{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/onp/onp08.htm","path":"neu/onp/onp08.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/onp/onp08.htm","text":"THIS dialogic lay about the hostile half brothers may justly claim high rank among the small number of genuine \u201cheroic\u201d poems. In grandeur of theme, in extraordinary vigor and splendor of style, in heroic passion, it challenges comparison with such poems as Atlakvitha and Hamthism\u00f3l; which it resembles also in its air of antiquity, in the epic-dramatic form, in the rugged mixture of fornyrthtslag and m\u00e1lah\u00e1ttr and, alas! also in the sadly mutilated condition of the text. Fully one-third of the original poem seems lost, and a number of stanzas are no doubt corrupted. The total impression is much weakened by the connecting prose, which, in this case, to a large extent represents imperfectly remembered stanzas, with still an occasional rhythm, here and there an alliteration, or a striking phrase suggesting the noble original verse.\nThere are good reasons for thinking the lay a quasi-historical reminiscence from the time of Gothic greatness, transmitted possibly through some South Germanic song\u2014partial reflection of the tremendous events of the migration period, perhaps the clash of Goth and Hun on the Catalaunian Fields (451), or some other vast battle of nations unrecorded in histories. The conflict is here located on the Dun-heath, whether that locality be the plains of the Danube or those of the Lugii Duni about the upper Oder. In the latter case, it is interesting to note, the Jassar Fells (stanza 27) would correspond to the Jesenik (German, Gesenke), the stretch of hill country which forms the broad gate between the high and impassable Sudeti and the Carpathian ranges. This, again, would permit the inference that the Goths were at that time still in their North European homes by the Vistula1 and the Baltic which, as we know from other sources, they right at p. 37 the end of the second century A.D. Ultimate derivation from a Gothic lay of these remote times is no more impossible than in the case of Hamthism\u00f3l, the great figures of Ermanaric and Theodoric, and their relations with Attila forming the very basic layer of Germanic folk hero lore. At any rate there are a number of clear indications that the lay has as its background the vast plains and broad rivers of the east central portions of Europe. Geographic exactness is not to be expected at that distance of time. A clear argument for the very early spread of the story may be seen in the fact that no less than five persons connected with it occur in lines 116-119 of the Anglo-Saxon catalogue poem of W\u012bds\u012bth from the seventh century\u2014a poem which also otherwise betrays considerable knowledge of very early Continental conditions.\nNo doubt the episode here celebrated is the original kernel of the composite Hervarar saga in which it is preserved. For the lay after stanza 11 (of this translation) we are dependent on seventeenth-century MSS of the saga.\nOn one of his expeditions the evil but wise son of Hervor, King Heithrek, abducts the daughter of the powerful Humli,2 King of the Huns. She gives birth to Hloth, who is brought up by his maternal grandfather, since Heithrek put his mother away in favor of another queen whose children by him are Angant\u00fdr and Hervor\u2014a quasi reincarnation of her amazon grandmother. When Heithrek dies Angant\u00fdr succeeds him; but his half brother claims an equal share of the inheritance.\n| 13 | Of yore, say they, Humli\u2003over Huns held sway; Gizur4 over Gauts;5 over Goths, Angant\u00fdr; p. 38 Valdar over Danes, but over the Welsh,6 K\u00edar;7 and Alrek8 the Bold over English folk. | \n| 2 | Was Hloth9 born there\u2003in Hunnish folk-lands\u2014 10with dagger and broadsword and byrnie long, with ring-decked helmet11 and sharp-hewing sword, with horses well-broken, in the hallowed land.12 | \nNow13 Hloth learned about the death of his father, and that his brother, Angant\u00fdr, had himself made king over all those lands which Heithrek had owned. Then King Humli advised Hloth to claim from Angant\u00fdr his share of the inheritance with fair words; as is said here:\n| 3 | Rode Hloth from the East,\u2003King Heithrek\u2019s first-born, to the halls where dwell the dauntless Goths\u2014 to \u00c1rheimar14\u2014 to claim his heir-lands. There was Angant\u00fdr drinking arvel for Heithrek. | \n| 4 | Before the high hall\u2003he found a hero standing, from far lands hailing, him he welcomed.15 | \n| p. 39 | | \n| HLOTH said: | | \n| | \u201cInto high hall now\u2003go thou, hero, and bid Angant\u00fdr make answer to me.\u201d | \nThe warrior went in before the table of King Angant\u00fdr, and said:\n| 5 | \u201cIs Hloth come here,\u2003King Heithrek\u2019s heir, thy bastard brother, thy brother he; high the young hero his horse doth sit: would he now, thane, with thee have speech.\u201d | \nBut when King Angant\u00fdr heard this, he threw down his trencher on the board and rose and clad himself in his byrnie. He took his white shield in hand, and grasped the sword Tyrfing with the other. Then there arose much din in the hall; as is here said:\n| 6 | Rose outcry in hall;\u2003with the atheling stood up, (the Gothic king, his goodly warriors:16) they all fain would hear what Hloth did say, and eke what answer Angant\u00fdr made. | \n| ANGANT\u00ddR said: | | \n| 7 | \u201cHail to thee, Hloth,\u2003King Heithrek\u2019s son and my own brother! On bench sit thou! In his hall let us drink Heithrek\u2019s arvel [the father of us, the first of mankind] in wine or in mead\u2014 whiche\u2019er worthiest seemeth.\u201d17 | \n| HLOTH said: | | \n| 8 | \u201cNot hither came\u2003we from Hunnish lands to share with you your wine and mead\u2014 | \n| *\u2003*\u2003* | | \n| p. 40 | | \n| 9 | \u201cThe half will I have\u2003of what Heithrek owned, of awl18 and of edge, of all the treasure, of cow and of call, of quern harsh-grinding, of thrall and of bond-maid, and those born of them, | \n| 10 | \u201cthe mighty forest\u2003which is Murkwood19 hight, the hallowed grave20 which in Gothland stands, the shining stone which in Danpstead21 stands, half of the war-weeds which Heithrek owned, of lands and lieges and of lustrous arm-rings.\u201d | \n| ANGANT\u00ddR said: | | \n| 11 | \u201cYour shining shield\u2003will be shattered, brother, and by cold spears will be split many another, [and many a man will meet his death ] before Tyrfing in two I sunder, or to thee, son of Humli,22 leave the half of it! | \n| 12 | \u201cWill I give thee, brother,\u2003gleaming arm-rings, much wealth of gold, what most thou wishest\u2014 twelve hundred thralls, twelve hundred steeds, twelve hundred bond-men with bucklers weaponed. | \n| 13 | \u201cTo every man of you\u2003much will I give\u2014 other and better things than ere this he had: to every man a maid will I give, and give each maiden a golden necklace. | \n| 14 | \u201cAbout thee a-sitting\u2003shall I silver heap, about thee a-going shall I gold-trinkets pour,23 p. 41 so that the rings will roll about thee; shalt govern a third24 of Gothic lands.\u201d | \nGizur, called the Follower25 of the Grytings, King Heithrek\u2019s faster father, was then in Angant\u00fdr\u2019s company. He was exceeding old then. When he heard Angant\u00fdr\u2019s offer he thought that too much was offered, and said:\n| 15 | \u201cCould no better be offered\u2003to a bond-woman\u2019s son\u2014 to the son of a bond-woman, though born to a king. The bastard son then sate on a hill when the atheling the heirlooms shifted.\u201d26 | \n(Hloth is enraged and returns to Humli, who promises help for the summer after.)27\n| HUMLI said: | | \n| 16 | \u201cShall we feast at our ease\u2003till over is winter, drink and hold converse, quaffing the mead, and teach our warriors weapons to fashion, which to battle bravely we shall bear forward. | \n| 17 | \u201cWell shall we arm\u2003the warrior host, and help thee, Hloth, with hardy deeds;28 with twelve-year old draughts, and two-year old foals,29 thus shall the host of the Huns be gathered.\u201d | \nThat winter, King Humli and Hloth stayed at home; but when spring came they drew together so great a host that there p. 42 was a dearth of fighting men in Hunland. . . . And when this mighty host was gathered they rode through Murkwood. . . . As they came out of the forest they found many farms and level fields. In the fields there stood a fair castle. There ruled Hervor, Angant\u00fdr\u2019s and Hloth\u2019s sister, and with her, Ormar, her foster father. They warded the land against the Huns and had a great host. . . . One morning, about sunrise, Hervor stood on a tower above the castle gate. She saw so much dust southward toward the forest that it hid the sun for a long time. Then saw she a glow under the dust, as though from gold, of fair shields inlaid with gold, of gilded helmets and bright byrnies. Then understood she that this was the Hunnish host, and most numerous. She hurried down and called her trumpeter and bade him summon the host. Then said Hervor to them: \u201cTake your weapons and make ready for battle; but thou, Ormar, ride out toward the Huns and affer them battle before the southern gate.\u201d30\n| ORMAR31 said: | | \n| 18 | \u201cAssuredly shall I,\u2003with shield aloft, (to the Hunnish host hurriedly ride, to summon them to the southern gate)32 there \u2019gainst the Goths to try the game of war.\u201d | \n(And so he did and) then returned to the castle. Then was Hervor armed and all her host. . . . There was a great battle; but because the Huns had a much greater host, the battle turned against Hervor, and at length she fell, and round about her, many men. But when Ormar saw her fall he fled, and with him all they who still lived. He rode day and night as fast as he could, to King Angant\u00fdr in \u00c1rheimar, while the Huns took to harrying and burning the countryside. When he arrived he said:\n| p. 43 | | \n| 19 | \u201cFrom the south am I come,\u2003to say these tidings: burned is the far-famed forest Murkwood, all Goth-land drenched with the gore of the fallen. | \n| 20 | \u201cI know that Hervor,\u2003Heithrek\u2019s daughter, and thy sister, by the sword has fallen. Have Hunnish hosts hewed down the maiden with many an other of your warriors. | \n| 21 | *\u2003*\u2003* Was she readier for war than with wooer to dally, or on bench to sit as wedded bride.\u201d | \nWhen Angant\u00fdr heard this he stroked his beard and was silent for a long time. At last he said:\n| 22 | \u201cWast unbrotherly dealt with,\u2003my brave sister! (Now have fallen the fighters who fared with you.)33 Full many the men when mead we drank,\u2014 have I fewer followers when I fain would have more. | \n| 23 | \u201cIn all my host\u2003no hero see I, though I should beg him and buy him with rings, who would raise the war-shield and ride for me to the Hunnish host to harbinger war. | \n| GIZUR THE OLD said: | | \n| 24 | \u201cNot a single silverling\u2003seek I of thee, nor of glistening gold guerdon crave I; yet shall I ride and raise the war-shield, and to Hunnish hosts herald battle.\u201d | \nIt was King Heithrek\u2019s law, that if a hostile army was in the land and the king of the land challenged them to a pitched battle and appointed the battle field, then those vikings durst not harry before battle was tried between them. Gizur then armed himself with good weapons and leaped on his horse as p. 44 though he were a young man, and said to the king:34\n| | \u201cTo the Huns where shall I\u2003herald battle?\u201d | \n| ANGANT\u00ddR said: | | \n| 25 | \u201cOn the down of Dun-heath\u2003and in Dylgia35-vales (shall the battle be)36 \u2019neath the Iassar-fells\u2019 brow, where often Goths their glaives reddened, and victory won warriors in sword-play.\u201d | \nThen Gizur rode till he came upon the Hunnish army. When he was within earshot he called out with a loud voice and said:\n| 26 | *\u2003*\u2003* * * * \u201cAfraid are your hosts, fey is your leader\u2014 You have angered \u00d3thin: we offer you battle. | \n| 27 | \u201cOn the downs of Dun-heath\u2003and in Dylgia-vales I bid you battle, \u2019neath the Iassar-fells\u2019 brow. (May \u00d3thin o\u2019erawe Angant\u00fdr\u2019s foes)37 and may this spear fly o\u2019er you as I do bid it.\u201d38 | \nWhen Hloth had heard Gizur\u2019s words he said:\n| 28 | \u201cSeize ye Gizur\u2003(the Gr\u00fdtings\u2019 follower),39 Angant\u00fdr\u2019s man, from \u00c1rheimar come!\u201d | \n| HUMLI said: | | \n| 29 | (\u201cNo hurt nor harm\u2003to him shall be done, to hero who fares to herald us war.\u201d | \n| GIZUR said: | | \n| | \u201cWill not Hunnish hornbows\u2003do harm to us ever, nor Hunnish wiles hinder our warriors.\u201d)40 | \nGizur then gave the spurs to his horse and rode back to King Angant\u00fdr. . . . The king asked him whether he had encountered the Huns. Gizur said: I spoke with them and summoned them to combat\n| | \u201con the downs of Dun-heath and in Dylgia-vales.\u201d | \nAngant\u00fdr asked him how great an army the Huns had. Gizur said:\n| | \u201cHuge was that host\u2003(of Hunnish warriors) | \n| 30 | \u201cSixteen squadrons41\u2003saw I foregathered; had each squadron fully five thousand men, and each \u2018thousand,\u201942 thirteen hundred, and each \u2018hundred,\u2019 horse-men eight-score.\u201d | \nAngant\u00fdr then got together an army to meet the Huns, who were twice his strength. The battle lasted eight days, with great slaughter which was made good, in the case of the Goths, by continual reinforcements; so that at last the Huns were forced to give ground. Angant\u00fdr stepped into the front ranks with the sword Tyrfing in hand, and slew both Hloth and Humli. Then the Huns took to flight, and the Goths slew so many that the rivers were dammed up and overflowed their banks and the valleys were filled with dead men and horses. Angant\u00fdr went about on the battlefield to search among the fallen. He found his brother Hloth. Then he said:\n| 31 | \u201cUntold arm-rings\u2003I offered thee, brother, a wealth of gold and what most thou didst wish. As guerdon for strife now hast gotten neither, nor lands nor lieges nor lustrous rings. | \n| 32 | \u201cA baleful fate wrought it\u2003that, brother, I slew thee! Will that aye be told. Ill\u2019s the norns\u2019 doom.\u201d | \n1 In W\u012bds\u012bth (ll. 119 f) we are told that the Goths defended their ancient home against the Huns \u201cabout the forest of the Vistula.\u201d\n2 In whom we may see the representative of the royal race of the Ostrogoths, the Amalunga, who for a time were subjects, or allies, of the Huns; and in Heithrek, Hardur\u00edk (Ardaricus), king of the Gepid\u00e6, a tribe related to the Goths, who fought heroically against the Huns.\n3 This stanza is held by some not to belong to the lay.\n4 Pronounce Gitsur. Cf. the Prose after 14.\n5 Old Norse Gautar, the inhabitants of the present Swedish provinces of East and West Gotland. Not to be confused with the Goths (Old Norse Gotar)\u2014a name frequently used in a general and honorific, but here in a special, sense. The seats, at different times, of that noble and gifted race ranged from the Baltic to the Black Sea and thence to Spain.\n6 Used, vaguely, of various west and south European nations.\n7 This name is by some scholars held to be derived from C\u00e6sar, in view especially of W\u012bds\u012bth, lines 76-78\u2014mid C\u0101sere, s\u0113 the wimburga geweald \u0101hte, Wiolena and Wilna and Wala r\u012bces.\n8 No such English king is known in legend or history. The name seems identical with that of Abbot \u00c6lfric, the famous writer of the latter part of the tenth century; but unconsciously one thinks of Alfred the Great (849-901).\n9 The hostile brothers no doubt correspond to the Hlithe and Incgenth\u0113ow of W\u012bds\u012bth (116). Leth was the third king of the Langobardians.\n10 Thus Helgi \u201cstands in arms\u201d in earliest infancy; cf. the First Lay of Helgi. The prose preceding rationalizes this heroic trait as follows: \u201cIt was said, in former times, that a man was born \u2018with weapons and horses,\u2019 for the reason that the weapons lay ready when he was born\u2014also livestock, such as oxen and horses, if they happened to be born then. All these were given at birth to men of rank, to honor them.\u201d\n11 I.e., helmets adorned with strips of plaited rings, as were used in the Viking period.\n12 I.e., within the confines of royal residence and temple.\n13 This prose link may possibly paraphrase the contents of a lost stanza or stanzas. Still, bearing in mind the abrupt transitions in ballad technique, we need not conclude this.\n14 I.e., \u201cRiver-Dwelling\u201d; by some supposed to be by the Dniepr River, about which lay the lands of the Goths in the fourth century.\n15 Very evidently, it is Hloth who comes from afar; but the text is ambiguous. To judge from similar passages in other poems, a half-stanza containing a question p. 39 of the warrior on guard, and one containing the beginning of Hloth\u2019s speech, are missing.\n16 The gap supplied after the suggestion of Heusler-Ranisch.\n17 This stanza and the following half-stanza are found only in one seventeenth century MS. However, it expresses the substance rather better than the Prose.\n18 Thus the text. Possibly, the awl is taken as representative of peaceful pursuits. \u201cEdge,\u201d pars pro toto for \u201csword.\u201d\n19 This great forest is mentioned also in the Lay of Atli, 8, and in the Plaint of Oddr\u00fan, 23, as separating the land of the Niflungs from that of the Huns.\n20 Bugge (Norr\u0153ne Skrifter, etc., 362) suggests that the \u201challowed grave\u201d refers to a burial place where the departed Gothic kings were interred; and the \u201cshining stone,\u201d to a boulder in the high place of assembly of the Goths on which the newly chosen kings were acclaimed by the people.\n21 I.e., \u201cStead by the Dniepr\u201d (Latin Danaper), probably. It is mentioned also in R\u00edgsthula, 49.\n22 I.e., his daughter\u2019s son.\n23 Cf. the penalty paid by the gods for killing Otter, Reginsm\u00f3l, 5.\n24 Which is the usual share, according to Old Germanic law, of the son born out of wedlock.\n25 Here equivalent to \u201carmor-bearer\u201d\u2014as is, e.g., Hildebrand to Dietrich. The Grytings are probably identical with the Ostrogoths, by the Latin and Greek authors called Greothingi, Grouthingoi (Bugge, op. cit., p. 273). As the wicked adviser and instigator of strife, he may represent \u00d3thin. His name may be a reminiscence of the East Germanic name Geiseric (Gizericus).\n26 He sarcastically implies that Hloth would acknowledge himself to be a bastard, entitled to compensation\u2014and no more\u2014if he accepted anything but half of his inheritance. Hloth is likened to a shepherd on a hill, tending his flocks, when the kingdom was divided.\n27 The wordy prose link of the original no doubt represents one or more stanzas now lost.\n28 The half-line is uncertain.\n29 I.e., down to the last available resources in men and supplies.\n30 This passage must represent a series of stanzas; the last one evidently in direct speech, to which the following stanza is the answer.\n31 The Wyrmhere of W\u012bds\u012bth, 119.\n32 The missing half-stanza is supplied following the suggestions of Bugge and Heusler-Ranisch.\n33 Freely supplied by the translator after the suggestion of the prose.\n34 The last sentence of the prose no doubt paraphrases the lost portion of this stanza.\n35 \u201cBattle.\u201d Name of a traditional field of battle?\n36 Supplied for this corrupt half line.\n37 Supplied freely by the translator for a hopelessly corrupt line.\n38 Thus dedicating them to \u00d3thin; cf. Volusp\u00f3, 16.\n39 Supplied by all editors.\n40 Both half-stanzas tentatively restored by the translator from the prose.\n41 Conjectural.\n42 \u201dHundreds\u201d and \u201cthousands\u201d are here used as designations for smaller tactical units.","title":"THE LAY OF HLOTH AND ANGANT\u00ddR OR THE BATTLE OF THE HUNS","type":"page"}