The Story of the Volsungs

CHAPTER XVI. The prophecy of Grifir.

There was a man hight Gri­fir,(1) who was Sig­urd’s moth­er’s broth­er, and a lit­tle af­ter the forg­ing of the sword Sig­urd went to Gri­fir, be­cause he was a man who knew things to come, and what was fat­ed to men: of him Sig­urd asked dili­gent­ly how his life should go; but Gri­fir was long or he spake, yet at the last, by rea­son of Sig­urd’s ex­ceed­ing great prayers, he told him all his life and the fate there­of, even as af­ter­wards came to pass. So when Gri­fir had told him all even as he would, he went back home; and a lit­tle af­ter he and Re­gin met.

Then said Re­gin, “Go thou and slay Fafnir, even as thou hast giv­en thy word.”

Sig­urd said, “That work shall be wrought; but an­oth­er is first to be done, the aveng­ing of Sig­mund the king and the oth­er of my kins­men who fell in that their last fight.”

END­NOTES: (1) Called “Gripir” in the Ed­da.