Atli

Also known as: Atle / King Atle · Family: Budlungs · Role: son of Budli; king · First appears: Elder Edda · The Third Lay of Sigurd Fafnicide · Part 1

In the Third Lay of Sigurd Fafnicide, Brynhild recalls that her brother Atli, son of Budli, would not divide their inheritance unless she agreed to marry. She foretells that he will later be told of her funeral rites, that Gudrun will be given to him against her wish, and that he will cast Gunnar into a serpent-den. In the Slaughter of the Niflungs, Gudrun is given to Atli after an oblivious potion is administered to her; their marriage follows Grimhild’s proposal, which Gudrun accepts reluctantly. They have two sons, Erp (son of Atli) and Eitil, and Oddrun is Atli’s sister.

After Brynhild’s death, dissension arises between Atli and the Giukungs, including Gunnar and Hogni. In the Lay of Atli, Atli sends Knefrud to summon Gunnar, then has him cast among serpents after Gunnar says the Niflung gold is beyond his reach. In the Younger Edda’s Poetical Diction, Atli gathers an army, fights Gunnar and Hogni, and captures them; Hogni is killed after his heart is cut out while he is alive, and Gunnar dies in a den of snakes.

In the Third Lay of Gudrun, Herkia, a serving-woman who had been Atli’s concubine, accuses Gudrun of being with Thiodrek. Gudrun proves herself guiltless in the boiling-cauldron ordeal, and Atli sends Herkia to the cauldron, burning her hand. In the Lay of Atli, Gudrun tells Atli he has eaten the hearts of their sons, kills him with a sword, and burns the hall and its household. In the Groenland Lay of Atli, Gudrun and Hogni’s unnamed son kill Atli; in the Younger Edda’s Poetical Diction, Gudrun and her son Hogne (son of Gudrun) kill him while he sleeps. Atli recalls the marriage gift he gave Gudrun, then dies, and his kin lament.