Editing Valkyrie (section)

====''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''====
[[File:Helgi und Sigrun by Johannes Gehrts.jpg|thumb|upright|''Helgi und Sigrun'' (1901) by [[Johannes Gehrts]]]]
At the beginning of the poem ''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana II]]'', a prose narrative says that King [[Sigmund]] (son of [[Völsung]]) and his wife [[Borghild]] (of Brálund) have a son named Helgi, who they named for Helgi Hjörvarðsson (the protagonist of the earlier ''Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar'').<ref name="LARRINGTON132">Larrington (1999:132).</ref> After Helgi has killed King Hunding in stanza 4, a prose narrative says that Helgi escapes, consumes the raw meat of cattle he has slaughtered on a beach, and encounters Sigrún. Sigrún, daughter of King Högni, is "a valkyrie and rode through air and sea", and she is the valkyrie Sváva reincarnated.<ref name="LARRINGTON133">Larrington (1999:133).</ref> In stanza 7, Sigrún uses the phrase "fed the [[goose|gosling]] of Gunn's sisters". Gunnr and her sisters are valkyries, and these goslings are [[raven]]s, who feed on the corpses left on the battlefield by warriors.<ref name="LARRINGTON133+281">Larrington (1999:133 and 281).</ref>

After stanza 18, a prose narrative relates that Helgi and his immense fleet of ships are heading to Frekastein, but encounter a great storm. Lightning strikes one of the ships. The fleet sees nine valkyries flying through the air, among whom they recognise Sigrún. The storm abates, and the fleets arrive safely at land.<ref name="LARRINGTON135">Larrington (1999:135).</ref> Helgi dies in battle, yet returns to visit Sigrún from Valhalla once in a burial mound, and at the end of the poem, a prose epilogue explains that Sigrún later dies of grief. The epilogue details that "there was a belief in the pagan religion, which we now reckon [is] an old wives' tale, that people could be reincarnated" and that "Helgi and Sigrun were thought to have been reborn" as another Helgi and valkyrie couple; Helgi as Helgi Haddingjaskaði and Sigrún as the daughter of [[Halfdan]]; the valkyrie [[Kára]]. The epilogue details that further information about the two can be found in the (now lost) work ''[[Káruljóð]]''.<ref name="LARRINGTON141">Larrington (1999:141).</ref>