The waverlowe of the Volsung myth
may be traced back to the midsummer fires; the wooing of Brynhild
by Sigurd's crossing the fire would thus, like the similar bridal
of Menglad and Svipdag and the winning of Gerd for Frey, be based on
the marriages which formed a part of agricultural rites.
Bibliographical Notes
To avoid confusion, and in view of the customary loose usage of the
word "saga," it may be as well to state that it is here used only in
its technical sense of a prose history.
_Voelund_. (Pages 5 to 8.)
Dr. Rydberg formulates a theory identifying Voelund with Thiazi,
the giant who carried off Idunn. It is based chiefly on arguments
from names and other philological considerations, and gives perhaps
undue weight to the authority of Saxo. It is difficult to see any
fundamental likenesses in the stories.
The Old English references to Weland are in the _Waldere_ fragment
and the _Lament of Deor_. For the Franks Casket, see Professor
Napier's discussion, with photographs, in the _English Miscellany_
(Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1901). The _Thidreks Saga_ (sometimes
called _Vilkina Saga_), was edited by Unger (Christiania, 1853),
and by Hylten-Cavallius (1880). There are two German translations:
by Rassmann (_Heldensage,_ (1863), and by Von der Hagen (_Nordische
Heldenromane_, 1873).
_The Volsungs_. (Pages 8 to 27.)
As divided in most editions the poems connected with the Volsung cycle,
including the two on Ermanric, are fifteen in number:
_Gripisspa_.
Pages:
34
35
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