Note 15 — The Lament of Oddrun

Lines 1–2 have here been transposed from the middle of stanza 19; cf. note on stanzas 10–20. Wish-maid: a Valkyrie, so called because the Valkyries fullfilled Othin’s wish in choosing the slain heroes for Valhall. The reference to Brynhild as a Valkyrie by no means fits with the version of the story used in stanzas 16–17, and the poet seems to have attempted to combine the two contradictory traditions; cf. Fafnismol, note on stanza 44. In the manuscript stanzas 10–11 follow line 4 of stanza 15.