Reconciling with Revenge: Völundarkviða
For those unfamiliar with the poem, it is the story of the famous smith Volundr, also known across Europe as Weyland the smith. Apparently Volund is quite a famous figure, and I had never heard of him. He can be found in an exorbitant amount of European myth and folktale. He is credited to have forged a number of swords within various sagas, as well as Caliburn, the sword in Mary Stewart's Arthurian legend, and Albion, the sword of Robin Hood. He is mentioned in the epic poem Beowulf as well, in passing. So I was quite shocked to learn that here was a Norse figure so well known that I had yet to even hear about.
The poem Volundarkvida explores the history of Volundr. In the poem, Volundr and his brothers Slagfith and Egil are out hunting when they come to a lake. Their they find three maidens, in some translations "swan maidens" and in others they are called valkyries. Each brother takes one of them to make his wife. They reside peacefully for seven winters before the women become hungry for battle and run away. Egil and Slagfith journey in search of them, Volundr stays behind. Waiting patiently for his wife (All Wise) to return, he forges a beautiful golden ring as a symbol of his love, to give his wife upon her return as a symbol of his sorrow at her loss. In other versions he weaves a shirt of golden mail, in other he makes a string of 700 hundred golden rings which he string upon the ramparts of his castle.
While his brothers are departed, the greedy king Nithuth hears of Volund all alone with the gold. He sends men to the castle and they capture Voulndr, taking him by force to Nithuth. The special ring that Volund had forged Nithuth had given to his daughter Brothilde. Knowing Volundr's skill as a smith, he has his tendons cut to cripple the smith, and places him in a smithy upon an island, where he is forced to forge many items for the greedy king and his family.
After some time passes, Nithuth's two son's journey to the island to see for themselves what Volund possesses. When they see the gold and jewels that Volundr possesses for forging, the become entranced with greed. In revenge against Nithuth, he kills then both, burying their feet beneath his smithy and disposing of the bodies in secret, and keeping their skulls. The skulls he fashions into a cups inlaid with gems which he gives the Nithuth, and their teeth he uses to fashion a brooch for Brothilde.
Then one evening Brothilde comes alone to the smithy, she has broken the special ring, and asks if Volundr can mend it. He agrees, and offers her a drink as she waits. In some traditions the drink is drugged, in others he simply gets her drunk. As she sleeps he has his way with her, in other traditions she simply is entranced and sleeps with him. She becomes pregnant. During this time, he also collects goose feathers to make a flying cloak, in some traditions Egil brings him the feathers.
Eventually Nithuth becomes depressed at the fate of his sons, not knowing what has happened to them. He summons Volund and interrogates him. Volundr reveals all he has done, and as well that Brothilde will have his child. His revenge is complete. He uses his feather cloak to escape the king, using a bag of blood to fool him into thinking an archer has shot him down as he flew away. In some traditions the archer is Egil, his brother, who knowingly shoots the bag of blood in order to fool the king and enable his brother to escape.
This is just my general summary of events, please keep in mind that this legend varies cross culturally.
Anyway, I have to say that after reading this poem, well, I was a bit depressed. The revenge theme in Norse literature troubles me more than most anything else. I often struggle to find the justice in them. My modern mind is troubled by the cold hardheartedness of the characters. Yet a part of me knows there is more truth in them than we might like to admit.
Though he is culturally marked as a heroic figure, I am afraid I cannot view him that way personally. Cunning. clever, yes he is those. His devotion to his wife I can understand. His need for revenge I can understand. But Brothilde to me is a sad figure, a sad testament to the position of women as pawns in the schemes of men. I would have viewed this with a much different view had she been left out of the equation. But faced with the story as it is, I fail to see how either side found any real benefit from the completion of revenge. Nithuth may be rightfully destroyed, but Brothilde is left with a child of rape, and Volund is left crippled and doomed to be a fugitive. Where is the purpose?
I know the problem lies in my own inability to leave moral judgement behind. Obviously revenge was a neccessity for Volundr. His honor had been taken, revenge was his only choice. Understanding such myths requires stepping out of modern moral judgement, and into the culture from which it originated.
In any case, these tales at least can be a learning experience for us as heathens. They illustrate the parts of the old ways which are relevant to today, as well reveal to us the ways that are best left in the past. A system of belief in which women are viewed as second class citizens is bound to failure. History shows the mark of this. To survive as heathens, we must be sure that we are not carrying these attitudes into the future, when they are best left long dead in the past.
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