Valkyrie who loves the hero Helgi Hundingsbani and plays a central role in both poems about him.
Sigrún is a valkyrie who appears in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and II. In the first poem, Helgi Hundingsbani encounters her and her sisters riding through the sky; he falls in love with her and she chooses him. Sigrún explains that Óðinn has decreed she must marry Höðbroddr, which she refuses, and she asks Helgi to free her from this fate. Helgi gathers a fleet, defeats Höðbroddr in battle, and wins Sigrún.
In Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, Helgi is slain by Dagr, and Sigrún grieves him deeply. According to a prose note in the poem, Helgi is reborn and lives for a time again with Sigrún in a burial mound, after which he must ride to Valhöll. Their love story ends with his final departure and her solitary grief. The prose note suggests that Sigrún and Helgi are reincarnations of the valkyrie Sváva and Helgi Hjörvarðsson.
Sources in the Eddas
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
- Recounts Sigrún's meeting with Helgi and their union after the battle against Höðbroddr.
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
- Depicts Helgi's death, his temporary return, and Sigrún's grief.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
Sigrún appears as a named valkyrie in two surviving eddic poems, giving her solid textual attestation.
B What we think we know
The prose note's claim that Sigrún is a reincarnation of Sváva is plausible as an editorial interpretation but lacks support in the verses of the poems themselves.