Siggeir- Norse FigureMortal"King of Gautland"

Marriage to Signý

Siggeir, king of Gautland, came to the hall of King Völsung to ask for his daughter Signý's hand in marriage. At the wedding feast, a one-eyed stranger entered the hall and thrust a magnificent sword into the great oak tree Barnstokkr, declaring that whoever could draw it would possess it. Only Sigmund, Völsung's eldest son, succeeded. Siggeir coveted the sword and offered to buy it, but Sigmund refused. This slight planted the seed of treachery. Signý warned her father that Siggeir meant them harm, but Völsung refused to break the betrothal.

The Treachery

Siggeir invited Völsung and his sons to visit him in Gautland. When they arrived, Siggeir ambushed them with an overwhelming force. King Völsung fell in battle, and his ten sons were captured. Siggeir had them bound to a log in the forest, where each night a she-wolf came and devoured one of them. Signý, who remained at Siggeir's court as his unwilling wife, managed to send aid to Sigmund. On the final night, she had honey smeared on Sigmund's face, so that when the wolf came, it licked him and he bit its tongue, killing the beast. Sigmund escaped and hid in the forest.

Years of Enmity

For years Sigmund lived as an outlaw in the wilderness while Siggeir ruled in Gautland, unaware that his brother-in-law had survived. Signý twice sent her sons by Siggeir to Sigmund to test their courage, but both failed and were killed. Determined to produce a true Völsung avenger, Signý disguised herself and conceived Sinfjötli with Sigmund. When the boy was grown and hardened through the werewolf ordeal, father and son returned to Siggeir's hall.

Death by Fire

Sigmund and Sinfjötli infiltrated Siggeir's hall but were discovered and captured. Siggeir had them buried alive in a barrow, separated by a stone slab. Signý smuggled a sword to them, and they cut their way free. They set Siggeir's hall ablaze. Signý revealed the truth of Sinfjötli's parentage and then walked back into the burning hall to die alongside her husband, declaring that she had done everything for vengeance and could not live after it was accomplished. Siggeir perished in the flames.