A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Sigurd sees a great light on Hindarfiall and enters a shield enclosure with a banner. Inside lies a fully armed sleeping warrior. Removing the helmet reveals a woman; her corslet fits as if grown to her body, and he cuts it free with Gram. She wakes and says that Odin caused her long torpor. The prose framing names her Sigrdrifa and calls her a Valkyria. She had defeated Hialmgunnar, an old warrior whom Odin had promised victory against Agnar. Odin punished her with a sleep-thorn, denied future victories and declared that she must marry; she answered with a vow to marry no man capable of fear.

Sigrdrífa gives Sigurd a cup of mead and invokes day, night, the gods and the earth for wisdom and well-being. Asked to teach him, she discusses runic knowledge associated with victory, drink, birth assistance, sea travel, healing, speech and thought. The poem distributes such knowledge among gods, elves, Vanir and humans. These are statements of efficacy within a medieval literary teaching scene, not modern clinical or navigational evidence. Her instruction then moves into counsel about kinship, truthful oaths, disputes, drink, deception, care of the dead and persistent enmity.

Sigurd chooses to receive her advice even if she knows him doomed. The final warning anticipates fierce disputes and a possibly short life. After the verse, the printed prose says that he declares his wish to possess her and that she chooses him above other men; they confirm this with mutual oaths. This selected witness does not supply every later episode attached to Brynhild or narrate Sigrdrífa’s subsequent marriage and death. Her martial disobedience, punishment and teaching are the located subject of this account.

Armoured magical sleepSleep-thorn punishmentDefies promised battle outcomeRunic teachingConduct counselMutual vows with Sigurd
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Origins & earliest records

The selected witnesses are rendered by Benjamin Thorpe and I. A. Blackwell in the Norroena Society’s 1906 Elder and Younger Eddas. This edition brings several separately framed medieval accounts together; its publication date is not the beginning of the traditions.

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Records & interpretation

The complete Lay of Sigrdrifa, pp. 180–186, combines awakening prose, numbered stanzas 1–37, explanatory prose about Odin’s punishment and a concluding exchange of vows.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Lay of Sigrdrifa, pp. 180–186

    Anonymous Eddic poem and prose framing; Benjamin Thorpe, translator · Medieval witness; selected English edition 1906

    Complete selected sequence, stanzas 1–37, including its opening and concluding prose.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary poetic and prose translationsElder and Younger Eddas: selected 1906 Thorpe–Blackwell editionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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