SOURCE: Harris, Richard L. “A Study of Grípisspá.” Scandinavian Studies 43, no. 4 (autumn 1971): 344-55.

In the following essay, Harris compares Grípisspá (The Prophecy of Gripir) with other poetic versions of the Sigurd legend, arguing that this synoptic Eddic poem is not without artistic value.

In entering upon a detailed study of the material of Grípisspá and its relation to the rest of the extant Völsung matter in Old Norse, a brief consideration of the spá and its place as a poetic form in Old Norse literature might be relevant. As a literary form, the spá seems to have held some popularity. Both Völuspá, in the first section of the Edda, discussing the fates of the gods, and Grípisspá, in the second section, concerning the fates of certain men, were used in the presentation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Prophecy of Merlin in the Old...