Volsunga saga

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Volsung Cycle
Volsunga saga
Poetic Edda
Norna-Gests þáttr
Artifacts
Andvarinaut
Gram
Dwarves
Andvari
Hreidmar
Otr
Regin
Dragon
Fafnir
People
Volsung
Sigmund
Signy
Sinfjötli
Helgi Hundingsbane
Sigurd
Brynhild
Gudrun
Attila
Gunnar
Locations
Gautland
Hunaland
Related
Nibelungenlied
Hagbard and Signy

The Völsunga saga is a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Volsung clan (including the story of Sigurd and Brynhild and destruction of the Burgundians). It is largely based on epic poetry. The earliest known representation of this tradition is in pictoral form as the Ramsund carving, Sweden, which was created c. 1000 AD.

The matter is considerably older, however, and it is loosely based on real events in Central Europe during the 5th century and the 6th century.

The Middle High German epic poem Nibelungenlied is based largely on the old stories, which were commonly known in all of the Germanic lands from the early Middle Ages on, but reworks the material into a courtly medieval setting.


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Sources: Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle | Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence
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