Anglo-Saxon Heritage
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE & HISTORY
Our European white-race heritage is being lost in the mists of a history which isn't taught in schools. Do you know anyone at all who might tell you the title of a single piece of literature from our Anglo-Saxon heritage? Would you know how to begin a search to find what has been lost? Have you ever heard the words, Volsung Sagas, Nibelungen, Siegfried, or Asgard? Do you know that four days of our week are named after mythological heroes from those stories? I did not know those things, so I began to search for answers. Some books are available, but they are not easy to find. First, you must know what to look for. This article introduces you to the subject and tells you what to look for.
The Volsung Sagas and the Eddas are the stories of the Volsungs and the Nibelungs according to the Norse tradition, and these were preserved mainly in Iceland. The Nibelungen Lied is the German version of the same stories, though varying in some details. These stories tell the adventures and misfortunes of a family over several generations. When they might have lived is unknown. The known written accounts go back to about 1,000 AD, but the legends may already have been a thousand years old, or even more. In these historical legends, we meet our European roots, genetic and cultural, which describe our nature and our values. We can hardly understand our own genetic inclinations, instincts, values, and character until we see them in full living color as expressed by our forefathers, or at least by the values which defined the lives of our forefathers.
The Nibelungenlied is the great national EPIC of Germany; it is considered one of the world�s great classics, except to anti-white moderns, of course. It is a story of the Germanic soul. I would suggest that it might be a continuation of the same national soul of the tribes of Israel in the Old Testament. These German, Scandinavian, and Anglo peoples are those very same tribes of Israel which migrated into Europe after their dispersions from Palestine in 8th and 6th centuries before Christ. Just as in the Bible, the Germanic and Norse history is mostly an account of their wars. Their battles are caused by many reasons, often vengeance. Although these European Israelites forgot their God of Abraam, as God foreordained them to do, their societies were always based in religion, from which they defended themselves or challenged new frontiers.
Perhaps the most striking impact upon a modern reader is the violence enacted by the heroes of these stories. There was no court system, and little law beyond what was commonly accepted as "right." Wrongs were avenged by the injured party or family members. In such a society, a person survives best who avoids doing wrong to another, probably very like our own wild-west development where most life was the struggle of family farmers, but where the rare gunfighter became the story of legend. So, these European stories, like most history, are preserved as a log of battles, one after another. Wars are important to us. All boys grow up learning to fight. The lives of individuals, families, and nations seem to center around the sword. Wars make up the historical record of our race, just like in the Bible. The Old Testament tells of them. In the New Testament, Jesus said, "Don�t think that I came to bring peace; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." While we might value peace most highly, the struggle toward that goal is a violent one, and it seems never-ending. Survival-of-the-mightiest seems to be an instinctive compulsion that directs the course of civilization.
For a realistic perspective, we might keep in mind, though, that battle was not the daily fare of people all the time, rather, that battles are the matters which get recorded and become the stuff of legends. The people did also raise crops and animals, preserved foods, made clothes, boats, houses, & tools, did daily chores, raised babies, sang ballads, recited their history and legends of their ancestors. But it is the battle which gets remembered.
We modern Christians are taught by preachers and liberals that peace is what God wants for us, and that we should disdain war. They ignore the fact that it is the defense of that very ideal which justifies war. Defending Godly ideals against those who would destroy them or our people, has made our history little more than a journal of wars. War has become our nature. War is in our soul; we hunger for it at the same time that we fear it. War has become our Godly exercise; it is the activity of God working through us individuals. It is God�s contest, in a great arena, where Good and Evil wage eternal battle against each other. Heroes, noble causes, justice, defending the innocent, peace at home, femininity and gentle nurturing, a woman�s love, children, avenging wrongs, conquering evil; these are values which are worth more than a warrior�s life, and for which one will charge into certain death, even against such terrors as dragons and witches who threaten the Godly utopia in the mind of our national soul.
Hard as some might try, the soul�s urge to battle on behalf of Good cannot be learned out of children, even in the pacifist liberal society of today. Look at the popularity of warrior toys for children. Look at the Nintendo games of fierce battles. Removing toy guns from children doesn�t inhibit their use of swords or bombs in their "play." It is natural to most creatures that contests are key to survival. Look at young elk sparring, or puppies growling and attacking, or kittens pouncing from a hiding place. Survival of the fittest is not just a theory, but is an instinct in all creatures at all levels of species. Teaching our children that contest is wrong does nothing except confuse their souls and cause aberrations or perversions in their development.
As a nation, modern day liberalism, fearfulness, lack of faith, non-thinking churchism, and general Christian apathy are causing our decline and fall, even making America the tempting conquest of primitive races from all directions around us. I propose that we reconsider our self-destructive values and try to reclaim those honest instincts of our racial-soul as illustrated in the ancient sagas of our own history.
MAGIC
Because the literature of our ancestors frequently mentions magic, I want to address the subject in order to better appreciate the value of our heritage. Some people reject our heritage for the single reason that it contains magic, as though all magic is of the devil. But, that is really an ignorant oversimplification. Let�s take a more comprehensive look at this subject.
There are two aspects to the subject of magic. First is the commonly accepted view that all magic is devilish, occult, and unChristian. Certainly, much magic is exactly that, especially witchcraft, Satanism, Jewish Kabbalah, and sacred-name worship. But, second is the fact that our true Old Testament religion, along with Jesus� demonstration, is replete with magic. Moses performed several kinds of magic before the Pharoa, and later in the wilderness, such as striking a rock with his staff and causing a flow of water. Prophets frequently performed magic by calling upon God. In the New Testament, Jesus suggested that we, His sheep, will be able to move a mountain by telling it to move. He demonstrated disappearing from one spot and appearing at another, and passing through a door without opening it first, and walking on water. Are not His miracles acts of magic? The truth is that God�s Elect, who possess His indwelling Spirit, create our perceptible reality by believing it into being. We might consider that our dimension of reality a product of magic powers which we exercise without yet understanding. I discuss this at length in other articles. The body of Christ is the Creator of this reality, therefore we, as members of that body, participate in creating what we see before us simply by believing it into apparent existence. After we transition into the kingdom of Heaven, then our latent powers will be more fully understood and we will intentionally create a civilization that is more spiritual than material. We will exercise our lives by performing continuous magic.
So, magic is a part of our soul-nature. We are attracted to it because we feel some kind of identification with it. Magic is part of the true nature of God�s children. But, for our opponent race of Satan�s children, magic is not natural and must be performed through chants, spells, deceptions, rituals, mantras, calling earth forces, emotions, and other defined techniques. Satan often attempts to duplicate God�s design in reflection during his kingdom of World. Satanic magic is very different from Godly magic in that it uses earth-energies instead of Godly Spiritual powers.
What we have in our old literature, fables, fairy-tales, children�s stories, and sagas like these Anglo-Saxon treasures, are stories that contain magic, usually in some kind of battle between evil and good, such as witches against the Heroes. It is like watching a play wherein Satan's players work all kinds of devious methods to destroy God's players, who are limited to physical strength and swords. Often our heroes get killed, but they are still venerated as heroes because of their noble actions in defense of Good. What's more, God's heroes look forward to an afterlife in Valhalla just as Christians look to heaven, while the wicked players don't get such a reward. Tennyson's Ulysses (Homer's Odysseus), who, in his old age yearns to return to the adventures which made life worth living, says, "It may be that the gulfs will wash us down; It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho 'We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." It is a natural confidence of our souls that we look to Heaven as Happy Isles where we will enjoy the rewards of those who gave their lives for the sake of noble values. These Viking heroes demonstrate the same characteristics as did Homer's heroes.
Roger Hathaway, June 2006
Following is the text of a synopsis of the story of the Volsungs and Nibelungs. It was written by a man who lived soon after the lengthy materials had been compiled and written down, probably as an overview which could be easily copied for the people. The story does not tell of the first 12 chapters, though, which are also omitted from the German Nibelungenlied. Then, immediately following The Snorra Edda, is an outline of the complete text of the Saga of the Volsungs, which does contain the story of the beginnings. This will give you some familiarity with the general theme of the Sagas. You can find books online which contain more of this literature, once you know what to look for.
THE SNORRA EDDA, complete text: a work written by Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241) is part of Old Norse literature. In it, he tells the whole story of the Nibelungenlied in summary. Here it is, in its entirety, copied from The Worlds Great Classics, 1901; The Nibelungenlied volume, page viiff. Julian Hawthorne, Managing Editor. Editors and Artists Edition, #159 of 1000. The Colonial Press, New York and London.
"Three gods, Odin, Hoenir, and Loki, once went out to explore the whole world. They came to a certain river, and went along the river to a waterfall, and at the waterfall there was an otter that had taken a salmon out of the fall and ate it, half asleep. Then Loki took up a stone and cast it at the otter and struck him in the head. Loki thereupon boasted of his catch that he had got at a blow both the otter and the salmon. They took the salmon and the otter and carried them along with them until they came to a farmstead, where they went in. The head of the household that dwelt there was named Hreidmar; he was a mighty man and much skilled in magic. He invited the gods to lodge there for the night, and they told him that they had with them provisions in plenty and showed him their booty. But when Hreidmar saw the otter, he called his sons Fafnir and Regin and said that Otter, their brother, had been killed, and told them who had done it. Thereupon, the father and his sons fell upon the gods and took them and bound them, saying that the otter was the son of Hreidmar. The gods offered as a ransom as much money as Hreidmar himself should determine, and that was agreed upon as a reconciliation and was bound with oaths.
"Then the otter was flayed, and Hreidmar took the otter�s skin and said that they should fill it with red gold and should then cover it wholly up with gold, and that should be their atonement. Odin then sent Loki into the land of the black elves and he came to the dwarf who is called Andvari; he was a fish in the water and Loki took him and laid upon him as a ransom all the gold that he had in his stone. And when they came into the stone where he dwelt, the dwarf brought out all the gold that he owned and that was a very great treasure. Then the dwarf slipped under his hand a little gold ring. That Loki, however, saw and bade him produce the ring. The dwarf begged him not to take the ring from him, and said that he could breed treasure out of it if he kept it. Loki told him that he should not keep back a penny, and took the ring from him and went out. The dwarf said that the ring should be the death of everyone who owned it. Loki replied that that suited him well, and that the condition should be held good, since he would bring it to the ears of them who might get possession of it. He then went away to Hreidmar�s and showed Odin the gold; but when he saw the ring, it seemed to him very beautiful and he took it out of the treasure, but paid over to Hreidmar the gold.
"Then Hreidmar filled the otter�s skin as full as he could and set it up on its feet when it was full; Odin then went up to cover the skin with gold and said to Hreidmar that he should see whether the skin were wholly covered. Hreidmar looked at it and considered it carefully and saw a whisker, and bad him cover that, also, or else their atonement were at an end. Then Odin brought out the ring and covered the whisker and said that they now were freed from the otter ransom. When, however, Odin had taken his spear and Loki his shoes, and when they needed no longer to fear, then said Loki that what Andvari had spoken, that the ring should be the death of him who owned it, should hold good, and it did hold good thereafter.
"Hreidmar took the gold as ransom for his son, but Fafnir and Regin demanded some of it as a ransom for their brother. Hreidmar, however, would not grant them a single penny of the gold. That was the ill-advised deed of the brothers that they killed their father for the gold. Then Regin demanded that Fafnir divide the gold in halves between them. Fafnir replied that there was little chance that he would share the gold with his brother when he had killed his father for the sake of it, and bade Regin to begone or he would fare as had Hreidmar. Fafnir had then taken the helmet which Hreidmar had owned, which was called the Helmet of Awe and which all living things feared that saw it, and set it upon his head, and he took the sword which is called Hrotti. Regin had the sword that is called Refil and he fled away; but Fafnir went up upon the Glittering Heath and made him there a lair, and he took upon himself the shape of a serpent and lay upon the gold.
"Regin then went to King Hjalprek, at Thy, in Denmark, and there set up a smithy, and he took to foster Sigurd, the son of Sigmund (the son of Volsung) and of Hjordis, the daughter of Eylimi. Sigurd was the most glorious of all war kings in lineage and strength. Regin told him where Fafnir lay upon the gold, and egged him on to seek it. Then Regin made the sword that is called Gram, which was so sharp that Sigurd thrust it in the water and it cut asunder a lock of wool that drove before the current against the edge of the sword. Afterward, Sigurd clove in two Regin�s anvil down to the stock with the sword. After that, Sigurd and Regin went out upon the Glittering Heath. Then Sigurd dug a pit in Fafnir�s path and got into it; and when Fafnir crept to the water and came over the pit, then Sigurd thrust the sword up against him and that was his death. Regin then came up and said that Sigurd had killed his brother and offered him as a reconciliation that he should take the heart of Fafnir and roast it at the fire; but Regin himself got down and drank the blood of Fafnir and then lay down to sleep. And when Sigurd had roasted the heart and thought that it must be done, he touched it with his finger to see how hard it was. And when the juice ran out of the heart upon his finger, he burnt himself and thrust his finger into his mouth. And when the heart�s blood came upon his tongue, then he knew the speech of birds and understood what the nuthatches said that sat in the tree above him.
"Then said one: "There sits Sigurd blood besprinkled, the heart of Fafnir at the fire roasting; wise methinks were the ring despoiler, if he the gleaming heart were eating..
"Then said the other: "There lies Regin with himself communing; he will beguile the youth who is trusting in him; in rage he brings now ill words together; the evil-worker will avenge his brother."
"Then Sigurd went up to Regin and killed him, and took his horse, which was named Grani, and rode until he came to the lair of Fafnir. There he took the gold and bound it up in packs and laid it on the back of Grani, and then mounted and rode on his way. Sigurd rode until he found a house upon the fell. Within it slept a woman who had on a helmet and a coat of mail. He drew his sword and cut her coat of mail off her. Then she awake and named herself Hild. She is called Brynhild and was a Valkyrie. Sigurd rode thence and came to the King who is named Gjuki; his wife is named Grimhild; their children were Gunnar, Hogni, Gudrun, Gudny; Gotthorn was a step-son of Gjuki. There Sigurd dwelt for a long time; and he took to wife Gudrun, the daughter of Gjuki, and Gunnar and Hogni swore with him oaths of brotherhood. Afterward, Sigurd and the sons of Gjuki went to Atli, the son of Budli, to ask as a wife for Gunnar Brynhild, his sister. She dwelt upon Hind Fell, and about her hall was a flaming fire, and she had made a vow to have as a husband that man, only, who dared to ride through the flame.
"Then Sigurd and the Gjukings (who are also called Niflungs) rode up upon the fell, and Gunnar was minded to ride through the flame. He had the horse that was named Goti, but the horse did not dare to leap into the fire. Then Sigurd and Gunnar changed their shapes and also their names, since Grani would not go under any man except Sigurd. Then Sigurd leaped upon Grani and rode through the flaming fire. That night he held a wedding with Brynhild, and when they came to bed he drew the sword Gram out of its scabbard and laid it between them. And in the morning, when he awoke and dressed himself, then he gave Brynhild as a bridal gift the gold ring which he had taken on the Glittering Heath, and Loki had taken from Andvari, and he took from her another ring as a remembrance. Sigurd then leaped upon his horse and rode to his companions; Gunnar and he again changed their shapes and they went back to Gjuki with Brynhild. Sigurd had two children with Gudrun: Sigmund and Swanhild.
"It was once upon a time that Brynhild and Gudrun went to the water to bleach their hair. When they came to the river, Brynhild waded out into the water away from the land and said that she would not have on her head the water that ran out of Gudrun�s hair, since she had the more noble husband. Then Gudrun went out into the river after Brynhild and said that she should wash her hair in the river above, because she had the husband who was braver than anyone else in the world, since he slew Fafnir and Regin and gained the inheritance of them both. Then Brynhild replied: �It was of still greater renown that Gunnar rode the flaming fire and Sigurd dared not.� Then Gudrun laughed and said: �Do you think that Gunnar rode through the flaming fire? Him I deem to have gone to bed with you, who gave me this gold ring. But the ring that you have on your hand, and that you received as a bridal gift, that is called the Ring of Andvari, and I deem that it was not Gunnar who sought it on the Glittering Heath.� Then Brynhild was silent and went home. After that she egged on Gunnar and Hogni to kill Sigurd, but because they had sworn oaths with him they egged on Gotthorm, their brother, to kill him. Gotthorm laid sword on him while he slept, and when he felt the wound he hurled the sword Gram after his slayer so that it cut the man asunder. Then Sigurd fell and his three-year old son, who was named Sigmund, whom they killed. After that, Brynhild turned sword upon herself and she was burned with Sigurd. And Gunnar and Hogni took the treasure of Fafnir and the Ring of Andvari and ruled all the land.
"King Atli, the son of Budli, the brother of Brynhild, then took to wife Gudrun, whom Sigurd had had, and they had children together. King Atli bade Gunnar and Hogni to visit him, and they went at his invitation, but before they went away from home they hid the gold, the Treasure of Advari, in the river Rhine, and it has never since been found. Gunnar and Hogni and they were taken prisoners. And Atli had the heart cut out of Hogni while he lived, and that was his death. Gunnar he caused to be cast into a serpent pit, and a harp was brought to him secretly and he struck it with his toes, since his hands were bound, so that all the serpents slept except one adder, which sprang at him, and struck in through his breast so that she thrust in her head and hung upon his liver until he died. Gunnar and Hogni are called Niflungs and Gjukungs, and for this reason the gold is called the Treasure of the Niflungs, or their inheritance. A little while after, Gudrun killed her two sons, and with gold and silver had beakers made out of their skulls and then was celebrated the funeral feast of the Niflungs.
"At this banquet Gudrun had King Atli served with mead from the beakers and there was mixed with it the blood of the boys, and their hearts she caused to be roasted and brought to the King to eat. And when that was done she told him these things herself with many ugly words. Ther was no lack there of intoxicating mead, so that most people slept where they sat. And in the night she went to the King where he was sleeping, and with her the son of Hogni, and they fell upon him, and that was his death. Then they hurled fire into the hall and the people were burned that were within. After that she went to the sea and leaped in and wished to destroy herself, but she drifted over the fjord and came to the land of King Jonakr. And when he saw her, he took her to him and wedded her. They had three sons, who were called Sorli, Hamdir, and Erp; they were all as black as ravens in the color of their hair, like Gunnar and Hogni and the other Niflungs.
"There grew up Swanhild, the daughter of Sigurd; she was the most beautiful of all women. That Jormunrek the Mighty learned and sent his son Randver to ask her hand. And when he came to Jonakr, Swanhild was given over to him that he might bring her to Jormunrek. Then said Bikki that it had fallen out better if Randver had Swanhild, since he was young as were they both, and Jormunrek was old. This counsel pleased the young people well; and thereupon Bikki told it to the King. Then Jormunrek had his son taken and brought to the gallows, but Randver took his falcon and plucked off the feathers and bade that it be sent to his father; then he was hanged. But when King Jormunrek saw the falcon, it came into his mind that just as the falcon was incapable of flight and featherless, so was also his kingdom disabled, since he was old and without a son.
"It was once upon a time with King Jormunrek rode out of the forest from hunting with his men that Swanhild the Queen sat bleaching her hair. Then they rode upon her and trod her to death under the horses' hoofs. And when Gudrun learned this, she egged on her sons to avenge Swanhild. And when they made ready for the journey, she got them mail, and helmets so strong that iron would not take hold upon it. She said the plan for them to follow was that when they came to King Jormunrek they should fall upon him at night while he slept; Sorli and Hamdir should then hew off his hands and feet, and Erp his head. When, however they came on the way, they asked Erp what assistance they might have of him if they met King Jormunrek. He replied that he would give them such aid as the hand gave the foot. They replied that naught at all did the foot depend upon the hand. They were so angry at their mother that she had led them out with words of hatred, that they desired to do that which would be the worst thing of all to her and they killed Erp, since she loved him most. A little while after, as Sorli walked along he slipped with both feet, but held himself up with his hand. Then he said: 'The hand does now help the foot; ;better it were that Erp were alive!' And when they came to King Jormunrek's at night, and went in where he slept and hewed off his hands and feet, he awoke and called upon his men and bade them awaken. Then said Hamdir: 'Off were now his head, if Erp were alive!' Then the men-at-arms arose and attacked them, but could not overcome them with weapons. Jormunrek then called out that stones should be hurled at them, and this was done. Then Sorli and Hamdir fell, and then were dead all the race and descendants of the Gjukings."
THE SAGA OF THE VOLSUNGS, outline. In a Penguin Classics paperback, 145 pages. Publ: 1999., from the Icelandic. The Norse version of the Volsungs and Niblungs. Has more chapters prior to those in the Nibelungenlied.
SYNOPSIS OUTLINE:
Chap 1: ODIN guides his son, Sigi, from the Otherworld after Sigi killed Skadi's thrall (servant) & buried him in a snowdrift. Sigi ruled Hunland, had a son Rerir. Sigi's wife's brothers killed Sigi. Rerir ruled, took revenge ag. his uncles.
Chap 2: Rerir was killed in battle. His Queen was pregnant for 6 yrs, cut open birth, she died. Child Volsung well grown, great warrior, married Hljod, had 10 sons & 1 daughter, eldest was SIGMUND & d. Signy (twins).
Chap 3: K Siggeir asked K Volsung for Signy's hand. Granted. Banquet. Odin put sword in Barnstock (tree). Sigmund pulled it out, wouldn't sell it to K. Siggeir.
Chap 4: K Siggeir angry at sword refusal; plots revenge. Signy doesn't want to go with Siggeir, but Volsung insisted. Siggeir left, w/ agreement that Volsung would visit K Siggeir at Gautland.
Chap 5: K Volsung & sons went to Gautland in 3 ships. Signy warned Volsung, but unheeded. 2 forces battled. K Volsung was killed & bros prisoners. 10 bros put in stocks in the forest. A she-wolf ate one bro each nite. Signy helped save last bro, Sigmund.
Chap 6: Sigmund hid underground; Signy brot him needs. Signy sent 2 sons to live w/Sigmund, but then had them killed.
Chap 7: Signy changed shapes w/ a sorceress, slept w/Sigmund in disguise, bore son, Sinfjotli, good Volsung stock.
Chap 8: Sigmund & Sinfjotli killed men for booty. Found wolfskins, put them on, couldn't get off. Rampaged, killing men. Got wolfskins off. Sought revenge ag. Siggeir for Volsung's death. Killed Sig's 2 boys. Battled long, got captured. Escaped. Set castle afire. Signy has revenge & walks into the fire to die, saying, "I have worked so hard to bring about vengeance that I am by no means fit to live. Willingly I shall now die with King Siggeir, although I married him reluctantly." Sigm. & Sinfj. went home, expelled usurpers. Sigmund married Borghild, had 2 sons, Helgi and Hamund. Helgi became great King.
Chap 9: Helgi defeats K Hunding. Hunding's sons fight back, but get killed. Helgi meets Sigrun, but she is to wed K Hodbrodd, son of K Granmar, reluctantly. Helgi's ships in trouble, find good harbor. Sinfjotli exchanges insults w/K Granmar. Battle at Frekastein. Helgi kills Hodbrodd. Helgi marries Sigrun, ruled there a long time.
Chap 10: Volsungs return home. Sinfjotli went raiding again, wanted a lovely woman, but K Sigmund's Queen Borghild's bro. also wanted her. Fought. Sinfjotli won. Q Borghild wants Sinfj. exiled. Funeral feast: she offers Sinfjotli poisoned drink. dies. Odin claims body. K Sigmund evicts Borghild.
Chap 11: K Sigmund wants d. of K Eylimi, Hjordis. Banquet. K Lyngvi, son of K Hunding also wants Hjordis. She chose Sigmund. K Lyngvi Viking army attacks K Sigmund's Volsungs in Hunland. Fierce battle. Odin against Sigmund.
Chap 12: Hjordis visits the dying Sigmund who doesn't want to be healed. She's pregnant. Sigm. tells her to save the broken sword pieces, make another, named Gram, for their son. Alf, son of K Hjalprek of Denmark, ships land. Finds 2 women, Hjordis & servant (who switched clothes). They lead him to treasure. Hjordis reveals herself. Stays there w/Alf.
The previous chapters are not part of the German Nibelungenlied. The following account in the Nibelungenlied has same general theme but varies considerably from this Norse account.
Chap 13: Hjordis has SIGURD (Nib: Seigfreid). Raised there w/ K Hjalprek, grew great. Regin, son of Hreidmar, was foster father & taught Sigurd much. Odin helps choose horse, son of Sleipnir (Odin's horse). Named Grani. Regin eggs Sigurd to get wealth from Fafnir.
Chap 14: Regin tells tale of his father, Hreidmar, bro: Fafnir, & Otr. Dwarf: Andvari took shape of pike, fished. Odin, Loki, Hoenir came to the waterfall; Loki killed Otr w/stone. The 3 Aesir (gods) came to Hreidmar, showed catch, Otr dead. Ransom demanded. Loki caught Andvari, took his gold & the RING of Andvari's curse. Paid ransom. Fafnir killed father, Hreidmar, took gold, became dragon.
Chap 15: Sigurd has Regin make sword named Gram.
Chap 16: Uncle Gripir tells Sigurd's future.
Chap 17: Sigurd attacks Lyngvi & Hundings to prove Volsungs are not dead. Odin joins venture. Fierce battle. Sigurd wins.
Chap 18: Sigurd attacks and kills Fafnir.
Chap 19: Sigurd roasts Fafnir's heart for Regin. Taste of blood let Sigurd understand nuthatches.
Chap 20: Birds say Sigurd should eat the heart & kill Regin & get gold & go to Hindarfell for Brynhild. He killed Regin. Got gold & sword Hrotti, helm of terror, golden chain-mail. Put all on Grani & left.
Chap 21: Went to Hindarfell. Cut armor off Brynhild & asked her to teach him mighty things.
Chap 22: Brynhild gives wise counsel, & agrees to marry Sigurd.
Chap 23: Sigurd described, handsome, tall, strong, swordsman, eloquent, generous, courageous.
Chap 24: Sigurd comes to Heimir's estate. Heimir was married to Brynhild's sister Bekkhild. "hild" means battle.
Chap 25: Sigurd sees Brynhild, enamored, smitten, goes to her, kisses her, begs her to marry him. They agreed again.
Chap 26: King Gjuki's land was south of the Rhine. Had 3 sons, Gunnar, Hogni (Hagen), Guttorm, & d. GUDRUN. K Gjuki wife was Grimhild (sorceress). Brynhild's bro was ATLI, Attila the Hun. Gudrun visits Brynhild & learns of Sigurd.
Chap 27: Brynhild interprets Gudrun's dream, to marry Sigurd & lose him, & marrie Atli & kill him.
Chap 28: Sigurd rides to Gjuki. Grimhild gives him potion to forget Brynhild. Gudrun is offered. Sigurd accepts. Son of Sigurd & Gudrun is SIGMUND. Grimhild tells Gunnar to marry Brynhild.
Chap 29: Sigurd rides thru flames in disguise as Gunnar. He took the ring Andvaranaut & gave her different one. Gunnar & Brynhild wed.
Chap 30: Brynhild & Gudrun bathe in Rhine, DISPUTE. Brynhild learns truth. They argue at length.
Chap 31: Brynhild expresses her anger at Gunnar, and her grief about losing Sigurd. Discussion with Sigurd.
Chap 32: Gunnar and Hogni egg Guttorm to kill Sigurd. Guttorm also dies. Brynhild determines to die. She foretells grim future to Gunnar.
Chap 33: Brynhild designs the funeral pyre for Sigurd and her and she goes upon it to follow Sigurd.
Chap 34: Gudrun grieved loss of Sigurd; went to King Half, wove a tapestry. Grimhild & sons visit. Gives evil potion. Grimhild urges Gudrun to marry Atli. Reluctant.
Chap 35: Gudrun interprets Atli's dream. Atli wants Gunnars gold wealth. Banquet. Gudrun cut runes. Gunnar & Hogni cautious. Hogni's wife discerned the runes.
Chap 36: Hogni's wife, Kostbera, tells Hogni her dream of warning. Hogni dismisses it.
Chap 37: Gunnar's wife also had dream. Gunnar dismissed the warning. Brothers travel to Atli, & kill Vingi.
Chap 38: Atli's forces face them. Atli demands the gold. Battle. Atli laments things going badly.
Chap 39: Atli urged his troops ag. the Gjukings, but was driven back. Battle inside the hall. Gunnar captured. Hogni fights, but gets captured & killed. Gunnar into snake pit. Plays harp w/toes. An adder kills Gunnar.
Chap 40: Atli bragged to Gudrun. Gudrun fakes gentleness, calls for funeral feast. She kills their 2 sons. Gudrun & Hogni's son, Niflung (Nibelung), kill Atli. Gudrun has fine funeral, then burns the hall, killing Atli's people.
Chap 41: Gudrun & Sigurd had had d. Svanhild, beautiful woman. Gudrun tried to drown herself. Carried to King Jonakr, who married her, & had Hamdir, Sorli, and Erp. Svanhild was raised there.
Chap 42: Svanhild is given to K Jormunrek, whose son is Randver. Bikki connives ag. Randver. King orders Randver to gallows; plucked hawk tells message. Bikki has Svanhild killed.
Chap 43: Gudrun urges her sons to avenge Svanhild. Makes armor for them. They leave, ready to die. Gudrun laments losses of her husbands and sons and daughter.
Chap 44: Sons on mission to kill Jormunrek. Meet bro. Erp, & kill him. Attack Jormunrek, cut off hands. Battle. Hamdir & Sorli get stoned to death. End of race of Gjukings.
THE GODS
Tuesday is Tyr�s day. God of battle, of justice. God of the Thing (assembly).
Wednesday is Woden�s day. aka Odin. means to wade thru: hence the Omnipotent Being who permeates all things. The god of battle. Those who die in battle are Odin�s choice bairns (his special children) - similar to our God who tells His Elect who have been martyred to be patient until the rest of their brothers have been likewise killed and join them.
In Eddas, Odin is leader of gods, but Germans put Tyr in that position. Odin is a god of war, and of the berserk rage of the Vikings. He is the god of Runes. In England he is a gray cloaked wanderer. Odin is god of the dead.
Thursday is Thor�s day. Thor is a god who presides over thunder and atmosphere. His hammer is Mjolnir. Patron of farmers and common people. Seeks adventure, giants or monsters to kill. Assoc. w/thunder & lightning, but not destructive. He is nature as a benefit to man.
Friday is Freyja�s day. Vanir Goddess Deity symbol of seminator/seminated, fructified. Sister of Frey. Sent to live w/Aesir to seal peace. The goddess of love and abundance. Sorceress who practiced magic known as Seidhr, wh. she taught to Odin. Fiercly independent feminist.
THE AESIR: the race usually referred to as gods, representing order. "As" means "god." Cf. the Adamic Race.
THE JOTNAR are the race of sworn enemies of the gods. Not called "gods," but Giants or Ogres. They represent chaos & power of nature to destroy man. "gods" of things over which man has no control. In the end, Jotnar will fight the gods at Ragnarok & bring destruction of world. At constant war against Aesir, never can be peace. Cf. the Cain/Edom race whose instincts are eternal war against God's race.
THE VANIR: the race of gods which represent earth & natural forces. Frey, Freya, & Njord came from Vanirs to live with Aesir in order to seal peace between them. Earth races are neutral, opportunistic, manipulated by either of the other two.
LOKI: The most perplexing god of Asgard, a troublemaker, a trickster. A god of darkness. He was so evil, he got locked beneath the earth until the end of the world. At Ragnarok, Loki will lead legions of chaos against the Aesir. Cf. Lucifer, evicted fm: heaven.
Nibelungs, aka Niflungs, & Gjukings
Asgard: abode of Aesir, and Vanir after they made peace.
Midgard: abode of humans - middle earth/middle garden.
Vanaheim: abode of Vanir before the peace.
Alfheim: abode of light elfs & their ruler, Frey.
Niflheim: region of cold.
Hel: land of the dead. Hel is also the goddess of the underworld.
Jotunheim: abode of the Jotuns - giants.
Valkyries: Odin�s corpse choosers - who picked out the dead for him on the field of battle, and waited on the heroes in Valhalla, the heavenly hall of feasting and rewards.
Ragnarok: End time battle, destruction of world, transition to new kingdom.
Runes: The magical alphabet which holds the mysteries of the universe within it.
NIBELUNGENLIED: from der Nibelunge liet - the lay (poem/saga) of the Nibelungs. Word is from nebel which means mist or darkness; so we have either children of the mist or people from obscurity. Most ancient manuscripts don�t have a title, but two of them call the poems Kriemhild. The German Kriemhild is the Norse Gudrun. Known texts were written down around 12th Century AD, but settings are probably somewhere around the 6th C. AD. King Arthur was also at that time in England.
Nibelungenlied lacks the first 12 chapters which are part of the Volsung Saga.
THE HEIMSKRINGLA, A History of THE NORSE KINGS, 9th to 12th centuries, written down by Snorre Sturlason, from 13th C. Icelandic as related by Skalds, and from research in ancient family registers, and some from old songs and ballads. Available in three volumes of the Norroena set, of 1905.
Beginnings: See Norroena v.3, p.33; Teutonic Myth. Medieval Migration Sagas in Heimskringla & Prose Eddas.
Chiefs from around 9th C. to 12 C.: histories told by Sturlason:
Saga of Halfdan the Black: Halfdan; Gandalf; Sigtryg;
Saga of Harald Harfager: Harald; Gyda; Eirik; Ragnvald;
Saga of Hakon the Good;
Saga of Harald Grafeld and Earl Hakon
Saga of King Olaf Trygvason
Saga of Olaf Haraldson
Saga of Magnus the Good
Saga of Harald Hardrade
Saga of Olaf Kyrre
Saga of Magnus Barefoot
Saga of Sigurd the Crusader
Saga of Magnus the Blind
Saga of the Sons of Harald
Saga of Hakon the Broad-Shouldered
Saga of Magnus Erlingson
SAGA OF BURNT NJAL great Icelandic Tribune and Jurist
Characters: Gunnar of Lithend; Skarphedinn; Njal; Kari; Helgi; Kolskegg.
THE PROSE EDDAS (from 13th C. Iceland)
The Elder Edda (poetry) of Saemund in 12th C.; The Younger Edda retells in prose form the contents of the Elder Edda, written down by Snorre Sturlason, author of Heimskringla. The Eddas are the main sources for information about the ancestral religion There are 39 poems (lays), the second half of which are based on the same traditions as the old Norse Volsunga Saga, and the middle high German Niebelungen Lied.
Elder Eddas: Odin (100 BC?) dwelt in Asgard, a city in Asaland (Asia) no. of Black Sea & east of a river which flows into Black Sea. Asgard was perhaps Stalingrad or Moscow, or that area, now Europe. Odin ruled 12 men (high priests, judges). Younger Eddas: gives Bible creation account, flood, Babel, etc. speaks of Hebrew language, (which was Phoenician and is still pure as Welsh, but with some mixing and evolvement became Germanic on the continent and in Scandinavia). Tells story of Jupiter, Neptune, Plutus - Greek myths. Speaks of Troy, Dardanus, Hektor. Priam chief ruler over 12 kings. k. Munon had son Tror (Thor).
Voluspa, First of the 39 Poetic Eddas. The Seeress tells of the creation of the world. Othin (Odin/Woden) has summoned her from the grave to appear before the assembled gods. She tells of first-created things; of how man is given breath of life, how a golden age of innocence (among the gods) ends with the coming of the Norns (Fates) and the ill-understood slaying of Gullveig, a Pandoralike figure sent to the Aesir by the Vanir, an older race of gods. A war between these powers is disastrous for the Aesir. In their rebuilding, broken oaths embroil the gods (now united?) with the world of the giants, representative of brute force and darkness. Baldr, god of light, is slain, and evil enters into the world. And she goes on to foretell the downfall of the gods, heralded by general depravity, the breaking loose of all the powers of destruction, and the cataclysmic end of the old world. Out of its ruins a new world is born in which Baldr and other benign gods will establish a reign of justice and peace.
Sample of the Voluspa; from the beginning: (translation from the old Norse by I. A. Blackwell, in Norroena, vol. 11)
1. For silence I pray all sacred children, great and small, sons of Heimdall, they will that I Valfather's deeds recount, men's ancient saws, those that I best remember.
2. The Jotuns I remember early born, those who me of old have reared. I nine worlds remember, nine trees, the great central tree, beneath the earth.
3. There was in times of old, where Ymir dwelt, nor sand nor sea, nor gelid waves; earth existed not, nor heaven above, 'twas a chaotic chasm, and grass nowhere.
4. Before Bur's sons raised up heaven's vault, they who the noble mid-earth shaped. The sun shone from the south over the structure's rocks: then was the earth begrown with herbage green.
5. The sun from the south, the moon's companion, her right hand cast about the heavenly horses. The sun knew not where she a dwelling had, the moon knew not what power he possessed, the stars knew not where they had a station.
[Note: Heimdall is elsewhere Rig. In the Rigsmal, we learn how he became progenitor of three orders of mankind. Following is the first section of the Rigsmal]
The Rigsmal, aka The Lay of Rig:
1. In ancient days, they say, along the green ways went the powerful and upright sagacious As [one of the Aesir, named Heimdall, came to a village where he called himself Rig], the strong and active Rig, his onward course pursuing.
2. Forward he went on the mid-way, and to a dwelling came. The door stood ajar, he went in, fire was on the floor. The man and wife sat there, hoary-haired, by the hearth, Ai and Edda, in old guise clad.
3. Rig would counsel give to them both, and himself seated in the middle seat, having on either side the domestic pair.
4. Then Edda from the ashes took a loaf, heavy and thick, and with bran mixed; more besides she laid on the middle of the board; there in a bowl was broth on the table set, there was a calf boiled, of cates most excellent.
5. Then rose he up, prepared to sleep: Rig would counsel give to them both; laid him down in the middle of the bed; the domestic pair lay one on either side.
6. There he continued three nights together, then departed on the mid-way. Nine months then passed way.
7. Edda a child brought forth: they with water sprinkled its swarthy skin, and named it Thrael [Thrall].
8. It grew up, and well it throve; of its hands the skin was shriveled, the knuckles knotty, * * *(missing), and the fingers thick; a hideous countenance it had, a curved back, and protruding heels.
9. He then began his strength to prove, bast to bind, make of it loads; then faggots carried home, the livelong day.
10. Then to the dwelling came a woman walking, scarred were her foot-soles, her arms sunburnt, her nose compressed, her name was Thy [Thir].
11. In the middle seat herself she placed; by her sat the house's son. They spoke and whispered, prepared a bed, Thrael and Thy, and days of care.
12. Children they begat, and lived content: Their names, I think, were Hreimr and Fiosnir, Klur and Kleggi, Kefsir, Fulnir, Drumb, Digraldi, Drott and Hosvir, Lut and Leggialdi. Fences they erected, fields manured, tended swine, kept goats, dug turf.
13. The daughters were Drumba and Kumba, Okkvinkalfa, and Arinnefia, Ysia and Ambatt, Eikintiasna, Totrughypia, and Tronubeina, whence are sprung the race of thralls.
14. Rig then went on, in a direct course, and came to a house; the door stood ajar: he went in; fire was on the floor, man and wife sat there engaged at work.
[Rig goes forth to create another race thru this second family, and then a third in the same fashion with another couple.
Blackwell has maintained the Norse names in this account. But Lee Hollander, in his translation, gives English meanings (questionable, though) to the names of the children in verses 12 and 13, as follows:
(Hollander translation)
12. In their hut happy, they had a brood: I ween they were hight: Hay-Giver, Howler, Bastard, Sluggard, Bent-Back and Paunch, Stumpy, Stinker, Stableboy, Swarthy, Longshanks and Lout: they laid fences, put dung on fields, fattened the swine, herded the goats, and grubbed up peat.
13. Their daughters were Drudge and Daggle-Tail, Slattern, Serving-Maid, and Cinder-Wench, Stout-Leg, Shorty, Stumpy and Dumpy, Spindleshanks eke, and Sputterer: thence are sprung the breed of thralls.
STORY OF ASLOG, daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild.
FRITHIOF, THE BOLD AND FAIR INGEBORG,
Characters: King Bele & Torsten, Balder; King Sigurd;
RAGNAR LODBROOK, Characters: Ragnar, Princess Thora; Kraka (Ingeborg)
KING HELGE AND ROLF KRAKI, Characters: King Helge; Thora; King Adils; Rolf.
THE BATTLE OF BRAVALLA, Characters: King Iwar; Harald; Sigurd
WAYLAND SMITH. Characters: Sword Ring-Cleaver; Swan Maidens; Elf-King; Niduth.
SAXO GRAMMATICUS, author of Danish History in nine books. He wrote in Latin. His work is considered the most important literary work from the middle age in Denmark. The Encyclopaedia Brittanica of 1878 calls him, "the celebrated Danish historian and poet, belonged to a family of warriors, his father and grandfather having served under king Valdemar I. (d. 1182). He himself was brought up for the clerical profession, entered about 1180 the service of Archbishop Absalon as one of his secretaries, and remained with him in that capacity until the death of Absalon in 1201." He began, about 1185, to write the history of the Danish Christian kings. . .from heathen times,...into a great work, Gesta Danorum." "His work is a loosely connected series of biographies of Danish kings and heroes; he dwells with predilection on those periods during which Danish kings were said to have made great conquests, and he represents these conquerors as the paragons of their times."
HISTORIANS OF NOTE: For researchers of English history.
Gildas, was the earliest British historian, (c 516-570 AD). His book was Gildae Sapientis De Excidio et Conquestu Britaniae, covering a period from the invasion of Britain by the Romans, about 50BC, until his time. .
Bede, The Venerable, English historian and scholar, lived about 673-735AD. Wrote Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Nennius was a historian who lived during the 600s AD.
William of Malmsbury (1070-1143) works were in Latin. Wrote history of Kings of England and Ecclesiastical History.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (c1100-c1155) wrote the History of the Kings of Britain, which is one of the sources of information about King Arthur.
ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLES are available online. This is a year by year account of major events from the year 1AD until 1154AD. The first few entries are as follows:
AD 1. Octavianus reigned fifty-six winters; and in the forty second year of his reign Christ was born. Then three astrologers from the east came to worship Christ; and the children in Bethlehem were slain by Herod in persecution of Christ.
AD3. This year died Herod, stabbed by his own hand; and Archelaus his son succeeded him. The child Christ was also this year brought back again from Egypt.
AD6. From the beginning of the world to this year were agone five thousand and two hundred winters. [The Greek Septuagint of 285BC dates the appearance of Adam at 5508BC]
BEOWULF An Old English epic of almost 3,200 lines in Alliterative Verse. This is the earliest existing composition of such length in English and in all Teutonic literature. It's content was based on Norse legends, merged with historical events in Denmark; this oral tradition was carried to England by Danish invaders of mid 500s AD, and fused with Christianity there, and finally written down by an unknown poet about 700AD. The following synopsis of the story is from Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, Third Edition.
"Hrothgar, king of the Danes on the island of Zealand, has built the mead hall Heorot for feasting his warriors, but they abandon it because of the murderous ravages of the monster Grendel. Beowulf, nephew of King Hygelac of the Geats (on the coast of southern Sweden facing the Danes), comes with fourteen warriors to challenge the monster and is received by Hrothgar at a great feast. The Geats spend the night in the mead hall; Grendel comes, and in a mighty fight Beowulf with his bare hands wrenches the monster's arm from his shoulder and mounts it as a trophy. The next day, Hrothgar fives a triumphant feast in Heorot, but, as they sleep that night, Grendel's mother comes to avenge her son, slaying a Dane and stealing the severed arm. Beowulf plunges into the demon-infested pond where the monsters live and wrestles with Grendel's mother. The sword Hrunting, which Unferth lent him, proves of no use, but he finds a sword crafted by the giants and beheads her. Then he severs the head of Grendel, who has died there of his wound, to bring back as a trophy. He and his Geats receive many gifts from Hrothgar when they leave and from Hygelac when they reach home. Hygelac and his son both die in wars with the Swedes, so that Beowulf eventually becomes king of the Geats, ruling well for fifty years. Then a fire-breathing dragon, angered because a man has stolen a goblet from his hoarded treasure, begins to ravage the land. Beowulf goes out to slay it, but all his warriors fearfully desert him, except youg Wiglaf. Although together they kill the dragon, Beowulf receives his own death-wound. Wiglaf berates his companions for cowardice, and Beowulf is given a stately burial."
THE ARTHURIAN LEGENDS
It is hardly necessary to take space here to introduce our people to the legends around King Arthur. I would mention that the first production of legends was presented by Sir Thomas Malory (1408-1471) in his Morte D' Arthur. And I would be remiss if I neglected what is perhaps the greatest recounting of Arthur, Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. King Arthur was most likely the King Arturius Lucius who died in 542 AD. During the past 2,000 years, since the time of Jesus, the noble ideals and justice of Arthur represent the highest and most Godly period, before the Roman Catholic Church dragged civilization into the extremes of tyranny, cruelty, and misery which we call the "dark ages" for the next thousand years, until the Reformation. In the Arthurian stories, we see God's children as brave knights of Christ as we have not seen since. We might be reminded of Arthur and his knights when the prophecy is fulfilled soon that is written in Revelation 19:11-16, as follows: "And I saw Heaven opened and behold a White Horse and the One sitting on it being called Faithful and True, and He judges in righteousness and makes war. And His eyes are as a flame of fire, and on His head many diadems, having a Name written which no one knows except Himself, and clothed with a garment that was dipped in blood, and His Name has been called the Word of God. And the armies in Heaven were following Him on white horses, dressed in find linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes forth a sharp sword, that with it He may strike the nations and He will Shepherd them with a rod of iron, and He treads the winepress of the fury of the Wrath of God, the Almighty. And He has on the garment and on His thigh, a Name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
THE FAERIE QUEENE, by Edmund Spenser, born in London 1552, when Elizabeth was 19 yrs old & Henry VIII was King. Spenser died 1599. The books of The Faerie Queene were dedicated to his magnificent Protestant Queen Elizabeth. This is a time in history when the Roman Church ruled the civilized world, except for the new turn to Protest against Rome. Luther's 95 theses were posted at Wittenburg in 1517, a turning point in history. Henry VIII had converted England from Rome to the new Protestant movement. The printing press had been invented about 1450 so there was an explosion of writers getting their works printed. In a reaction against Roman Catholic debauchery (a popular saying was "wicked as a priest"), and with the influence of the King Arthur legends, the people were exalting Virtues as their Protestant ideals.
Edmund Spenser writes, in his preface, to Sir Walter Raleigh, that The Faerie Queene is a series of twelve books, each book to present one of the twelve virtues in the person of a knight. Book One is The Legend of the Red Cross Knight (Virtue of Holiness). Spenser includes occasional Bible references, quoted from the Geneva Bible of 1560. Clearly, when the Bible became available to the common man, many turned to it with an enthusiasm and excitement hardly paralleled in history. In this novel we see the contest between good and evil. The good knights were up against witches and magicians and demonic creatures of all types. Magic was used against them in ways that only a medieval writer might imagine, since superstitions and beliefs in magic and demons were such a big part of their daily lives.
The book, The Faerie Queene, is published as a Penguin Classic in paperback, 1247 pages, publ. 1987.
ENDNOTES:
Older Tales: "(St. LI.) Most of the marvels of modern romantic poetry may be traced back to much older tales reported by Greek authorities. The Scythian griffins, who watched the treasures coveted by their neighbors the Arimaspians, the dragon Ladon, who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, the more celebrated bullionist, who kept an eye on the golden fleece, are the undoubted ancestors of the more modern specimens of the serpent tribe, who inherited the like miserly passion, and allured such champions as Siegfried and Orlando to tread in the steps of Hercules and Jason. The volatile disposition of Wayland the Smith reminds us of Daedalus; his skill in his art exhibits him as a rival of Vulcan; his grandfather Wiking, like Odysseus... The Alcinas and Armidas of the modern Italians are only heightened copies of Calypso and Circe; Siegfried, Orlando and Ferrau, with their invulnerable hides and superfluous armor, are each of them a modernized Achilles. This list might be easily lengthened. I am not, however, aware that the fancy of giving names to swords can be traced to the classics. Durindana, the sword of Orlando; Fusberta, that of Rinaldo; Excalibur, of King Arthur; Joyeuse, of Charlemagne; and others may be paralleled by the following list from Northern fable, Gram and Balmung belonging to Siegfried, Mimung to Wayland and Wittich, Nagelring to Dietrich, Brinning to Hildebrand, Sachs to Eck, Blutang to Heime, Schrit to Biterolf, Welsung to Sintram the Greek and Dietlieb, Waske to Iring, etc. This list is anything but perfect." (from The World�s Great Classics, 1901, Editors and Artists Edition, (15 vol set) THE NIBELUNGENLIED, translated by William Nanson Lettsom, from Comments on the Third Adventure, page 384)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
EDDA, by Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241), by Everyman Press, 1987. paperback, 260 pages. This is the Prose Edda, also called the Younger Edda.
THE NIBELUNGENLIED, one volume of a 15 volume set of THE WORLD'S GREAT CLASSICS, Editors and Artists Edition, 1901. Published by The Colonial Press, New York and London, Julian Hawthorne, Managing Editor.
NORROENA, ANGLO-SAXON CLASSICS, EMBRACING THE HISTORY AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN EUROPE, Rasmus B. Anderson, Editor in Chief. a set of 15 volumes, published 1905 by the Norroena Society of London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, & New York.
Vol 1 - 2: are SAXO GRAMMATICUS ( nine books of Danish History) Vol 3 - 5: TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY - Gods and Goddesses of the Northland (contents: Aryan history, Troy Saga, Origin of Trojan Descent of the Franks, Odin as leader of the Trojan emigration, and stories of Patriarchs and Kings and Myths, Hades, Valkyries, Valhalla, Thor, and historical epics) Vol. 6: VOLSUNG SAGA (And Old Norse Sagas Kindred to the Volsung and Niblung Tale) Vol 7 - 9: THE HEIMSKRINGLA (3 vols: A History of the Norse Kings) Vol 10: BURNT NJAL (The Great Icelandic Tribune, Jurist, and Counsellor). Vol 11: THE EDDAS (The Elder Edda of Saemund, and The Younger Edda of Snorre Sturluson) Vol 12: EPICS AND ROMANCES of Norse, Celt, and Teuton (The Amelungs; Legend of Dietrich and Hildebrand; The Nibelung Story; The Hegeling Legend; The Legend of Beowulf; Legends of the Holy Grail; Legend of Lohengrin; Romance of Tristam and Isolde) Vol 13: A COLLECTION OF POPULAR TALES from the Norse and North German (41 tales; such as The Werewolf, Princess of the Glass Mountain, The Three Dogs, The Magician's Pupil, The Man Without a Heart, The seven Ravens, The Little Cup of Tears, The Man in the Moon, The Goatherd (Legend of Sleepy Hollow), Why the Sea is Salt, et al.) Vol 14: THE ARTHURIAN TALES The Greatest of Romances, Which Recount the Nobel and Valorous Deeds of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, compiled by Sir Thomas Malory, from the 1634 text edition. Containing: Books of Merlin and Birth of Arthur; Sir Balin; The Three Quests; Morgan LeFay; Sir Launcelot DuLake; Sir Galahad; Sir Percivale; The Queen's Maying; Sir Launcelot and the King; The Death of Arthur. Vol 15: THE NORSE DISCOVER OF AMERICA A Compilation in Extenso of all the Sagas, Manuscripts, and Inscriptive Memorials Relating to the Finding and Settlement of the New World in the Eleventh Century.
THE POETIC EDDA, also called THE ELDER EDDAS. translated by Lee M. Hollander, publ. 1962 by The Univ. of Texas Press. 343 page paperback.
PREFACE TO THE NIBELUNGENLIED, by Theodore M. Andersson, Stanford University Press, 1987. It is one volume, 307 pages. Professor Andersson attempts "to provide the necessary background for an informed reading of the Nibelungenlied."
THE SAGA OF THE JOMSVIKINGS, transl. by Lee M. Hollander from the Old Icelandic, Univ. of Texas Press, 1955, 116 page paperback.
THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS, by Viking Press, 2000. hardback 782 pages.
SHORT HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE, by James K. Hosmer, Professor at Washington University, St. Louis. Publ. 1901 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Pages 23 - 99 discuss the storyline and details of The Nibelungenlied.
DEFINITIONS
ANGLO-SAXON - "One of the Anglo-Saxon race - that is, of the mingled Anglo-Saxons and other Teutonic tribes from whom the English, the Lowland Scotch, a great proportion of the present inhabitants of Ulster, and the mass of the population in the United States and various British colonies sprung." (Universal Dictionary of the English Language 1897, vol. 1 p.217),
ANGLO - Definition: English
SAXONY - Definition: "the name successively given in German history to a mediaeval duchy in northern Germany, to a later electorate which afterwards became the present kingdom of Saxony (1878), and to a ducal province of Prussia. ... The Saxons, a tribe of Teutonic stock, are first mentioned by Ptolemy as occupying the southern part of the Cimbrian peninsula between the Elbe, Eider, and Trave, the district now known as Holstein. . . . The Saxons were one of the most warlike and adventurous of the Teutonic peoples, and they not only steadily extended the borders of their home, but made colonizing and piratical excursions by sea far and wide. In 287 they assisted the Menapian Carausius to make himself master of Romanized Britain, where he assumed the title of Augustus; and on the Continent they came into collision with the Roman empire under both Julian and Valentinian, the latter of whom defeated them in 373 so far south as Deutz, opposite Cologne. . . .In 772 Charlemagne, induced partly by a desire to protect his kingdom from the incursions of hostile neighbours and partly by a proselytizing spirit, began the subjugation of the Saxons. The war, waged on both sides with the utmost ferocity, lasted in a series of campaigns with but brief intervals, for thirty-one years. Repeatedly conquered and baptized, the Saxons rose again and again in revolt as soon as Charlemagne withdrew his troops, threw off their forced allegiance to Christianity, and under various leaders, of whom Wittekind or Widuking is the most famous, struggled fiercely to regain their independence."
"On the south is Bohemia, on the west by Bavaria and the Thuringian states, and on the remaining sides by Prussia." (The Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 1878, vol. XXI, p.351f)