Svanhildr (original) (raw)

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Svanhildr as illustrated by Jenny Nyström in Fredrik Sander's 1893 Swedish edition of the Poetic Edda.

Svanhildr is the beautiful daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun in Germanic heroic legend, whose grisly death at the hands of her jealous royal husband Ermanaric was told in many northern European stories, including the Old Norse Poetic Edda (Hamðismál and Guðrúnarhvöt), Prose Edda, and Völsunga Saga; the skaldic poem Ragnarsdrápa; the Danish Latin Gesta Danorum; and the German Latin Annals of Quedlinburg.[1]

She was "the most beautiful of all women,"[2] and was married to Ermanaric (Jörmunrekkr) the king of the Goths. She was accused of infidelity with the king's son, Randver.[1] Because of this Ermanaric had her trampled to death under horses.[3]

Her mother made her half-brothers Hamdir and Sörli exact revenge for her death, a story which is retold in Hamðismál and Guðrúnarhvöt, Bragi Boddason's Ragnarsdrápa, in the Völsunga saga and in Gesta Danorum. [4][5][6]

Jordanes wrote in 551 AD that Ermanaric, king of the Gothic Greuthungi, was upset with the attack of a subordinate king and had his young wife Sunilda (i.e. Svanhild) torn apart by four horses. As revenge Ermanaric was pierced with spears by her brothers Ammius (Hamdir) and Sarus (Sörli) and died from the wounds. The Annals of Quedlinburg (end of the 10th century) relates that the brothers Hemidus (Hamdir), Serila (Sörli) and Adaccar (Erp/Odoacer) had cut off the hands of Ermanaric.

  1. ^ a b Hallberg, Peter (1983-12-01), "Elements of Imagery in the Edda", Elements of Imagery in the Edda, University of Manitoba Press, pp. 47–85, doi:10.1515/9780887553196-006, ISBN 978-0-88755-319-6, retrieved 2024-06-23
  2. ^ Lettsom, William Nanson; Carpenter, William H. (1901), The Nibelungenlied, Colonial Press, retrieved 7 May 2011
  3. ^ McTurk, Rory (2008-03-11). A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-3738-6.
  4. ^ The Ballad of Hamther(Hamðismál) Archived 2006-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Jimmy Joe, Svanhild (Swanhild) (Völsunga Saga); Norse Myths. Retrieved 27 Nov. 2019.
  6. ^ Acker, Paul; Larrington, Carolyne (2013-06-26). Revisiting the Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Heroic Legend. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-22786-8.