Cruel was the gate Which Hronn[347] broke On the kin-wall[348] Of my father. I see the place of my son, Made waste by sea, Stand empty And open.[349] The want of brothers Comes often Into the mind Of the women of Björn.[350] I look round When the battle thickens; I heed this And look to see if Any other Thegn Daring in fight Stands At my side; I need it often. Such are the tempers of men; My flight becomes faint When my friends get few. It is also told That no one gets The equal of his son Unless he begets another; Nor a kinsman Who is to him Like the man Who is his born brother. THE FIRST SONG OF GUDRUN. The brothers of Gudrun, daughter of Gjuki, had slain her husband, Sigurd Fafnisbani, in his bed. Gudrun sat over Sigurd when he was dead; she did not weep, as other women, but almost died from grief. Both men and women came to comfort her, but did not find it easy to do so. Gudrun was Near to death When she sat, full of grief, Over Sigurd; She did not weep, Nor wring her hands, Nor wail Like other women. Very wise jarls Came forward, Who tried to soothe Her heavy heart; Though Gudrun was Unable to weep; She was so sad; Her heart almost broke. The high-born Brides of jarls Sat, gold adorned, By Gudrun; Each of them Related her woes, The bitterest sorrow She had suffered. The sister of Gjuki, Gjaflang, said: No women on earth Lack love more than I; I have felt the loss Of husbands five, Of daughters two, Of sisters three, Of brothers eight, And yet I live alone. Still Gudrun Could not weep, So full of grief was she For her dead husband, And heavy-hearted O’er the king’s corpse.