Guthrun at Sigurd’s Body
The First Lay’s lament scene, concentrating silence, comfort, unveiling, and accusation at Sigurd’s body.
Overview
This event is not another death of Sigurd but the long lament in which Guthrun faces her dead husband. At first she cannot weep; two comforters speak of their losses; Gollrond uncovers the body, and Guthrun begins to weep and direct blame toward her brothers and Brynhild. It closes with her departure and the prose about Brynhild, without folding later poems into it.
Key facts
From silence to weeping
Stanzas 1–16 move the lament from inability to weep to tears after seeing the body.
Stops with this poem
Closing prose mentions departure and Brynhild’s death; later details remain in other material.
Relationships
- Gudrunmourns at the body
Guthrun sits by Sigurd’s body, near to breaking with grief but unable to weep.
- Sigurdlies in the lament scene
Sigurd’s body is the focus of Guthrun’s lament.
- Gollrondchanges the lament scene
Gollrond’s action changes the lament from silence into Guthrun’s speech.
- Gudrunleaves the lament
Closing prose says Guthrun leaves for the wilderness and lives with Thora in Denmark.
Story appearances
- Guthrunarkvitha I: A Lament at the BodyFigure or event in the lament at Sigurd’s body
The First Lay’s lament scene, concentrating silence, comfort, unveiling, and accusation at Sigurd’s body.
Ancient sources
MythWeave distinguishes ancient-source evidence from later adaptations and modern interpretation.