The literature on Vǫlsunga saga is legion.63 However, the majority of the ongoing discussions about the text shall not concern us here. Important, though, is the difficult relationship between the courtly and the mythic-heroic strands of the saga. Matthias
62 Regarding continental literature, Voorwinden (1990, p. 444) saw the silence on combat action, the dialogue before combat, and an emphasis on single combat as specific to the oral Germanic tradition: “Die germanische
Heldendichtung beschreibt vorzugsweise den Einzelkampf [...] Die Kampfhandlung selbst wird nur skizziert, im Gegensatz zu der dem Kampf vorhergehenden Wechselrede, die alle Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zieht. Der Gegner wird zwar getötet, aber die Verwundungen, die den Tod herbeiführen, werden kaum oder gar nicht erwähnt. Der Kampf wird gewöhnlich aus der Perspektive des Angegriffenen dargestellt, der nur, um seine Ehre nicht zu verlieren, zu den Waffen greift. Im Gegensatz dazu kennt das Epos aus der lateinisch-schriftlichen Tradition den Massenkampf. Einzelkampf kommt zwar auch vor, wird aber gewöhnlich nur als Szene innerhalb einer
Massenschlacht dargestellt. Nur in solchen Szenen geht dem Kampf auch hier ein Dialog vorher, dessen Ton sich aber prinzipiell von dem im germanischen Heldenlied unterscheidet. Auch hier wird der Gegner getötet; kein blutiges Detail wird aber verschwiegen: es wird genau mitgeteilt, welche Körperteile abgehackt, welche Organe durchbohrt und welche Knochen zersplittert werden. Der Kampf wird aus der Perspektive der Angreifer dargestellt, die aufgrund eines göttlichen Befehls zu den Waffen greifen, die den Kampf als heilige Pflicht begreifen.” And he believed “daß man die Weise, wie Kampfhandlungen beschrieben werden, als ein Kriterium betrachten kann, aufgrund dessen man Texte in eine der beiden Traditionen, die germanisch-mündliche oder die lateinisch- schriftliche, einordnen kann.” (Voorwinden (1990, pp. 434–435))
63 An up-to-date overview can be found on the excellent website “Stories for all Time: The Icelandic Fornaldarsögur” (http://fasnl.ku.dk/) (accessed 4. APR 2016).
Teichert argued that Vǫlsunga saga systematically ‘mythisizes’ the figures and narrative elements of the Nibelungen tradition. He differentiates between a “Mythisierung im engeren Sinne” (that is, the construction of a narrative that follows the structural characteristics of a myth), and an “Arbeit am (Heroen-)Mythos”. (Teichert, 2008, p. 54) The latter concept is influenced by the works of Hans Blumenberg and refers to the incorporation of an existing mythical narrative into the dominating mythical patterns of a social system.64 According to Teichert, “Arbeit am (Heroen-)Mythos” applied on Vǫlsunga
saga means the story's adaption into the aristocratic, courtly ideology of the Norwegian society during the late 13th century. (Teichert, 2008, p. 167) He counts “Höfisierung” as one of the key principles for such an adaption (Teichert, 2008, p. 169), and mentions that the text's second part cannot deny “eine Nähe zu den Riddarasögur”. (Teichert, 2008, p. 172) An example of this proximity is Sigurðr's education: Reginn hét fóstri Sigurðar [...] Hann kenndi honum íþróttir, tafl ok rúnar ok tungur margar at mæla, sem þá var títt konungasonum, ok marga hluti aðra. (Ebel, 1997, pp. 36–37) Brynhild's needlework and especially the use of falcons for the hunt are further examples. (Ebel, 1997, p. 59) Bearing in mind what was said earlier about the importance of the ‘knightly mode of combat’ for the construction of a Nordic branch of courtly literature, we could expect this mode to be applied to the saga's combat scenes as well. This, however, is not the case.
The overwhelming majority of Vǫlsunga saga's combat scenes show a certain taciturnity about what is actually happening. Fighting (and murder) are recounted in a few words. We get to know who remained victorious and who was slain, but the colourful descriptions found in other texts are missing here.
This starts with the saga's first page, when Sigi kills the servant:
En er þeir bera saman veið(i) sína um aptaninn, þá hafði Breðiveitt miklu fleira ok meira en Sigi, hvat honum líkaði stórilla ok segir, at sik undri, at einn þræll skuli sik yfirbuga í dýraveiði Hleypr því at honum ok drepr hann. Dysjar síðan líkit í snjófǫnn. (Ebel, 1997, p. 9 / ch. 1)
The text tells neither what kind of a weapon Sigi uses, nor what wound it causes. A few lines below, Sigi, now grown old, is killed by his wife's brothers. Again, we are not told what exactly happens: Þeir gera þá til hans, er hann varir sízt ok hann var fáliðr fyrir, ok bera hann ofrliði. Ok á þeim fundi fell Sigi með hirð sinni allri. (Ebel, 1997, p. 10 / ch. 1) Now, it is Sigi's son Rerir's turn to take revenge on his uncles: ok safnar konungr sér nú liði miklu
ok ferr nú á hendr frændum sínum með þenna her. […] Ok svá gerir hann, fyrir því, at eigi skilsk hann fyrri við, en hann hafði drepit alla feðrbana sína. (Ebel, 1997, p. 11 / ch. 1) One might argue that these first three combat scenes are merely an exposition of the saga's underlying theme, the violation of order and the bloodshed that follows. Maybe the author avoided detailed descriptions to paint the story's background with a few, broad strokes of the brush. But the combat scenes later in the saga do not become much more explicit. Neither when few men fight, nor when whole armies clash, as in the following two examples:
Konungr stendr nú upp ok heitr á menn at taka þá menn, er leynzk hǫfðu í forstofunni um kveldit. Nú hlaupa menn útar þangat ok vilja hǫndla þá. En þeir verja sik vel ok drengiliga, ok þykkisk þá sá verst hafa lengi, er næst er. Ok um síðir verða þeir ofrliði bornir ok verða handteknir ok því næst í bǫnd reknir ok í fjǫtra settir (Ebel, 1997, p. 24 / ch. 8)
Þat er sagt, at Helgi finnr þann konung í hernaði, er Hundingr hét. Hann var ríkr konungr ok fjǫlmennr ok réð fyrir lǫndum. Þar tekst orrosta með þeim. Ok gengr Helgi fast fram. Ok lýksk með því sjá bardagi, at Helgi fær sigr. En Hundingr konungr fellr ok mikill hluti liðs hans. Nú þykkir Helgi hafa vaxit mikit, er hann hefir fellt svá ríkan konung. Synir Hundings bjóða nú út her í mót Helga ok vilja hefna fǫður síns. Þeir eiga harða orrostu. Ok gengr Helgi í gegnum fylkingar þeira brœðra ok sœkir at merkjum sona Hundings konungs ok felldi þessa Hundings sonu: Álf ok Eyjólf, Hervarð ok Hagbarð ok fekk hér ágætan sigr. (Ebel, 1997, p. 27 / ch. 9)
The detailed descriptions of individual combat actions that we have seen in both the ‘knightly’ and the ‘adventurous mode of combat’ are missing here.