Helgakviða Hundingsbana II

Völsungakviða in forna, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II or the Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays together with Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar.

Henry Adams Bellows maintains in his commentaries that it is a patchwork of various poems that do not fit well together, but stanzas 28-37 and 39-50 are held to be among the finest in Old Norse poetry.

The first section (containing stanzas 1 to 4) introduces Helgi as the son of Sigmund, of the Ylfing and the Völsung clan, and Borghild. They resided at Brálund and they named their son after Helgi Hjörvarðsson. Their clan was in a bloody feud with Hunding and his many sons.

Helgi disguised himself and visited the home of Hunding's family where the only man present was Hunding's son Hæmingr (unknown in any other source). Hunding sent men to Helgi's foster-father Hagal to search for Helgi but Helgi hid by dressing as a female servant working with the mill.

Helgi managed to escape to a warship after which he killed Hunding and earned his name Hundingsbane.

In the second section (containing stanzas 5 to 12), Helgi lay with his war party at Brunarvagar and had slaughtered some rustled cattle on the beach and were eating the meat raw. Then Sigrún, who was Sváfa reborn appeared, and introduced herself as the daughter of king Högne.

In the third section (containing stanzas 13 to 20), which is called the Old Völsung Lay, Sigrún's father had promised her to Hothbrodd, the son of king Granmarr.

Sigrún opposed the marriage and sought out Helgi, who was exhausted from a battle in which he had killed Hunding's sons Eyjólfr, Álfr, Hjörvarðr and Hávarðr. The Valkyrie embraced him and kissed him, and Helgi promised her to fight against Granmarr and his sons.

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