Gift-giving and the Gold Hoard
...ith him. It seems that Gudrun is trying to possess Sigurd more than she already does. She knows that Brynhild desires Sigurd as a husband, which is evident from Brynhild's interpretation of Gudrun's dream. Brynhild explains: "To you will come Sigurd, the man I have chosen for my husband. Grimhild will give him bewitched mead, which will bring us all grief" (77). One of the strange qualities of this literature resides in characters knowing about the future but either not acting to change it or disregarding it entirely. Gudrun knows that Sigurd and Brynhild had wished to marry, so it seems cruel or spiteful for her to arrange for Sigurd's sworn brother to marry the woman he had wished to marry. Even after Gunnar has Brynhild as his wife Gudrun seeks to posses Sigurd further. The dispute between the queens becomes bitter as each argues over who has the better husband, and Brynhild threatens more violence to come: "You shall pay for marrying Sigurd. I cannot bear that you enjoy him and that vast gold treasure" (83). By this point Sigurd and the treasure are almost synonymous; at least they are uttered in the same breath. Brynhild's desire for Sigurd and the gold hoard causes her to convince her husband to kill him, but Sigurd's death does not end the violence or the desire for the treasure. Brynhild commits suicide because she cannot have him. When Gudrun is married to King Atli, the desire for the gold travels with her. The King invites her brothers to a banquet (again an act of hospitality), to try to obtain the treasure. Gunnar and his brother Hogni travel to King Atli's land even though they sense treachery, but they do hide the treasure in the Rhine first. Once again there are warnings about the future: the runes cut into the ring are in question; the ring is tied with a foreboding wolf's hair; and both Gunnar's and Hogni's wives have disturbing dreams. Disregarding these omens, they rush to meet their fate, destroying their boats in the process ensuring that there will be no return voyage. After a great battle resulting in the deaths of many of King Atli's men, Gunnar and Hogni are captured and killed, but the secret of the gold's location dies with them. The violent desire for the gold is not dispelled with its loss. Gudrun takes revenge on King Atli by killing his sons and feeding them to him, and then she murders him with the help of Hogni's son. Finally, the last remnant of Sigurd's line, his daughter Svanhild, is trampled over jealousy which is, in turn, revenged by Gudrun's sons who die in the attempt. The same basic tale is told in both The Prose Edda and The Poetic Edda, and in each case the desire for treasure leads to violence that does not end until the main characters are dead. The only character that ever seems to possess the treasure, for any period of time, is Fafnir, but the gold has deleterious effects that transform him into a dragon. This in itself seems like a warning against seeking it. This motif of a treasure that possesses its owner is prevalent in more contemporary literature. Gollum in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings is an example of the transformative power of coveting a treasure. The recent film A Simple Plan also depicts characters that are possessed by that that they wish to possess. It is the desire for the dragon's treasure that leads to Beowulf's death. The dragon is awakened by a thief who steals "a flagon all fretted with gold" (2088). This angers the dragon that seems to know that he too will not be able to hold the treasure: "And he who lived longest, the last of his line,/ Guarding the treasure and grieving for friend,/ Deemed it his lot that a little while only/ He too might hold that ancient hoard" (2104-7). In the end, Beowulf wins the gold hoard, but it costs him his life. The treasure is bur...