After having won fame in battle, Helgi went to king Eylimi and asked the king for his daughter\'s hand. King Eylimi consented and so Helgi and Svįva were married. She remained with her father while Helgi was out doing battle.
King Hróšmar\'s son Įlfr wanted to avenge his father and had challenged Helgi to a holmgang at Sigarsvoll. During the holmgang with Įlfr, Helgi received a mortal wound due to a troll woman\'s curse and Įlfr won. Helgi then sent his companion Sigarr to king Eylimi in order to fetch Svįva so that they could meet before he died. Before passing away, Helgi asked Svįva to marry his brother Hešinn. Hešinn asked Svįva to kiss him, because she would not see him again before Helgi had been avenged.
Helgi and Svįva would be reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrśn and so their adventures continued.
* * *
King Helgi was a mighty warrior. He came to King Eylimi and sought the hand of his daughter, Svįva. Then Helgi and Svįva exchanged vows, and greatly they loved each other. Svįva was at home with her father, while Helgi was in the field; Svįva was still a Valkyrie as before.
Hešinn was at home with his father, King Hjörvarš, in Norway. Hešinn was coming home alone from the forest one Yule-eve, and found a troll-woman; she rode on a wolf, and had snakes in place of a bridle. She asked Hešinn for his company. \"Nay,\" said he. She said, \"Thou shalt pay for this at the king\'s toast.\" That evening the great vows were taken; the sacred boar was brought in, the men laid their hands thereon, and took their vows at the king\'s toast. Hešinn vowed that he would have Svįva, Eylimi\'s daughter, the beloved of his brother Helgi; then such great grief seized him that he went forth on wild paths southward over the land, and found Helgi, his brother.
Helgi said:
\"Welcome, Hešinn! | what hast thou to tell
Of tidings new | that from Norway come?
Wherefore didst leave | thy land, O prince,
And fared alone | to find us here?\"
Hešinn spoke:
\"A deed more evil | I have done
Than, brother mine, | thou e\'er canst mend;
For I have chosen | the child of the king,
Thy bride, for mine | at the monarch\'s toast.\"
Helgi spoke:
\"Grieve not, Hešinn, | for true shall hold
The words we both | by the beer have sworn;
To the isle a warrior | wills that I go,
(There shall I come | the third night hence;)
And doubtful must be | my coming back,
(So may all be well, | if fate so wills.)\"
Hešinn spoke:
\"Thou saidst once, Helgi, | that Hešinn was
A friend full good, | and gifts didst give him;
More seemly it were | thy sword to redden,
Than friendship thus | to thy foe to-give.\"
Helgi spoke thus because he foresaw his death, for his following-spirits had met Hešinn when he saw the woman riding on the wolf. Įlfr was the name of a king, the son of Hróšmar, who had marked out a battle-place with Helgi at Sigarrsvoll after a stay of three nights. Then Helgi spoke:
\"On a wolf there rode, | when dusk it was,
A woman who fain | would have him follow;
Well she knew | that now would fall
Sigrlinn\'s son | at Sigarrsvoll.\"
There was a great battle, and there Helgi got a mortal wound.
Sigarr riding | did Helgi send
To seek out Eylimi\'s | only daughter:
\"Bid her swiftly | ready to be,
If her lover | alive she would find.\"
Sigarr spoke:
\"Hither now | has Helgi sent me,
With thee, Svįva, | thyself to speak;
The hero said | he fain would see thee
Ere life the nobly | born should leave.\"
Svįva spoke:
\"What chanced with Helgi, | Hjörvarš\'s son?
Hard to me | is harm now come;
If the sea smote him, | or sword bit him,
Ill shall I bring | to all his foes.\"
Sigarr spoke:
\"In the morn he fell | at Frekastein,
The king who was noblest | beneath the sun;
Įlfr has the joy | of victory all,
Though need therefor | is never his.\"
Helgi spoke:
\"Hail to thee, Svįva! | thy sorrow rule,
Our meeting last | in life is this;
Hard the wounds | of the hero bleed,
And close to my heart | the sword has come.
\"I bid thee, Svįva,-- | weep not, bride,--
If thou wilt hearken | to these my words,
The bed for Hešinn | have thou ready,
And yield thy love | to the hero young.\"
Svįva spoke:
\"A vow I had | in my dear-loved home,
When Helgi sought | with rings to have me,
That not of my will, | if the warrior died,
Would I fold in my arms | a man unfamed.\"
Hešinn spoke:
\"Kiss me, Svįva, | I come not back,
Rogheim to see, | or Rothulsfjoll,
Till vengeance I have | for the son of Hjörvarš,
The king who was noblest | beneath the sun.\"
Of Helgi and Svįva it is said that they were born again.
From Helgarkvida Hjörvaršssonar, The Lay of Helgi the Son of Hjörvarš
