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“Sigurd the Volsung” is one of the works of William Morris

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“Sigurd the Volsung” is one of the works of William Morris

Introduction

            “Sigurd the Volsung” is one of the works of William Morris, a renowned poet. The poem tells the sad story of Sigurd, Signy, and Sigmund. The poem opens to Signy getting married to the cruel man who had killed her father. Her husband proceeds to kill all of her brothers, with the exception of Sigmund whom she manages to save. The poem draws its inspiration from the stories about the Saga of Volsung and speaks about the warrior from Hunland, Sigurd. Volsung descends from the family tree of Odin, who was a king in Hunland. On the other hand, Sigurd, the great-grandson to Volsung slew the dragon Fafnir and was from that day onwards, referred to as the Sigurd, the dragon slayer. After slaying Fafnir, the dragon, Sigurd, took for himself all the gold that had been kept by the dragon.

Sigurd is depicted as a brave hero for having slain Fafnir, the dragon. He was raised by a foster parent, Regin, who was kind and tried to used Sigurd to secure the dragon’s gold for himself. However, Sigurd was smarter than him and ended up keeping the dragon’s wealth for himself. Sigurd is resilient and does not concede defeat easily. He rarely backs down from a challenge because he believes in himself and his abilities. Sigurd is a loyal and kind man to his family members and friends. He often tries to be a better person for himself and his family because he believes that they should have the best.

Tests of Courage and Character

Sigurd endures several tests in the story to test his character and courage. The first test that Sigurd faces is killing Fafnir, the dragon, and retrieves the gold that he possessed. Regin challenges Sigurd to go and kill the dragon and then bring back the dragon’s gold and his heart so that Regin could eat it and gain more wisdom than other men of his time. However, upon realizing that Regin was only using him as a means to an end, he kills the dragon, roasts the dragon’s heart and eats it as well as drinks the dragon’s blood. He then proceeds to keep the dragon’s wealth for himself. This first test shows how brave he was. The second test was of courage is seen when he is attacked by Guttorm, Gunnar, and Hogni while he was in his bed and still manages to lunge forward and kill Guttorm. The third test that he undergoes is the test of character and love. After Brunhild, a handmaiden disobeyed Odin; she was punished by being put in the fire ring. Sigurd rides all the way to Hindfell to save her from the fire. He rode past the hot flames and saved Brunhild, who eventually became his wife.

To What Extent does Sigurd Pass His Tests?

            The Saga of Volsung paints Sigurd as one of the few characters who passed all the tests that he faced. He is seen as a courageous warrior after excelling in all his tests, beginning with how he killed Fafnir, the dragon in style, and took his wealth. He also took the dragon’s heart, roasted it, and proceeded to eat it. He also drinks the blood from the dragon’s heart as a sign of bravery (Su 131). Sigurd also played a strategic role in planning for the war in Southland in which he participated and earned him great praise and victory. He passed his test of love when he rode to Hindfell to rescue Brunhild, who later on became his wife. He remained faithful to his wife, and this shows that he passed his test of love.

Temptations

            Throughout his lifetime, Sigurd was faced with numerous temptations. Like any human being, he was successful in avoiding some, and at times he was consumed by his temptations. Sigurd was tempted to sleep with Brunhild while he impersonated Gunner, his brother-in-law. He was successful in resisting this temptation because he was an honorable man and valued the great friendship that he had with Gunnar. He was also tempted by Regin to use the sword he was given, but instead, he breaks the sword into many different pieces and uses them to forge a new sword that he later on named “Wrath.” However, Sigurd was not able to avoid the temptation of possessing a lot of wealth. He stole Andvaris’s golden despite having the knowledge that the ring was cursed and was destined to be the downfall of whoever possessed the ring. However, the curse did not deter Sigurd from stealing the ring because he wanted to be a famous and wealthy man (Su 135).

The Role of Magic in Sigurd’s Characterization

            Magic plays a huge role in influencing Sigurd’s character in Hunland. Sigurd is seen to be perfectly safe and healthy even after eating the heart of Fafnir, the dragon as well as drinking its blood. Fafnir was turned into a dragon after the curse of the Andvari’s gold and ring befell him. It is evident that Sigurd is not afraid of this curse, and it does not seem to affect him in any way. On the contrary, he becomes very rich and popular with the people of Hunland after killing Fafnir. He also possesses a magical sword that was once Odin’s and used it to fight in his battles until Regin tries to trick him, and he decided to break it and use the pieces to forge another sword. Sigurd also uses magic for personal gain when he takes the form of Gunnar and rides to save Brunhild and also marries her. Brunhild later came to find out about this pretense from Gudrun, who was the wife to Sigurd (Su 140). This act of cowardice negatively affects his heroic image because he chose behind the face of another man instead of approaching Brunhild as himself and declaring his love for her.

Sigurd’s Behavior and Modern-day Society

            Sigard behaved and conducted himself with honor for most of his life, with the exception of when he uses magic to change his face and deceives Brunhild into marrying him. This is true in the modern-day society where everybody wants to become a hero and end up with a wonderful marriage partner. Just like Sigurd, we are faced with numerous tests and temptations in our day-to-day lives, and we overcome some and are overcome by others. Sigurd’s behavior acts as a guide for those who wish to conduct themselves with honor in society today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

            Morris, William. The Volsungs Saga. BoD–Books on Demand, 2018.

Su, Minjie. “Light, Dark, and Grey: Representation of Hero in William Morris’s The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs.” Neophilologus 103.1 (2019): 129-143.

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