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Völsunga saga
Sign in to saveAlso known as The saga of the Volsungs, The saga of the Völsungs
13th century Icelandic saga
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- literary work
- Genre
- prose
Show 6 more facts
- Commons category
- Völsunga saga
- language of work or name
- Old Icelandic
- derivative work
- Der Ring des Nibelungen
- publication date
- 1250-00-00
- title
- Völsunga saga
- different from
- Völsung Cycle
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~26 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Drawing of the Ramsund carving from c. 1030, illustrating the Völsunga saga on a rock in Sweden. At (1), Sigurd sits in front of the fire preparing the dragon's heart. The Völsunga saga (Old Norse: Vǫlsunga saga, often referred to in English as the Volsunga Saga or Saga of the Völsungs) is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story of Sigurd and Brunhild and the destruction of the Burgundians). It is one of the most famous legendary sagas and an example of a "heroic saga" that deals with Germanic heroic legend.
The saga covers topics including the quarrel between Sigi and Skaði, a huge family tree of great kings and powerful conquerors, the quest led by Sigmund and Sinfjǫtli to save princess Signý from the evil king Siggeir, and, most famously, Sigurd killing the serpent/dragon Fáfnir and obtaining the cursed ring Andvaranaut that Fáfnir guarded.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Völsunga saga” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.