in the Edda attached to the Volsung cycle, belong correctly to
that of the Gothic hero Ermanric. According to these poems, Gudrun,
Giuki's daughter, married a third time, and had three sons, Sörli,
Hamthi and Erp. She married Svanhild, her own and Sigurd's daughter,
to Jörmunrek, king of the Goths; but Svanhild was slandered, and her
husband had her trodden to death by horses' hoofs. The description
of Svanhild is a good example of the style of the romantic poems:

"The bondmaids sat round Svanhild, dearest of my children; Svanhild
was like a glorious sunbeam in my hall. I dowered her with gold
and goodly fabrics when I married her into Gothland. That was the
hardest of my griefs, when they trod Svanhild's fair hair into the
dust beneath the horses' hoofs."

Gudrun sent her three sons to avenge their sister; two of them
slew Erp by the way, and were killed themselves in their attack on
Jörmunrek for want of his help. So died, as Snorri says, all who were
of Giuking descent; and only Aslaug, daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild,
survived. _Heimskringla_, a thirteenth century history of the royal
races of Scandinavia, traces the descent of the Norse kings from her.

This Ermanric story, which belongs to legendary history rather than
myth, is in reality quite independent of the Volsung or Nibelung
cycle. The connection is loose and inartistic, the legend being
probably linked to Gudrun's name because she had become a favourite
character and Icelandic narrators were unwilling to let her die. The
historic Ermanric was conquered by the Huns in 374; the sixth century
historian Jornandes is the earliest authority for the tradition that he
was murdered by Sarus and Ammius in revenge for their sister's death
by wild horses. Saxo also tells the story, with greater similarity