With the death of Jonaker and Jormunrek this legendary cycle in the Poetic Edda comes to an end. The Prose Edda makes a brief reference to Sigurd’s and Brynhild’s daughter Aslaug; in the Volsunga Saga and in the related saga of Ragnar Lodbrok there is a circumstantial account of her fate.
After the death of Sigurd and Brynhild, Heimir suspected that men would be sent out to search for Aslaug for the purpose of putting her to death. He therefore caused a harp to be made, large enough to hide both the little girl and her treasures; carrying the harp and Aslaug within it, he then traveled about in the guise of a poor minstrel. When he came to the banks of lonely streams, he took her from her hiding place and bathed her, but he kept her concealed while he passed through populated places. For food he gave her a kind of leek, so nourishing that she required nothing else to eat; and when she wept, he played for her on the harp. At length he arrived at Spangereid in Norway, where he halted from his journey at a little farm kept by two old people named Aki and Grima. The man happened just at the time to be out in the forest, but Grima was at home. Heimir prayed her for a night’s lodging. She did not deny his request but kindled a fire so that he might warm himself; as she did so, she caught sight of some bits of fine raiment protruding from a crack in the harp and also discovered a costly gold ring beneath the tatters that swathed his arm. She now understood that he was not what he seemed to be, and so she determined to kill him and rob him of his treasures. She gave him lodging in a rye granary outside the house; for, as she said, she and her husband were accustomed to talk together late into the night after he came home. There Heimir lay down to sleep, keeping his harp by his side. When Aki returned, his wife had not nearly done her work, and he upbraided her for her sloth. She answered: “Do not be angry; at one stroke we can secure more than is needed to keep us the rest of our lives.” Then she told him of Heimir and of the plans she had hatched. Aki was unwilling to betray his guest; but since it was the woman who ruled in that house, he was compelled to yield, and so it fell to him to give Heimir the killing blow as he slept. Heimir was so big and strong that the whole house clattered down and the earth shook at his death struggle. The woman now tried to pick up the harp; but she could not lift it, and so they had to break it to pieces. When their eyes fell on Aslaug, they were rather abashed; but they found riches enough besides. Aslaug would not tell her name or even speak a word; for a long time therefore they thought that she lacked the power of speech. They determined to pretend that she was their own daughter, and they laid all the hard work on her. Being loth to have any one see how beautiful she was and thus suspect that the kinship was not all that they pretended it to be, they cut off her hair, smeared her head with tar, and gave her a broad hat and wretched garments to wear. They named her Kraka, after the mother of Grima. The story of her marriage with Ragnar Lodbrok will be told below.
After the death of Sigurd and Brynhild, Heimir suspected that men would be sent out to search for Aslaug for the purpose of putting her to death. He therefore caused a harp to be made, large enough to hide both the little girl and her treasures; carrying the harp and Aslaug within it, he then traveled about in the guise of a poor minstrel. When he came to the banks of lonely streams, he took her from her hiding place and bathed her, but he kept her concealed while he passed through populated places. For food he gave her a kind of leek, so nourishing that she required nothing else to eat; and when she wept, he played for her on the harp. At length he arrived at Spangereid in Norway, where he halted from his journey at a little farm kept by two old people named Aki and Grima. The man happened just at the time to be out in the forest, but Grima was at home. Heimir prayed her for a night’s lodging. She did not deny his request but kindled a fire so that he might warm himself; as she did so, she caught sight of some bits of fine raiment protruding from a crack in the harp and also discovered a costly gold ring beneath the tatters that swathed his arm. She now understood that he was not what he seemed to be, and so she determined to kill him and rob him of his treasures. She gave him lodging in a rye granary outside the house; for, as she said, she and her husband were accustomed to talk together late into the night after he came home. There Heimir lay down to sleep, keeping his harp by his side. When Aki returned, his wife had not nearly done her work, and he upbraided her for her sloth. She answered: “Do not be angry; at one stroke we can secure more than is needed to keep us the rest of our lives.” Then she told him of Heimir and of the plans she had hatched. Aki was unwilling to betray his guest; but since it was the woman who ruled in that house, he was compelled to yield, and so it fell to him to give Heimir the killing blow as he slept. Heimir was so big and strong that the whole house clattered down and the earth shook at his death struggle. The woman now tried to pick up the harp; but she could not lift it, and so they had to break it to pieces. When their eyes fell on Aslaug, they were rather abashed; but they found riches enough besides. Aslaug would not tell her name or even speak a word; for a long time therefore they thought that she lacked the power of speech. They determined to pretend that she was their own daughter, and they laid all the hard work on her. Being loth to have any one see how beautiful she was and thus suspect that the kinship was not all that they pretended it to be, they cut off her hair, smeared her head with tar, and gave her a broad hat and wretched garments to wear. They named her Kraka, after the mother of Grima. The story of her marriage with Ragnar Lodbrok will be told below.
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