his gold never will be found, which may be seen as contrary to the ethics of the Germanic lord-retainer system, where societal bonds were created through the generous distribution of wealth. The poem's description of gold as a "discord-metal of men" () does however align with the Icelandic Rune Poem's opening line, "wealth is kinsmen's discord" (). Guðrún is relentless in her need to avenge her brothers. Although the poem expresses horror when it portrays the consequences of her actions—filicide, unsuspecting cannibalism and the deaths of kings—there is no direct condemnation of her behaviour. Unlike in Guðrúnarhvöt, where Guðrún is angry at the Norns for making her kill her sons, Atlakviða only suggests sorrow once, in strophe 37, before strophe 38 says that she "never wept". She kills Atli when he is in a defenseless state and unlike in Atlamál'', he is not portrayed as a tyrannical husband. The final strophe (43) does stress that her actions led to the deaths of three kings. According to the medievalist Ursula Dronke, this might have been a later addition, but the strophe that precedes it also focuses on the deaths her actions caused. The heroic ethic of vengeance that overtakes Guðrún makes her monstrous, giving her an inhuman self-control which the poem's author appears to find both horrific and admirable. References Citations Sources Further reading External links Atlakviða hin Grœnlenzka Sophus Bugge's edition Atlakviða Guðni Jónsson's edition Atlakviða Guðni Jónsson's edition Atlakvitha en grönlenzka Henry Adams Bellows' translation and commentary Atlakviða: The Song of Atli Translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson Atlakviða: The Lay of Atli Translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson Atlakviða Benjamin Thorpe's translation 9th-century poems Eddic poetry Nibelung tradition Völsung cycle Cannibalism in fiction Filicide in fiction Cultural depictions of Attila the Hun