The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún is a book containing two narrative poems and related texts composed by English writer J. R. R. Tolkien.

The two poems that make up most of the book were probably written during the 1930s, and were inspired by the legend of Sigurd and the fall of the Niflungs in Norse mythology.

Meeting the demon Hreidmar's son Ótr whom they mistake for an otter, Loki kills and skins him, and steals his salmon.

Enraged, Hreidmar and his sons, Fafnir and Regin, bind the three gods in unbreakable chains and demand that Otr's pelt be covered with gold in compensation.

Sigmund, the last survivor, slays the she-wolf (with Signý's secret help) and escapes to an enchanted cave, where he sleeps with an elvish maiden, not realizing she is his sister in disguise.

They infiltrate the hall of Siggeir and kill everyone; they ask Signý to leave with them, but she refuses and dies at her husband's side.

Sigurd buys the horse Grani, sired by Odin's eight-legged steed Sleipnir, and goes forth to kill Fafnir.

As Fafnir's black blood drains over Sigurd and hardens his flesh, the young warrior withdraws his sword and leaps into the dragon's sight.

Upon seeing Regin sneaking towards him with a drawn blade, Sigurd draws Gram and slays his foster father.

When her father Gjuki asks his name and parentage, he is overjoyed to learn that a Völsung warrior has arrived and summons a seat for Sigurd.

Stunned, Sigurd speaks lovingly to her of the spell that was cast upon him and admits that his only comfort has been to see her in Gunnar's hall.

Although touched, Brynhild states that it is too late to avert the evil of her curse, but Sigurd shall die an honourable death at the point of a sword.

Gunnar insists, however, that he loves and trusts Brynhild more than anyone in the world and adds that, by slaying Sigurd, they will be masters again of their kingdom.

Knowing that he swore no oath, Gunnar approaches his half brother Gotthorm and promises him both gold and lordship if he kills Sigurd.

As Gudrun laments, Brynhild laughs, curses the Niflungs for murdering their blood brother, and reveals that Sigurd's seduction was a lie.

At Ragnarök, Brynhild will attire Sigurd for war and he will defeat the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard serpent.

King Atli's Hunnic Empire grows ever stronger, and he hastens westward to claim the gold hoard of Fafnir and the beauty of Gudrun.

Högni advises Gunnar to fight, but Grimhild counsels offering Gudrun's hand in marriage, and the Niflungs decide to do this.

Doors spring open and Hun warriors charge the Niflungs, who fill the mead hall with bodies.

Recalling their past wars against Atli and his Huns, the Goths turn against their lord and make common cause with the Niflungs.

Gunnar and Högni fight their way to Gudrun, and declare that the Norns have fated them to always give her in marriage and then slay her husband.

His counselor Beiti tells Atli to set fire to the mead hall; as it collapses, the Goths and Niflungs charge out and are captured.

Casting his captives before Gudrun, Atli vows that he will avenge Sigurd by hurling her brothers into a pit of adders.

The Huns cut out Högni's heart, but Gunnar laughs in their faces: the gold, he declares, is long gone, having been cast into the Rhine after Sigurd's death.

Gunnar chants of Odin and the Aesir, of ancient kings, and the coming doom of Hunland, to the sound of the harp.

She tells him that, in vengeance for her brothers, she has slain their sons; the goblets, made from their skulls, were filled with their blood and honey.

Laughing, she tells him that his funeral pyre has already been kindled; fire consumes Atli's palace and the surrounding town.

In return, I hope to send you, if I can lay my hands on it (I hope it isn't lost), a thing I did many years ago while trying to learn the art of writing alliterative poetry: an attempt to unify the lays about the Völsungs from the Elder Edda, written in the old eight-line fornyrðislag stanza.

"[5] He also draws a distinction, although not as sharply, between the later elaborate skaldic verse and the simpler forms used in the poems of the Elder Edda.

The Scottish actor Brian Cox collaborated with HarperCollins to produce a dramatic reading of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, released in August 2009.