Sigurd The Volsung
The story of Sigurd the Volsung starts off by introducing Volsung, the great-grandson of Odin and the king of Hunland. Out of all his children, the twins - Sigmund and Signy - were the most nobel. Durring Signy's wedding feast, Odin appears and plunges a sword into the great trunk of the oak tree located in the center of the room. Odin says that "Whoever draws this sword from this oak will have the sword as my gift to him, and will find that he never had a better friend in time of need." Many try to withdraw the sword but only Sigmund was able to pull it out. During his reign, Sigmund was forced to fight an invading army in which, on the battle field, he met Odin. Odin foretold that Sigmund's "time" had come to an end; and with that, he shattered his sword. Sigmund lost the war and received a wound that ended up killing him. Just before he died, Sigmund told his wife to "preserve the pieces of my broken sword" for their unborn son, Sigurd.
Sigurd was raised by the king of Denmark and was treated as if he was the kings own son. Through a challenge by Regin (his tutor), Sigurd goes to find himself a horse that would be suitable for himself. Guided by Odin, Sigurd finds a grey horse which he ended up calling Grani. On the second and last challenge, Regin sends Sigurd to go kill his brother Fafnir (a dragon). In order to do so, Sigurd had Regin recreate the sword of his fathers and renamed it Gram. With gram and some guidance from his tutor, Sigurd departs on his adventure to go slay the dragon. Regin had suggested that he dig a pit in the ground and when the dragon traveled over the pit, Sigurd would pierce the hart of the dragon. In the mist of digging the hole, Odin once again approaches Sigurd and suggests that he dig many more pits and have them leading off of the main pit; that way, when the dragon's armor was pierced by gram, the flood of dragon's blood wouldn't drown him in the pit. Sigurd waited patiently and once the dragon was over the pit, he plunged the sword into the dragons heart. With the dragon was dead, Regin asked of one last favor; since Fafnir (the dragon) was his brother and had murdered his father, Regin wanted Sigurd to roast the dragons heart so he could eat it. While Sigurd was roasting the heart, some of the bloody juices dripped onto Sigurd's hand and burned his finger. His instant reaction was to plunge his finger into his mouth and to his amazement - as soon as he did that - he was able to hear and understand the language of the birds. He listened to them talk among each other as they described how Regin was tricking Sigurd and that by eating the dragon's heart, Regin would be the wisest of all men. Sigurd, seeing the betrayal, took things into his own hands and cut off the head of Regins and drank the blood of both the dragons and Regins along with eating most of the dragon's heart. With the dragon and Regin both out of the picture, Sigurd took the ring (cursed by the dwarf Andvari during an adventure that Loki was part of) off of Fafnir and rode into the den and collected all of Fafnir's golden treasures.
Taking the advice from the birds, Sigurd then rode off to Hindfell in order to awake the Valkyrie Brunhild (who was surrounded by a blazing ring of fire) from a deep sleep that Odin had put her in for disobedience. By pulling out a thorn out of the back of her hand, Sigurd woke her from a deep and undisturbed sleep. She explained to him that Odin had predicted that a great warrior would ride through the ring of fire and awaken her and that "only he among mortals has the great courage" that she desired. Seeing the beauty and wisdom that she possessed, Sigurd chose her to be his wife, gave her Andvari's gold ring, and swore that she would be his only wife or that he would have no wife at all.
While Brunhild remained at Hindfell, Sigurd then traveled to the kingdom south of the Rhine River where he met King Giuki, his three children, Gunnar, Hogni, and young Guttorm, and his fierce-hearted wife, Queen Grimhild. Seeing the wealth, fame, and glory that follows Sigurd, Queen Grimhild decides to drug his drink causing him to forget all about Brunhild and the promises that he had swore to her. The cunning Queen convinces the King to offer their daughter's hand in marriage, by pointing out all the good qualities Sigurd has - he has the greatest of all hearts, he is trustworthy, helpful, and the strength that he possesses surpasses all others. Sigurd accepts the offer with great pleasure and married Gudrun.
Gunnar convinces Sigurd to ride with him up the Hindfell in order to pursue Brunhild, but his lack of courage prevents him to ride forward through the ring of fire in order to get her. He teaches Sigurd magic and convinces him to change his shape and form in order to ride through the fire (as Gunnar) and to win Brunhild over. Having no lack of courage, Sigurd rides through the flames, marries Brunhild (but still in the shape of Gunnar) and brings her back to the castle to live together. A big turn of events happen when - through an argument - Gudrun tells Brunhild that it was Sigurd who rode through the flames at Hindfell and that she had married a coward who couldn't go through the flames himself. Outraged by the lies, trickery, and deceit, Brunhild persuades Gunnar - through a series of stories and lies of her own - to go out hunting with his brother Hogni in which they plotted and planned to kill Sigurd. When Sigurd stopped to take a drink of water at the river, Guttorm plunged his sword through Sigurd's only weak spot (identified by a leaf pattern stitched into his hunting outfit that his wife made) on his back. The fatal wound was too much for Sigurd and he laid dying among the wild flowers. His last request to Guttorm was to tell his kin that " you have killed an honorable man this day."
At the request of Brunhild and shortly after she plunged a sword into her side (located right below her armpit), Sigurd and herself were placed next to each other in the pyre, having gram placed between them and having rich tapestries and golden shields all around the pyre. Just before life had faded from Brunhild, she foretold Gunnar's terrible future which consisted of her whole family dying from fighting among each other and she will cast herself into the sea where Andvari's ring and all the golden treasures would be returned to it's depths and the curse will be buried with the treasure.
Sigurd was raised by the king of Denmark and was treated as if he was the kings own son. Through a challenge by Regin (his tutor), Sigurd goes to find himself a horse that would be suitable for himself. Guided by Odin, Sigurd finds a grey horse which he ended up calling Grani. On the second and last challenge, Regin sends Sigurd to go kill his brother Fafnir (a dragon). In order to do so, Sigurd had Regin recreate the sword of his fathers and renamed it Gram. With gram and some guidance from his tutor, Sigurd departs on his adventure to go slay the dragon. Regin had suggested that he dig a pit in the ground and when the dragon traveled over the pit, Sigurd would pierce the hart of the dragon. In the mist of digging the hole, Odin once again approaches Sigurd and suggests that he dig many more pits and have them leading off of the main pit; that way, when the dragon's armor was pierced by gram, the flood of dragon's blood wouldn't drown him in the pit. Sigurd waited patiently and once the dragon was over the pit, he plunged the sword into the dragons heart. With the dragon was dead, Regin asked of one last favor; since Fafnir (the dragon) was his brother and had murdered his father, Regin wanted Sigurd to roast the dragons heart so he could eat it. While Sigurd was roasting the heart, some of the bloody juices dripped onto Sigurd's hand and burned his finger. His instant reaction was to plunge his finger into his mouth and to his amazement - as soon as he did that - he was able to hear and understand the language of the birds. He listened to them talk among each other as they described how Regin was tricking Sigurd and that by eating the dragon's heart, Regin would be the wisest of all men. Sigurd, seeing the betrayal, took things into his own hands and cut off the head of Regins and drank the blood of both the dragons and Regins along with eating most of the dragon's heart. With the dragon and Regin both out of the picture, Sigurd took the ring (cursed by the dwarf Andvari during an adventure that Loki was part of) off of Fafnir and rode into the den and collected all of Fafnir's golden treasures.
Taking the advice from the birds, Sigurd then rode off to Hindfell in order to awake the Valkyrie Brunhild (who was surrounded by a blazing ring of fire) from a deep sleep that Odin had put her in for disobedience. By pulling out a thorn out of the back of her hand, Sigurd woke her from a deep and undisturbed sleep. She explained to him that Odin had predicted that a great warrior would ride through the ring of fire and awaken her and that "only he among mortals has the great courage" that she desired. Seeing the beauty and wisdom that she possessed, Sigurd chose her to be his wife, gave her Andvari's gold ring, and swore that she would be his only wife or that he would have no wife at all.
While Brunhild remained at Hindfell, Sigurd then traveled to the kingdom south of the Rhine River where he met King Giuki, his three children, Gunnar, Hogni, and young Guttorm, and his fierce-hearted wife, Queen Grimhild. Seeing the wealth, fame, and glory that follows Sigurd, Queen Grimhild decides to drug his drink causing him to forget all about Brunhild and the promises that he had swore to her. The cunning Queen convinces the King to offer their daughter's hand in marriage, by pointing out all the good qualities Sigurd has - he has the greatest of all hearts, he is trustworthy, helpful, and the strength that he possesses surpasses all others. Sigurd accepts the offer with great pleasure and married Gudrun.
Gunnar convinces Sigurd to ride with him up the Hindfell in order to pursue Brunhild, but his lack of courage prevents him to ride forward through the ring of fire in order to get her. He teaches Sigurd magic and convinces him to change his shape and form in order to ride through the fire (as Gunnar) and to win Brunhild over. Having no lack of courage, Sigurd rides through the flames, marries Brunhild (but still in the shape of Gunnar) and brings her back to the castle to live together. A big turn of events happen when - through an argument - Gudrun tells Brunhild that it was Sigurd who rode through the flames at Hindfell and that she had married a coward who couldn't go through the flames himself. Outraged by the lies, trickery, and deceit, Brunhild persuades Gunnar - through a series of stories and lies of her own - to go out hunting with his brother Hogni in which they plotted and planned to kill Sigurd. When Sigurd stopped to take a drink of water at the river, Guttorm plunged his sword through Sigurd's only weak spot (identified by a leaf pattern stitched into his hunting outfit that his wife made) on his back. The fatal wound was too much for Sigurd and he laid dying among the wild flowers. His last request to Guttorm was to tell his kin that " you have killed an honorable man this day."
At the request of Brunhild and shortly after she plunged a sword into her side (located right below her armpit), Sigurd and herself were placed next to each other in the pyre, having gram placed between them and having rich tapestries and golden shields all around the pyre. Just before life had faded from Brunhild, she foretold Gunnar's terrible future which consisted of her whole family dying from fighting among each other and she will cast herself into the sea where Andvari's ring and all the golden treasures would be returned to it's depths and the curse will be buried with the treasure.