The verse consists only of scraps of dialogue. The first
of these comprises question and answer between Loki and the dwarf
Andvari in the form of the old riddle-poems, and seems to result
from the confusion of two ideas: the question-and-answer wager, and
the captive's ransom by treasure. Then follows the curse, in less
general terms than in the prose: "My gold shall be the death of two
brothers, and cause strife among eight kings; no one shall rejoice in
the possession of my treasure." Next comes a short dialogue between
Loki and Hreidmar, in which the former warns his host of the risk he
runs in taking the hoard. In the next fragment Hreidmar calls on his
daughters to avenge him; Lyngheid replies that they cannot do so on
their own brother, and her father bids her bear a daughter whose son
may avenge him. This has given rise to a suggestion that Hjoerdis,
Sigurd's mother, was daughter to Lyngheid, but if that is intended,
it may only be due to the Norse passion for genealogy. The next
fragment brings Regin and Sigurd together, and the smith takes the
young Volsung for his foster-son. A speech of Sigurd's follows, in
which he refuses to seek the treasure till he has avenged his father
on Hunding's sons. The rest of the poem is concerned with the battle
with Hunding's race, and Sigurd's meeting with Odin by the way.
The fight with Fafni is not described in verse, very little of this
poetry being in narrative form; but _Fafnismal_ gives a dialogue
between the wounded dragon and his slayer.
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