been pushed to the rear,
you great kings;
you are the only ones
of the strands of my family alive.
5 Alone I have come to stand,
like an aspen on the hill,
deprived of kinsmen
like branches from a fir,
destitute of joy,
like a tree from its leaves,
when a branch-damaging girl
comes on a warm day.”
6 Then spake Hamðir,
the courageous:
“Little would you, Guðrún,
praise the deed of Högni,
when they awoke Sigurðr
from his sleep,
you sat on the bed,
and the killers laughed.
7 Your coverlets, the blue-white ones
woven by smiths,
were floating in your husband’s blood;
then died Sigurðr,
you sat over him dead,
to joys you did not give thought,
Gunnar wished it so for you.
8 You intended to cause harm to Atli
through Erp’s murder
and through Eitill’s death (?),
it was worse still for you;
everyone was to bring about
death to others with
a wound cutting sword,
without hurting themselves.
9 Then spake Sörli,
— a wise mind he had —:
“I do not wish to bandy
words with mother;
each of you wants
to have the last word forever.
What do you want now, Guðrún,
that you cannot get by weeping?
10 Cry for your brothers
and your sweet boys,
your close kinsmen
brought close to strife;
and you must, Guðrún,
weep for us both,
who are sitting here, doomed on our horses,
we will die far away.”
11 They went out of the courtyard
ready to howl,
then the young ones travelled over
the wet mountains
on Hunnish horses
to avenge the killing.
12 They met a very wily person
on the road:
“How will the short, brown-haired one
help us two?”
13 The half-brother answered,
so said that he would offer
support to his kinsmen,
as one foot does to another.
“How could a foot on one side
help another foot,
or a hand to another
rooted in the same flesh?”
14 Then this said Erpr
only once,
splendidly he rode
on the horse’s back,
“It is not good to show the road
to cowardly men.”
They said the bastard was
very confident.”
15 They pulled a sheathed iron
from the sheaths,
the edges of the sword;
to the joy of the giantess;
they diminished their courage
by a third,
they let the young boy
sink into the ground.
16 They shook their cloaks,
they fastened their swords,
and those born from the gods
put on their splendid garments.
17 The roads lied ahead,
they found the path to disaster
and the nephew
wounded on the gallows,
the wind-cold wolf-tree
west of the farmstead,
the incitement of cranes always dangled about,
it was not desirable to stay there.
18 There was a clash in the hall,
men became merry with ale,
and they did not
hear the horses
before a man full of courage
blew from a horn.
19 They went to tell
Jörmunrekkr,
that men in helmets
were seen:
“Discuss a plan,
the powerful ones have come,
the maiden you trampled
has mighty kin before you.”
20 Jörmunrekkr then laughed,
caught a stroke of his beard,
he looked forward to battling,
became more eager with wine;
he shook his brown hair,
saw his gleaming shield,
he let his golden goblet
turn about in his hand.
21 “Happy I would think to myself,
if I could see
Hamðir and Sörli
in my hall,
those boys I think I should bind
with strong binds,
tie up the good sons of Gjúki
in the gallows.”
22 But this said Hróðglöð,
standing on the threshold,
The slender-fingered one
said to that young boy:
“For this is what
they cannot accomplish:
could two men against
two hundred Goths
bind or fight them
in the high fortress?”
23 There was turmoil in the building,
the ale-cups shattered
men lied in blood
flowing from the breast of Goths.
24 But then spoke Hamðir
the great of heart:
“You wished, Jörmunrekkr,
for us to come,
brothers born of the same mother,
into your citadel;
you see your own feet,
you see your own hands,
Jörmunrekkr,
thrown into the hot fire.”
25 Then roared
the one of divine descent
the lord in his armour,
roaring like a bear:
“Throw stones at the men
since spears will not bite them,
nor will edges or iron
on the sons of Jónakr.
26 But then spoke Hamðir,
the great of heart:
“Misfortune you have brought about, brother,
when you opened that skin bag;
often from a bag
dangerous advice can come.”
Sörli said:
27 “You would have a mind, Hamðir,
if you had forethought;
a man lacks a great deal
when he lacks common sense!”
Hamðir said:
28 He would have been off his head now
if Erpr still lived,
our brother the bold in battle,
whom we have slain by force,
the man so bold in battle,
whom the dísir incited to kill,
the invincible man,
whom I was commanded to slay.
Sörli said:
29 “I do not think
we should follow the wolves’ example,
and fight amongst ourselves
like the bitches of the Norns,
those which are greedy
beasts in the wilderness.
30 We have fought well,
we stand over slain Goths,
down onto sword edge,
like eagles on a branch;
good glory we would have gained,
should we have died now or yesterday;
man would not live past this evening
after the verdict of the Norns.”
31 Then Sörli fell
at the end of the hall,
and Hamðir fell
behind the house.