The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Full of dramatic tension, Tolkien’s version of the majestic nordic legend, two related poems basing on his extensive study of ancient poetical traditions of Iceland and Norway and precise preserving verse forms which helped him to render the energy of ancient songs. The Lay of the Völsungs tells us about the mighty Sigurd, the slayer of Fáfnir the Dragon whose accursed treasure he took for his own; about awakening Brynhild the Valkyrie; about the hero’s coming to the court of the great princes Niflungs (or Nibelungs); about the birth of a great love but also about a great hate that sprang to life because of an enchantress, the Niflungs’ mother. And the Lay of Gudrún tells about events after Sigurd’s death, about Gudrún’s marriage to the mighty Atli, the ruler of Huns, about killing the brothers Niflungs at his order and the sister’s terrible revenge.