The radiant princely hero who slew Hundingr and won the love of the valkyrie Sigrún, but fell young and returned as a guest from the realm of the dead for a single night.
Helgi Hundingsbani was the son of Sigmundr Völsungason and Borghildr. The Norn Skuld wove his fate at his birth, and from childhood he was exceptionally gifted with courage and leadership. He slew King Hundingr and received his epithet thereby. The valkyrie Sigrún chose him above all warriors and shielded him from hostile arrows.
Helgi and Sigrún's love is one of the most beautiful in Eddic poetry, but Helgi's brother-in-law Dagr avenged his father's death and pierced Helgi with a spear from Óðinn's host. Sigrún grieved deeply. A servant reported seeing Helgi riding toward Valhöll with a retinue, and that night Helgi returned to their dwelling for one night with Sigrún. By dawn he was gone and never returned. The prose notes suggest that Helgi and Sigrún were reborn and lived a new life, but this is a later prose interpolation.
Sources in the Eddas
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
- Helgi's youth, heroism, and love for Sigrún. Own translation.
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
- Helgi's death and nocturnal return to Sigrún. Own translation.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
Helgi Hundingsbani is attested in two separate Eddic poems and belongs to the well-documented heroic stratum of Codex Regius.
B What we think we know
Scholars have discussed whether Helgi is a cult figure linked to Óðinnic afterlife conceptions, a reading supported by his supernatural return from the dead.