Femininity and Free Will in “Saga of the Volsungs” and William Morris’ “The Story of Sigurd the Volsung”
By Emma Walsh.
In both The Saga of the Volsungs and William Morris’ ‘Sigurd the Volsung’, the authors repeatedly explore thematic elements of honor, family, and marriage. They portray masculinity and femininity, both explicitly and implicitly, as contrasting concepts. Although the two stories include the same characters and the same plot, — Morris did source his material from Saga of the Volsungs — they diverge slightly in their portrayal of women, particularly in the marriage and relationship of Signy to her husband, Siggeir.
In Saga, women are portrayed as mere possessions, to be bought or plundered. They do not seem to have any sort of autonomy or free will when it comes to marriage and their romantic lives. In the story, we are introduced to King Siggeir and learn that:
There was a king called Siggeir who ruled over Gautland. He was a powerful king and had many followers. He paid a visit to King Volsung and asked for Signy’s hand in marriage. The king took the proposal well, as did his sons, but Signy for her part was unwilling. Even so, she asked her father to make the decision, as he did in other matters that concerned her. It seemed advisable to the king to betroth her, and she was promised to King Siggeir.
(Saga 38)
Although Signy was ‘unwilling’ to marry Siggeir, her father ‘promises’ her to him. She has no autonomy over her own life and marriage, and is given to a man as though she is a belonging. Later, after she is married to Siggeir and they are at their wedding feast, “…Signy spoke to her father: ‘I do not wish to go away with Siggeir, nor do my thoughts laugh with him. I know through my foresight and that special ability found in our family that if the marriage contract is not quickly dissolved, this union will bring us much misery” (Saga 39), but her father merely responds. “‘You should not say such things, daughter… for it would be shameful both for him and for us to break our agreement without cause. And if it is broken we could neither have his trust nor bind him in a friendly alliance. He would repay us with as much ill as he could. The one honorable thing is to hold to our side of the bargain” (Saga 39). Signy begs her father not to force her into this marriage, attempting to stay with her family instead of moving away with Siggeir, but King Volsung ignores her wishes. He cares more about his honor than the happiness and wellbeing of his child, once again proving that women were viewed as objects to be traded in order to amass wealth and power. In the image below, we see a representation of a viking couple, their body language representing the power dynamic of their relationship and Signy’s non-participation in it.
“Viking Couple” by Johannes Gehrts
Although not created to portray Signy and Siggeir, this image is a depiction of how I imagine their relationship. There is a clear power dynamic, with the man portrayed as a large, confident warrior while the woman hangs onto him. The man looks away, while the woman gazes at his face. The woman, then, is portrayed as someone who must be protected and defended. Furthermore, the woman is seen as an extension of the man rather than as a powerful being in her own right. The themes addressed in this image can easily be applied to the relationship between Signy and Siggeir and the harmful connotations of such a relationship.
Morris, in The Story of Sigurd the Volsung, depicts the same union, albeit with a slightly different depiction of Signy. When Siggeir comes to make an alliance with Volsung, he discusses friendship and aid in battle. He then, however, asks “…But if thou wouldst grant his asking, and make his heart full fain, / Then shalt thou give him a matter, saith he, without a price, / — Signy the fairer than fair, Signy the wiser than wise” (Morris 2). Siggeir asks Volsung to ‘give’ him Signy, again treating women as possessions. In this version, however, Volsung seeks Signy’s opinion and agreement before marrying her off. Volsung goes to Signy and explains, “a great king woos thee, daughter; wilt thou lie in a great king’s bed, / And bear earth’s kings on thy bosom, that our name may never die” (Morris 2). He speaks of honor and their family lineage, but also asks whether Signy is willing to marry Siggeir. Then, “a fire lit up [Signy’s] face, and her voice was e’en as a cry: ‘I will sleep in a great king’s bed, I will bear the lords of the earth, And will the wrack and the grief of my youth-days shall be held for nothing worth” (Morris 2). In this version of the story, Signy wishes to marry Siggeir in order to bring honor and power to her family. She willingly enters into matrimony, and is not forcibly given away as in Saga.
In both versions of the story, Signy and Siggeir do not marry for love. In Morris’ version, however, Signy is at least willing to marry and does so out of her own sense of honor for her family; she does not (unsuccessfully) beg her father to break the agreement. Neither version offers a full sense of female autonomy, and both versions treat women as political pawns and objects to be owned, though in Morris’ version the marriage of Signy is slightly less problematic. Perhaps this change is representative of the beginnings of a shift in culture that allows for more equality and independence for women. The original Saga of the Volsungs was written in the thirteenth century, whereas Morris’ adaptation was published in 1876. Morris lived during the Victorian Era, where we saw the monarchy take the form of a Queen and a Prince Consort, rather than a King. Perhaps this power dynamic in the governance of England created the beginnings of a shift in the societal perception of women that caused Morris to incorporate more consent and autonomy for the female characters in his writing than was included in the original Saga.
