Guðrúnarkviða I, II and III are three different heroic poems in the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

'' with the same protagonist,

Gudrun Gudrun ( ; ) or Kriemhild ( ; ) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two queens of the Merovingian dyn ...

. In '' Guðrúnarkviða I'', Gudrun finds her dead husband

Sigurd Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

. She cries and laments her husband with beautiful imagery. In ''

Guðrúnarkviða II ''Guðrúnarkviða II'', ''The Second Lay of Gudrún'', or ''Guðrúnarkviða hin forna'', ''The Old Lay of Gudrún'' is probably the oldest poem of the Sigurd cycle, according to Henry Adams Bellows. The poem was composed before the year 1000 ...

'', she recapitulates her life in a

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

. In '' Guðrúnarkviða III'', one of

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

's (''Atli'') bondmaids accuses her of infidelity with king

Theodoric Theodoric is a Germanic given name. First attested as a Gothic name in the 5th century, it became widespread in the Germanic-speaking world, not least due to its most famous bearer, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Overview The name w ...

(''Þjóðrekr'') of the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

. Gudrun proves her innocence by picking up gems from the bottom of a boiling cauldron with her bare white hands.

References

Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...

External links

The Poetic Edda
in Old Norse from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudrunarkvida Eddic poetry