craft of a smith.

"And men say that Signy wept
When she left that last of her kindred: yet wept she never more
Amid the earls of Siggeir, and as lovely as before
Was her face to all men's deeming: nor aught it changed for ruth,
Nor for fear nor any longing; and no man said for sooth
That she ever laughed thereafter till the day of her death
was come."

Signy's Sons

Siggeir now took possession of the Volsung kingdom, and during the next
few years he proudly watched the growth of his eldest son, whom Signy
secretly sent to her brother when he was ten years of age, that Sigmund
might train up the child to help him to obtain vengeance if he should
prove worthy. Sigmund reluctantly accepted the charge; but as soon
as he had tested the boy he found him deficient in physical courage,
so he either sent him back to his mother, or, as some versions relate,
slew him.

Some time after this Signy's second son was sent into the forest
for the same purpose, but Sigmund found him equally lacking in
courage. Evidently none but a pure-blooded Volsung would avail for
the grim work of revenge, and Signy, realising this, resolved to
commit a crime.

"And once in the dark she murmured: 'Where then was the ancient
song
That the Gods were but twin-born once, and deemed it nothing wrong
To mingle for the world's sake, whence had the AEsir birth,
And the Vanir and the Dwarf-kind, and all the folk of earth?"

Her resolution taken, she summoned a beautiful young witch, and
exchanging forms with her, she sought the depths of the dark forest
and took shelter in Sigmund's hut. The Volsung did not penetrate his
sister's disguise. He deemed her nought but the gypsy she seemed,
and being soon won by her coquetry, he made her his wife. Three days
later she disappeared from the hut, and, returning to the palace,
she resumed her own form, and when she next gave birth to a son,
she rejoiced to see in his bold glance and strong frame the promise
of a true Volsung hero.

Sinfiotli

When Sinfiotli, as the child was called, was ten years of age, she
herself made a preliminary test of his courage by sewing his garment
to his skin, and then suddenly snatching it off, and as the brave boy
did not so much as wince, but laughed aloud, she confidently sent him
to the forest hut. Sigmund speedily prepared his usual test, and ere
leaving the hut one day he bade Sin