Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/43

Rh poem which is not found in the manuscripts of the Elder Edda, namely, the mythic-genealogical lay called Hyndluljóð. Both of these occupy a position about midway between the mythic and the heroic poems. To the heroic group belongs the beautiful poem on the skilful Smith, Volund (Völundarkviða), the Dædalos of the North; the Grottasöngr found in Snorre's Edda, telling of the giant women Fenja and Menja, who ground gold for King Frode; and a series of poems for which the material has been taken from the traditions about the Volsungs. Here we find a number of characters described with remarkable vigor; men like Helge, the slayer of Hunding, and Sigurd, the slayer of Fafner; women like Sigrun, Brynhild and Gudrun; and many of these poems will always rank among the noblest contributions ever made to the literature of the world. We may mention as examples the second song of Helge, the slayer of Hunding, and the first song of Gudrun. These poems are based on the same traditions as the Niebelungen Lay. While the latter, however, has been materially modified as to form and contents by the later Christian culture, whereby its poetical merit has been greatly damaged, the story has in the Old Norse poetical version preserved all its original grandeur and heathen spirit. In addition to the heroic songs which we find in the Edda, there doubtless existed many others of a similar character. A few of these, like the Krákumál on the achievements of Ragnar Lodbrok, which belong to a considerably later date, have come down to us in their original form, while others, like for example the old Bjarkamál, have been preserved only in fragments, while still others have been remodelled into prose stories, which, however, contain more or less extended fragments of the original poems. Finally there are some, which have been preserved only in the form of ancient traditions, as for instance in Saxo's Chronicle of Denmark.