Brynhild betrayed . . .

In section 8, Svikin Brynhildr, "Brynhild Betrayed," we find Brynhild living in a splendid court; her fame for wealth and beauty has spread far. Many princes have hoped to marry her, but she waits for Sigurd. Odin comes to her and prophecies that she will wed a king; to ensure that this will be Sigurd, he sets a flaming circle around her hall--a flame circle that only the "World's Chosen" can pass.

Meanwhile, Sigurd and Gudrun's wedding is celebrated:

In Gjuki's house
glad the singing.
A feast they fashioned,
far men sought it.
To blissful Gudrun
the bridal drank
there golden Sigurd
glorious shining. (143)

The guests enjoy "mead and ale" and the harper's songs. And Sigurd exchanges oaths of loyalty with Gudrun's brothers.

When the rumors of Brynhild reach the land of the Gjukings, Gundrun's mother desires yet more power for her husband and a good match for her son, Gunnar. So she encourages him to woe Brynhild for his wife. Gunnar agrees and sets out with Sigurd and their retainers on this quest, but first his mother provides Gunnar with magic potions. When they arrive at the fire ring, Gunnar's horse won't go forward, so he borrows Sigmund's, but even with this advantage he can not proceed. Sigmund agrees to go in his stead, drinking the potion which changes him so that he looks like Gunnar. He rides his own horse and takes his own sword, Gram.

Sigurd easily passes through the fire barrier and enters Brynhild's hall, announcing himself as Gunnar come to win her as his bride. Brynhild is confused and doesn't know how to answer him. She believed only Sigurd would be able to pass the fire, but Gunnar has, and her mind is troubled. However, she agrees to follow him to his land and become his wife. Sigurd gives her a ring from the trove of Andvari's gold. And the section ends with Sigurd returning to Gunnar and heading home.

Christopher Tolkien suggests that Brynhild would never have broken her previous oath to Sigurd unless she really believed that Gunnar was the "World's Chosen" as evidenced by his passing the fire wall.

So Gudrun's mother's sorcery once again confounds true love. Sigurd has no memory of his love for and oath to Brynhild, and Brynhild has been tricked into marrying an impostor. Talk about a meddling mother-in-law! Grimhild may be the model for all the mother-in-law stories that followed. But all the others seem tame compared to her!

The poetry in this section seems uneven; there are a few really lovely stanzas--mostly those having to do with Gudrun--but too much of it is heavy with harsh alliteration, and sometimes, I think, Tolkien may have done better to give us more stanzas with more music rather than condense the tale so tightly. I do think he's accomplished an amazing feat--to use the Old Norse form with modern English which in many ways is not suited to such expression. It's just that when he does it really well, I want it to continue in that vein.