"The Story of the Volsungs" (Volsunga Saga) is a monumental prose epic of Old Norse literature, written by an anonymous author in 13th-century Iceland. This foundational text of Germanic and Scandinavian legend weaves together history, myth, and heroic tragedy to tell the story of the Volsung clan, a lineage cursed by a powerful ring drawn from the gold of Andvari's hoard. The saga begins with the exploits of the hero Sigmund, who pulls the magical sword Gram from the tree Barnstokkr, and follows his fierce battles and eventual death. The heart of the saga, however, belongs to his son, Sigurd the dragon-slayer, the greatest of the Volsungs. Sigurd's story is one of epic heroism and profound tragedy: he forges the shattered Gram anew, slays the dragon Fafnir, acquires the cursed hoard, and awakens the valkyrie Brynhild from her magical sleep. They pledge their troth, but their destiny is shattered by a potion of forgetfulness and a cruel deception by the sorceress-queen Grimhild, which leads Sigurd to marry her daughter, Gudrun. The ensuing love triangle unleashes a torrent of betrayal, vengeance, and murder that consumes the great houses of the Volsungs, the Gjukings, and the Budlungs. The saga is a stark and powerful narrative of heroism, fate, revenge, and the inescapable nature of a curse, where oaths are sacred and betrayal leads to utter ruin, profoundly influencing later works like the Nibelungenlied and the operas of Richard Wagner.

Table of Contents:

• The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). Part 1

• The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). Part 2

• The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). Part 3