Our hero is born . . .

Section 4, FOEDDR SIGURDE, or "Sigurd Born," tells of Sigmund taking a young beautiful wife, Sigrlinn; he asks her,

"Say me, Sigrlinn,
sweeter were it
young king to wed
and yellow-bearded,
or wife of a Volsung,
the World's chosen
in my bed to bear,
bride of Odin?"

She had been wooed by seven princes, and, while the poem says "Sigmund took her" (93), she appears to love him.

Tolkien describes the battle in typical Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon style:

High sang the horns,
helms were gleaming,
shafts were shaken,
shields them answered.
Vikings' standards,
Volsung's banner
on strand were streaming;
stern the onslaught. (94)

Sigmund is unstoppable on the battle field; and it's really gory. In stanza 7 Tolkien describes him--fearless and covered in blood:

Fate him fended
fearless striding
with dew of battle
dyed to shoulder. (94)

But one "warrior strange" (94) appears (Christopher Tolkien's note identified him as Odin himself); Sigmund is no match for him and is cut down. Here we see Sigrlinn's attachment to Sigmund, when she addresses him as "my lord beloved, last of Volsungs" (95). As he dies, Sigmund tells her she will bear the World's Chosen and that she must collect the shards of his shattered sword and have them reforged for their son (96). Reminds us of "The sword that was broken . . . " in LOTR.

The Vikings now returning in victory, Sigrlinn disguises herself as a servant-girl and is carried off to a "far country," where in due time she gives birth to a son: "Sigurd golden as a sun shining" (97). When a wise woman learns that he is the son of Sigmund, she prophesies:

"Fair shall be fostered
that father's child;
his mother be mated
to a might king." (98)

This section contains several tropes of ON and OE poetry and saga; we see the hero in battle, driven by fate and unconquerable by men; we see his overthrow by divine intervention and his sword broken; we see the fate of women--taken in battle or enslaved by victors in war; we see the acceptance of fate or destiny--the gods' will--in both good and bad circumstances; we see the practice of fostering; and we see the prophetess, proclaiming the reversal of fortune for the son--and his mother.

Now we'll have to wait to see how this is worked out.