


It follows Fáfnismál without interruption, and it relates the meeting of Sigurðr with the valkyrie Brynhildr, here identified as Sigrdrífa ("driver to victory").[2] Its content consists mostly of verses concerned with runic magic and general wisdom literature, presented as advice given by Sigrdrifa to Sigurd. The metre is fornyrðislag, except for the first stanza.



The compound sigr-drífa means "driver to victory"[2] (or "victory-urger", "inciter to victory"[3]) It occurs only in Fafnismal (stanza 44) and in stanza 4 of the Sigrdrifumal. In Fafnismal, it could be a common noun, a synonym of valkyrie, while in Sigrdrifumal it is explicitly used as the name of the valkyrie whose name is given as Hildr or Brynhildr in the Prose Edda.[2] Bellows (1936) emphasizes that sigrdrifa is an epithet of Brynhildr (and not a "second Valkyrie").[4]







The valkyrie's drinking-speechEdit

The first three stanzas are spoken by Sigrdrifa after she has been awoken by Sigurd (stanza 1 in Bellows 1936 corresponds to the final stanza 45 of Fafnismal in the edition of Jonsson 1905).


The following two stanzas are introduced as follows:



The first two stanzas are given below in close transcription (Bugge 1867), in normalized Old Norse (Jonsson 1905) and in the translations by Thorpe (1866) and of Bellows (1936):

Heill dagr

heilir dags synir
heil nott oc nipt
oreiþom ꜹgom
litiþ ocr þinig
oc gefit sitiondom sigr

Heilir ęsir
heilar asynior
heil sia in fiolnyta fold
mal oc manvit
gefit ocr męrom tveim
oc lęcnishendr meþan lifom

(ed. Bugge 1867)[6]

Heill dagr,

heilir dags synir,
heil nótt ok nipt;
óreiðum augum
lítið okkr þinig
ok gefið sitjöndum sigr.

Heilir æsir,
heilar ásynjur,
heil sjá in fjölnýta fold,
mál ok mannvit
gefið okkr mærum tveim
ok læknishendr, meðan lifum.

(ed. Jonsson 1905)[7]

Hail Dag,

Hail Dag's sons,
Hail Nat and Nipt!
Look down upon us
With benevolent eyes
And give victory to the sitting!

Hail Asas,
Hail Asynjes,
Hail bounteous earth!
Words and wisdom
give to us noble twain,
and healing hands in life!

(Thorpe 1866)[8]

Hail, day!

Hail, sons of day!
And night and her daughter[9] now!
Look on us here
with loving eyes,
That waiting we victory win.

Hail to the gods!
Ye goddesses, hail,
And all the generous earth!
Give to us wisdom
and goodly speech,
And healing hands, life-long.

(Bellows 1936)[10]

Runic stanzasEdit



Biór fori ec þer / brynþings apaldr!
magni blandinn / oc megintíri;
fullr er hann lioþa / oc licnstafa,
godra galdra / oc gamanrvna.

Beer I bring thee, tree of battle,
Mingled of strength and mighty fame;
Charms it holds and healing signs,
Spells full good, and gladness-runes.


Sigrúnar þú skalt kunna,
ef þú vilt sigr hafa,
ok rísta á hialti hiǫrs,
sumar á véttrimum,
sumar á valbǫstum,
ok nefna tysvar Tý

Victory runes you must know
if you will have victory,
and carve them on the sword's hilt,
some on the grasp
and some on the inlay,
and name Tyr twice.[12]


Allar váro af scafnar / þer er váro a ristnar,
þer ’ro meþ asom / þer ’ro meþ alfom,
sumar meþ visom vanom / sumar hafa mennzkir menn.

Þat ero bocrunar / þat ero biargrunar
oc allar alrunar / oc metar meginrunar
hveim er þer kná oviltar / oc ospilltar
ser at heillom hafa;
niottu, ef þu namt,
unz riufaz regin.

So the gods had them, so the elves got them,

Who knows them rightly and reads them true,
Has them himself to help;
(Ever they aid, till the gods are gone.)[13]

Gnomic stanzasEdit


Editions and translationsEdit


  2. ^ a b c sigrdrífa occurs both as a common noun, a synonym of valkyrja, and as a proper name of the valkyrie named Hild or Brynhild in the Prose Edda. H. Reichert, "Sigrdrifa (Brynhildr)" in: McConnell et al. (eds.), The Nibelungen Tradition: An Encyclopedia, Routledge (2013), p. 119. H. Reichert, "Zum Sigrdrífa-Brünhild-Problem" in: Mayrhofer et al. (eds.), Antiquitates Indogermanicae (FS Güntert), Innsbruck (1974), 251–265.
  3. ^ Orchard (1997:194). Simek (2007:284).
  4. ^ "Even its customary title is an absurd error. The mistake made by the annotator in thinking that the epithet 'sigrdrifa,' rightly applied to Brynhild as a 'bringer of victory,' was a proper name has already been explained and commented on (note on Fafnismol, 44). Even if the collection of stanzas were in any real sense a poem, which it emphatically is not, it is certainly not the 'Ballad of Sigrdrifa' which it is commonly called. 'Ballad of Brynhild' would be a sufficiently suitable title, and I have here brought the established name 'Sigrdrifumol' into accord with this by translating the epithet instead of treating it as a proper name." "Victory-bringer: the word thus translated is in the original 'sigrdrifa.' The compiler of the collection, not being familiar with this word, assumed that it was a proper name, and in the prose following stanza 4 of the Sigrdrifumol he specifically states that this was the Valkyrie's name. Editors, until recently, have followed him in this error, failing to recognize that 'sigrdrifa' was simply an epithet for Brynhild. It is from this blunder that the so-called Sigrdrifumol takes its name. Brynhild's dual personality as a Valkyrie and as the daughter of Buthli has made plenty of trouble, but the addition of a second Valkyrie in the person of the supposed 'Sigrdrifa' has made still more." (Bellows 1936)[clarification needed]
  5. ^ Steinsland & Meulengracht 1998:72
  6. ^ Sophus Bugge, Sæmundar Edda (1867). Cursive type indicates expansions from scribal abbreviations.
  7. ^ ed. ed. Finnur Jonsson (1905), 320ff.
  8. ^ Benjamin Thorpe (trans.), Rasmus B. Anderson (ed.), The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigufsson, Norroena Society (1906).
  9. ^ Bellow's translation "her daughter" is based on the interpretation of the text as referring to Jörd. Sophus Bugge (1867) has argued against this interpretation, as the Earth is addressed directly in the following stanza. The literal meaning of nipt is "female relative" more generally and may refer to a sister, daughter or sister's daughter. The translation by Benjamin Thorpe renders the word as a proper name, as Nipt.
  10. ^ Henry Adams Bellows, The Poetic Edda (1936)
  12. ^ a b Jansson; 1987: p.15