Siggeir

The king of Gautland. He asked Völsung for the hand of his daughter Signý and she became his reluctant wife. During the feast to celebrate their betrothal, a one-eyed man strode into the hall, brandishing a sword. He thrust it into the trunk of the tree Barnstokkr and said: Whoever pulls this sword from the trunk shall have it from me as a gift, and he shall prove that he never wielded a better sword than this.

All the men in the hall attempted to dislodge the sword, but only Völsung's son Sigmundr was successful. Siggeir, who desired the sword for himself, offered Sigmund thrice its weight in gold, but Sigmund scornfully declined. His words greatly angered Siggeir, who vowed that one day the sword would be his and that he would be revenged.

Before he left he bid Völsung and all his sons to visit him three months hence, and Völsung accepted. At the appointed time Völsung and his sons sailed to Gautland. Upon their arrival they were met by Signý who warned them that her husband had drawn a large army and intends to kill them, but Völsung said that he once made an oath never to flee in fear. The next morning they made ready for battle and a great fight ensued, but they are unevenly matched; Völsung was slain and his ten sons taken prisoner. Siggeir had them tied to the trees in the wood where each night one of them is devoured by a she-wolf. According to some, this she-wolf was Siggeir's mother. After nine nights only Sigmundr was still alive and Signý arranged for him to escape.

Siggeir and Signý had two sons. When the oldest was ten years old, she sent him to Sigmundr to help him avenge the death of Völsung, but Sigmundr deemed the boy unfit for the task ahead. Signý commanded him to kill the boy, which he did. The next winter she sent her second child but he too was unfit and he suffered the same fate as his brother. Signý continued plotting the death of her husband and to this purpose she changed shapes with a sorceress, and in this new shape she slept with her brother. She bore a son, Sinfjötli, and when he was nine years old she sent him to Sigmundr, who believed that he was Siggeir's son.

When Sinfjötli was full grown, he and Sigmundr went to Siggeir's hall where they hid themselves. They were seen by the two young children of Siggeir and Signý, and although Sigmundr was reluctant to kill them, Sinfjötli had no such qualms, and threw their bodies before Siggeir's feet. After a long fight they were captured by Siggeir's men and Siggeir had them buried alive. They managed to escape, with Signý's help, and set Siggeir's hall on fire. Before the fires consumed Siggeir and his men, Sigmundr revealed his identity. Signý, who deemed herself unfit to live for all the terrible things she had done in her pursuit for vengeance, choose to die beside her husband, although she was not happy to have wed him.

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