Völsungs rímur: The Sword in the Stone

In Völsunga saga there is a famous scene where Óðinn carries a sword into Völsungr’s hall during a feast. There is a large boulder in the middle of the hall and a giant tree growing from the boulder to the roof. Óðinn walks up to the stone and stabs the sword up to the hilt. He then pronounces to the crowd that the sword will belong to any man who can pull the sword from the stone. Only Sigmundr, Völsungr’s son, is able to pull the sword out, naming it Gramr. Siggeir, Völsungr’s soon-to-be son-in-law, then asks to buy the sword. After Sigmundr denies him the sword, Siggeir storms off in jealousy. The saga then turns to a violent feud between Siggeir and the Völsung clan.

The author ofVölsunga saga makes a brief aside while describing the whole hall scene. As Óðinn walks up to the boulder, the author says that the boulder is called Barnstokkr, or literally child-trunk, and then describes the beautiful tree that grows from it. The imagery immediately draws a connection to Völsungr, the hall, his family, and even Óðinn. The child-trunk is a metaphor for the family lineage (i.e. “family tree”) and the stone is a physical manifestation of that family. The family are descendants of Óðinn himself and his appearance and actions with the stone cements that association. The stone is the medium by which the god interacts with the family.

Völsungs rímur, one of the earliest rímur poems, is an adaptation of Völsunga saga, retelling the first few chapters of the saga in alliterative, rhyming verse. The poem is fascinating for several reasons but often diverges from the prose saga in unexpected ways. Perhaps one of the most interesting differences is in the name of the stone in Völsungr’s hall. Rather than child-trunk, the poet calls the stone Bóttstokkr, or literally atonement-trunk. The verse in question and poetic translation are given below:

Berg eitt stóð í breiðum sal,

botstokk ýtar kalla;

dýrligt var þar dreingja val,

drótt fekk slíka valla.

A boulder stood in the broad hall,

atonement-trunk it was named;

glorious were those champions all,

better the house could scarcely claim.

The translation here is somewhat more poetic to retain some of the rhyme scheme of the original. The more literal translation for the first two lines is: “A stone stood in the broad hall, atonement-trunk men called it.” The word “atonement” is bótt in the original. The word has several related meanings: bettering and improvement (in the sense of health and well-being), healing/cure, and legal atonement or compensation. The legal meaning appears in the law codes of the Grágás in relation to the weregild and legal compensation for a killing. I’ve translated this as “atonement” as it carries some of the associations with law and compensation (e.g. I must atone for a crime).

The change from child-trunk to atonement-trunk is clearly a conscious act on the part of the author and/or scribe. There is no reason to change the word to fit the poetic meter as both words have the same initial sound and are both one metrical beat. The choice must be a deliberate one to draw a connection between mediation, compensation, and the Völsung family (perhaps indirectly to Óðinn). The poem itself was written in the later part of the 14th century, likely circa 1350. Royal power was waxing throughout Scandinavia and Iceland fell into the Kalmar Union by way of Norway (and then Denmark). The change was likely a way to connect royal power as a way to mediate conflict and law, rather than local chieftains and legal courts outside the royal domain. Iceland lost a lot of its independence and self-governance in the 13th and 14th centuries and legal matters were taken farther and farther afield into royal hands. This small change in the poem may be an ever so slight manifestation of that changing historical and legal landscape.