Note 17 — The Second, or Old, Lay of Guthrun

No gap is indicated in the manuscript, and most editions combine these two lines either with lines 3–4 of stanza 16, with lines 1–2 of stanza 18, or with the whole of stanza 18. Line 2 has been filled out in various ways. The Volsungasaga paraphrase indicates that these two lines are the remains of a full stanza, the prose passage running: “Now Guthrun was somewhat comforted of her sorrows. Then Grimhild learned where Guthrun was now dwelling.” The first two lines may be the ones missing. Gothic: the term “Goth” was used in the North without much discrimination to apply to all south-Germanic peoples. In Gripisspo, 35, Gunnar, Grimhild’s son, appears as “lord of the Goths.”