Sigmund falls severely wounded.

In the night Hjordis seeks the scene of the combat and finds Sigmund
still alive. He refuses to allow her to heal his wounds, saying that Odin
no longer wills that he swing the sword. He tells Hjordis to preserve
carefully the pieces of the broken sword; the son she bears in her womb
shall yet swing the sword when welded anew, and win thereby a glorious
name. At dawn Sigmund dies. Hjordis is borne off by Vikings and, after
the birth of her son, she becomes the wife of the Danish prince Alf.

The son of Hjordis was called Sigurd. He grew up a boy of wondrous
strength and beauty, with eyes that sparkled brightly, and lived at the
court of King Hjalprek, the father of Alf. Regin, the dwarfish brother of
Fafnir, was his tutor. Regin welds together the pieces of the broken
sword Gram, so sharp and strong that with it Sigurd cleaves Regin's anvil
in twain. With men and ships that he has received from King Hjalprek
Sigurd goes against the sons of Hunding, whom he slays, thereby avenging
the death of his father. Regin has urged him to kill Fafnir and take
possession of the hoard. On the Gnita Heath he digs a ditch from which,
as the dragon Fafnir passes over it, he plunges the sword into his heart.
The dying Fafnir warns him of the curse attached to the possession of the
gold; also that Regin is to be guarded against. The latter bids him roast
the heart of Fafnir. While doing so he burns his finger by dipping it in
the blood to see if the heart is done, and to cool his finger puts it
into his mouth. Suddenly he is able to understand the language of the
birds in the wood. They warn him to beware of Regin, whom he straightway
slays. The birds tell him further of the beautiful valkyrie Brynhild, who
sleeps on the fire-encircled mountain awaiting her deliverer. Then Sigurd
places Fafnir's hoard upon his steed Grani, takes with him also Fafnir's
helm, and rides away to Frankenland. He sees a mountain encircled by a