By Jackson Crawford, University of Colorado, Boulder
In the Norse tradition, Attila’s kinship with Brynhild provides some, but not all, of Attila’s motivation. In The Saga of the Volsungs, for having married the widowed Guthrun, Attila considers himself the rightful heir to the dragon’s treasure left behind by Sigurth and claimed by his brothers-in-law Gunnar and Hogni. Attila feels that he has a strong rightful claim on the treasure.
Attila’s Plan
In The Saga of the Volsungs, Attila lays claim to the treasure, firstly, because his sister Brynhild ought to have inherited it from Sigurth, as Sigurth ought to have been her husband. And secondly, because Guthrun, Attila’s own wife, ought to have inherited it from her husband Sigurth.
Yet, Attila also knows that Guthrun’s powerful brothers Gunnar and Hogni won’t just hand over the treasure willingly.
Thus, in the best tradition of the Volsungs legends, Attila comes up with a convoluted plan. Attila sends a messenger to Gunnar and Hogni. This is a few years after his marriage to their sister, with Gunnar now comfortably established on his father’s throne, and Attila and Guthrun with two children.
Gunnar Accepts Attila’s Invitation
The Hunnish messenger comes to Gunnar and Hogni and extends an invitation to the royal brothers not only to come and enjoy a feast at Attila’s capital in Hunland, but also to receive an immense treasure while there and to become his publicly acknowledged, legal heirs.
Hogni, for his part, sees through this thin justification. His suspicions run deep, but, as the younger brother, he doesn’t get to make the call. It is his brother, King Gunnar—who decides to accept Attila’s invitation because “he was very drunk, and because he was offered a great kingdom, and moreover because no one can fight fate”.
Hence, the brothers take off with only a few comrades, on the long and apparently treacherous path from their kingdom to Attila’s so-called ‘Hunland’.
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Guthrun Tries to Make Peace
Once Gunnar and Hogni are in sight of Attila’s hall, they see the Hunnish army gathered around it, and realize that they have been betrayed. Hogni and Gunnar beat the Hunnish messenger to death with the handles of their axes. And yet, nonetheless, they then proceed right on into this trap laid out before them.
Now, before the inevitable battle commences, Guthrun steps between the opposing forces and tries to make peace between her brothers and her husband Attila, but to no avail. She then dons armor and picks up weapons to fight beside her brothers, but this is also hopeless. The end of the matter is that the vastly outnumbered Gunnar and Hogni are captured and imprisoned.
Gunnar and Hogni are then separated from one another and interrogated individually, with Attila hoping that his Huns can find out where the two prisoners have hidden the great treasure of Sigurth.
Hogni’s Heart
Gunnar, for his part, says that he’s willing to talk—on one condition. That condition is that the Huns murder his brother Hogni and bring him Hogni’s heart on a plate.
The Hunnish soldiers dutifully go to Hogni’s cell, where they decide that he is just too manly and bold—too much of a drengr, to use the Norse word for complimenting such a man—to kill in such an agonizing manner. So they propose to kill a slave instead, and bring his heart to Gunnar.
When the heart is brought to Gunnar on a plate, on the pretense that it is Hogni’s, Gunnar isn’t fooled and says:
Here I have the heart
of the coward Hjalli! It is nothing like
my brave brother Hogni’s heart.
This one trembles
where it lies on the plate—
and it trembled twice as much
in the coward’s chest.
Gunnar’s Plan
Realizing they can’t fool him, they go back and cut the heart out of Hogni’s chest for real—but even, as they do it, Hogni laughs at them, in one final, almost supernatural demonstration of what a drengr he truly is.
Upon seeing his brother’s real heart on the plate, Gunnar says:
Here I have the heart
of my bold brother Hogni!
It is nothing
like the coward Hjalli’s heart.
This one barely trembles
where it lies on the plate—
and it never trembled at all
when it was in his chest.
And with his brother dead, we learn the purpose of Gunnar’s plan: Now that he is the only living person who knows where Sigurth’s treasure is hidden, he can die assured that the Huns will never get it.
A Pit of Snakes
Since Gunnar won’t tell the Huns where the treasure is either, he also must be punished. Gunnar’s hands are tied behind his back, and he is cast into a pit full of venomous snakes that Attila apparently keeps for this purpose.
Amid Gunnar’s death struggle against the snakes, his sister Guthrun helpfully throws him a harp. Gunnar, unfazed by the bites of the vipers, plays it with his toes until he expires.
Such a gesture shows us what a drengr Gunnar is, capable of facing his death with a memorable, defiant gesture and even an impressive artistic performance. The scene made such an impression on the Norse audience that Gunnar’s death in the snake-pit continued to be a favorite motif of Viking Age and medieval art in Scandinavia.
Common Questions about Gunnar and Hogni’s Deaths
In The Saga of the Volsungs, Attila lays claim to the treasure, firstly, because his sister Brynhild ought to have inherited it from Sigurth, as Sigurth ought to have been her husband. And secondly, because Guthrun, Attila’s own wife, ought to have inherited it from her husband Sigurth.
King Gunnar decides to accept Attila’s invitation.
The Hunnish soldiers decide that Hogni was just too manly and bold—too much of a drengr, to use the Norse word for complimenting such a man—to kill in an agonizing manner. So they propose to kill a slave instead.
