Atlilied

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The Older Atlilied ( Old Norse Atlakviða ) is an Old Norse hero song in the Song Edda . It is named after the main character Atli ( Attila the Hun , German Etzel ) and deals with the murder of the Burgundy kings Gunnar and Hogni, which was caused by Atli, as well as their revenge by their sister Gudrun. The Older Atlilied is considered to be one of the oldest poems of the Song Edda and, according to many, could have been written as early as 900 AD. The written version we received was not recorded until around 1270 (contained in the Codex Regius (Edda) ). The described action goes to events of international migration time (about 5th century ) back and overlaps with the fabric of the Middle High German Nibelungenlied . The older atlilied is 176 lines long and written in alliteration . A second atlilied ( old Norse Atlamál ) in the song Edda deals with the same story, but shows clearly more recent traits in narrative style and style.

Atli the Hun, in an illustration from the Edda.

content

action

Atli, the king of the Huns, is married to the sister of the two Niflungs Burgundians (Giukungen) Gunnar and Hogni. As the greedy Atli seeks the gold of the Niflunge, he sends a messenger who lures the two of them to his court with false promises. Gunnar and Hogni are aware of the danger due to a warning from their sister, but still ride to the Hun King. There they are insidiously murdered without, however, revealing the location of the Niflung treasure: Hogni's heart is cut out, Gunnar ends up in the snake pit, where he played the harp before he died. Thereupon Gudrun , the sister of the two murdered, takes a cruel revenge on her husband Atli by slaughtering their two sons and putting them in front of her husband for dinner. The night after this atrocity, she murdered Atli with her own hands while he was lying drunk in bed, and finally set fire to his royal hall.

Relationship with the Atlamál

Both poems deal in principle with the same subject, but present it very differently. In all likelihood, the Atlamál are a later revision of the story, in which many aspects of the plot have been embellished and some longer dialogue scenes have been added. Some particular variations are:

  • The plot has been transferred from continental Europe to the north, the scenes and people have taken on "peasant" traits
  • Atli's cruelty is emphasized more, while in the older version his greed is in the foreground
  • The scene with Atli's messenger is expanded - Gudrun's warning comes in the form of a rune staff
  • Hogni's son Hniflungr becomes Gudrun's accomplice
  • Gudrun's marriage to Atli is described as unhappy
  • In the snake pit, Gunnar does not play the harp with his hands, but with his feet
Gotland picture stone, which probably shows scenes from the Atlas song. In the center left Gudrun is likely to be shown, who Gunnar sees in the snake pit.

Relationship to the Nibelungenlied

The Older Atlilied belongs to the same set of legends as the Middle High German Nibelungen saga, but unlike this it connects the material neither with Sigurd / Siegfried , nor with Brünhild (Brynhild), a hoard guarded by a dragon (compare Fafnir ) or the fall of an entire army ( Only two of Gunnar and Hogni start the journey to Atli). It stands completely outside of the traditions that connect the legends of Sigurd's death with the fall of the Niflung ( Nibelungen ). Other differences:

  • the motive for revenge is exactly the opposite: while Gudrun avenges the murder of her brothers on her husband, with her German counterpart Kriemhild it is the husband who perishes and has to be avenged on her brothers
  • Hagen von Tronje and Gunther are not brothers - the former is a vassal of the three Burgundian brothers
  • Gudrun is called Kriemhild here - the name Kriemhild in the Nordic version bears Gudrun's mother ( Grimhild )
  • The Nibelungenlied knows a connection to Dietrich forecast , while in the songs Edda ( Hamðismál , Guðrúnarhvǫt ) a linkage of the Burgundy substance to the stories of Ermanarich is made

Possible ancient influences

Individual scenes of the poem could influences from ancient literature, for example from the Atreus say (Krause 2001) or from Ovid's " Tereus and Procne " (Dronke 1969), have.

Text-critical and linguistic comments

The poem is structurally and linguistically uneven. Some passages are believed to be corrupt, especially in the first half of the text. Due to the content breaks, it has been speculated that the text could have been merged from several sources. Neckel calls the song a “patchwork” (Neckel 1908: 129). The linguistic interpretation is controversial in some places, there is a large number of otherwise unproven words (so-called Hapax legomena ). As a result, modern translations of the Older Atlas Song can vary greatly in detail.

Historical background

The core of the mostly fictional plot is a historical event. Gunnar can be equated with the Burgundian king Gundaharius , who was defeated by Attila's Huns in the 5th century. Attila died on his wedding night after marrying a German woman. Although there was a natural cause of death, his death could have been blamed on the Germanic wife. From this Gudrun's brother revenge would have developed in the legendary tradition. The downfall of the Burgundians and Attila's death were actually a few years apart.

Text excerpt

Verse 16 (Gudrun speaks to her brother Gunnar when he arrives at Atli's court with Hogni :) 

„Betr hefðir þú, bróðir, / at þú í brynio fǿrir,
sem hiálmom aringreypom, / at siá heim Atla;
sætir þú í sǫðlom / sólheiða daga,
nái nauðfǫlva / létir nornir gráta,
Húna scialdmeyiar / hervi kanna,
enn Atla siálfan / létir þú í ormgarð koma;
nú er sá ormgarðr / ycr um fólginn.“

Translation: 

„Es wäre besser gewesen, Bruder, du wärst in die Rüstung gestiegen
statt (nur) einen feingeschliffenen Helm anzuziehen, um Atli aufzusuchen.
Du hättest dich besser an sonnenhellen Tagen in den Sattel gesetzt,
um die Nornen todesbleiche Leichen beweinen und die Schildmaide
der Hunnen die Egge kennenlernen zu lassen.
Und Atli selber hättest du in die Schlangengrube kommen lassen können,
doch nun ist die Schlangengrube euch beiden bestimmt.“

Note on line 3 : The word aringreypom , which as Hapax legomenon does not appear outside of the Older Atlas song , is particularly difficult to translate . The first part of the compound could mean 'hearth', 'eagle' or as an adjective 'iron', the second part could be a verb for 'fold in' or 'file, work metal with a tool'.

Note on lines 4 and 5 : What is meant here is that Gunnar could have killed many Huns. The Norns appear here in the role of Valkyries , i. that is, they choose those warriors who will die on the battlefield. Line 5 alludes to the fact that the shield maids of the Huns would have to turn to agriculture after the death of their masters.

literature

expenditure

Translations

  • Hugo Gering (ed.): The Edda. The songs of the so-called Elder Edda. In addition to an appendix: The mythical and heroic stories of the Snorra Edda. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig et al. 1892.
  • Edda. Transferred by Felix Genzmer . Diederichs, Jena 1922 ( Thule Collection 1).
  • Arnulf Krause (ed.): The heroic songs of the older Edda . Reclam, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-15-018142-9 ( Reclam's Universal Library 18142).
  • Karl Simrock : The Edda the older and younger along with the mythical tales of the Skalda. Cotta, Stuttgart et al. 1851.

Summaries

  • Hermann Reichert : The Nibelungen saga in medieval Scandinavia. In: Joachim Heinzle , Klaus Klein, Ute Obhof (eds.): The Nibelungs. Saga - epic - myth. Reichert, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-89500-347-6 , pp. 29-88.
  • Hermann Reichert: Attila in Old Norse Poetry. In: Alexander Koch (Red.): Attila and the Huns. Book accompanying the exhibition. Published by the Palatinate Historical Museum. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2114-5 , pp. 349-355.

Secondary literature

  • Ursula Dronke (Ed.): The Poetic Edda. Volume 1: Heroic Poems. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1969.
  • Ronald George Finch: Atlakviða, Atlamál and Völsunga Saga. A Study in Combination and Integration. In: Ursula Dronke (Ed.): Specvlvm Norroenvm. Norse Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre. University Press, Odense 1981, ISBN 87-7492-289-0 , pp. 123-138.
  • Carola L. Gottzmann: The Old Atlilied. Investigation of the design principles of its structure of action. Winter, Heidelberg 1973, ISBN 3-533-02325-7 ( Germanische Bibliothek. Series 3: Investigations and individual presentations ), (At the same time: Heidelberg, Univ., Diss., 1973).
  • Gustav Neckel : Contributions to Edda research. With excursions to the heroic saga. Ruhfus, Dortmund 1908.

Web links

Wikisource: Atlaqviða  - Sources and full texts