Sigmund

Sigmund (page 65) is the father and uncle of Fitela. He is stated in Beowulf to have killed a serpent who kept guard over a hoard of treasure. In the Icelandic saga known as the Völsunga Saga, Sigmund is represented as the father of Sigurd, and ‘it is Sigurd who rifles the treasure of the Niblungs and kills the serpent (Fafnir), its guardian’ (Arnold, p. 69), and he carries it away on the back of his horse Grani. Sigmund is represented as the son of a Völsung; that is, as Beowulf has it, ‘the heir of Waels.’ Waels was afterwards forgotten, however, and Waelsing was regarded as a proper name instead of a patronymic denoting descent from Waels. In a similar way, as Arnold points out, Sigmund is pushed into the background to make room for his son Sigurd (Siegfried). ‘And so in the German Nibelungen Lay it is Sigurd (Siegfried) who wins the hoard, but does so by defeating and killing its former possessors Schilbung and Nibelung’ (Arnold, p. 70). Attempts have been made to claim a German origin for this saga, but in face of the evidence of Beowulf and the Völsunga Saga and the Edda there is, I think with Arnold, little doubt but that its origin was Scandinavian. Possibly and probably we owe the later elaboration of the saga in the Nibelungen Lay to German influence. For discussion of the whole question see Arnold’s Notes on Beowulf, pp. 67–75, Edit. 1898, cap. v.

Sigmund (page 65) is both Fitela’s father and his uncle. Beowulf says that Sigmund killed a serpent guarding a hoard of treasure. In the Icelandic saga called the Völsunga Saga, Sigmund is presented as Sigurd’s father. In this account, ‘Sigurd plunders the treasure of the Niblungs and kills the serpent (Fafnir) guarding it’ (Arnold, p. 69). Sigurd carries the treasure away on the back of his horse Grani. Sigmund is presented as the son of a Völsung. In other words, as Beowulf puts it, he is ‘the heir of Waels.’ Later, however, Waels was forgotten. Waelsing came to be seen as a personal name rather than a name indicating descent from Waels. Similarly, as Arnold points out, Sigmund is pushed into the background to make room for his son Sigurd (Siegfried). ‘And so, in the German Nibelungen Lay, Sigurd (Siegfried) wins the hoard. But he does so by defeating and killing its former owners, Schilbung and Nibelung’ (Arnold, p. 70). Some have tried to argue that this saga originated in Germany. But Beowulf, the Völsunga Saga, and the Edda provide evidence against that claim. Given this evidence, I agree with Arnold that there is little doubt the saga originated in Scandinavia. German influence may well account for the saga’s later expansion in the Nibelungen Lay. For a discussion of the whole question, see Arnold’s Notes on Beowulf, pp. 67 to 75, 1898 edition, chapter v.