Scandinavian Mythology
Old Icelandic Poetry: Poetic Edda
13th century, Old Norse, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, Reykjavik.
"Helgi and Sigrun were thought to have been reborn. He was Helgi Haddingia-damager and she was Kara, Halfdan’s daughter."
In the 1270s, the compiler and copyist of the traditional, pagan Scandinavian poems contained in the Poetic Edda made brief, personal commentaries upon the already ancient literary material that he was dealing with. In particular, he wrote as a postscript to the Second Poem of Helgi Hundingsbani:
There was a belief in the pagan religion, which we now reckon an old wives’ tale, that people could be reincarnated. Helgi and Sigrun were thought to have been reborn. He was Helgi Haddingia-damager and she was Kara, Halfdan’s daughter...