ht up in obscurity. He spends
his childhood disguised in his enemy's household, and on leaving it,
sends a message to tell his foes whom they have fostered. They pursue
him, and he is obliged, like Gude Wallace in the Scottish ballad,
to disguise himself in a bondmaid's dress:

"Piercing are the eyes of Hagal's bondmaid; it is no peasant's kin who
stands at the mill: the stones are split, the bin springs in two. It
is a hard fate for a warrior to grind the barley; the sword-hilt is
better fitted for those hands than the mill-handle."

Sigrun is present at the battle, in which, as in the English and
Scottish ballads, Helgi slays all her kindred except one brother. He
tells her the fortunes of the fight, and she chooses between lover
and kinsmen:

_Helgi_. "Good luck is not granted thee, maid, in all things,
though the Norns are partly to blame. Bragi and Hoegni fell to-day
at Frekastein, and I was their slayer;... most of thy kindred lie
low. Thou couldst not hinder the battle: it was thy fate to be a cause
of strife to heroes. Weep not, Sigrun, thou hast been Hild to us;
heroes must meet their fate."

_Sigrun_. "I could wish those alive who are fallen, and yet rest in
thy arms."

The surviving brother, Dag, swears oaths of reconciliation to Helgi,
but remembers the feud. The end comes, as in the Norse Sigmund tale,
through Odin's interference: he lends his spear to Dag, who stabs Helgi
in a grove, and rides home to tell his sister. Sigrun is inconsolable,
and curses the murderer with a rare power and directness:

"May the oaths pierce thee that thou hast sworn to Helgi.... May the
ship sail not that sails under thee, though a fair wind lie behind. May
the horse run not that runs under thee, though thou art fleeing from
thy foes. May the sword bite not that thou drawest, unless it sing
round thine own head. If thou wert an outlaw in the woods, Helgi's
death were avenged.... Never again while I live, by night or day,
shall I sit happy at Sevafell, if I see not the light play on my hero's
company, nor the gold-bitted War-breeze run thither with the warrior."

But Helgi returns from the grave, unable to rest because of Sigrun's
weeping, and she goes down into the howe with him:

_Sigrun_. "Thy hair is covered with frost, Helgi; thou art drenched
with deadly dew, thy hands are cold and wet. How shall I get thee help,
my hero?"

_Helgi_. "Thou alone hast caused it, Sigrun from Sevafell, that Helgi
is drenched with